The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket

THE NARRATIVE OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM.

OF NANTUCKET.

COMPRISING THE DETAILS OF A MUTINY AND ATROCIOUS BUTCHERY ON BOARD THE

AMERICAN BRIG GRAMPUS, ON HER WAY TO THE SOUTH SEAS, IN THE MONTH OF

JUNE, 1827.

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE RECAPTURE OF THE VESSEL BY THE SURVIVERS; THEIR

SHIPWRECK AND SUBSEQUENT HORRIBLE SUFFERINGS FROM FAMINE; THEIR

DELIVERANCE BY MEANS OF THE BRITISH SCHOONER JANE GUY; THE BRIEF CRUISE

OF THIS LATTER VESSEL IN THE ANTARCTIC OCEAN; HER CAPTURE, AND THE

MASSACRE OF HER CREW AMONG A GROUP OF ISLANDS IN THE EIGHTY-FOURTH

PARALLEL OF SOUTHERN LATITUDE; TOGETHER WITH THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES

AND DISCOVERIES STILL FARTHER SOUTH TO WHICH THAT DISTRESSING CALAMITY

GAVE RISE.

NEW-YORK:

HARPER & BROTHERS, 82 CLIFF-ST.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1838, by

HARPER & BROTHERS,

in the Clerk’s Office of the Southern District of New-York.

PREFACE.

Upon my return to the United States a few months ago, after the

extraordinary series of adventure in the South Seas and elsewhere, of

which an account is given in the following pages, accident threw me

into the society of several gentlemen in Richmond, Va., who felt deep

interest in all matters relating to the regions I had visited, and who

were constantly urging it upon me, as a duty, to give my narrative to

the public. I had several reasons, however, for declining to do so,

some of which were of a nature altogether private, and concern no

person but myself; others not so much so. One consideration which

deterred me was, that, having kept no journal during a greater portion

of the time in which I was absent, I feared I should not be able to

write, from mere memory, a statement so minute and connected as to have

the appearance of that truth it would really possess, barring only

the natural and unavoidable exaggeration to which all of us are prone

when detailing events which have had powerful influence in exciting the

imaginative faculties. Another reason was, that the incidents to be

narrated were of a nature so positively marvellous, that, unsupported

as my assertions must necessarily be (except by the evidence of a

single individual, and he a half-breed Indian), I could only hope for

belief among my family, and those of my friends who have had reason,

through life, to put faith in my veracity—the probability being that

the public at large would regard what I should put forth as merely an

impudent and ingenious fiction. A distrust in my own abilities as a

writer was, nevertheless, one of the principal causes which prevented

me from complying with the suggestions of my advisers.

Among those gentlemen in Virginia who expressed the greatest interest

in my statement, more particularly in regard to that portion of it

which related to the Antarctic Ocean, was Mr. Poe, lately editor of the

Southern Literary Messenger, a monthly magazine, published by Mr.

Thomas W. White, in the city of Richmond. He strongly advised me, among

others, to prepare at once a full account of what I had seen and

undergone, and trust to the shrewdness and common sense of the

public—insisting, with great plausibility, that however roughly, as

regards mere authorship, my book should be got up, its very

uncouthness, if there were any, would give it all the better chance of

being received as truth.

Notwithstanding this representation, I did not make up my mind to do as

he suggested. He afterward proposed (finding that I would not stir in

the matter) that I should allow him to draw up, in his own words, a

narrative of the earlier portion of my adventures, from facts afforded

by myself, publishing it in the Southern Messenger _under the garb of

fiction_. To this, perceiving no objection, I consented, stipulating

only that my real name should be retained. Two numbers of the pretended

fiction appeared, consequently, in the Messenger for January and

February (1837), and, in order that it might certainly be regarded as

fiction, the name of Mr. Poe was affixed to the articles in the table

of contents of the magazine.

The manner in which this ruse was received has induced me at length

to undertake a regular compilation and publication of the adventures in

question; for I found that, in spite of the air of fable which had been

so ingeniously thrown around that portion of my statement which

appeared in the Messenger (without altering or distorting a single

fact), the public were still not at all disposed to receive it as

fable, and several letters were sent to Mr. P.’s address distinctly

expressing a conviction to the contrary. I thence concluded that the

facts of my narrative would prove of such a nature as to carry with

them sufficient evidence of their own authenticity, and that I had

consequently little to fear on the score of popular incredulity.

This exposé being made, it will be seen at once how much of what

follows I claim to be my own writing; and it will also be understood

that no fact is misrepresented in the first few pages which were

written by Mr. Poe. Even to those readers who have not seen the

Messenger, it will be unnecessary to point out where his portion ends

and my own commences; the difference in point of style will be readily

perceived.

A. G. PYM.

New-York, July, 1838.

NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.

My name is Arthur Gordon Pym. My father was a respectable trader in

sea-stores at Nantucket, where I was born. My maternal grandfather was

an attorney in good practice. He was fortunate in everything, and had

speculated very successfully in stocks of the Edgarton New-Bank, as it

was formerly called. By these and other means he had managed to lay by

a tolerable sum of money. He was more attached to myself, I believe,

than to any other person in the world, and I expected to inherit the

most of his property at his death. He sent me, at six years of age, to

the school of old Mr. Ricketts, a gentleman with only one arm, and of

eccentric manners—he is well known to almost every person who has

visited New Bedford. I stayed at his school until I was sixteen, when I

left him for Mr. E. Ronald’s academy on the hill. Here I became

intimate with the son of Mr. Barnard, a sea captain, who generally

sailed in the employ of Lloyd and Vredenburgh—Mr. Barnard is also very

well known in New Bedford, and has many relations, I am certain, in

Edgarton. His son was named Augustus, and he was nearly two years older

than myself. He had been on a whaling voyage with his father in the

John Donaldson, and was always talking to me of his adventures in the

South Pacific Ocean. I used frequently to go home with him, and remain

all day, and sometimes all night. We occupied the same bed, and he

would be sure to keep me awake until almost light, telling me stories

of the natives of the Island of Tinian, and other places he had visited

in his travels. At last I could not help being interested in what he

said, and by degrees I felt the greatest desire to go to sea. I owned a

sail-boat called the Ariel, and worth about seventy-five dollars. She

had a half-deck or cuddy, and was rigged sloop-fashion—I forget her

tonnage, but she would hold ten persons without much crowding. In this

boat we were in the habit of going on some of the maddest freaks in the

world; and, when I now think of them, it appears to me a thousand

wonders that I am alive to-day.

I will relate one of these adventures by way of introduction to a

longer and more momentous narrative. One night there was a party at Mr.

Barnard’s, and both Augustus and myself were not a little intoxicated

towards the close of it. As usual, in such cases, I took part of his

bed in preference to going home. He went to sleep, as I thought, very

quietly (it being near one when the party broke up), and without saying

a word on his favourite topic. It might have been half an hour from the

time of our getting in bed, and I was just about falling into a doze,

when he suddenly started up, and swore with a terrible oath that he

would not go to sleep for any Arthur Pym in Christendom, when there was

so glorious a breeze from the southwest. I never was so astonished in

my life, not knowing what he intended, and thinking that the wines and

liquors he had drunk had set him entirely beside himself. He proceeded

to talk very coolly, however, saying he knew that I supposed him

intoxicated, but that he was never more sober in his life. He was only

tired, he added, of lying in bed on such a fine night like a dog, and

was determined to get up and dress, and go out on a frolic with the

boat. I can hardly tell what possessed me, but the words were no sooner

out of his mouth than I felt a thrill of the greatest excitement and

pleasure, and thought his mad idea one of the most delightful and most

reasonable things in the world. It was blowing almost a gale, and the

weather was very cold—it being late in October. I sprang out of bed,

nevertheless, in a kind of ecstasy, and told him I was quite as brave

as himself, and quite as tired as he was of lying in bed like a dog,

and quite as ready for any fun or frolic as any Augustus Barnard in

Nantucket.

We lost no time in getting on our clothes and hurrying down to the

boat. She was lying at the old decayed wharf by the lumber-yard of

Pankey & Co., and almost thumping her sides out against the rough logs.

Augustus got into her and bailed her, for she was nearly half full of

water. This being done, we hoisted jib and mainsail, kept full, and

started boldly out to sea.

The wind, as I before said, blew freshly from the southwest. The night

was very clear and cold. Augustus had taken the helm, and I stationed

myself by the mast, on the deck of the cuddy. We flew along at a great

rate—neither of us having said a word since casting loose from the

wharf. I now asked my companion what course he intended to steer, and

what time he thought it probable we should get back. He whistled for a

few minutes, and then said crustily, “I am going to sea—you may go

home if you think proper.” Turning my eyes upon him, I perceived at

once that, in spite of his assumed nonchalance, he was greatly

agitated. I could see him distinctly by the light of the moon—his face

was paler than any marble, and his hand shook so excessively that he

could scarcely retain hold of the tiller. I found that something had

gone wrong, and became seriously alarmed. At this period I knew little

about the management of a boat, and was now depending entirely upon the

nautical skill of my friend. The wind, too, had suddenly increased, as

we were fast getting out of the lee of the land—still I was ashamed to

betray any trepidation, and for almost half an hour maintained a

resolute silence. I could stand it no longer, however, and spoke to

Augustus about the propriety of turning back. As before, it was nearly

a minute before he made answer, or took any notice of my suggestion.

“By-and-by,” said he at length—“time enough—home by-and-by.” I had

expected a similar reply, but there was something in the tone of these

words which filled me with an indescribable feeling of dread. I again

looked at the speaker attentively. His lips were perfectly livid, and

his knees shook so violently together that he seemed scarcely able to

stand. “For God’s sake, Augustus,” I screamed, now heartily frightened,

“what ails you?—what is the matter?—what are you going to do?”

“Matter!” he stammered, in the greatest apparent surprise, letting go

the tiller at the same moment, and falling forward into the bottom of

the boat—“matter!—why, nothing is the—matter—going

home—d—d—don’t you see?” The whole truth now flashed upon me. I flew

to him and raised him up. He was drunk—beastly drunk—he could no

longer either stand, speak, or see. His eyes were perfectly glazed; and

as I let him go in the extremity of my despair, he rolled like a mere

log into the bilge-water from which I had lifted him. It was evident

that, during the evening, he had drunk far more than I suspected, and

that his conduct in bed had been the result of a highly-concentrated

state of intoxication—a state which, like madness, frequently enables

the victim to imitate the outward demeanour of one in perfect

possession of his senses. The coolness of the night air, however, had

had its usual effect—the mental energy began to yield before its

influence—and the confused perception which he no doubt then had of

his perilous situation had assisted in hastening the catastrophe. He

was now thoroughly insensible, and there was no probability that he

would be otherwise for many hours.

It is hardly possible to conceive the extremity of my terror. The fumes

of the wine lately taken had evaporated, leaving me doubly timid and

irresolute. I knew that I was altogether incapable of managing the

boat, and that a fierce wind and strong ebb tide were hurrying us to

destruction. A storm was evidently gathering behind us; we had neither

compass nor provisions; and it was clear that, if we held our present

course, we should be out of sight of land before daybreak. These

thoughts, with a crowd of others equally fearful, flashed through my

mind with a bewildering rapidity, and for some moments paralyzed me

beyond the possibility of making any exertion. The boat was going

through the water at a terrible rate—full before the wind—no reef in

either jib or mainsail—running her bows completely under the foam. It

was a thousand wonders she did not broach to—Augustus having let go

the tiller, as I said before, and I being too much agitated to think of

taking it myself. By good luck, however, she kept steady, and gradually

I recovered some degree of presence of mind. Still the wind was

increasing fearfully; and whenever we rose from a plunge forward, the

sea behind fell combing over our counter, and deluged us with water. I

was so utterly benumbed, too, in every limb, as to be nearly

unconscious of sensation. At length I summoned up the resolution of

despair, and rushing to the mainsail, let it go by the run. As might

have been expected, it flew over the bows, and, getting drenched with

water, carried away the mast short off by the board. This latter

accident alone saved me from instant destruction. Under the jib only, I

now boomed along before the wind, shipping heavy seas occasionally over

the counter, but relieved from the terror of immediate death. I took

the helm, and breathed with greater freedom as I found that there yet

remained to us a chance of ultimate escape. Augustus still lay

senseless in the bottom of the boat; and as there was imminent danger

of his drowning (the water being nearly a foot deep just where he

fell), I contrived to raise him partially up, and keep him in a sitting

position, by passing a rope round his waist, and lashing it to a

ringbolt in the deck of the cuddy. Having thus arranged everything as

well as I could in my chilled and agitated condition, I recommended

myself to God, and made up my mind to bear whatever might happen with

all the fortitude in my power.

Hardly had I come to this resolution, when, suddenly, a loud and long

scream or yell, as if from the throats of a thousand demons, seemed to

pervade the whole atmosphere around and above the boat. Never while I

live shall I forget the intense agony of terror I experienced at that

moment. My hair stood erect on my head—I felt the blood congealing in

my veins—my heart ceased utterly to beat, and without having once

raised my eyes to learn the source of my alarm, I tumbled headlong and

insensible upon the body of my fallen companion.

I found myself, upon reviving, in the cabin of a large whaling-ship

(the Penguin) bound to Nantucket. Several persons were standing over

me, and Augustus, paler than death, was busily occupied in chafing my

hands. Upon seeing me open my eyes, his exclamations of gratitude and

joy excited alternate laughter and tears from the rough-looking

personages who were present. The mystery of our being in existence was

now soon explained. We had been run down by the whaling-ship, which was

close hauled, beating up to Nantucket with every sail she could venture

to set, and consequently running almost at right angles to our own

course. Several men were on the look-out forward, but did not perceive

our boat until it was an impossibility to avoid coming in

contact—their shouts of warning upon seeing us were what so terribly

alarmed me. The huge ship, I was told, rode immediately over us with as

much ease as our own little vessel would have passed over a feather,

and without the least perceptible impediment to her progress. Not a

scream arose from the deck of the victim—there was a slight grating

sound to be heard mingling with the roar of wind and water, as the

frail bark which was swallowed up rubbed for a moment along the keel of

her destroyer—but this was all. Thinking our boat (which it will be

remembered was dismasted) some mere shell cut adrift as useless, the

captain (Captain E. T. V. Block of New London) was for proceeding on

his course without troubling himself further about the matter. Luckily,

there were two of the look-out who swore positively to having seen some

person at our helm, and represented the possibility of yet saving him.

A discussion ensued, when Block grew angry, and, after a while, said

that “it was no business of his to be eternally watching for

egg-shells; that the ship should not put about for any such nonsense;

and if there was a man run down, it was nobody’s fault but his own—he

might drown and be d----d,” or some language to that effect. Henderson,

the first mate, now took the matter up, being justly indignant, as well

as the whole ship’s crew, at a speech evincing so base a degree of

heartless atrocity. He spoke plainly, seeing himself upheld by the men,

told the captain he considered him a fit subject for the gallows, and

that he would disobey his orders if he were hanged for it the moment he

set his foot on shore. He strode aft, jostling Block (who turned very

pale and made no answer) on one side, and seizing the helm, gave the

word, in a firm voice, Hard-a-lee! The men flew to their posts, and

the ship went cleverly about. All this had occupied nearly five

minutes, and it was supposed to be hardly within the bounds of

possibility that any individual could be saved—allowing any to have

been on board the boat. Yet, as the reader has seen, both Augustus and

myself were rescued; and our deliverance seemed to have been brought

about by two of those almost inconceivable pieces of good fortune which

are attributed by the wise and pious to the special interference of

Providence.

While the ship was yet in stays, the mate lowered the jolly-boat and

jumped into her with the very two men, I believe, who spoke up as

having seen me at the helm. They had just left the lee of the vessel

(the moon still shining brightly) when she made a long and heavy roll

to windward, and Henderson, at the same moment, starting up in his

seat, bawled out to his crew to back water. He would say nothing

else—repeating his cry impatiently, back water! back water! The men

put back as speedily as possible; but by this time the ship had gone

round, and gotten fully under headway, although all hands on board were

making great exertions to take in sail. In despite of the danger of the

attempt, the mate clung to the main-chains as soon as they came within

his reach. Another huge lurch now brought the starboard side of the

vessel out of water nearly as far as her keel, when the cause of his

anxiety was rendered obvious enough. The body of a man was seen to be

affixed in the most singular manner to the smooth and shining bottom

(the Penguin was coppered and copper-fastened), and beating violently

against it with every movement of the hull. After several ineffectual

efforts, made during the lurches of the ship, and at the imminent risk

of swamping the boat, I was finally disengaged from my perilous

situation and taken on board—for the body proved to be my own. It

appeared that one of the timber-bolts having started and broken a

passage through the copper, it had arrested my progress as I passed

under the ship, and fastened me in so extraordinary a manner to her

bottom. The head of the bolt had made its way through the collar of the

green baize jacket I had on, and through the back part of my neck,

forcing itself out between two sinews and just below the right ear. I

was immediately put to bed—although life seemed to be totally extinct.

There was no surgeon on board. The captain, however, treated me with

every attention—to make amends, I presume, in the eyes of his crew,

for his atrocious behaviour in the previous portion of the adventure.

In the meantime, Henderson had again put off from the ship, although

the wind was now blowing almost a hurricane. He had not been gone many

minutes when he fell in with some fragments of our boat, and shortly

afterward one of the men with him asserted that he could distinguish a

cry for help at intervals amid the roaring of the tempest. This induced

the hardy seamen to persevere in their search for more than half an

hour, although repeated signals to return were made them by Captain

Block, and although every moment on the water in so frail a boat was

fraught to them with the most imminent and deadly peril. Indeed, it is

nearly impossible to conceive how the small jolly they were in could

have escaped destruction for a single instant. She was built, however,

for the whaling service, and was fitted, as I have since had reason to

believe, with air-boxes, in the manner of some life-boats used on the

coast of Wales.

After searching in vain for about the period of time just mentioned, it

was determined to get back to the ship. They had scarcely made this

resolve when a feeble cry arose from a dark object which floated

rapidly by. They pursued and soon overtook it. It proved to be the

entire deck of the Ariel’s cuddy. Augustus was struggling near it,

apparently in the last agonies. Upon getting hold of him it was found

that he was attached by a rope to the floating timber. This rope, it

will be remembered, I had myself tied round his waist, and made fast to

a ringbolt, for the purpose of keeping him in an upright position, and

my so doing, it appeared, had been ultimately the means of preserving

his life. The Ariel was slightly put together, and in going down her

frame naturally went to pieces; the deck of the cuddy, as might be

expected, was lifted, by the force of the water rushing in, entirely

from the main timbers, and floated (with other fragments, no doubt) to

the surface—Augustus was buoyed up with it, and thus escaped a

terrible death.

It was more than an hour after being taken on board the Penguin before

he could give any account of himself, or be made to comprehend the

nature of the accident which had befallen our boat. At length he became

thoroughly aroused, and spoke much of his sensations while in the

water. Upon his first attaining any degree of consciousness, he found

himself beneath the surface, whirling round and round with

inconceivable rapidity, and with a rope wrapped in three or four folds

tightly about his neck. In an instant afterward he felt himself going

rapidly upward, when, his head striking violently against a hard

substance, he again relapsed into insensibility. Upon once more

reviving he was in fuller possession of his reason—this was still,

however, in the greatest degree clouded and confused. He now knew that

some accident had occurred, and that he was in the water, although his

mouth was above the surface, and he could breathe with some freedom.

Possibly, at this period, the deck was drifting rapidly before the

wind, and drawing him after it, as he floated upon his back. Of course,

as long as he could have retained this position, it would have been

nearly impossible that he should be drowned. Presently a surge threw

him directly athwart the deck; and this post he endeavoured to

maintain, screaming at intervals for help. Just before he was

discovered by Mr. Henderson, he had been obliged to relax his hold

through exhaustion, and, falling into the sea, had given himself up for

lost. During the whole period of his struggles he had not the faintest

recollection of the Ariel, nor of any matters in connexion with the

source of his disaster. A vague feeling of terror and despair had taken

entire possession of his faculties. When he was finally picked up,

every power of his mind had failed him; and, as before said, it was

nearly an hour after getting on board the Penguin before he became

fully aware of his condition. In regard to myself—I was resuscitated

from a state bordering very nearly upon death (and after every other

means had been tried in vain for three hours and a half) by vigorous

friction with flannels bathed in hot oil—a proceeding suggested by

Augustus. The wound in my neck, although of an ugly appearance, proved

of little real consequence, and I soon recovered from its effects.

The Penguin got into port about nine o’clock in the morning, after

encountering one of the severest gales ever experienced off Nantucket.

Both Augustus and myself managed to appear at Mr. Barnard’s in time for

breakfast—which, luckily, was somewhat late, owing to the party over

night. I suppose all at the table were too much fatigued themselves to

notice our jaded appearance—of course, it would not have borne a very

rigid scrutiny. Schoolboys, however, can accomplish wonders in the way

of deception, and I verily believe not one of our friends in Nantucket

had the slightest suspicion that the terrible story told by some

sailors in town of their having run down a vessel at sea and drowned

some thirty or forty poor devils, had reference either to the Ariel, my

companion, or myself. We two have since very frequently talked the

matter over—but never without a shudder. In one of our conversations

Augustus frankly confessed to me, that in his whole life he had at no

time experienced so excruciating a sense of dismay, as when on board

our little boat he first discovered the extent of his intoxication, and

felt himself sinking beneath its influence.

CHAPTER II.

In no affairs of mere prejudice, pro or con, do we deduce inferences

with entire certainty even from the most simple data. It might be

supposed that a catastrophe such as I have just related would have

effectually cooled my incipient passion for the sea. On the contrary, I

never experienced a more ardent longing for the wild adventures

incident to the life of a navigator than within a week after our

miraculous deliverance. This short period proved amply long enough to

erase from my memory the shadows, and bring out in vivid light all the

pleasurably exciting points of colour, all the picturesqueness of the

late perilous accident. My conversations with Augustus grew daily more

frequent and more intensely full of interest. He had a manner of

relating his stories of the ocean (more than one half of which I now

suspect to have been sheer fabrications) well adapted to have weight

with one of my enthusiastic temperament, and somewhat gloomy, although

glowing imagination. It is strange, too, that he most strongly enlisted

my feelings in behalf of the life of a seaman, when he depicted his

more terrible moments of suffering and despair. For the bright side of

the painting I had a limited sympathy. My visions were of shipwreck and

famine; of death or captivity among barbarian hordes; of a lifetime

dragged out in sorrow and tears, upon some gray and desolate rock, in

an ocean unapproachable and unknown. Such visions or desires—for they

amounted to desires—are common, I have since been assured, to the

whole numerous race of the melancholy among men—at the time of which I

speak I regarded them only as prophetic glimpses of a destiny which I

felt myself in a measure bound to fulfil. Augustus thoroughly entered

into my state of mind. It is probable, indeed, that our intimate

communion had resulted in a partial interchange of character.

About eighteen months after the period of the Ariel’s disaster, the

firm of Lloyd and Vredenburgh (a house connected in some manner with

the Messieurs Enderby, I believe, of Liverpool) were engaged in

repairing and fitting out the brig Grampus for a whaling voyage. She

was an old hulk, and scarcely seaworthy when all was done to her that

could be done. I hardly know why she was chosen in preference to other

good vessels belonging to the same owners—but so it was. Mr. Barnard

was appointed to command her, and Augustus was going with him. While

the brig was getting ready, he frequently urged upon me the excellency

of the opportunity now offered for indulging my desire of travel. He

found me by no means an unwilling listener—yet the matter could not be

so easily arranged. My father made no direct opposition; but my mother

went into hysterics at the bare mention of the design; and, more than

all, my grandfather, from whom I expected much, vowed to cut me off

with a shilling if I should ever broach the subject to him again. These

difficulties, however, so far from abating my desire, only added fuel

to the flame. I determined to go at all hazards; and, having made known

my intention to Augustus, we set about arranging a plan by which it

might be accomplished. In the meantime I forbore speaking to any of my

relations in regard to the voyage, and, as I busied myself ostensibly

with my usual studies, it was supposed that I had abandoned the design.

I have since frequently examined my conduct on this occasion with

sentiments of displeasure as well as of surprise. The intense hypocrisy

I made use of for the furtherance of my project—an hypocrisy pervading

every word and action of my life for so long a period of time—could

only have been rendered tolerable to myself by the wild and burning

expectation with which I looked forward to the fulfilment of my

long-cherished visions of travel.

In pursuance of my scheme of deception, I was necessarily obliged to

leave much to the management of Augustus, who was employed for the

greater part of every day on board the Grampus, attending to some

arrangements for his father in the cabin and cabin hold. At night,

however, we were sure to have a conference, and talk over our hopes.

After nearly a month passed in this manner, without our hitting upon

any plan we thought likely to succeed, he told me at last that he had

determined upon everything necessary. I had a relation living in New

Bedford, a Mr. Ross, at whose house I was in the habit of spending

occasionally two or three weeks at a time. The brig was to sail about

the middle of June (June, 1827), and it was agreed that, a day or two

before her putting to sea, my father was to receive a note, as usual,

from Mr. Ross, asking me to come over and spend a fortnight with Robert

and Emmet (his sons). Augustus charged himself with the enditing of

this note and getting it delivered. Having set out, as supposed, for

New Bedford, I was then to report myself to my companion, who would

contrive a hiding-place for me in the Grampus. This hiding-place, he

assured me, would be rendered sufficiently comfortable for a residence

of many days, during which I was not to make my appearance. When the

brig had proceeded so far on her course as to make any turning back a

matter out of question, I should then, he said, be formally installed

in all the comforts of the cabin; and as to his father, he would only

laugh heartily at the joke. Vessels enough would be met with by which a

letter might be sent home explaining the adventure to my parents.

The middle of June at length arrived, and everything had been matured.

The note was written and delivered, and on a Monday morning I left the

house for the New Bedford packet, as supposed. I went, however,

straight to Augustus, who was waiting for me at the corner of a street.

It had been our original plan that I should keep out of the way until

dark, and then slip on board the brig; but, as there was now a thick

fog in our favour, it was agreed to lose no time in secreting me.

Augustus led the way to the wharf, and I followed at a little distance,

enveloped in a thick seaman’s cloak, which he had brought with him, so

that my person might not be easily recognised. Just as we turned the

second corner, after passing Mr. Edmund’s well, who should appear,

standing right in front of me, and looking me full in the face, but old

Mr. Peterson, my grandfather. “Why, bless my soul, Gordon,” said he,

after a long pause, “why, why—whose dirty cloak is that you have

on?” “Sir!” I replied, assuming, as well as I could, in the exigency of

the moment, an air of offended surprise, and talking in the gruffest of

all imaginable tones—“sir! you are a sum’mat mistaken—my name, in the

first place, bee’nt nothing at all like Goddin, and I’d want you for to

know better, you blackguard, than to call my new obercoat a darty one!”

For my life I could hardly refrain from screaming with laughter at the

odd manner in which the old gentleman received this handsome rebuke. He

started back two or three steps, turned first pale and then excessively

red, threw up his spectacles, then, putting them down, ran full tilt at

me, with his umbrella uplifted. He stopped short, however, in his

career, as if struck with a sudden recollection; and presently, turning

round, hobbled off down the street, shaking all the while with rage,

and muttering between his teeth, “Won’t do—new glasses—thought it was

Gordon—d----d good-for-nothing salt water Long Tom.”

After this narrow escape we proceeded with greater caution, and arrived

at our point of destination in safety. There were only one or two of

the hands on board, and these were busy forward, doing something to the

forecastle combings. Captain Barnard, we knew very well, was engaged at

Lloyd and Vredenburgh’s, and would remain there until late in the

evening, so we had little to apprehend on his account. Augustus went

first up the vessel’s side, and in a short while I followed him,

without being noticed by the men at work. We proceeded at once into the

cabin, and found no person there. It was fitted up in the most

comfortable style—a thing somewhat unusual in a whaling-vessel. There

were four very excellent staterooms, with wide and convenient berths.

There was also a large stove, I took notice, and a remarkably thick and

valuable carpet covering the floor of both the cabin and staterooms.

The ceiling was full seven feet high, and, in short, everything

appeared of a more roomy and agreeable nature than I had anticipated.

Augustus, however, would allow me but little time for observation,

insisting upon the necessity of my concealing myself as soon as

possible. He led the way into his own stateroom, which was on the

starboard side of the brig, and next to the bulkheads. Upon entering,

he closed the door and bolted it. I thought I had never seen a nicer

little room than the one in which I now found myself. It was about ten

feet long, and had only one berth, which, as I said before, was wide

and convenient. In that portion of the closet nearest the bulkheads

there was a space of four feet square, containing a table, a chair, and

a set of hanging shelves full of books, chiefly books of voyages and

travels. There were many other little comforts in the room, among which

I ought not to forget a kind of safe or refrigerator, in which Augustus

pointed out to me a host of delicacies, both in the eating and drinking

department.

He now pressed with his knuckles upon a certain spot of the carpet in

one corner of the space just mentioned, letting me know that a portion

of the flooring, about sixteen inches square, had been neatly cut out

and again adjusted. As he pressed, this portion rose up at one end

sufficiently to allow the passage of his finger beneath. In this manner

he raised the mouth of the trap (to which the carpet was still fastened

by tacks), and I found that it led into the after hold. He next lit a

small taper by means of a phosphorus match, and, placing the light in a

dark lantern, descended with it through the opening, bidding me follow.

I did so, and he then pulled the cover upon the hole, by means of a

nail driven into the under side—the carpet, of course, resuming its

original position on the floor of the stateroom, and all traces of the

aperture being concealed.

The taper gave out so feeble a ray, that it was with the greatest

difficulty I could grope my way through the confused mass of lumber

among which I now found myself. By degrees, however, my eyes became

accustomed to the gloom, and I proceeded with less trouble, holding on

to the skirts of my friend’s coat. He brought me, at length, after

creeping and winding through innumerable narrow passages, to an

iron-bound box, such as is used sometimes for packing fine earthenware.

It was nearly four feet high, and full six long, but very narrow. Two

large empty oil-casks lay on the top of it, and above these, again, a

vast quantity of straw matting, piled up as high as the floor of the

cabin. In every other direction around was wedged as closely as

possible, even up to the ceiling, a complete chaos of almost every

species of ship-furniture, together with a heterogeneous medley of

crates, hampers, barrels, and bales, so that it seemed a matter no less

than miraculous that we had discovered any passage at all to the box. I

afterward found that Augustus had purposely arranged the stowage in

this hold with a view to affording me a thorough concealment, having

had only one assistant in the labour, a man not going out in the brig.

My companion now showed me that one of the ends of the box could be

removed at pleasure. He slipped it aside and displayed the interior, at

which I was excessively amused. A mattress from one of the cabin berths

covered the whole of its bottom, and it contained almost every article

of mere comfort which could be crowded into so small a space, allowing

me, at the same time, sufficient room for my accommodation, either in a

sitting position or lying at full length. Among other things, there

were some books, pen, ink, and paper, three blankets, a large jug full

of water, a keg of sea-biscuit, three or four immense Bologna sausages,

an enormous ham, a cold leg of roast mutton, and half a dozen bottles

of cordials and liqueurs. I proceeded immediately to take possession of

my little apartment, and this with feelings of higher satisfaction, I

am sure, than any monarch ever experienced upon entering a new palace.

Augustus now pointed out to me the method of fastening the open end of

the box, and then, holding the taper close to the deck, showed me a

piece of dark whipcord lying along it. This, he said, extended from my

hiding-place throughout all the necessary windings among the lumber, to

a nail which was driven into the deck of the hold, immediately beneath

the trapdoor leading into his stateroom. By means of this cord I should

be enabled readily to trace my way out without his guidance, provided

any unlooked-for accident should render such a step necessary. He now

took his departure, leaving with me the lantern, together with a

copious supply of tapers and phosphorus, and promising to pay me a

visit as often as he could contrive to do so without observation. This

was on the seventeenth of June.

I remained three days and nights (as nearly as I could guess) in my

hiding-place without getting out of it at all, except twice for the

purpose of stretching my limbs by standing erect between two crates

just opposite the opening. During the whole period I saw nothing of

Augustus; but this occasioned me little uneasiness, as I knew the brig

was expected to put to sea every hour, and in the bustle he would not

easily find opportunities of coming down to me. At length I heard the

trap open and shut, and presently he called in a low voice, asking if

all was well, and if there was anything I wanted. “Nothing,” I replied;

“I am as comfortable as can be; when will the brig sail?” “She will be

under weigh in less than half an hour,” he answered. “I came to let you

know, and for fear you should be uneasy at my absence. I shall not have

a chance of coming down again for some time—perhaps for three or four

days more. All is going on right aboveboard. After I go up and close

the trap, do you creep along by the whipcord to where the nail is

driven in. You will find my watch there—it may be useful to you, as

you have no daylight to keep time by. I suppose you can’t tell how long

you have been buried—only three days—this is the twentieth. I would

bring the watch to your box, but am afraid of being missed.” With this

he went up.

In about an hour after he had gone I distinctly felt the brig in

motion, and congratulated myself upon having at length fairly commenced

a voyage. Satisfied with this idea, I determined to make my mind as

easy as possible, and await the course of events until I should be

permitted to exchange the box for the more roomy, although hardly more

comfortable, accommodations of the cabin. My first care was to get the

watch. Leaving the taper burning, I groped along in the dark, following

the cord through windings innumerable, in some of which I discovered

that, after toiling a long distance, I was brought back within a foot

or two of a former position. At length I reached the nail, and,

securing the object of my journey, returned with it in safety. I now

looked over the books which had been so thoughtfully provided, and

selected the expedition of Lewis and Clarke to the mouth of the

Columbia. With this I amused myself for some time, when, growing

sleepy, I extinguished the light with great care, and soon fell into a

sound slumber.

Upon awaking I felt strangely confused in mind, and some time elapsed

before I could bring to recollection all the various circumstances of

my situation. By degrees, however, I remembered all. Striking a light,

I looked at the watch; but it was run down, and there were,

consequently, no means of determining how long I had slept. My limbs

were greatly cramped, and I was forced to relieve them by standing

between the crates. Presently, feeling an almost ravenous appetite, I

bethought myself of the cold mutton, some of which I had eaten just

before going to sleep, and found excellent. What was my astonishment at

discovering it to be in a state of absolute putrefaction! This

circumstance occasioned me great disquietude; for, connecting it with

the disorder of mind I experienced upon awaking, I began to suppose

that I must have slept for an inordinately long period of time. The

close atmosphere of the hold might have had something to do with this,

and might, in the end, be productive of the most serious results. My

head ached excessively; I fancied that I drew every breath with

difficulty; and, in short, I was oppressed with a multitude of gloomy

feelings. Still I could not venture to make any disturbance by opening

the trap or otherwise, and, having wound up the watch, contented myself

as well as possible.

Throughout the whole of the next tedious twenty-four hours no person

came to my relief, and I could not help accusing Augustus of the

grossest inattention. What alarmed me chiefly was, that the water in my

jug was reduced to about half a pint, and I was suffering much from

thirst, having eaten freely of the Bologna sausages after the loss of

my mutton. I became very uneasy, and could no longer take any interest

in my books. I was overpowered, too, with a desire to sleep, yet

trembled at the thought of indulging it, lest there might exist some

pernicious influence, like that of burning charcoal, in the confined

air of the hold. In the mean time the roll of the brig told me that we

were far in the main ocean, and a dull humming sound, which reached my

ears as if from an immense distance, convinced me no ordinary gale was

blowing. I could not imagine a reason for the absence of Augustus. We

were surely far enough advanced on our voyage to allow of my going up.

Some accident might have happened to him—but I could think of none

which would account for his suffering me to remain so long a prisoner,

except, indeed, his having suddenly died or fallen overboard, and upon

this idea I could not dwell with any degree of patience. It was

possible that we had been baffled by head winds, and were still in the

near vicinity of Nantucket. This notion, however, I was forced to

abandon; for, such being the case, the brig must have frequently gone

about; and I was entirely satisfied, from her continual inclination to

the larboard, that she had been sailing all along with a steady breeze

on her starboard quarter. Besides, granting that we were still in the

neighbourhood of the island, why should not Augustus have visited me

and informed me of the circumstance? Pondering in this manner upon the

difficulties of my solitary and cheerless condition, I resolved to wait

yet another twenty-four hours, when, if no relief were obtained, I

would make my way to the trap, and endeavour either to hold a parley

with my friend, or get at least a little fresh air through the opening,

and a further supply of water from his stateroom. While occupied with

this thought, however, I fell, in spite of every exertion to the

contrary, into a state of profound sleep, or rather stupor. My dreams

were of the most terrific description. Every species of calamity and

horror befell me. Among other miseries, I was smothered to death

between huge pillows, by demons of the most ghastly and ferocious

aspect. Immense serpents held me in their embrace, and looked earnestly

in my face with their fearfully shining eyes. Then deserts, limitless,

and of the most forlorn and awe-inspiring character, spread themselves

out before me. Immensely tall trunks of trees, gray and leafless, rose

up in endless succession as far as the eye could reach. Their roots

were concealed in wide-spreading morasses, whose dreary water lay

intensely black, still, and altogether terrible, beneath. And the

strange trees seemed endowed with a human vitality, and, waving to and

fro their skeleton arms, were crying to the silent waters for mercy, in

the shrill and piercing accents of the most acute agony and despair.

The scene changed; and I stood, naked and alone, amid the burning

sand-plains of Zahara. At my feet lay crouched a fierce lion of the

tropics. Suddenly his wild eyes opened and fell upon me. With a

convulsive bound he sprang to his feet, and laid bare his horrible

teeth. In another instant there burst from his red throat a roar like

the thunder of the firmament, and I fell impetuously to the earth.

Stifling in a paroxysm of terror, I at last found myself partially

awake. My dream, then, was not all a dream. Now, at least, I was in

possession of my senses. The paws of some huge and real monster were

pressing heavily upon my bosom—his hot breath was in my ear—and his

white and ghastly fangs were gleaming upon me through the gloom.

Had a thousand lives hung upon the movement of a limb or the utterance

of a syllable, I could have neither stirred nor spoken. The beast,

whatever it was, retained his position without attempting any immediate

violence, while I lay in an utterly helpless, and, I fancied, a dying

condition beneath him. I felt that my powers of body and mind were fast

leaving me—in a word, that I was perishing, and perishing of sheer

fright. My brain swam—I grew deadly sick—my vision failed—even the

glaring eyeballs above me grew dim. Making a last strong effort, I at

length breathed a faint ejaculation to God, and resigned myself to die.

The sound of my voice seemed to arouse all the latent fury of the

animal. He precipitated himself at full length upon my body; but what

was my astonishment, when, with a long and low whine, he commenced

licking my face and hands with the greatest eagerness, and with the

most extravagant demonstrations of affection and joy! I was bewildered,

utterly lost in amazement—but I could not forget the peculiar whine of

my Newfoundland dog Tiger, and the odd manner of his caresses I well

knew. It was he. I experienced a sudden rush of blood to my temples—a

giddy and overpowering sense of deliverance and reanimation. I rose

hurriedly from the mattress upon which I had been lying, and, throwing

myself upon the neck of my faithful follower and friend, relieved the

long oppression of my bosom in a flood of the most passionate tears.

As upon a former occasion, my conceptions were in a state of the

greatest indistinctness and confusion after leaving the mattress. For a

long time I found it nearly impossible to connect any ideas—but, by

very slow degrees, my thinking faculties returned, and I again called

to memory the several incidents of my condition. For the presence of

Tiger I tried in vain to account; and after busying myself with a

thousand different conjectures respecting him, was forced to content

myself with rejoicing that he was with me to share my dreary solitude,

and render me comfort by his caresses. Most people love their dogs—but

for Tiger I had an affection far more ardent than common; and never,

certainly, did any creature more truly deserve it. For seven years he

had been my inseparable companion, and in a multitude of instances had

given evidence of all the noble qualities for which we value the

animal. I had rescued him, when a puppy, from the clutches of a

malignant little villain in Nantucket, who was leading him, with a rope

around his neck, to the water; and the grown dog repaid the obligation,

about three years afterward, by saving me from the bludgeon of a

street-robber.

Getting now hold of the watch, I found, upon applying it to my ear,

that it had again run down; but at this I was not at all surprised,

being convinced, from the peculiar state of my feelings, that I had

slept, as before, for a very long period of time; how long, it was of

course impossible to say. I was burning up with fever, and my thirst

was almost intolerable. I felt about the box for my little remaining

supply of water; for I had no light, the taper having burnt to the

socket of the lantern, and the phosphorus-box not coming readily to

hand. Upon finding the jug, however, I discovered it to be

empty—Tiger, no doubt, having been tempted to drink it, as well as to

devour the remnant of mutton, the bone of which lay, well picked, by

the opening of the box. The spoiled meat I could well spare, but my

heart sank as I thought of the water. I was feeble in the extreme—so

much so that I shook all over, as with an ague, at the slightest

movement or exertion. To add to my troubles, the brig was pitching and

rolling with great violence, and the oil-casks which lay upon my box

were in momentary danger of falling down, so as to block up the only

way of ingress or egress. I felt, also, terrible sufferings from

sea-sickness. These considerations determined me to make my way, at all

hazards, to the trap, and obtain immediate relief, before I should be

incapacitated from doing so altogether. Having come to this resolve, I

again felt about for the phosphorus-box and tapers. The former I found

after some little trouble; but, not discovering the tapers as soon as I

had expected (for I remembered very nearly the spot in which I had

placed them), I gave up the search for the present, and bidding Tiger

lie quiet, began at once my journey towards the trap.

In this attempt my great feebleness became more than ever apparent. It

was with the utmost difficulty I could crawl along at all, and very

frequently my limbs sank suddenly from beneath me; when, falling

prostrate on my face, I would remain for some minutes in a state

bordering on insensibility. Still I struggled forward by slow degrees,

dreading every moment that I should swoon amid the narrow and intricate

windings of the lumber, in which event I had nothing but death to

expect as the result. At length, upon making a push forward with all

the energy I could command, I struck my forehead violently against the

sharp corner of an iron-bound crate. The accident only stunned me for a

few moments; but I found, to my inexpressible grief, that the quick and

violent roll of the vessel had thrown the crate entirely across my

path, so as effectually to block up the passage. With my utmost

exertions I could not move it a single inch from its position, it being

closely wedged in among the surrounding boxes and ship-furniture. It

became necessary, therefore, enfeebled as I was, either to leave the

guidance of the whipcord and seek out a new passage, or to climb over

the obstacle, and resume the path on the other side. The former

alternative presented too many difficulties and dangers to be thought

of without a shudder. In my present weak state of both mind and body, I

should infallibly lose my way if I attempted it, and perish miserably

amid the dismal and disgusting labyrinths of the hold. I proceeded,

therefore, without hesitation, to summon up all my remaining strength

and fortitude, and endeavour, as I best might, to clamber over the

crate.

Upon standing erect, with this end in view, I found the undertaking

even a more serious task than my fears had led me to imagine. On each

side of the narrow passage arose a complete wall of various heavy

lumber, which the least blunder on my part might be the means of

bringing down upon my head; or, if this accident did not occur, the

path might be effectually blocked up against my return by the

descending mass, as it was in front by the obstacle there. The crate

itself was a long and unwieldy box, upon which no foothold could be

obtained. In vain I attempted, by every means in my power, to reach the

top, with the hope of being thus enabled to draw myself up. Had I

succeeded in reaching it, it is certain that my strength would have

proved utterly inadequate to the task of getting over, and it was

better in every respect that I failed. At length, in a desperate effort

to force the crate from its ground, I felt a strong vibration in the

side next me. I thrust my hand eagerly to the edge of the planks, and

found that a very large one was loose. With my pocket-knife, which

luckily I had with me, I succeeded, after great labour, in prying it

entirely off; and, getting through the aperture, discovered, to my

exceeding joy, that there were no boards on the opposite side—in other

words, that the top was wanting, it being the bottom through which I

had forced my way. I now met with no important difficulty in proceeding

along the line until I finally reached the nail. With a beating heart I

stood erect, and with a gentle touch pressed against the cover of the

trap. It did not rise as soon as I had expected, and I pressed it with

somewhat more determination, still dreading lest some other person than

Augustus might be in his stateroom. The door, however, to my

astonishment, remained steady, and I became somewhat uneasy, for I knew

that it had formerly required little or no effort to remove it. I

pushed it strongly—it was nevertheless firm: with all my strength—it

still did not give way: with rage, with fury, with despair—it set at

defiance my utmost efforts; and it was evident, from the unyielding

nature of the resistance, that the hole had either been discovered and

effectually nailed up, or that some immense weight had been placed upon

it, which it was useless to think of removing.

My sensations were those of extreme horror and dismay. In vain I

attempted to reason on the probable cause of my being thus entombed. I

could summon up no connected chain of reflection, and, sinking on the

floor, gave way, unresistingly, to the most gloomy imaginings, in which

the dreadful deaths of thirst, famine, suffocation, and premature

interment, crowded upon me as the prominent disasters to be

encountered. At length there returned to me some portion of presence of

mind. I arose, and felt with my fingers for the seams or cracks of the

aperture. Having found them, I examined them closely to ascertain if

they emitted any light from the stateroom; but none was visible. I then

forced the penblade of my knife through them, until I met with some

hard obstacle. Scraping against it, I discovered it to be a solid mass

of iron, which, from its peculiar wavy feel as I passed the blade along

it, I concluded to be a chain-cable. The only course now left me was to

retrace my way to the box, and there either yield to my sad fate, or

try so to tranquillize my mind as to admit of my arranging some plan of

escape. I immediately set about the attempt, and succeeded, after

innumerable difficulties, in getting back. As I sank, utterly

exhausted, upon the mattress, Tiger threw himself at full length by my

side, and seemed as if desirous, by his caresses, of consoling me in my

troubles, and urging me to bear them with fortitude.

The singularity of his behaviour at length forcibly arrested my

attention. After licking my face and hands for some minutes, he would

suddenly cease doing so, and utter a low whine. Upon reaching out my

hand towards him, I then invariably found him lying on his back, with

his paws uplifted. This conduct, so frequently repeated, appeared

strange, and I could in no manner account for it. As the dog seemed

distressed, I concluded that he had received some injury; and, taking

his paws in my hands, I examined them one by one, but found no sign of

any hurt. I then supposed him hungry, and gave him a large piece of

ham, which he devoured with avidity—afterward, however, resuming his

extraordinary manoeuvres. I now imagined that he was suffering, like

myself, the torments of thirst, and was about adopting this conclusion

as the true one, when the idea occurred to me that I had as yet only

examined his paws, and that there might possibly be a wound upon some

portion of his body or head. The latter I felt carefully over, but

found nothing. On passing my hand, however, along his back, I perceived

a slight erection of the hair extending completely across it. Probing

this with my finger, I discovered a string, and, tracing it up, found

that it encircled the whole body. Upon a closer scrutiny, I came across

a small slip of what had the feeling of letter paper, through which the

string had been fastened in such a manner as to bring it immediately

beneath the left shoulder of the animal.

CHAPTER III.

The thought instantly occurred to me that the paper was a note from

Augustus, and that some unaccountable accident having happened to

prevent his relieving me from my dungeon, he had devised this method of

acquainting me with the true state of affairs. Trembling with

eagerness, I now commenced another search for my phosphorus matches and

tapers. I had a confused recollection of having put them carefully away

just before falling asleep; and, indeed, previously to my last journey

to the trap, I had been able to remember the exact spot where I had

deposited them. But now I endeavoured in vain to call it to mind, and

busied myself for a full hour in a fruitless and vexatious search for

the missing articles; never, surely, was there a more tantalizing state

of anxiety and suspense. At length, while groping about, with my head

close to the ballast, near the opening of the box, and outside of it, I

perceived a faint glimmering of light in the direction of the steerage.

Greatly surprised, I endeavoured to make my way towards it, as it

appeared to be but a few feet from my position. Scarcely had I moved

with this intention, when I lost sight of the glimmer entirely, and,

before I could bring it into view again, was obliged to feel along by

the box until I had exactly resumed my original situation. Now, moving

my head with caution to and fro, I found that, by proceeding slowly,

with great care, in an opposite direction to that in which I had at

first started, I was enabled to draw near the light, still keeping it

in view. Presently I came directly upon it (having squeezed my way

through innumerable narrow windings), and found that it proceeded from

some fragments of my matches lying in an empty barrel turned upon its

side. I was wondering how they came in such a place, when my hand fell

upon two or three pieces of taper-wax, which had been evidently mumbled

by the dog. I concluded at once that he had devoured the whole of my

supply of candles, and I felt hopeless of being ever able to read the

note of Augustus. The small remnants of the wax were so mashed up among

other rubbish in the barrel, that I despaired of deriving any service

from them, and left them as they were. The phosphorus, of which there

was only a speck or two, I gathered up as well as I could, and returned

with it, after much difficulty, to my box, where Tiger had all the

while remained.

What to do next I could not tell. The hold was so intensely dark that I

could not see my hand, however close I would hold it to my face. The

white slip of paper could barely be discerned, and not even that when I

looked at it directly; by turning the exterior portions of the retina

towards it, that is to say, by surveying it slightly askance, I found

that it became in some measure perceptible. Thus the gloom of my prison

may be imagined, and the note of my friend, if indeed it were a note

from him, seemed only likely to throw me into further trouble, by

disquieting to no purpose my already enfeebled and agitated mind. In

vain I revolved in my brain a multitude of absurd expedients for

procuring light—such expedients precisely as a man in the perturbed

sleep occasioned by opium would be apt to fall upon for a similar

purpose—each and all of which appear by turns to the dreamer the most

reasonable and the most preposterous of conceptions, just as the

reasoning or imaginative faculties flicker, alternately, one above the

other. At last an idea occurred to me which seemed rational, and which

gave me cause to wonder, very justly, that I had not entertained it

before. I placed the slip of paper on the back of a book, and,

collecting the fragments of the phosphorus matches which I had brought

from the barrel, laid them together upon the paper. I then, with the

palm of my hand, rubbed the whole over quickly yet steadily. A clear

light diffused itself immediately throughout the whole surface; and had

there been any writing upon it, I should not have experienced the least

difficulty, I am sure, in reading it. Not a syllable was there,

however—nothing but a dreary and unsatisfactory blank; the

illumination died away in a few seconds, and my heart died away within

me as it went.

I have before stated more than once that my intellect, for some period

prior to this, had been in a condition nearly bordering on idiocy.

There were, to be sure, momentary intervals of perfect sanity, and, now

and then, even of energy; but these were few. It must be remembered

that I had been, for many days certainly, inhaling the almost

pestilential atmosphere of a close hold in a whaling vessel, and a long

portion of that time but scantily supplied with water. For the last

fourteen or fifteen hours I had none—nor had I slept during that time.

Salt provisions of the most exciting kind had been my chief, and,

indeed, since the loss of the mutton, my only supply of food, with the

exception of the sea-biscuit; and these latter were utterly useless to

me, as they were too dry and hard to be swallowed in the swollen and

parched condition of my throat. I was now in a high state of fever, and

in every respect exceedingly ill. This will account for the fact that

many miserable hours of despondency elapsed after my last adventure

with the phosphorus, before the thought suggested itself that I had

examined only one side of the paper. I shall not attempt to describe my

feelings of rage (for I believe I was more angry than anything else)

when the egregious oversight I had committed flashed suddenly upon my

perception. The blunder itself would have been unimportant, had not my

own folly and impetuosity rendered it otherwise—in my disappointment

at not finding some words upon the slip, I had childishly torn it in

pieces and thrown it away, it was impossible to say where.

From the worst part of this dilemma I was relieved by the sagacity of

Tiger. Having got, after a long search, a small piece of the note, I

put it to the dog’s nose, and endeavoured to make him understand that

he must bring me the rest of it. To my astonishment (for I had taught

him none of the usual tricks for which his breed are famous), he seemed

to enter at once into my meaning, and, rummaging about for a few

moments, soon found another considerable portion. Bringing me this, he

paused a while, and, rubbing his nose against my hand, appeared to be

waiting for my approval of what he had done. I patted him on the head,

when he immediately made off again. It was now some minutes before he

came back—but when he did come, he brought with him a large slip,

which proved to be all the paper missing—it having been torn, it

seems, only into three pieces. Luckily, I had no trouble in finding

what few fragments of the phosphorus were left—being guided by the

indistinct glow one or two of the particles still emitted. My

difficulties had taught me the necessity of caution, and I now took

time to reflect upon what I was about to do. It was very probable, I

considered, that some words were written upon that side of the paper

which had not been examined—but which side was that? Fitting the

pieces together gave me no clew in this respect, although it assured me

that the words (if there were any) would be found all on one side, and

connected in a proper manner, as written. There was the greater

necessity of ascertaining the point in question beyond a doubt, as the

phosphorus remaining would be altogether insufficient for a third

attempt, should I fail in the one I was now about to make. I placed the

paper on a book as before, and sat for some minutes thoughtfully

revolving the matter over in my mind. At last I thought it barely

possible that the written side might have some unevenness on its

surface, which a delicate sense of feeling might enable me to detect. I

determined to make the experiment, and passed my finger very carefully

over the side which first presented itself—nothing, however, was

perceptible, and I turned the paper, adjusting it on the book. I now

again carried my forefinger cautiously along, when I was aware of an

exceedingly slight, but still discernible glow, which followed as it

proceeded. This, I knew, must arise from some very minute remaining

particles of the phosphorus with which I had covered the paper in my

previous attempt. The other, or under side, then, was that on which lay

the writing, if writing there should finally prove to be. Again I

turned the note, and went to work as I had previously done. Having

rubbed in the phosphorus, a brilliancy ensued as before—but this time

several lines of MS. in a large hand, and apparently in red ink, became

distinctly visible. The glimmer, although sufficiently bright, was but

momentary. Still, had I not been too greatly excited, there would have

been ample time enough for me to peruse the whole three sentences

before me—for I saw there were three. In my anxiety, however, to read

all at once, I succeeded only in reading the seven concluding words,

which thus appeared: “blood—your life depends upon lying close.”

Had I been able to ascertain the entire contents of the note—the full

meaning of the admonition which my friend had thus attempted to convey,

that admonition, even although it should have revealed a story of

disaster the most unspeakable, could not, I am firmly convinced, have

imbued my mind with one tithe of the harrowing and yet indefinable

horror with which I was inspired by the fragmentary warning thus

received. And “blood” too, that word of all words—so rife at all

times with mystery, and suffering, and terror—how trebly full of

import did it now appear—how chillily and heavily (disjointed, as it

thus was, from any foregoing words to qualify or render it distinct)

did its vague syllables fall, amid the deep gloom of my prison, into

the innermost recesses of my soul!

Augustus had, undoubtedly, good reasons for wishing me to remain

concealed, and I formed a thousand surmises as to what they could

be—but I could think of nothing affording a satisfactory solution of

the mystery. Just after returning from my last journey to the trap, and

before my attention had been otherwise directed by the singular conduct

of Tiger, I had come to the resolution of making myself heard at all

events by those on board, or, if I could not succeed in this directly,

of trying to cut my way through the orlop deck. The half certainty

which I felt of being able to accomplish one of these two purposes in

the last emergency, had given me courage (which I should not otherwise

have had) to endure the evils of my situation. The few words I had been

able to read, however, had cut me off from these final resources, and I

now, for the first time, felt all the misery of my fate. In a paroxysm

of despair I threw myself again upon the mattress, where, for about the

period of a day and night, I lay in a kind of stupor, relieved only by

momentary intervals of reason and recollection.

At length I once more arose, and busied myself in reflection upon the

horrors which encompassed me. For another twenty-four hours it was

barely possible that I might exist without water—for a longer time I

could not do so. During the first portion of my imprisonment I had made

free use of the cordials with which Augustus had supplied me, but they

only served to excite fever, without in the least degree assuaging my

thirst. I had now only about a gill left, and this was of a species of

strong peach liqueur at which my stomach revolted. The sausages were

entirely consumed; of the ham nothing remained but a small piece of the

skin; and all the biscuit, except a few fragments of one, had been

eaten by Tiger. To add to my troubles, I found that my headache was

increasing momentarily, and with it the species of delirium which had

distressed me more or less since my first falling asleep. For some

hours past it had been with the greatest difficulty I could breathe at

all, and now each attempt at so doing was attended with the most

distressing spasmodic action of the chest. But there was still another

and very different source of disquietude, and one, indeed, whose

harassing terrors had been the chief means of arousing me to exertion

from my stupor on the mattress. It arose from the demeanour of the dog.

I first observed an alteration in his conduct while rubbing in the

phosphorus on the paper in my last attempt. As I rubbed, he ran his

nose against my hand with a slight snarl; but I was too greatly excited

at the time to pay much attention to the circumstance. Soon afterward,

it will be remembered, I threw myself on the mattress, and fell into a

species of lethargy. Presently I became aware of a singular hissing

sound close at my ears, and discovered it to proceed from Tiger, who

was panting and wheezing in a state of the greatest apparent

excitement, his eyeballs flashing fiercely through the gloom. I spoke

to him, when he replied with a low growl, and then remained quiet.

Presently I relapsed into my stupor, from which I was again awakened in

a similar manner. This was repeated three or four times, until finally

his behaviour inspired me with so great a degree of fear that I became

fully aroused. He was now lying close by the door of the box, snarling

fearfully, although in a kind of under tone, and grinding his teeth as

if strongly convulsed. I had no doubt whatever that the want of water

or the confined atmosphere of the hold had driven him mad, and I was at

a loss what course to pursue. I could not endure the thought of killing

him, yet it seemed absolutely necessary for my own safety. I could

distinctly perceive his eyes fastened upon me with an expression of the

most deadly animosity, and I expected every instant that he would

attack me. At last I could endure my terrible situation no longer, and

determined to make my way from the box at all hazards, and despatch

him, if his opposition should render it necessary for me to do so. To

get out, I had to pass directly over his body, and he already seemed to

anticipate my design—raising himself upon his fore legs (as I

perceived by the altered position of his eyes), and displaying the

whole of his white fangs, which were easily discernible. I took the

remains of the ham-skin, and the bottle containing the liqueur, and

secured them about my person, together with a large carving-knife which

Augustus had left me—then, folding my cloak as closely around me as

possible, I made a movement towards the mouth of the box. No sooner did

I do this than the dog sprang with a loud growl towards my throat. The

whole weight of his body struck me on the right shoulder, and I fell

violently to the left, while the enraged animal passed entirely over

me. I had fallen upon my knees, with my head buried among the blankets,

and these protected me from a second furious assault, during which I

felt the sharp teeth pressing vigorously upon the woollen which

enveloped my neck—yet, luckily, without being able to penetrate all

the folds. I was now beneath the dog, and a few moments would place me

completely in his power. Despair gave me strength, and I rose bodily

up, shaking him from me by main force, and dragging with me the

blankets from the mattress. These I now threw over him, and before he

could extricate himself I had got through the door and closed it

effectually against his pursuit. In this struggle, however, I had been

forced to drop the morsel of ham-skin, and I now found my whole stock

of provisions reduced to a single gill of liqueur. As this reflection

crossed my mind, I felt myself actuated by one of those fits of

perverseness which might be supposed to influence a spoiled child in

similar circumstances, and, raising the bottle to my lips, I drained it

to the last drop, and dashed it furiously upon the floor.

Scarcely had the echo of the crash died away, when I heard my name

pronounced in an eager but subdued voice, issuing from the direction of

the steerage. So unexpected was anything of the kind, and so intense

was the emotion excited within me by the sound, that I endeavoured in

vain to reply. My powers of speech totally failed, and, in an agony of

terror lest my friend should conclude me dead, and return without

attempting to reach me, I stood up between the crates near the door of

the box, trembling convulsively, and gasping and struggling for

utterance. Had a thousand worlds depended upon a syllable, I could not

have spoken it. There was a slight movement now audible among the

lumber somewhere forward of my station. The sound presently grew less

distinct, then again less so, and still less. Shall I ever forget my

feelings at this moment? He was going—my friend—my companion, from

whom I had a right to expect so much—he was going—he would abandon

me—he was gone! He would leave me to perish miserably, to expire in

the most horrible and loathsome of dungeons—and one word—one little

syllable would save me—yet that single syllable I could not utter! I

felt, I am sure, more than ten thousand times the agonies of death

itself. My brain reeled, and I fell, deadly sick, against the end of

the box.

As I fell, the carving-knife was shaken out from the waistband of my

pantaloons, and dropped with a rattling sound to the floor. Never did

any strain of the richest melody come so sweetly to my ears! With the

intensest anxiety I listened to ascertain the effect of the noise upon

Augustus—for I knew that the person who called my name could be no one

but himself. All was silent for some moments. At length I again heard

the word Arthur! repeated in a low tone, and one full of hesitation.

Reviving hope loosened at once my powers of speech, and I now screamed,

at the top of my voice, “Augustus! oh Augustus!” “Hush—for God’s

sake be silent!” he replied, in a voice trembling with agitation; “I

will be with you immediately—as soon as I can make my way through the

hold.” For a long time I heard him moving among the lumber, and every

moment seemed to me an age. At length I felt his hand upon my shoulder,

and he placed at the same moment a bottle of water to my lips. Those

only who have been suddenly redeemed from the jaws of the tomb, or who

have known the insufferable torments of thirst under circumstances as

aggravated as those which encompassed me in my dreary prison, can form

any idea of the unutterable transports which that one long draught of

the richest of all physical luxuries afforded.

When I had in some degree satisfied my thirst, Augustus produced from

his pocket three or four cold boiled potatoes, which I devoured with

the greatest avidity. He had brought with him a light in a dark

lantern, and the grateful rays afforded me scarcely less comfort than

the food and drink. But I was impatient to learn the cause of his

protracted absence, and he proceeded to recount what had happened on

board during my incarceration.

CHAPTER IV.

The brig put to sea, as I had supposed, in about an hour after he had

left the watch. This was on the twentieth of June. It will be

remembered that I had then been in the hold for three days; and, during

this period, there was so constant a bustle on board, and so much

running to and fro, especially in the cabin and staterooms, that he had

had no chance of visiting me without the risk of having the secret of

the trap discovered. When at length he did come, I had assured him that

I was doing as well as possible; and, therefore, for the two next days

he felt but little uneasiness on my account—still, however, watching

an opportunity of going down. It was not until the fourth day that he

found one. Several times during this interval he had made up his mind

to let his father know of the adventure, and have me come up at once;

but we were still within reaching distance of Nantucket, and it was

doubtful, from some expressions which had escaped Captain Barnard,

whether he would not immediately put back if he discovered me to be on

board. Besides, upon thinking the matter over, Augustus, so he told me,

could not imagine that I was in immediate want, or that I would

hesitate, in such case, to make myself heard at the trap. When,

therefore, he considered everything, he concluded to let me stay until

he could meet with an opportunity of visiting me unobserved. This, as I

said before, did not occur until the fourth day after his bringing me

the watch, and the seventh since I had first entered the hold. He then

went down without taking with him any water or provisions, intending in

the first place merely to call my attention, and get me to come from

the box to the trap—when he would go up to the stateroom and thence

hand me down a supply. When he descended for this purpose he found that

I was asleep, for it seems that I was snoring very loudly. From all the

calculations I can make on the subject, this must have been the slumber

into which I fell just after my return from the trap with the watch,

and which, consequently, must have lasted _for more than three entire

days and nights_ at the very least. Latterly, I have had reason, both

from my own experience and the assurance of others, to be acquainted

with the strong soporific effects of the stench arising from old

fish-oil when closely confined; and when I think of the condition of

the hold in which I was imprisoned, and the long period during which

the brig had been used as a whaling vessel, I am more inclined to

wonder that I awoke at all, after once falling asleep, than that I

should have slept uninterruptedly for the period specified above.

Augustus called to me at first in a low voice and without closing the

trap—but I made him no reply. He then shut the trap, and spoke to me

in a louder, and finally in a very loud tone—still I continued to

snore. He was now at a loss what to do. It would take him some time to

make his way through the lumber to my box, and in the mean while his

absence would be noticed by Captain Barnard, who had occasion for his

services every minute, in arranging and copying papers connected with

the business of the voyage. He determined, therefore, upon reflection,

to ascend, and await another opportunity of visiting me. He was the

more easily induced to this resolve, as my slumber appeared to be of

the most tranquil nature, and he could not suppose that I had undergone

any inconvenience from my incarceration. He had just made up his mind

on these points when his attention was arrested by an unusual bustle,

the sound of which proceeded apparently from the cabin. He sprang

through the trap as quickly as possible, closed it, and threw open the

door of his stateroom. No sooner had he put his foot over the threshold

than a pistol flashed in his face, and he was knocked down, at the same

moment, by a blow from a handspike.

A strong hand held him on the cabin floor, with a tight grasp upon his

throat—still he was able to see what was going on around him. His

father was tied hand and foot, and lying along the steps of the

companion-way with his head down, and a deep wound in the forehead,

from which the blood was flowing in a continued stream. He spoke not a

word, and was apparently dying. Over him stood the first mate, eying

him with an expression of fiendish derision, and deliberately searching

his pockets, from which he presently drew forth a large wallet and a

chronometer. Seven of the crew (among whom was the cook, a negro) were

rummaging the staterooms on the larboard for arms, where they soon

equipped themselves with muskets and ammunition. Besides Augustus and

Captain Barnard, there were nine men altogether in the cabin, and these

among the most ruffianly of the brig’s company. The villains now went

upon deck, taking my friend with them, after having secured his arms

behind his back. They proceeded straight to the forecastle, which was

fastened down—two of the mutineers standing by it with axes—two also

at the main hatch. The mate called out in a loud voice, “Do you hear

there below? tumble up with you—one by one, now, mark that—and no

grumbling.” It was some minutes before any one appeared: at last an

Englishman, who had shipped as a raw hand, came up, weeping piteously,

and entreating the mate in the most humble manner to spare his life.

The only reply was a blow on the forehead from an axe. The poor fellow

fell to the deck without a groan, and the black cook lifted him up in

his arms as he would a child, and tossed him deliberately into the sea.

Hearing the blow and the plunge of the body, the men below could now be

induced to venture on deck neither by threats nor promises, until a

proposition was made to smoke them out. A general rush then ensued, and

for a moment it seemed possible that the brig might be retaken. The

mutineers, however, succeeded at last in closing the forecastle

effectually before more than six of their opponents could get up. These

six, finding themselves so greatly outnumbered and without arms,

submitted after a brief struggle. The mate gave them fair words—no

doubt with a view of inducing those below to yield, for they had no

difficulty in hearing all that was said on deck. The result proved his

sagacity, no less than his diabolical villany. All in the forecastle

presently signified their intention of submitting, and, ascending one

by one, were pinioned and thrown on their backs together with the first

six—there being in all, of the crew who were not concerned in the

mutiny, twenty-seven.

A scene of the most horrible butchery ensued. The bound seamen were

dragged to the gangway. Here the cook stood with an axe, striking each

victim on the head as he was forced over the side of the vessel by the

other mutineers. In this manner twenty-two perished, and Augustus had

given himself up for lost, expecting every moment his own turn to come

next. But it seemed that the villains were now either weary, or in some

measure disgusted with their bloody labour; for the four remaining

prisoners, together with my friend, who had been thrown on the deck

with the rest, were respited while the mate sent below for rum, and the

whole murderous party held a drunken carouse, which lasted until

sunset. They now fell to disputing in regard to the fate of the

survivers, who lay not more than four paces off, and could distinguish

every word said. Upon some of the mutineers the liquor appeared to have

a softening effect, for several voices were heard in favour of

releasing the captives altogether, on condition of joining the mutiny

and sharing the profits. The black cook, however (who in all respects

was a perfect demon, and who seemed to exert as much influence, if not

more, than the mate himself), would listen to no proposition of the

kind, and rose repeatedly for the purpose of resuming his work at the

gangway. Fortunately, he was so far overcome by intoxication as to be

easily restrained by the less bloodthirsty of the party, among whom was

a line-manager, who went by the name of Dirk Peters. This man was the

son of an Indian squaw of the tribe of Upsarokas, who live among the

fastnesses of the Black Hills near the source of the Missouri. His

father was a fur-trader, I believe, or at least connected in some

manner with the Indian trading-posts on Lewis river. Peters himself was

one of the most purely ferocious-looking men I ever beheld. He was

short in stature—not more than four feet eight inches high—but his

limbs were of the most Herculean mould. His hands, especially, were so

enormously thick and broad as hardly to retain a human shape. His arms,

as well as legs, were bowed in the most singular manner, and appeared

to possess no flexibility whatever. His head was equally deformed,

being of immense size, with an indentation on the crown (like that on

the head of most negroes), and entirely bald. To conceal this latter

deficiency, which did not proceed from old age, he usually wore a wig

formed of any hair-like material which presented itself—occasionally

the skin of a Spanish dog or American grizzly bear. At the time spoken

of he had on a portion of one of these bearskins; and it added no

little to the natural ferocity of his countenance, which betook of the

Upsaroka character. The mouth extended nearly from ear to ear; the lips

were thin, and seemed, like some other portions of his frame, to be

devoid of natural pliancy, so that the ruling expression never varied

under the influence of any emotion whatever. This ruling expression may

be conceived when it is considered that the teeth were exceedingly long

and protruding, and never even partially covered, in any instance, by

the lips. To pass this man with a casual glance, one might imagine him

to be convulsed with laughter—but a second look would induce a

shuddering acknowledgment, that if such an expression were indicative

of merriment, the merriment must be that of a demon. Of this singular

being many anecdotes were prevalent among the seafaring men of

Nantucket. These anecdotes went to prove his prodigious strength when

under excitement, and some of them had given rise to a doubt of his

sanity. But on board the Grampus, it seems, he was regarded at the time

of the mutiny with feelings more of derision than of anything else. I

have been thus particular in speaking of Dirk Peters, because,

ferocious as he appeared, he proved the main instrument in preserving

the life of Augustus, and because I shall have frequent occasion to

mention him hereafter in the course of my narrative—a narrative, let

me here say, which, in its latter portions, will be found to include

incidents of a nature so entirely out of the range of human experience,

and for this reason so far beyond the limits of human credulity, that I

proceed in utter hopelessness of obtaining credence for all that I

shall tell, yet confidently trusting in time and progressing science to

verify some of the most important and most improbable of my statements.

After much indecision and two or three violent quarrels, it was

determined at last that all the prisoners (with the exception of

Augustus, whom Peters insisted in a jocular manner upon keeping as his

clerk) should be set adrift in one of the smallest whaleboats. The mate

went down into the cabin to see if Captain Barnard was still

living—for, it will be remembered, he was left below when the

mutineers came up. Presently the two made their appearance, the captain

pale as death, but somewhat recovered from the effects of his wound. He

spoke to the men in a voice hardly articulate, entreated them not to

set him adrift, but to return to their duty, and promising to land them

wherever they chose, and to take no steps for bringing them to justice.

He might as well have spoken to the winds. Two of the ruffians seized

him by the arms and hurled him over the brig’s side into the boat,

which had been lowered while the mate went below. The four men who were

lying on the deck were then untied and ordered to follow, which they

did without attempting any resistance—Augustus being still left in his

painful position, although he struggled and prayed only for the poor

satisfaction of being permitted to bid his father farewell. A handful

of sea-biscuit and a jug of water were now handed down; but neither

mast, sail, oar, nor compass. The boat was towed astern for a few

minutes, during which the mutineers held another consultation—it was

then finally cut adrift. By this time night had come on—there were

neither moon nor stars visible—and a short and ugly sea was running,

although there was no great deal of wind. The boat was instantly out of

sight, and little hope could be entertained for the unfortunate

sufferers who were in it. This event happened, however, in latitude 35°

30’ north, longitude 61° 20’ west, and consequently at no very great

distance from the Bermuda Islands. Augustus therefore endeavoured to

console himself with the idea that the boat might either succeed in

reaching the land, or come sufficiently near to be fallen in with by

vessels off the coast.

All sail was now put upon the brig, and she continued her original

course to the southwest—the mutineers being bent upon some piratical

expedition, in which, from all that could be understood, a ship was to

be intercepted on her way from the Cape Verd Islands to Porto Rico. No

attention was paid to Augustus, who was untied and suffered to go about

anywhere forward of the cabin companion-way. Dirk Peters treated him

with some degree of kindness, and on one occasion saved him from the

brutality of the cook. His situation was still one of the most

precarious, as the men were continually intoxicated, and there was no

relying upon their continued good-humour or carelessness in regard to

himself. His anxiety on my account he represented, however, as the most

distressing result of his condition; and, indeed, I had never reason to

doubt the sincerity of his friendship. More than once he had resolved

to acquaint the mutineers with the secret of my being on board, but was

restrained from so doing, partly through recollection of the atrocities

he had already beheld, and partly through a hope of being able soon to

bring me relief. For the latter purpose he was constantly on the watch;

but, in spite of the most constant vigilance, three days elapsed after

the boat was cut adrift before any chance occurred. At length, on the

night of the third day, there came on a heavy blow from the eastward,

and all hands were called up to take in sail. During the confusion

which ensued, he made his way below unobserved, and into the stateroom.

What was his grief and horror in discovering that the latter had been

rendered a place of deposite for a variety of sea-stores and

ship-furniture, and that several fathoms of old chain-cable, which had

been stowed away beneath the companion-ladder, had been dragged thence

to make room for a chest, and were now lying immediately upon the trap!

To remove it without discovery was impossible, and he returned on deck

as quickly as he could. As he came up the mate seized him by the

throat, and demanding what he had been doing in the cabin, was about

flinging him over the larboard bulwark, when his life was again

preserved through the interference of Dirk Peters. Augustus was now put

in handcuffs (of which there were several pairs on board), and his feet

lashed tightly together. He was then taken into the steerage, and

thrown into a lower berth next to the forecastle bulkheads, with the

assurance that he should never put his foot on deck again “until the

brig was no longer a brig.” This was the expression of the cook, who

threw him into the berth—it is hardly possible to say what precise

meaning was intended by the phrase. The whole affair, however, proved

the ultimate means of my relief, as will presently appear.

CHAPTER V.

For some minutes after the cook had left the forecastle, Augustus

abandoned himself to despair, never hoping to leave the berth alive. He

now came to the resolution of acquainting the first of the men who

should come down with my situation, thinking it better to let me take

my chance with the mutineers than perish of thirst in the hold—for it

had been ten days since I was first imprisoned, and my jug of water was

not a plentiful supply even for four. As he was thinking on this

subject, the idea came all at once into his head that it might be

possible to communicate with me by the way of the main hold. In any

other circumstances, the difficulty and hazard of the undertaking would

have prevented him from attempting it; but now he had, at all events,

little prospect of life, and consequently little to lose—he bent his

whole mind, therefore, upon the task.

His handcuffs were the first consideration. At first he saw no method

of removing them, and feared that he should thus be baffled in the very

outset; but, upon a closer scrutiny, he discovered that the irons could

be slipped off and on at pleasure with very little effort or

inconvenience, merely by squeezing his hands through them—this species

of manacle being altogether ineffectual in confining young persons, in

whom the smaller bones readily yield to pressure. He now untied his

feet, and, leaving the cord in such a manner that it could easily be

readjusted in the event of any person’s coming down, proceeded to

examine the bulkhead where it joined the berth. The partition here was

of soft pine board, an inch thick, and he saw that he should have

little trouble in cutting his way through. A voice was now heard at the

forecastle companion-way, and he had just time to put his right hand

into its handcuff (the left had not been removed), and to draw the rope

in a slipknot around his ankle, when Dirk Peters came below, followed

by Tiger, who immediately leaped into the berth and lay down. The dog

had been brought on board by Augustus, who knew my attachment to the

animal, and thought it would give me pleasure to have him with me

during the voyage. He went up to our house for him immediately after

first taking me into the hold, but did not think of mentioning the

circumstance upon his bringing the watch. Since the mutiny, Augustus

had not seen him before his appearance with Dirk Peters, and had given

him up for lost, supposing him to have been thrown overboard by some of

the malignant villains belonging to the mate’s gang. It appeared

afterward that he had crawled into a hole beneath a whaleboat, from

which, not having room to turn round, he could not extricate himself.

Peters at last let him out, and with a species of good feeling which my

friend knew well how to appreciate, had now brought him to him in the

forecastle as a companion, leaving at the same time some salt junk and

potatoes, with a can of water; he then went on deck, promising to come

down with something more to eat on the next day.

When he had gone, Augustus freed both hands from the manacles and

unfastened his feet. He then turned down the head of the mattress on

which he had been lying, and with his penknife (for the ruffians had

not thought it worth while to search him) commenced cutting vigorously

across one of the partition planks, as closely as possible to the floor

of the berth. He chose to cut here, because, if suddenly interrupted,

he would be able to conceal what had been done by letting the head of

the mattress fall into its proper position. For the remainder of the

day, however, no disturbance occurred, and by night he had completely

divided the plank. It should here be observed, that none of the crew

occupied the forecastle as a sleeping-place, living altogether in the

cabin since the mutiny, drinking the wines, and feasting on the sea

stores of Captain Barnard, and giving no more heed than was absolutely

necessary to the navigation of the brig. These circumstances proved

fortunate both for myself and Augustus; for, had matters been

otherwise, he would have found it impossible to reach me. As it was, he

proceeded with confidence in his design. It was near daybreak, however,

before he completed the second division of the board (which was about a

foot above the first cut), thus making an aperture quite large enough

to admit his passage through with facility to the main orlop deck.

Having got here, he made his way with but little trouble to the lower

main hatch, although in so doing he had to scramble over tiers of

oil-casks piled nearly as high as the upper deck, there being barely

room enough left for his body. Upon reaching the hatch, he found that

Tiger had followed him below, squeezing between two rows of the casks.

It was now too late, however, to attempt getting to me before dawn, as

the chief difficulty lay in passing through the close stowage in the

lower hold. He therefore resolved to return, and wait till the next

night. With this design he proceeded to loosen the hatch, so that he

might have as little detention as possible when he should come again.

No sooner had he loosened it than Tiger sprang eagerly to the small

opening produced, snuffed for a moment, and then uttered a long whine,

scratching at the same time, as if anxious to remove the covering with

his paws. There could be no doubt, from his behaviour, that he was

aware of my being in the hold, and Augustus thought it possible that he

would be able to get to me if he put him down. He now hit upon the

expedient of sending the note, as it was especially desirable that I

should make no attempt at forcing my way out, at least under existing

circumstances, and there could be no certainty of his getting to me

himself on the morrow as he intended. After events proved how fortunate

it was that the idea occurred to him as it did: for, had it not been

for the receipt of the note, I should undoubtedly have fallen upon some

plan, however desperate, of alarming the crew, and both our lives would

most probably have been sacrificed in consequence.

Having concluded to write, the difficulty was now to procure the

materials for so doing. An old toothpick was soon made into a pen; and

this by means of feeling altogether, for the between-decks were as dark

as pitch. Paper enough was obtained from the back of a letter—a

duplicate of the forged letter from Mr. Ross. This had been the

original draught; but the handwriting not being sufficiently well

imitated, Augustus had written another, thrusting the first, by good

fortune, into his coat-pocket, where it was now most opportunely

discovered. Ink alone was thus wanting, and a substitute was

immediately found for this by means of a slight incision with the

penknife on the back of a finger just above the nail—a copious flow of

blood ensuing, as usual from wounds in that vicinity. The note was now

written, as well as it could be in the dark and under the

circumstances. It briefly explained that a mutiny had taken place; that

Captain Barnard was set adrift; and that I might expect immediate

relief as far as provisions were concerned, but must not venture upon

making any disturbance. It concluded with these words, _“I have

scrawled this with blood—your life depends upon lying close.”_

The slip of paper being tied upon the dog, he was now put down the

hatchway, and Augustus made the best of his way back to the forecastle,

where he found no reason to believe that any of the crew had been in

his absence. To conceal the hole in the partition, he drove his knife

in just above it, and hung up a pea-jacket which he found in the berth.

His handcuffs were then replaced, and also the rope around his ankles.

These arrangements were scarcely completed when Dirk Peters came below,

very drunk, but in excellent humour, and bringing with him my friend’s

allowance of provision for the day. This consisted of a dozen large

Irish potatoes roasted, and a pitcher of water. He sat for some time on

a chest by the berth, and talked freely about the mate, and the general

concerns of the brig. His demeanour was exceedingly capricious and even

grotesque. At one time Augustus was much alarmed by his odd conduct. At

last, however, he went on deck, muttering a promise to bring his

prisoner a good dinner on the morrow. During the day two of the crew

(harpooners) came down, accompanied by the cook, all three in nearly

the last stage of intoxication. Like Peters, they made no scruple of

talking unreservedly about their plans. It appeared that they were much

divided among themselves as to their ultimate course, agreeing in no

point except the attack on the ship from the Cape Verd Islands, with

which they were in hourly expectation of meeting. As far as could be

ascertained, the mutiny had not been brought about altogether for the

sake of booty; a private pique of the chief mate’s against Captain

Barnard having been the main instigation. There now seemed to be two

principal factions among the crew—one headed by the mate, the other by

the cook. The former party were for seizing the first suitable vessel

which should present itself, and equipping it at some of the West India

Islands for a piratical cruise. The latter division, however, which was

the stronger, and included Dirk Peters among its partisans, were bent

upon pursuing the course originally laid out for the brig into the

South Pacific; there either to take whale, or act otherwise, as

circumstances should suggest. The representations of Peters, who had

frequently visited these regions, had great weight, apparently, with

the mutineers, wavering as they were between half-engendered notions of

profit and pleasure. He dwelt on the world of novelty and amusement to

be found among the innumerable islands of the Pacific, on the perfect

security and freedom from all restraint to be enjoyed, but, more

particularly, on the deliciousness of the climate, on the abundant

means of good living, and on the voluptuous beauty of the women. As

yet, nothing had been absolutely determined upon; but the pictures of

the hybrid line-manager were taking strong hold upon the ardent

imaginations of the seamen, and there was every probability that his

intentions would be finally carried into effect.

The three men went away in about an hour, and no one else entered the

forecastle all day. Augustus lay quiet until nearly night. He then

freed himself from the rope and irons, and prepared for his attempt. A

bottle was found in one of the berths, and this he filled with water

from the pitcher left by Peters, storing his pockets at the same time

with cold potatoes. To his great joy he also came across a lantern,

with a small piece of tallow candle in it. This he could light at any

moment, as he had in his possession a box of phosphorus matches. When

it was quite dark, he got through the hole in the bulkhead, having

taken the precaution to arrange the bedclothes in the berth so as to

convey the idea of a person covered up. When through, he hung up the

pea-jacket on his knife, as before, to conceal the aperture—this

manoeuvre being easily effected, as he did not readjust the piece of

plank taken out until afterward. He was now on the main orlop deck, and

proceeded to make his way, as before, between the upper deck and the

oil-casks to the main hatchway. Having reached this, he lit the piece

of candle, and descended, groping with extreme difficulty among the

compact stowage of the hold. In a few moments he became alarmed at the

insufferable stench and the closeness of the atmosphere. He could not

think it possible that I had survived my confinement for so long a

period breathing so oppressive an air. He called my name repeatedly,

but I made him no reply, and his apprehensions seemed thus to be

confirmed. The brig was rolling violently, and there was so much noise

in consequence, that it was useless to listen for any weak sound, such

as those of my breathing or snoring. He threw open the lantern, and

held it as high as possible, whenever an opportunity occurred, in order

that, by observing the light, I might, if alive, be aware that succour

was approaching. Still nothing was heard from me, and the supposition

of my death began to assume the character of certainty. He determined,

nevertheless, to force a passage, if possible, to the box, and at least

ascertain beyond a doubt the truth of his surmises. He pushed on for

some time in a most pitiable state of anxiety, until, at length, he

found the pathway utterly blocked up, and that there was no possibility

of making any farther way by the course in which he had set out.

Overcome now by his feelings, he threw himself among the lumber in

despair, and wept like a child. It was at this period that he heard the

crash occasioned by the bottle which I had thrown down. Fortunate,

indeed, was it that the incident occurred—for, upon this incident,

trivial as it appears, the thread of my destiny depended. Many years

elapsed, however, before I was aware of this fact. A natural shame and

regret for his weakness and indecision prevented Augustus from

confiding to me at once what a more intimate and unreserved communion

afterward induced him to reveal. Upon finding his further progress in

the hold impeded by obstacles which he could not overcome, he had

resolved to abandon his attempt at reaching me, and return at once to

the forecastle. Before condemning him entirely on this head, the

harassing circumstances which embarrassed him should be taken into

consideration. The night was fast wearing away, and his absence from

the forecastle might be discovered; and, indeed, would necessarily be

so, if he should fail to get back to the berth by daybreak. His candle

was expiring in the socket, and there would be the greatest difficulty

in retracing his way to the hatchway in the dark. It must be allowed,

too, that he had every good reason to believe me dead; in which event

no benefit could result to me from his reaching the box, and a world of

danger would be encountered to no purpose by himself. He had repeatedly

called, and I had made him no answer. I had been now eleven days and

nights with no more water than that contained in the jug which he had

left with me, a supply which it was not at all probable I had hoarded

in the beginning of my confinement, as I had had every cause to expect

a speedy release. The atmosphere of the hold, too, must have appeared

to him, coming from the comparatively open air of the steerage, of a

nature absolutely poisonous, and by far more intolerable than it had

seemed to me upon my first taking up my quarters in the box—the

hatchways at that time having been constantly open for many months

previous. Add to these considerations that of the scene of bloodshed

and terror so lately witnessed by my friend; his confinement,

privations, and narrow escapes from death; together with the frail and

equivocal tenure by which he still existed—circumstances all so well

calculated to prostrate every energy of mind—and the reader will be

easily brought, as I have been, to regard his apparent falling off in

friendship and in faith with sentiments rather of sorrow than of anger.

The crash of the bottle was distinctly heard, yet Augustus was not sure

that it proceeded from the hold. The doubt, however, was sufficient

inducement to persevere. He clambered up nearly to the orlop deck by

means of the stowage, and then watching for a lull in the pitchings of

the vessel, he called out to me in as loud a tone as he could

command—regardless, for the moment, of the danger of being overheard

by the crew. It will be remembered that on this occasion the voice

reached me, but I was so entirely overcome by violent agitation as to

be incapable of reply. Confident, now, that his worst apprehensions

were well founded, he descended, with a view of getting back to the

forecastle without loss of time. In his haste some small boxes were

thrown down, the noise occasioned by which I heard, as will be

recollected. He had made considerable progress on his return when the

fall of the knife again caused him to hesitate. He retraced his steps

immediately, and, clambering up the stowage a second time, called out

my name, loudly as before, having watched for a lull. This time I found

voice to answer. Overjoyed at discovering me to be still alive, he now

resolved to brave every difficulty and danger in reaching me. Having

extricated himself as quickly as possible from the labyrinth of lumber

by which he was hemmed in, he at length struck into an opening which

promised better, and finally, after a series of struggles, arrived at

the box in a state of utter exhaustion.

CHAPTER VI.

The leading particulars of this narration were all that Augustus

communicated to me while we remained near the box. It was not until

afterward that he entered fully into all the details. He was

apprehensive of being missed, and I was wild with impatience to leave

my detested place of confinement. We resolved to make our way at once

to the hole in the bulkhead, near which I was to remain for the

present, while he went through to reconnoitre. To leave Tiger in the

box was what neither of us could endure to think of; yet, how to act

otherwise was the question. He now seemed to be perfectly quiet, and we

could not even distinguish the sound of his breathing upon applying our

ears closely to the box. I was convinced that he was dead, and

determined to open the door. We found him lying at full length,

apparently in a deep stupor, yet still alive. No time was to be lost,

yet I could not bring myself to abandon an animal who had now been

twice instrumental in saving my life, without some attempt at

preserving him. We therefore dragged him along with us as well as we

could, although with the greatest difficulty and fatigue; Augustus,

during part of the time, being forced to clamber over the impediments

in our way with the huge dog in his arms—a feat to which the

feebleness of my frame rendered me totally inadequate. At length we

succeeded in reaching the hole, when Augustus got through, and Tiger

was pushed in afterward. All was found to be safe, and we did not fail

to return sincere thanks to God for our deliverance from the imminent

danger we had escaped. For the present it was agreed that I should

remain near the opening, through which my companion could readily

supply me with a part of his daily provision, and where I could have

the advantages of breathing an atmosphere comparatively pure.

In explanation of some portions of this narrative wherein I have spoken

of the stowage of the brig, and which may appear ambiguous to some of

my readers who may have seen a proper or regular stowage, I must here

state that the manner in which this most important duty had been

performed on board the Grampus was a most shameful piece of neglect on

the part of Captain Barnard, who was by no means as careful or as

experienced a seaman as the hazardous nature of the service on which he

was employed would seem necessarily to demand. A proper stowage cannot

be accomplished in a careless manner, and many most disastrous

accidents, even within the limits of my own experience, have arisen

from neglect or ignorance in this particular. Coasting vessels, in the

frequent hurry and bustle attendant upon taking in or discharging

cargo, are the most liable to mishap from the want of a proper

attention to stowage. The great point is to allow no possibility of the

cargo or ballast’s shifting position even in the most violent rollings

of the vessel. With this end, great attention must be paid, not only to

the bulk taken in, but to the nature of the bulk, and whether there be

a full or only a partial cargo. In most kinds of freight the stowage is

accomplished by means of a screw. Thus, in a load of tobacco or flour,

the whole is screwed so tightly into the hold of the vessel that the

barrels or hogsheads upon discharging are found to be completely

flattened, and take some time to regain their original shape. This

screwing, however, is resorted to principally with a view of obtaining

more room in the hold; for in a full load of any such commodities as

flour or tobacco, there can be no danger of any shifting whatever, at

least none from which inconvenience can result. There have been

instances, indeed, where this method of screwing has resulted in the

most lamentable consequences, arising from a cause altogether distinct

from the danger attendant upon a shifting of cargo. A load of cotton,

for example, tightly screwed while in certain conditions, has been

known, through the expansion of its bulk, to rend a vessel asunder at

sea. There can be no doubt, either, that the same result would ensue in

the case of tobacco, while undergoing its usual course of fermentation,

were it not for the interstices consequent upon the rotundity of the

hogsheads.

It is when a partial cargo is received that danger is chiefly to be

apprehended from shifting, and that precautions should be always taken

to guard against such misfortune. Only those who have encountered a

violent gale of wind, or, rather, who have experienced the rolling of a

vessel in a sudden calm after the gale, can form an idea of the

tremendous force of the plunges, and of the consequent terrible impetus

given to all loose articles in the vessel. It is then that the

necessity of a cautious stowage, when there is a partial cargo, becomes

obvious. When lying to (especially with a small head sail), a vessel

which is not properly modelled in the bows is frequently thrown upon

her beam-ends; this occurring even every fifteen or twenty minutes upon

an average, yet without any serious consequences resulting, _provided

there be a proper stowage_. If this, however, has not been strictly

attended to, in the first of these heavy lurches the whole of the cargo

tumbles over to the side of the vessel which lies upon the water, and,

being thus prevented from regaining her equilibrium, as she would

otherwise necessarily do, she is certain to fill in a few seconds and

go down. It is not too much to say that at least one half of the

instances in which vessels have foundered in heavy gales at sea may be

attributed to a shifting of cargo or of ballast.

When a partial cargo of any kind is taken on board, the whole, after

being first stowed as compactly as may be, should be covered with a

layer of stout shifting-boards, extending completely across the vessel.

Upon these boards strong temporary stanchions should be erected,

reaching to the timbers above, and thus securing everything in its

place. In cargoes consisting of grain, or any similar matter,

additional precautions are requisite. A hold filled entirely with grain

upon leaving port will be found not more than three fourths full upon

reaching its destination—this, too, although the freight, when

measured bushel by bushel by the consignee, will overrun by a vast deal

(on account of the swelling of the grain) the quantity consigned. This

result is occasioned by settling during the voyage, and is the more

perceptible in proportion to the roughness of the weather experienced.

If grain loosely thrown in a vessel, then, is ever so well secured by

shifting-boards and stanchions, it will be liable to shift in a long

passage so greatly as to bring about the most distressing calamities.

To prevent these, every method should be employed before leaving port

to settle the cargo as much as possible; and for this there are many

contrivances, among which may be mentioned the driving of wedges into

the grain. Even after all this is done, and unusual pains taken to

secure the shifting-boards, no seaman who knows what he is about will

feel altogether secure in a gale of any violence with a cargo of grain

on board, and, least of all, with a partial cargo. Yet there are

hundreds of our coasting vessels, and, it is likely, many more from the

ports of Europe, which sail daily with partial cargoes, even of the

most dangerous species, and without any precautions whatever. The

wonder is that no more accidents occur than do actually happen. A

lamentable instance of this heedlessness occurred to my knowledge in

the case of Captain Joel Rice of the schooner Firefly, which sailed

from Richmond, Virginia, to Madeira, with a cargo of corn, in the year

1825. The captain had gone many voyages without serious accident,

although he was in the habit of paying no attention whatever to his

stowage, more than to secure it in the ordinary manner. He had never

before sailed with a cargo of grain, and on this occasion had the corn

thrown on board loosely, when it did not much more than half fill the

vessel. For the first portion of the voyage he met with nothing more

than light breezes; but when within a day’s sail of Madeira there came

on a strong gale from the N. N. E. which forced him to lie to. He

brought the schooner to the wind under a double-reefed foresail alone,

when she rode as well as any vessel could be expected to do, and

shipped not a drop of water. Towards night the gale somewhat abated,

and she rolled with more unsteadiness than before, but still did very

well, until a heavy lurch threw her upon her beam-ends to starboard.

The corn was then heard to shift bodily, the force of the movement

bursting open the main hatchway. The vessel went down like a shot. This

happened within hail of a small sloop from Madeira, which picked up one

of the crew (the only person saved), and which rode out the gale in

perfect security, as indeed a jollyboat might have done under proper

management.

The stowage on board the Grampus was most clumsily done, if stowage

that could be called which was little better than a promiscuous

huddling together of oil-casks[1] and ship furniture. I have already

spoken of the condition of articles in the hold. On the orlop deck

there was space enough for my body (as I have stated) between the

oil-casks and the upper deck; a space was left open around the main

hatchway; and several other large spaces were left in the stowage. Near

the hole cut through the bulkhead by Augustus there was room enough for

an entire cask, and in this space I found myself comfortably situated

for the present.

[Footnote 1: Whaling vessels are usually fitted with iron

oil-tanks—why the Grampus was not I have never been able to

ascertain.]

By the time my friend had got safely into the berth, and readjusted his

handcuffs and the rope, it was broad daylight. We had made a narrow

escape indeed; for scarcely had he arranged all matters, when the mate

came below, with Dirk Peters and the cook. They talked for some time

about the vessel from the Cape Verds, and seemed to be excessively

anxious for her appearance. At length the cook came to the berth in

which Augustus was lying, and seated himself in it near the head. I

could see and hear everything from my hiding-place, for the piece cut

out had not been put back, and I was in momentary expectation that the

negro would fall against the pea-jacket, which was hung up to conceal

the aperture, in which case all would have been discovered, and our

lives would, no doubt, have been instantly sacrificed. Our good fortune

prevailed, however; and although he frequently touched it as the vessel

rolled, he never pressed against it sufficiently to bring about a

discovery. The bottom of the jacket had been carefully fastened to the

bulkhead, so that the hole might not be seen by its swinging to one

side. All this time Tiger was lying in the foot of the berth, and

appeared to have recovered in some measure his faculties, for I could

see him occasionally open his eyes and draw a long breath.

After a few minutes the mate and cook went above, leaving Dirk Peters

behind, who, as soon as they were gone, came and sat himself down in

the place just occupied by the mate. He began to talk very sociably

with Augustus, and we could now see that the greater part of his

apparent intoxication, while the two others were with him, was a feint.

He answered all my companion’s questions with perfect freedom; told him

that he had no doubt of his father’s having been picked up, as there

were no less than five sail in sight just before sundown on the day he

was cut adrift; and used other language of a consolatory nature, which

occasioned me no less surprise than pleasure. Indeed, I began to

entertain hopes, that through the instrumentality of Peters we might be

finally enabled to regain possession of the brig, and this idea I

mentioned to Augustus as soon as I found an opportunity. He thought the

matter possible, but urged the necessity of the greatest caution in

making the attempt, as the conduct of the hybrid appeared to be

instigated by the most arbitrary caprice alone; and, indeed, it was

difficult to say if he was at any moment of sound mind. Peters went

upon deck in about an hour, and did not return again until noon, when

he brought Augustus a plentiful supply of junk beef and pudding. Of

this, when we were left alone, I partook heartily, without returning

through the hole. No one else came down into the forecastle during the

day, and at night I got into Augustus’s berth, where I slept soundly

and sweetly until nearly daybreak, when he awakened me upon hearing a

stir upon deck, and I regained my hiding-place as quickly as possible.

When the day was fully broke, we found that Tiger had recovered his

strength almost entirely, and gave no indications of hydrophobia,

drinking a little water that was offered him with great apparent

eagerness. During the day he regained all his former vigour and

appetite. His strange conduct had been brought on, no doubt, by the

deleterious quality of the air of the hold, and had no connexion with

canine madness. I could not sufficiently rejoice that I had persisted

in bringing him with me from the box. This day was the thirtieth of

June, and the thirteenth since the Grampus made sail from Nantucket.

On the second of July the mate came below, drunk as usual, and in an

excessively good-humour. He came to Augustus’s berth, and, giving him a

slap on the back, asked him if he thought he could behave himself if he

let him loose, and whether he would promise not to be going into the

cabin again. To this, of course, my friend answered in the affirmative,

when the ruffian set him at liberty, after making him drink from a

flask of rum which he drew from his coat-pocket. Both now went on deck,

and I did not see Augustus for about three hours. He then came below

with the good news that he had obtained permission to go about the brig

as he pleased anywhere forward of the mainmast, and that he had been

ordered to sleep, as usual, in the forecastle. He brought me, too, a

good dinner, and a plentiful supply of water. The brig was still

cruising for the vessel from the Cape Verds, and a sail was now in

sight which was thought to be the one in question. As the events of the

ensuing eight days were of little importance, and had no direct bearing

upon the main incidents of my narrative, I will here throw them into

the form of a journal, as I do not wish to omit them altogether.

July 3. Augustus furnished me with three blankets, with which I

contrived a comfortable bed in my hiding-place. No one came below,

except my companion, during the day. Tiger took his station in the

berth just by the aperture, and slept heavily, as if not yet entirely

recovered from the effects of his sickness. Towards night a flaw of

wind struck the brig before sail could be taken in, and very nearly

capsized her. The puff died away immediately, however, and no damage

was done beyond the splitting of the foretopsail. Dirk Peters treated

Augustus all this day with great kindness, and entered into a long

conversation with him respecting the Pacific Ocean, and the islands he

had visited in that region. He asked him whether he would not like to

go with the mutineers on a kind of exploring and pleasure voyage in

those quarters, and said that the men were gradually coming over to the

mate’s views. To this Augustus thought it best to reply that he would

be glad to go on such an adventure, since nothing better could be done,

and that anything was preferable to a piratical life.

July 4th. The vessel in sight proved to be a small brig from

Liverpool, and was allowed to pass unmolested. Augustus spent most of

his time on deck, with a view of obtaining all the information in his

power respecting the intentions of the mutineers. They had frequent and

violent quarrels among themselves, in one of which a harpooner, Jim

Bonner, was thrown overboard. The party of the mate was gaining ground.

Jim Bonner belonged to the cook’s gang, of which Peters was a partisan.

July 5th. About daybreak there came on a stiff breeze from the west,

which at noon freshened into a gale, so that the brig could carry

nothing more than her trysail and foresail. In taking in the

foretopsail, Simms, one of the common hands, and belonging also to the

cook’s gang, fell overboard, being very much in liquor, and was

drowned—no attempt being made to save him. The whole number of persons

on board was now thirteen, to wit: Dirk Peters; Seymour, the black

cook; ---- Jones; ---- Greely; Hartman Rogers; and William Allen, of

the cook’s party; the mate, whose name I never learned; Absalom Hicks;

---- Wilson; John Hunt; and Richard Parker, of the mate’s

party—besides Augustus and myself.

July 6th. The gale lasted all this day, blowing in heavy squalls,

accompanied with rain. The brig took in a good deal of water through

her seams, and one of the pumps was kept continually going, Augustus

being forced to take his turn. Just at twilight a large ship passed

close by us, without having been discovered until within hail. This

ship was supposed to be the one for which the mutineers were on the

look-out. The mate hailed her, but the reply was drowned in the roaring

of the gale. At eleven, a sea was shipped amid-ships, which tore away a

great portion of the larboard bulwarks, and did some other slight

damage. Towards morning the weather moderated, and at sunrise there was

very little wind.

July 7th. There was a heavy swell running all this day, during which

the brig, being light, rolled excessively, and many articles broke

loose in the hold, as I could hear distinctly from my hiding-place. I

suffered a great deal from sea-sickness. Peters had a long conversation

this day with Augustus, and told him that two of his gang, Greely and

Allen, had gone over to the mate, and were resolved to turn pirates. He

put several questions to Augustus which he did not then exactly

understand. During a part of this evening the leak gained upon the

vessel; and little could be done to remedy it, as it was occasioned by

the brig’s straining, and taking in the water through her seams. A sail

was thrummed, and got under the bows, which aided us in some measure,

so that we began to gain upon the leak.

July 8th. A light breeze sprung up at sunrise from the eastward, when

the mate headed the brig to the southwest, with the intention of making

some of the West India islands, in pursuance of his piratical designs.

No opposition was made by Peters or the cook; at least none in the

hearing of Augustus. All idea of taking the vessel from the Cape Verds

was abandoned. The leak was now easily kept under by one pump going

every three quarters of an hour. The sail was drawn from beneath the

bows. Spoke two small schooners during the day.

July 9th. Fine weather. All hands employed in repairing bulwarks.

Peters had again a long conversation with Augustus, and spoke more

plainly than he had done heretofore. He said nothing should induce him

to come into the mate’s views, and even hinted his intention of taking

the brig out of his hands. He asked my friend if he could depend upon

his aid in such case, to which Augustus said, “Yes,” without

hesitation. Peters then said he would sound the others of his party

upon the subject, and went away. During the remainder of the day

Augustus had no opportunity of speaking with him privately.

CHAPTER VII.

July 10. Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk. Weather hazy, with

a light baffling wind from the eastward. To-day Hartman Rogers died,

having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass

of grog. This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters

placed his main reliance. He told Augustus that he believed the mate

had poisoned him, and that he expected, if he did not be on the

look-out, his own turn would come shortly. There were now only himself,

Jones, and the cook belonging to his own gang—on the other side there

were five. He had spoken to Jones about taking the command from the

mate; but the project having been coolly received, he had been deterred

from pressing the matter any further, or from saying anything to the

cook. It was well, as it happened, that he was so prudent, for in the

afternoon the cook expressed his determination of siding with the mate,

and went over formally to that party; while Jones took an opportunity

of quarrelling with Peters, and hinted that he would let the mate know

of the plan in agitation. There was now, evidently, no time to be lost,

and Peters expressed his determination of attempting to take the vessel

at all hazards, provided Augustus would lend him his aid. My friend at

once assured him of his willingness to enter into any plan for that

purpose, and, thinking the opportunity a favourable one, made known the

fact of my being on board. At this the hybrid was not more astonished

than delighted, as he had no reliance whatever upon Jones, whom he

already considered as belonging to the party of the mate. They went

below immediately, when Augustus called to me by name, and Peters and

myself were soon made acquainted. It was agreed that we should attempt

to retake the vessel upon the first good opportunity, leaving Jones

altogether out of our councils. In the event of success we were to run

the brig into the first port that offered, and deliver her up. The

desertion of his party had frustrated Peters’s design of going into the

Pacific—an adventure which could not be accomplished without a crew,

and he depended upon either getting acquitted upon trial on the score

of insanity (which he solemnly averred had actuated him in lending his

aid to the mutiny), or upon obtaining a pardon, if found guilty,

through the representations of Augustus and myself. Our deliberations

were interrupted for the present by the cry of “All hands take in

sail,” and Peters and Augustus ran up on deck.

As usual, the crew were nearly all drunk; and, before sail could be

properly taken in, a violent squall laid the brig on her beam-ends. By

keeping her away, however, she righted, having shipped a good deal of

water. Scarcely was everything secure, when another squall took the

vessel, and immediately afterward another—no damage being done. There

was every appearance of a gale of wind, which, indeed, shortly came on,

with great fury, from the northward and westward. All was made as snug

as possible, and we laid to, as usual, under a close-reefed foresail.

As night drew on, the wind increased in violence, with a remarkably

heavy sea. Peters now came into the forecastle with Augustus, and we

resumed our deliberations.

We agreed that no opportunity could be more favourable than the present

for carrying our design into effect, as an attempt at such a moment

would never be anticipated. As the brig was snugly laid to, there would

be no necessity of manoeuvring her until good weather, when, if we

succeeded in our attempt, we might liberate one, or perhaps two of the

men, to aid us in taking her into port. The main difficulty was the

great disproportion in our forces. There were only three of us, and in

the cabin there were nine. All the arms on board, too, were in their

possession, with the exception of a pair of small pistols which Peters

had concealed about his person, and the large seaman’s knife which he

always wore in the waistband of his pantaloons. From certain

indications, too, such, for example, as there being no such thing as an

axe or a handspike lying in their customary places, we began to fear

that the mate had his suspicions, at least in regard to Peters, and

that he would let slip no opportunity of getting rid of him. It was

clear, indeed, that what we should determine to do could not be done

too soon. Still the odds were too much against us to allow of our

proceeding without the greatest caution.

Peters proposed that he should go up on deck, and enter into

conversation with the watch (Allen), when he would be able to throw him

into the sea without trouble, and without making any disturbance, by

seizing a good opportunity; that Augustus and myself should then come

up, and endeavour to provide ourselves with some kind of weapons from

the deck; and that we should then make a rush together, and secure the

companion-way before any opposition could be offered. I objected to

this, because I could not believe that the mate (who was a cunning

fellow in all matters which did not affect his superstitious

prejudices) would suffer himself to be so easily entrapped. The very

fact of there being a watch on deck at all was sufficient proof that he

was upon the alert—it not being usual, except in vessels where

discipline is most rigidly enforced, to station a watch on deck when a

vessel is lying to in a gale of wind. As I address myself principally,

if not altogether, to persons who have never been to sea, it may be as

well to state the exact condition of a vessel under such circumstances.

Lying to, or, in sea-parlance “laying to,” is a measure resorted to for

various purposes, and effected in various manners. In moderate weather,

it is frequently done with a view of merely bringing the vessel to a

stand-still, to wait for another vessel, or any similar object. If the

vessel which lies to is under full sail, the manoeuvre is usually

accomplished by throwing round some portion of her sails so as to let

the wind take them aback, when she becomes stationary. But we are now

speaking of lying to in a gale of wind. This is done when the wind is

ahead, and too violent to admit of carrying sail without danger of

capsizing; and sometimes even when the wind is fair, but the sea too

heavy for the vessel to be put before it. If a vessel be suffered to

scud before the wind in a very heavy sea, much damage is usually done

her by the shipping of water over her stern, and sometimes by the

violent plunges she makes forward. This manoeuvre, then, is seldom

resorted to in such case, unless through necessity. When the vessel is

in a leaky condition, she is often put before the wind even in the

heaviest seas; for, when lying to, her seams are sure to be greatly

opened by her violent straining, and it is not so much the case when

scudding. Often, too, it becomes necessary to scud a vessel, either

when the blast is so exceedingly furious as to tear in pieces the sail

which is employed with a view of bringing her head to the wind, or

when, through the false modelling of the frame or other causes, this

main object cannot be effected.

Vessels in a gale of wind are laid to in different manners, according

to their peculiar construction. Some lie to best under a foresail, and

this, I believe, is the sail most usually employed. Large square-rigged

vessels have sails for the express purpose, called storm-staysails. But

the jib is occasionally employed by itself—sometimes the jib and

foresail, or a double-reefed foresail, and not unfrequently the

after-sails, are made use of. Foretopsails are very often found to

answer the purpose better than any other species of sail. The Grampus

was generally laid to under a close-reefed foresail.

When a vessel is to be laid to, her head is brought up to the wind just

so nearly as to fill the sail under which she lies, when hauled flat

aft, that is, when brought diagonally across the vessel. This being

done, the bows point within a few degrees of the direction from which

the wind issues, and the windward bow of course receives the shock of

the waves. In this situation a good vessel will ride out a very heavy

gale of wind without shipping a drop of water, and without any further

attention being requisite on the part of the crew. The helm is usually

lashed down, but this is altogether unnecessary (except on account of

the noise it makes when loose), for the rudder has no effect upon the

vessel when lying to. Indeed, the helm had far better be left loose

than lashed very fast, for the rudder is apt to be torn off by heavy

seas if there be no room for the helm to play. As long as the sail

holds, a well-modelled vessel will maintain her situation, and ride

every sea, as if instinct with life and reason. If the violence of the

wind, however, should tear the sail into pieces (a feat which it

requires a perfect hurricane to accomplish under ordinary

circumstances), there is then imminent danger. The vessel falls off

from the wind, and, coming broadside to the sea, is completely at its

mercy: the only resource in this case is to put her quickly before the

wind, letting her scud until some other sail can be set. Some vessels

will lie to under no sail whatever, but such are not to be trusted at

sea.

But to return from this digression. It had never been customary with

the mate to have any watch on deck when lying to in a gale of wind, and

the fact that he had now one, coupled with the circumstance of the

missing axes and handspikes, fully convinced us that the crew were too

well on the watch to be taken by surprise in the manner Peters had

suggested. Something, however, was to be done, and that with as little

delay as practicable, for there could be no doubt that a suspicion

having been once entertained against Peters, he would be sacrificed

upon the earliest occasion, and one would certainly be either found or

made upon the breaking of the gale.

Augustus now suggested that if Peters could contrive to remove, under

any pretext, the piece of chain-cable which lay over the trap in the

stateroom, we might possibly be able to come upon them unawares by

means of the hold; but a little reflection convinced us that the vessel

rolled and pitched too violently for any attempt of that nature.

By good fortune I at length hit upon the idea of working upon the

superstitious terrors and guilty conscience of the mate. It will be

remembered that one of the crew, Hartman Rogers, had died during the

morning, having been attacked two days before with spasms after

drinking some spirits and water. Peters had expressed to us his opinion

that this man had been poisoned by the mate, and for this belief he had

reasons, so he said, which were incontrovertible, but which he could

not be prevailed upon to explain to us—this wayward refusal being only

in keeping with other points of his singular character. But whether or

not he had any better grounds for suspecting the mate than we had

ourselves, we were easily led to fall in with his suspicion, and

determined to act accordingly.

Rogers had died about eleven in the forenoon, in violent convulsions;

and the corpse presented in a few minutes after death one of the most

horrid and loathsome spectacles I ever remember to have seen. The

stomach was swollen immensely, like that of a man who has been drowned

and lain under water for many weeks. The hands were in the same

condition, while the face was shrunken, shrivelled, and of a chalky

whiteness, except where relieved by two or three glaring red splotches,

like those occasioned by the erysipelas: one of these splotches

extended diagonally across the face, completely covering up an eye as

if with a band of red velvet. In this disgusting condition the body had

been brought up from the cabin at noon to be thrown overboard, when the

mate getting a glimpse of it (for he now saw it for the first time),

and being either touched with remorse for his crime or struck with

terror at so horrible a sight, ordered the men to sew the body up in

its hammock, and allow it the usual rites of sea-burial. Having given

these directions he went below, as if to avoid any further sight of his

victim. While preparations were making to obey his orders, the gale

came on with great fury, and the design was abandoned for the present.

The corpse, left to itself, was washed into the larboard scuppers,

where it still lay at the time of which I speak, floundering about with

the furious lurches of the brig.

Having arranged our plan, we set about putting it in execution as

speedily as possible. Peters went upon deck, and, as he had

anticipated, was immediately accosted by Allen, who appeared to be

stationed more as a watch upon the forecastle than for any other

purpose. The fate of this villain, however, was speedily and silently

decided; for Peters, approaching him in a careless manner, as if about

to address him, seized him by the throat, and, before he could utter a

single cry, tossed him over the bulwarks. He then called to us, and we

came up. Our first precaution was to look about for something with

which to arm ourselves, and in doing this we had to proceed with great

care, for it was impossible to stand on deck an instant without holding

fast, and violent seas broke over the vessel at every plunge forward.

It was indispensable, too, that we should be quick in our operations,

for every minute we expected the mate to be up to set the pumps going,

as it was evident the brig must be taking in water very fast. After

searching about for some time, we could find nothing more fit for our

purpose than the two pump-handles, one of which Augustus took, and I

the other. Having secured these, we stripped off the shirt of the

corpse and dropped the body overboard. Peters and myself then went

below, leaving Augustus to watch upon deck, where he took his station

just where Allen had been placed, and with his back to the cabin

companion-way, so that, if any one of the mate’s gang should come up,

he might suppose it was the watch.

As soon as I got below I commenced disguising myself so as to represent

the corpse of Rogers. The shirt which we had taken from the body aided

us very much, for it was of a singular form and character, and easily

recognisable—a kind of smock, which the deceased wore over his other

clothing. It was a blue stockinett, with large white stripes running

across. Having put this on, I proceeded to equip myself with a false

stomach, in imitation of the horrible deformity of the swollen corpse.

This was soon effected by means of stuffing with some bedclothes. I

then gave the same appearance to my hands by drawing on a pair of white

woollen mittens, and filling them in with any kind of rags that offered

themselves. Peters then arranged my face, first rubbing it well over

with white chalk, and afterward splotching it with blood, which he took

from a cut in his finger. The streak across the eye was not forgotten,

and presented a most shocking appearance.

CHAPTER VIII.

As I viewed myself in a fragment of looking-glass which hung up in the

cabin, and by the dim light of a kind of battle-lantern, I was so

impressed with a sense of vague awe at my appearance, and at the

recollection of the terrific reality which I was thus representing,

that I was seized with a violent tremour, and could scarcely summon

resolution to go on with my part. It was necessary, however, to act

with decision, and Peters and myself went upon deck.

We there found everything safe, and, keeping close to the bulwarks, the

three of us crept to the cabin companion-way. It was only partially

closed, precautions having been taken to prevent its being suddenly

pushed to from without, by means of placing billets of wood on the

upper step so as to interfere with the shutting. We found no difficulty

in getting a full view of the interior of the cabin through the cracks

where the hinges were placed. It now proved to have been very fortunate

for us that we had not attempted to take them by surprise, for they

were evidently on the alert. Only one was asleep, and he lying just at

the foot of the companion-ladder, with a musket by his side. The rest

were seated on several mattresses, which had been taken from the berths

and thrown on the floor. They were engaged in earnest conversation; and

although they had been carousing, as appeared from two empty jugs, with

some tin tumblers which lay about, they were not as much intoxicated as

usual. All had knives, one or two of them pistols, and a great many

muskets were lying in a berth close at hand.

We listened to their conversation for some time before we could make up

our minds how to act, having as yet resolved on nothing determinate,

except that we would attempt to paralyze their exertions, when we

should attack them, by means of the apparition of Rogers. They were

discussing their piratical plans, in which all we could hear distinctly

was, that they would unite with the crew of a schooner Hornet, and, if

possible, get the schooner herself into their possession preparatory to

some attempt on a large scale, the particulars of which could not be

made out by either of us.

One of the men spoke of Peters, when the mate replied to him in a low

voice which could not be distinguished, and afterward added more

loudly, that “he could not understand his being so much forward with

the captain’s brat in the forecastle, and he thought the sooner both of

them were overboard the better.” To this no answer was made, but we

could easily perceive that the hint was well received by the whole

party, and more particularly by Jones. At this period I was excessively

agitated, the more so as I could see that neither Augustus nor Peters

could determine how to act. I made up my mind, however, to sell my life

as dearly as possible, and not to suffer myself to be overcome by any

feelings of trepidation.

The tremendous noise made by the roaring of the wind in the rigging and

the washing of the sea over the deck prevented us from hearing what was

said except during momentary lulls. In one of these we all distinctly

heard the mate tell one of the men to “go forward, and order the d----d

lubbers to come into the cabin, where he could have an eye upon them,

for he wanted no such secret doings on board the brig.” It was well for

us that the pitching of the vessel at this moment was so violent as to

prevent this order from being carried into instant execution. The cook

got up from his mattress to go for us, when a tremendous lurch, which I

thought would carry away the masts, threw him headlong against one of

the larboard stateroom doors, bursting it open, and creating a good

deal of other confusion. Luckily, neither of our party was thrown from

his position, and we had time to make a precipitate retreat to the

forecastle, and arrange a hurried plan of action before the messenger

made his appearance, or rather before he put his head out of the

companion-hatch, for he did not come on deck. From this station he

could not notice the absence of Allen, and he accordingly bawled out as

if to him, repeating the orders of the mate. Peters cried out, “Ay,

ay,” in a disguised voice, and the cook immediately went below, without

entertaining a suspicion that all was not right.

My two companions now proceeded boldly aft and down into the cabin,

Peters closing the door after him in the same manner he had found it.

The mate received them with feigned cordiality, and told Augustus that,

since he had behaved himself so well of late, he might take up his

quarters in the cabin, and be one of them for the future. He then

poured him out a tumbler half full of rum, and made him drink it. All

this I saw and heard, for I followed my friends to the cabin as soon as

the door was shut, and took up my old point of observation. I had

brought with me the two pump-handles, one of which I secured near the

companion-way, to be ready for use when required.

I now steadied myself as well as possible so as to have a good view of

all that was passing within, and endeavoured to nerve myself to the

task of descending among the mutineers when Peters should make a signal

to me as agreed upon. Presently he contrived to turn the conversation

upon the bloody deeds of the mutiny, and, by degrees, led the men to

talk of the thousand superstitions which are so universally current

among seamen. I could not make out all that was said, but I could

plainly see the effects of the conversation in the countenances of

those present. The mate was evidently much agitated, and presently,

when some one mentioned the terrific appearance of Rogers’s corpse, I

thought he was upon the point of swooning. Peters now asked him if he

did not think it would be better to have the body thrown overboard at

once, as it was too horrible a sight to see it floundering about in the

scuppers. At this the villain absolutely gasped for breath, and turned

his head slowly round upon his companions, as if imploring some one to

go up and perform the task. No one, however, stirred, and it was quite

evident that the whole party were wound up to the highest pitch of

nervous excitement. Peters now made me the signal. I immediately threw

open the door of the companion-way, and, descending without uttering a

syllable, stood erect in the midst of the party.

The intense effect produced by this sudden apparition is not at all to

be wondered at when the various circumstances are taken into

consideration. Usually, in cases of a similar nature, there is left in

the mind of the spectator some glimmering of doubt as to the reality of

the vision before his eyes; a degree of hope, however feeble, that he

is the victim of chicanery, and that the apparition is not actually a

visitant from the world of shadows. It is not too much to say that such

remnants of doubt have been at the bottom of almost every such

visitation, and that the appalling horror which has sometimes been

brought about, is to be attributed, even in the cases most in point,

and where most suffering has been experienced, more to a kind of

anticipative horror, lest the apparition might possibly be real, than

to an unwavering belief in its reality. But, in the present instance,

it will be seen immediately, that in the minds of the mutineers there

was not even the shadow of a basis upon which to rest a doubt that the

apparition of Rogers was indeed a revivification of his disgusting

corpse, or at least its spiritual image. The isolated situation of the

brig, with its entire inaccessibility on account of the gale, confined

the apparently possible means of deception within such narrow and

definite limits, that they must have thought themselves enabled to

survey them all at a glance. They had now been at sea twenty-four days,

without holding more than a speaking communication with any vessel

whatever. The whole of the crew, too, at least all whom they had the

most remote reason for suspecting to be on board, were assembled in the

cabin, with the exception of Allen, the watch; and his gigantic stature

(he was six feet six inches high) was too familiar in their eyes to

permit the notion that he was the apparition before them to enter their

minds even for an instant. Add to these considerations the

awe-inspiring nature of the tempest, and that of the conversation

brought about by Peters; the deep impression which the loathsomeness of

the actual corpse had made in the morning upon the imaginations of the

men; the excellence of the imitation in my person; and the uncertain

and wavering light in which they beheld me, as the glare of the cabin

lantern, swinging violently to and fro, fell dubiously and fitfully

upon my figure, and there will be no reason to wonder that the

deception had even more than the entire effect which we had

anticipated. The mate sprang up from the mattress on which he was

lying, and, without uttering a syllable, fell back, stone dead, upon

the cabin floor, and was hurled to the leeward like a log by a heavy

roll of the brig. Of the remaining seven there were but three who had

at first any degree of presence of mind. The four others sat for some

time rooted apparently to the floor, the most pitiable objects of

horror and utter despair my eyes ever encountered. The only opposition

we experienced at all was from the cook, John Hunt, and Richard Parker;

but they made but a feeble and irresolute defence. The two former were

shot instantly by Peters, and I felled Parker with a blow on the head

from the pump-handle which I had brought with me. In the mean time

Augustus seized one of the muskets lying on the floor, and shot another

mutineer (---- Wilson) through the breast. There were now but three

remaining; but by this time they had become aroused from their

lethargy, and perhaps began to see that a deception had been practised

upon them, for they fought with great resolution and fury, and, but for

the immense muscular strength of Peters, might have ultimately got the

better of us. These three men were ---- Jones, ---- Greely, and Absalom

Hicks. Jones had thrown Augustus on the floor, stabbed him in several

places along the right arm, and would no doubt have soon despatched him

(as neither Peters nor myself could immediately get rid of our own

antagonists), had it not been for the timely aid of a friend upon whose

assistance we surely had never depended. This friend was no other than

Tiger. With a low growl he bounded into the cabin, at a most critical

moment for Augustus, and throwing himself upon Jones, pinned him to the

floor in an instant. My friend, however, was now too much injured to

render us any aid whatever, and I was so encumbered with my disguise

that I could do but little. The dog would not leave his hold upon the

throat of Jones—Peters, nevertheless, was far more than a match for

the two men who remained, and would, no doubt, have despatched them

sooner, had it not been for the narrow space in which he had to act,

and the tremendous lurches of the vessel. Presently he was enabled to

get hold of a heavy stool, several of which lay about the floor. With

this he beat out the brains of Greely as he was in the act of

discharging a musket at me, and immediately afterward a roll of the

brig throwing him in contact with Hicks, he seized him by the throat,

and, by dint of sheer strength, strangled him instantaneously. Thus, in

far less time than I have taken to tell it, we found ourselves masters

of the brig.

The only person of our opponents who was left alive was Richard Parker.

This man, it will be remembered, I had knocked down with a blow from

the pump-handle at the commencement of the attack. He now lay

motionless by the door of the shattered stateroom; but, upon Peters

touching him with his foot, he spoke, and entreated for mercy. His head

was only slightly cut, and otherwise he had received no injury, having

been merely stunned by the blow. He now got up, and, for the present,

we secured his hands behind his back. The dog was still growling over

Jones; but, upon examination, we found him completely dead, the blood

issuing in a stream from a deep wound in the throat, inflicted, no

doubt, by the sharp teeth of the animal.

It was now about one o’clock in the morning, and the wind was still

blowing tremendously. The brig evidently laboured much more than usual,

and it became absolutely necessary that something should be done with a

view of easing her in some measure. At almost every roll to leeward she

shipped a sea, several of which came partially down into the cabin

during our scuffle, the hatchway having been left open by myself when I

descended. The entire range of bulwarks to larboard had been swept

away, as well as the caboose, together with the jollyboat from the

counter. The creaking and working of the mainmast, too, gave indication

that it was nearly sprung. To make room for more stowage in the after

hold, the heel of this mast had been stepped between decks (a very

reprehensible practice, occasionally resorted to by ignorant

ship-builders), so that it was in imminent danger of working from its

step. But, to crown all our difficulties, we plummed the well, and

found no less than seven feet water.

Leaving the bodies of the crew lying in the cabin, we got to work

immediately at the pumps—Parker, of course, being set at liberty to

assist us in the labour. Augustus’s arm was bound up as well as we

could effect it, and he did what he could, but that was not much.

However, we found that we could just manage to keep the leak from

gaining upon us by having one pump constantly going. As there were only

four of us, this was severe labour; but we endeavoured to keep up our

spirits, and looked anxiously for daybreak, when we hoped to lighten

the brig by cutting away the mainmast.

In this manner we passed a night of terrible anxiety and fatigue, and,

when the day at length broke, the gale had neither abated in the least,

nor were there any signs of its abating. We now dragged the bodies on

deck and threw them overboard. Our next care was to get rid of the

mainmast. The necessary preparations having been made, Peters cut away

at the mast (having found axes in the cabin), while the rest of us

stood by the stays and lanyards. As the brig gave a tremendous

lee-lurch, the word was given to cut away the weather-lanyards, which

being done, the whole mass of wood and rigging plunged into the sea,

clear of the brig, and without doing any material injury. We now found

that the vessel did not labour quite as much as before, but our

situation was still exceedingly precarious, and, in spite of the utmost

exertions, we could not gain upon the leak without the aid of both

pumps. The little assistance which Augustus could render us was not

really of any importance. To add to our distress, a heavy sea, striking

the brig to windward, threw her off several points from the wind, and,

before she could regain her position, another broke completely over

her, and hurled her full upon her beam-ends. The ballast now shifted in

a mass to leeward (the stowage had been knocking about perfectly at

random for some time), and for a few moments we thought nothing could

save us from capsizing. Presently, however, we partially righted; but

the ballast still retaining its place to larboard, we lay so much along

that it was useless to think of working the pumps, which indeed we

could not have done much longer in any case, as our hands were entirely

raw with the excessive labour we had undergone, and were bleeding in

the most horrible manner.

Contrary to Parker’s advice, we now proceeded to cut away the foremast,

and at length accomplished it after much difficulty, owing to the

position in which we lay. In going overboard the wreck took with it the

bowsprit, and left us a complete hulk.

So far we had had reason to rejoice in the escape of our longboat,

which had received no damage from any of the huge seas which had come

on board. But we had not long to congratulate ourselves; for the

foremast having gone, and, of course, the foresail with it, by which

the brig had been steadied, every sea now made a complete breach over

us, and in five minutes our deck was swept from stem to stern, the

longboat and starboard bulwarks torn off, and even the windlass

shattered into fragments. It was, indeed, hardly possible for us to be

in a more pitiable condition.

At noon there seemed to be some slight appearance of the gale’s

abating, but in this we were sadly disappointed, for it only lulled for

a few minutes to blow with redoubled fury. About four in the afternoon

it was utterly impossible to stand up against the violence of the

blast; and, as the night closed in upon us, I had not a shadow of hope

that the vessel would hold together until morning.

By midnight we had settled very deep in the water, which was now up to

the orlop deck. The rudder went soon afterward, the sea which tore it

away lifting the after portion of the brig entirely from the water,

against which she thumped in her descent with such a concussion as

would be occasioned by going ashore. We had all calculated that the

rudder would hold its own to the last, as it was unusually strong,

being rigged as I have never seen one rigged either before or since.

Down its main timber there ran a succession of stout iron hooks, and

others in the same manner down the stern-post. Through these hooks

there extended a very thick wrought-iron rod, the rudder being thus

held to the stern-post, and swinging freely on the rod. The tremendous

force of the sea which tore it off may be estimated by the fact, that

the hooks in the stern-post, which ran entirely through it, being

clinched on the inside, were drawn every one of them completely out of

the solid wood.

We had scarcely time to draw breath after the violence of this shock,

when one of the most tremendous waves I had then ever known broke right

on board of us, sweeping the companion-way clear off, bursting in the

hatchways, and filling every inch of the vessel with water.

CHAPTER IX.

Luckily, just before night, all four of us had lashed ourselves firmly

to the fragments of the windlass, lying in this manner as flat upon the

deck as possible. This precaution alone saved us from destruction. As

it was, we were all more or less stunned by the immense weight of water

which tumbled upon us, and which did not roll from above us until we

were nearly exhausted. As soon as I could recover breath, I called

aloud to my companions. Augustus alone replied, saying, “It is all over

with us, and may God have mercy upon our souls.” By-and-by both the

others were enabled to speak, when they exhorted us to take courage, as

there was still hope; it being impossible, from the nature of the

cargo, that the brig could go down, and there being every chance that

the gale would blow over by the morning. These words inspired me with

new life; for, strange as it may seem, although it was obvious that a

vessel with a cargo of empty oil-casks would not sink, I had been

hitherto so confused in mind as to have overlooked this consideration

altogether; and the danger which I had for some time regarded as the

most imminent was that of foundering. As hope revived within me, I made

use of every opportunity to strengthen the lashings which held me to

the remains of the windlass, and in this occupation I soon discovered

that my companions were also busy. The night was as dark as it could

possibly be, and the horrible shrieking din and confusion which

surrounded us it is useless to attempt describing. Our deck lay level

with the sea, or rather we were encircled with a towering ridge of

foam, a portion of which swept over us every instant. It is not too

much to say that our heads were not fairly out of water more than one

second in three. Although we lay close together, no one of us could see

the other, or, indeed, any portion of the brig itself, upon which we

were so tempestuously hurled about. At intervals we called one to the

other, thus endeavouring to keep alive hope, and render consolation and

encouragement to such of us as stood most in need of it. The feeble

condition of Augustus made him an object of solicitude with us all; and

as, from the lacerated condition of his right arm, it must have been

impossible for him to secure his lashings with any degree of firmness,

we were in momentary expectation of finding that he had gone

overboard—yet to render him aid was a thing altogether out of the

question. Fortunately, his station was more secure than that of any of

the rest of us; for the upper part of his body lying just beneath a

portion of the shattered windlass, the seas, as they tumbled in upon

him, were greatly broken in their violence. In any other situation than

this (into which he had been accidentally thrown after having lashed

himself in a very exposed spot) he must inevitably have perished before

morning. Owing to the brig’s lying so much along, we were all less

liable to be washed off than otherwise would have been the case. The

heel, as I have before stated, was to larboard, about one half of the

deck being constantly under water. The seas, therefore, which struck us

to starboard were much broken by the vessel’s side, only reaching us in

fragments as we lay flat on our faces; while those which came from

larboard, being what are called back-water seas, and obtaining little

hold upon us on account of our posture, had not sufficient force to

drag us from our fastenings.

In this frightful situation we lay until the day broke so as to show us

more fully the horrors which surrounded us. The brig was a mere log,

rolling about at the mercy of every wave; the gale was upon the

increase, if anything, blowing indeed a complete hurricane, and there

appeared to us no earthly prospect of deliverance. For several hours we

held on in silence, expecting every moment that our lashings would

either give way, that the remains of the windlass would go by the

board, or that some of the huge seas, which roared in every direction

around us and above us, would drive the hulk so far beneath the water

that we should be drowned before it could regain the surface. By the

mercy of God, however, we were preserved from these imminent dangers,

and about midday were cheered by the light of the blessed sun. Shortly

afterward we could perceive a sensible diminution in the force of the

wind, when, now for the first time since the latter part of the evening

before, Augustus spoke, asking Peters, who lay closest to him, if he

thought there was any possibility of our being saved. As no reply was

at first made to this question, we all concluded that the hybrid had

been drowned where he lay; but presently, to our great joy, he spoke,

although very feebly, saying that he was in great pain, being so cut by

the tightness of his lashings across the stomach, that he must either

find means of loosening them or perish, as it was impossible that he

could endure his misery much longer. This occasioned us great distress,

as it was altogether useless to think of aiding him in any manner while

the sea continued washing over us as it did. We exhorted him to bear

his sufferings with fortitude, and promised to seize the first

opportunity which should offer itself to relieve him. He replied that

it would soon be too late; that it would be all over with him before we

could help him; and then, after moaning for some minutes, lay silent,

when we concluded that he had perished.

As the evening drew on, the sea had fallen so much that scarcely more

than one wave broke over the hulk from windward in the course of five

minutes, and the wind had abated a great deal, although still blowing a

severe gale. I had not heard any of my companions speak for hours, and

now called to Augustus. He replied, although very feebly, so that I

could not distinguish what he said. I then spoke to Peters and to

Parker, neither of whom returned any answer.

Shortly after this period I fell into a state of partial insensibility,

during which the most pleasing images floated in my imagination; such

as green trees, waving meadows of ripe grain, processions of dancing

girls, troops of cavalry, and other phantasies. I now remember that, in

all which passed before my mind’s eye, motion was a predominant idea.

Thus, I never fancied any stationary object, such as a house, a

mountain, or anything of that kind; but windmills, ships, large birds,

balloons, people on horseback, carriages driving furiously, and similar

moving objects, presented themselves in endless succession. When I

recovered from this state, the sun was, as near as I could guess, an

hour high. I had the greatest difficulty in bringing to recollection

the various circumstances connected with my situation, and for some

time remained firmly convinced that I was still in the hold of the

brig, near the box, and that the body of Parker was that of Tiger.

When I at length completely came to my senses, I found that the wind

blew no more than a moderate breeze, and that the sea was comparatively

calm; so much so that it only washed over the brig amidships. My left

arm had broken loose from its lashings, and was much cut about the

elbow; my right was entirely benumbed, and the hand and wrist swollen

prodigiously by the pressure of the rope, which had worked from the

shoulder downward. I was also in great pain from another rope which

went about my waist, and had been drawn to an insufferable degree of

tightness. Looking round upon my companions, I saw that Peters still

lived, although a thick line was pulled so forcibly around his loins as

to give him the appearance of being cut nearly in two; as I stirred, he

made a feeble motion to me with his hand, pointing to the rope.

Augustus gave no indication of life whatever, and was bent nearly

double across a splinter of the windlass. Parker spoke to me when he

saw me moving, and asked me if I had not sufficient strength to release

him from his situation; saying, that if I would summon up what spirits

I could, and contrive to untie him, we might yet save our lives; but

that otherwise we must all perish. I told him to take courage, and I

would endeavour to free him. Feeling in my pantaloons’ pocket, I got

hold of my penknife, and, after several ineffectual attempts, at length

succeeded in opening it. I then, with my left hand, managed to free my

right from its fastenings, and afterward cut the other ropes which held

me. Upon attempting, however, to move from my position, I found that my

legs failed me altogether, and that I could not get up; neither could I

move my right arm in any direction. Upon mentioning this to Parker, he

advised me to lie quiet for a few minutes, holding on to the windlass

with my left hand, so as to allow time for the blood to circulate.

Doing this, the numbness presently began to die away, so that I could

move first one of my legs, and then the other; and, shortly afterward,

I regained the partial use of my right arm. I now crawled with great

caution towards Parker, without getting on my legs, and soon cut loose

all the lashings about him, when, after a short delay, he also

recovered the partial use of his limbs. We now lost no time in getting

loose the rope from Peters. It had cut a deep gash through the

waistband of his woollen pantaloons, and through two shirts, and made

its way into his groin, from which the blood flowed out copiously as we

removed the cordage. No sooner had we removed it, however, than he

spoke, and seemed to experience instant relief—being able to move with

much greater ease than either Parker or myself—this was no doubt owing

to the discharge of blood.

We had little hope that Augustus would recover, as he evinced no signs

of life; but, upon getting to him, we discovered that he had merely

swooned from loss of blood, the bandages we had placed around his

wounded arm having been torn off by the water; none of the ropes which

held him to the windlass were drawn sufficiently tight to occasion his

death. Having relieved him from the fastenings, and got him clear of

the broken wood about the windlass, we secured him in a dry place to

windward, with his head somewhat lower than his body, and all three of

us busied ourselves in chafing his limbs. In about half an hour he came

to himself, although it was not until the next morning that he gave

signs of recognising any of us, or had sufficient strength to speak. By

the time we had thus got clear of our lashings it was quite dark, and

it began to cloud up, so that we were again in the greatest agony lest

it should come on to blow hard, in which event nothing could have saved

us from perishing, exhausted as we were. By good fortune it continued

very moderate during the night, the sea subsiding every minute, which

gave us great hopes of ultimate preservation. A gentle breeze still

blew from the N. W., but the weather was not at all cold. Augustus was

lashed carefully to windward in such a manner as to prevent him from

slipping overboard with the rolls of the vessel, as he was still too

weak to hold on at all. For ourselves there was no such necessity. We

sat close together, supporting each other with the aid of the broken

ropes about the windlass, and devising methods of escape from our

frightful situation. We derived much comfort from taking off our

clothes and wringing the water from them. When we put them on after

this, they felt remarkably warm and pleasant, and served to invigorate

us in no little degree. We helped Augustus off with his, and wrung them

for him, when he experienced the same comfort.

Our chief sufferings were now those of hunger and thirst, and, when we

looked forward to the means of relief in this respect, our hearts sunk

within us, and we were induced to regret that we had escaped the less

dreadful perils of the sea. We endeavoured, however, to console

ourselves with the hope of being speedily picked up by some vessel, and

encouraged each other to bear with fortitude the evils that might

happen.

The morning of the fourteenth at length dawned, and the weather still

continued clear and pleasant, with a steady but very light breeze from

the N. W. The sea was now quite smooth, and as, from some cause which

we could not determine, the brig did not lie so much along as she had

done before, the deck was comparatively dry, and we could move about

with freedom. We had now been better than three entire days and nights

without either food or drink, and it became absolutely necessary that

we should make an attempt to get up something from below. As the brig

was completely full of water, we went to this work despondingly, and

with but little expectation of being able to obtain anything. We made a

kind of drag by driving some nails which we broke out from the remains

of the companion-hatch into two pieces of wood. Tying these across each

other, and fastening them to the end of a rope, we threw them into the

cabin, and dragged them to and fro, in the faint hope of being thus

able to entangle some article which might be of use to us for food, or

which might at least render us assistance in getting it. We spent the

greater part of the morning in this labour without effect, fishing up

nothing more than a few bedclothes, which were readily caught by the

nails. Indeed, our contrivance was so very clumsy, that any greater

success was hardly to be anticipated.

We now tried the forecastle, but equally in vain, and were upon the

brink of despair, when Peters proposed that we should fasten a rope to

his body, and let him make an attempt to get up something by diving

into the cabin. This proposition we hailed with all the delight which

reviving hope could inspire. He proceeded immediately to strip off his

clothes with the exception of his pantaloons; and a strong rope was

then carefully fastened around his middle, being brought up over his

shoulders in such a manner that there was no possibility of its

slipping. The undertaking was one of great difficulty and danger; for,

as we could hardly expect to find much, if any provision in the cabin

itself, it was necessary that the diver, after letting himself down,

should make a turn to the right, and proceed under water a distance of

ten or twelve feet, in a narrow passage, to the storeroom, and return,

without drawing breath.

Everything being ready, Peters now descended into the cabin, going down

the companion-ladder until the water reached his chin. He then plunged

in, head first, turning to the right as he plunged, and endeavouring to

make his way to the storeroom. In this first attempt, however, he was

altogether unsuccessful. In less than half a minute after his going

down we felt the rope jerked violently (the signal we had agreed upon

when he desired to be drawn up). We accordingly drew him up instantly,

but so incautiously as to bruise him badly against the ladder. He had

brought nothing with him, and had been unable to penetrate more than a

very little way into the passage, owing to the constant exertions he

found it necessary to make in order to keep himself from floating up

against the deck. Upon getting out he was very much exhausted, and had

to rest full fifteen minutes before he could again venture to descend.

The second attempt met with even worse success; for he remained so long

under water without giving the signal, that, becoming alarmed for his

safety, we drew him out without it, and found that he was almost at the

last gasp, having, as he said, repeatedly jerked at the rope without

our feeling it. This was probably owing to a portion of it having

become entangled in the balustrade at the foot of the ladder. This

balustrade was, indeed, so much in the way, that we determined to

remove it, if possible, before proceeding with our design. As we had no

means of getting it away except by main force, we all descended into

the water as far as we could on the ladder, and, giving a pull against

it with our united strength, succeeded in breaking it down.

The third attempt was equally unsuccessful with the two first, and it

now became evident that nothing could be done in this manner without

the aid of some weight with which the diver might steady himself, and

keep to the floor of the cabin while making his search. For a long time

we looked about in vain for something which might answer this purpose;

but at length, to our great joy, we discovered one of the

weather-forechains so loose that we had not the least difficulty in

wrenching it off. Having fastened this securely to one of his ancles,

Peters now made his fourth descent into the cabin, and this time

succeeded in making his way to the door of the steward’s room. To his

inexpressible grief, however, he found it locked, and was obliged to

return without effecting an entrance, as, with the greatest exertion,

he could remain under water not more, at the utmost extent, than a

single minute. Our affairs now looked gloomy indeed, and neither

Augustus nor myself could refrain from bursting into tears, as we

thought of the host of difficulties which encompassed us, and the

slight probability which existed of our finally making an escape. But

this weakness was not of long duration. Throwing ourselves on our knees

to God, we implored his aid in the many dangers which beset us; and

arose with renewed hope and vigour to think what could yet be done by

mortal means towards accomplishing our deliverance.

CHAPTER X.

Shortly afterward an incident occurred which I am induced to look upon

as more intensely productive of emotion, as far more replete with the

extremes first of delight and then of horror, than even any of the

thousand chances which afterward befell me in nine long years, crowded

with events of the most startling, and, in many cases, of the most

unconceived and unconceivable character. We were lying on the deck near

the companion-way, and debating the possibility of yet making our way

into the storeroom, when, looking towards Augustus, who lay fronting

myself, I perceived that he had become all at once deadly pale, and

that his lips were quivering in the most singular and unaccountable

manner. Greatly alarmed, I spoke to him, but he made me no reply, and I

was beginning to think that he was suddenly taken ill, when I took

notice of his eyes, which were glaring apparently at some object behind

me. I turned my head, and shall never forget the ecstatic joy which

thrilled through every particle of my frame, when I perceived a large

brig bearing down upon us, and not more than a couple of miles off. I

sprung to my feet as if a musket bullet had suddenly struck me to the

heart; and, stretching out my arms in the direction of the vessel,

stood in this manner, motionless, and unable to articulate a syllable.

Peters and Parker were equally affected, although in different ways.

The former danced about the deck like a madman, uttering the most

extravagant rhodomontades, intermingled with howls and imprecations,

while the latter burst into tears, and continued for many minutes

weeping like a child.

The vessel in sight was a large hermaphrodite brig, of a Dutch build,

and painted black, with a tawdry gilt figurehead. She had evidently

seen a good deal of rough weather, and, we supposed, had suffered much

in the gale which had proved so disastrous to ourselves; for her

foretopmast was gone, and some of her starboard bulwarks. When we first

saw her, she was, as I have already said, about two miles off and to

windward, bearing down upon us. The breeze was very gentle, and what

astonished us chiefly was, that she had no other sails set than her

foresail and mainsail, with a flying jib—of course she came down but

slowly, and our impatience amounted nearly to phrensy. The awkward

manner in which she steered, too, was remarked by all of us, even

excited as we were. She yawed about so considerably, that once or twice

we thought it impossible she could see us, or imagined that, having

seen us, and discovered no person on board, she was about to tack and

make off in another direction. Upon each of these occasions we screamed

and shouted at the top of our voices, when the stranger would appear to

change for a moment her intention, and again hold on towards us—this

singular conduct being repeated two or three times, so that at last we

could think of no other manner of accounting for it than by supposing

the helmsman to be in liquor.

No person was seen upon her decks until she arrived within about a

quarter of a mile of us. We then saw three seamen, whom by their dress

we took to be Hollanders. Two of these were lying on some old sails

near the forecastle, and the third, who appeared to be looking at us

with great curiosity, was leaning over the starboard bow near the

bowsprit. This last was a stout and tall man, with a very dark skin. He

seemed by his manner to be encouraging us to have patience, nodding to

us in a cheerful although rather odd way, and smiling constantly so as

to display a set of the most brilliantly white teeth. As his vessel

drew nearer, we saw a red flannel cap which he had on fall from his

head into the water; but of this he took little or no notice,

continuing his odd smiles and gesticulations. I relate these things and

circumstances minutely, and I relate them, it must be understood,

precisely as they appeared to us.

The brig came on slowly, and now more steadily than before, and—I

cannot speak calmly of this event—our hearts leaped up wildly within

us, and we poured out our whole souls in shouts and thanksgiving to God

for the complete, unexpected, and glorious deliverance that was so

palpably at hand. Of a sudden, and all at once, there came wafted over

the ocean from the strange vessel (which was now close upon us) a

smell, a stench, such as the whole world has no name for—no conception

of—hellish—utterly suffocating—insufferable, inconceivable. I gasped

for breath, and, turning to my companions, perceived that they were

paler than marble. But we had now no time left for question or

surmise—the brig was within fifty feet of us, and it seemed to be her

intention to run under our counter, that we might board her without her

putting out a boat. We rushed aft, when, suddenly, a wide yaw threw her

off full five or six points from the course she had been running, and,

as she passed under our stern at the distance of about twenty feet, we

had a full view of her decks. Shall I ever forget the triple horror of

that spectacle? Twenty-five or thirty human bodies, among whom were

several females, lay scattered about between the counter and the

galley, in the last and most loathsome state of putrefaction! We

plainly saw that not a soul lived in that fated vessel! Yet we could

not help shouting to the dead for help! Yes, long and loudly did we

beg, in the agony of the moment, that those silent and disgusting

images would stay for us, would not abandon us to become like them,

would receive us among their goodly company! We were raving with horror

and despair—thoroughly mad through the anguish of our grievous

disappointment.

As our first loud yell of terror broke forth, it was replied to by

something, from near the bowsprit of the stranger, so closely

resembling the scream of a human voice that the nicest ear might have

been startled and deceived. At this instant another sudden yaw brought

the region of the forecastle for a moment into view, and we beheld at

once the origin of the sound. We saw the tall stout figure still

leaning on the bulwark, and still nodding his head to and fro, but his

face was now turned from us so that we could not behold it. His arms

were extended over the rail, and the palms of his hands fell outward.

His knees were lodged upon a stout rope, tightly stretched, and

reaching from the heel of the bowsprit to a cathead. On his back, from

which a portion of the shirt had been torn, leaving it bare, there sat

a huge seagull, busily gorging itself with the horrible flesh, its bill

and talons deep buried, and its white plumage spattered all over with

blood. As the brig moved further round so as to bring us close in view,

the bird, with much apparent difficulty, drew out its crimsoned head,

and, after eying us for a moment as if stupified, arose lazily from the

body upon which it had been feasting, and, flying directly above our

deck, hovered there a while with a portion of clotted and liver-like

substance in its beak. The horrid morsel dropped at length with a

sullen splash immediately at the feet of Parker. May God forgive me,

but now, for the first time, there flashed through my mind a thought, a

thought which I will not mention, and I felt myself making a step

towards the ensanguined spot. I looked upward, and the eyes of Augustus

met my own with a degree of intense and eager meaning which immediately

brought me to my senses. I sprang forward quickly, and, with a deep

shudder, threw the frightful thing into the sea.

The body from which it had been taken, resting as it did upon the rope,

had been easily swayed to and fro by the exertions of the carnivorous

bird, and it was this motion which had at first impressed us with the

belief of its being alive. As the gull relieved it of its weight, it

swung round and fell partially over, so that the face was fully

discovered. Never, surely, was any object so terribly full of awe! The

eyes were gone, and the whole flesh around the mouth, leaving the teeth

utterly naked. This, then, was the smile which had cheered us on to

hope! this the—but I forbear. The brig, as I have already told, passed

under our stern, and made its way slowly but steadily to leeward. With

her and with her terrible crew went all our gay visions of deliverance

and joy. Deliberately as she went by, we might possibly have found

means of boarding her, had not our sudden disappointment, and the

appalling nature of the discovery which accompanied it, laid entirely

prostrate every active faculty of mind and body. We had seen and felt,

but we could neither think nor act, until, alas, too late. How much our

intellects had been weakened by this incident may be estimated by the

fact, that, when the vessel had proceeded so far that we could perceive

no more than the half of her hull, the proposition was seriously

entertained of attempting to overtake her by swimming!

I have, since this period, vainly endeavoured to obtain some clew to

the hideous uncertainty which enveloped the fate of the stranger. Her

build and general appearance, as I have before stated, led us to the

belief that she was a Dutch trader, and the dresses of the crew also

sustained this opinion. We might have easily seen the name upon her

stern, and, indeed, taken other observations which would have guided us

in making out her character; but the intense excitement of the moment

blinded us to everything of that nature. From the saffron-like hue of

such of the corpses as were not entirely decayed, we concluded that the

whole of her company had perished by the yellow fever, or some other

virulent disease of the same fearful kind. If such were the case (and I

know not what else to imagine), death, to judge from the positions of

the bodies, must have come upon them in a manner awfully sudden and

overwhelming, in a way totally distinct from that which generally

characterizes even the most deadly pestilences with which mankind are

acquainted. It is possible, indeed, that poison, accidentally

introduced into some of their sea-stores, may have brought about the

disaster; or that the eating some unknown venomous species of fish, or

other marine animal, or oceanic bird, might have induced it—but it is

utterly useless to form conjectures where all is involved, and will, no

doubt, remain for ever involved, in the most appalling and unfathomable

mystery.

CHAPTER XI.

We spent the remainder of the day in a condition of stupid lethargy,

gazing after the retreating vessel until the darkness, hiding her from

our sight, recalled us in some measure to our senses. The pangs of

hunger and thirst then returned, absorbing all other cares and

considerations. Nothing, however, could be done until the morning, and,

securing ourselves as well as possible, we endeavoured to snatch a

little repose. In this I succeeded beyond my expectation, sleeping

until my companions, who had not been so fortunate, aroused me at

daybreak to renew our attempts at getting up provision from the hull.

It was now a dead calm, with the sea as smooth as I have ever known

it—the weather warm and pleasant. The brig was out of sight. We

commenced our operations by wrenching off, with some trouble, another

of the forechains; and having fastened both to Peters’s feet, he again

made an endeavour to reach the door of the storeroom, thinking it

possible that he might be able to force it open, provided he could get

at it in sufficient time; and this he hoped to do, as the hulk lay much

more steadily than before.

He succeeded very quickly in reaching the door, when, loosening one of

the chains from his ankle, he made every exertion to force a passage

with it, but in vain, the framework of the room being far stronger than

was anticipated. He was quite exhausted with his long stay under water,

and it became absolutely necessary that some other one of us should

take his place. For this service Parker immediately volunteered; but,

after making three ineffectual efforts, found that he could never even

succeed in getting near the door. The condition of Augustus’s wounded

arm rendered it useless for him to attempt going down, as he would be

unable to force the room open should he reach it, and it accordingly

now devolved upon me to exert myself for our common deliverance.

Peters had left one of the chains in the passage, and I found, upon

plunging in, that I had not sufficient ballast to keep me firmly down.

I determined, therefore, to attempt no more, in my first effort, than

merely to recover the other chain. In groping along the floor of the

passage for this I felt a hard substance, which I immediately grasped,

not having time to ascertain what it was, but returning and ascending

instantly to the surface. The prize proved to be a bottle, and our joy

may be conceived when I say that it was found to be full of Port wine.

Giving thanks to God for this timely and cheering assistance, we

immediately drew the cork with my penknife, and, each taking a moderate

sup, felt the most indescribable comfort from the warmth, strength, and

spirits with which it inspired us. We then carefully recorked the

bottle, and, by means of a handkerchief, swung it in such a manner that

there was no possibility of its getting broken.

Having rested a while after this fortunate discovery, I again

descended, and now recovered the chain, with which I instantly came up.

I then fastened it on and went down for the third time, when I became

fully satisfied that no exertions whatever, in that situation, would

enable me to force open the door of the storeroom. I therefore returned

in despair.

There seemed now to be no longer any room for hope, and I could

perceive in the countenances of my companions that they had made up

their minds to perish. The wine had evidently produced in them a

species of delirium, which, perhaps, I had been prevented from feeling

by the immersion I had undergone since drinking it. They talked

incoherently, and about matters unconnected with our condition, Peters

repeatedly asking me questions about Nantucket. Augustus, too, I

remember, approached me with a serious air, and requested me to lend

him a pocket-comb, as his hair was full of fish scales, and he wished

to get them out before going on shore. Parker appeared somewhat less

affected, and urged me to dive at random into the cabin, and bring up

any article which might come to hand. To this I consented, and, in the

first attempt, after staying under a full minute, brought up a small

leather trunk belonging to Captain Barnard. This was immediately opened

in the faint hope that it might contain something to eat or drink. We

found nothing, however, except a box of razors and two linen shirts. I

now went down again, and returned without any success. As my head came

above water I heard a crash on deck, and, upon getting up, saw that my

companions had ungratefully taken advantage of my absence to drink the

remainder of the wine, having let the bottle fall in the endeavour to

replace it before I saw them. I remonstrated with them on the

heartlessness of their conduct, when Augustus burst into tears. The

other two endeavoured to laugh the matter off as a joke, but I hope

never again to behold laughter of such a species: the distortion of

countenance was absolutely frightful. Indeed, it was apparent that the

stimulus, in the empty state of their stomachs, had taken instant and

violent effect, and that they were all exceedingly intoxicated. With

great difficulty I prevailed upon them to lie down, when they fell very

soon into a heavy slumber, accompanied with loud stertorous breathing.

I now found myself, as it were, alone in the brig, and my reflections,

to be sure, were of the most fearful and gloomy nature. No prospect

offered itself to my view but a lingering death by famine, or, at the

best, by being overwhelmed in the first gale which should spring up,

for in our present exhausted condition we could have no hope of living

through another.

The gnawing hunger which I now experienced was nearly insupportable,

and I felt myself capable of going to any lengths in order to appease

it. With my knife I cut off a small portion of the leather trunk, and

endeavoured to eat it, but found it utterly impossible to swallow a

single morsel, although I fancied that some little alleviation of my

suffering was obtained by chewing small pieces of it and spitting them

out. Towards night my companions awoke, one by one, each in an

indescribable state of weakness and horror, brought on by the wine,

whose fumes had now evaporated. They shook as if with a violent ague,

and uttered the most lamentable cries for water. Their condition

affected me in the most lively degree, at the same time causing me to

rejoice in the fortunate train of circumstances which had prevented me

from indulging in the wine, and consequently from sharing their

melancholy and most distressing sensations. Their conduct, however,

gave me great uneasiness and alarm; for it was evident that, unless

some favourable change took place, they could afford me no assistance

in providing for our common safety. I had not yet abandoned all idea of

being able to get up something from below; but the attempt could not

possibly be resumed until some one of them was sufficiently master of

himself to aid me by holding the end of the rope while I went down.

Parker appeared to be somewhat more in possession of his senses than

the others, and I endeavoured, by every means in my power, to arouse

him. Thinking that a plunge in the seawater might have a beneficial

effect, I contrived to fasten the end of a rope around his body, and

then, leading him to the companion-way (he remaining quite passive all

the while), pushed him in, and immediately drew him out. I had good

reason to congratulate myself upon having made this experiment; for he

appeared much revived and invigorated, and, upon getting out, asked me,

in a rational manner, why I had so served him. Having explained my

object, he expressed himself indebted to me, and said that he felt

greatly better from the immersion, afterward conversing sensibly upon

our situation. We then resolved to treat Augustus and Peters in the

same way, which we immediately did, when they both experienced much

benefit from the shock. This idea of sudden immersion had been

suggested to me by reading in some medical work the good effect of the

shower-bath in a case where the patient was suffering from _mania à

potu_.

Finding that I could now trust my companions to hold the end of the

rope, I again made three or four plunges into the cabin, although it

was now quite dark, and a gentle but long swell from the northward

rendered the hulk somewhat unsteady. In the course of these attempts I

succeeded in bringing up two case-knives, a three-gallon jug, empty,

and a blanket, but nothing which could serve us for food. I continued

my efforts, after getting these articles, until I was completely

exhausted, but brought up nothing else. During the night Parker and

Peters occupied themselves by turns in the same manner; but nothing

coming to hand, we now gave up this attempt in despair, concluding that

we were exhausting ourselves in vain.

We passed the remainder of this night in a state of the most intense

mental and bodily anguish that can possibly be imagined. The morning of

the sixteenth at length dawned, and we looked eagerly around the

horizon for relief, but to no purpose. The sea was still smooth, with

only a long swell from the northward, as on yesterday. This was the

sixth day since we had tasted either food or drink, with the exception

of the bottle of Port wine, and it was clear that we could hold out but

a very little while longer unless something could be obtained. I never

saw before, nor wish to see again, human beings so utterly emaciated as

Peters and Augustus. Had I met them on shore in their present condition

I should not have had the slightest suspicion that I had ever beheld

them. Their countenances were totally changed in character, so that I

could not bring myself to believe them really the same individuals with

whom I had been in company but a few days before. Parker, although

sadly reduced, and so feeble that he could not raise his head from his

bosom, was not so far gone as the other two. He suffered with great

patience, making no complaint, and endeavouring to inspire us with hope

in every manner he could devise. For myself, although at the

commencement of the voyage I had been in bad health, and was at all

times of a delicate constitution, I suffered less than any of us, being

much less reduced in frame, and retaining my powers of mind in a

surprising degree, while the rest were completely prostrated in

intellect, and seemed to be brought to a species of second childhood,

generally simpering in their expressions, with idiotic smiles, and

uttering the most absurd platitudes. At intervals, however, they would

appear to revive suddenly, as if inspired all at once with a

consciousness of their condition, when they would spring upon their

feet in a momentary flash of vigour, and speak, for a short period, of

their prospects, in a manner altogether rational, although full of the

most intense despair. It is possible, however, that my companions may

have entertained the same opinion of their own condition as I did of

mine, and that I may have unwittingly been guilty of the same

extravagances and imbecilities as themselves—this is a matter which

cannot be determined.

About noon Parker declared that he saw land off the larboard quarter,

and it was with the utmost difficulty I could restrain him from

plunging into the sea with the view of swimming towards it. Peters and

Augustus took little notice of what he said, being apparently wrapped

up in moody contemplation. Upon looking in the direction pointed out I

could not perceive the faintest appearance of the shore—indeed, I was

too well aware that we were far from any land to indulge in a hope of

that nature. It was a long time, nevertheless, before I could convince

Parker of his mistake. He then burst into a flood of tears, weeping

like a child, with loud cries and sobs, for two or three hours, when,

becoming exhausted, he fell asleep.

Peters and Augustus now made several ineffectual efforts to swallow

portions of the leather. I advised them to chew it and spit it out; but

they were too excessively debilitated to be able to follow my advice. I

continued to chew pieces of it at intervals, and found some relief from

so doing; my chief distress was for water, and I was only prevented

from taking a draught from the sea by remembering the horrible

consequences which thus have resulted to others who were similarly

situated with ourselves.

The day wore on in this manner, when I suddenly discovered a sail to

the eastward, and on our larboard bow. She appeared to be a large ship,

and was coming nearly athwart us, being probably twelve or fifteen

miles distant. None of my companions had as yet discovered her, and I

forbore to tell them of her for the present, lest we might again be

disappointed of relief. At length, upon her getting nearer, I saw

distinctly that she was heading immediately for us, with her light

sails filled. I could now contain myself no longer, and pointed her out

to my fellow-sufferers. They immediately sprang to their feet, again

indulging in the most extravagant demonstrations of joy, weeping,

laughing in an idiotic manner, jumping, stamping upon the deck, tearing

their hair, and praying and cursing by turns. I was so affected by

their conduct, as well as by what I now considered a sure prospect of

deliverance, that I could not refrain from joining in with their

madness, and gave way to the impulses of my gratitude and ecstasy by

lying and rolling on the deck, clapping my hands, shouting, and other

similar acts, until I was suddenly called to my recollection, and once

more to the extreme of human misery and despair, by perceiving the ship

all at once with her stern fully presented towards us, and steering in

a direction nearly opposite to that in which I had at first perceived

her.

It was some time before I could induce my poor companions to believe

that this sad reverse in our prospects had actually taken place. They

replied to all my assertions with a stare and a gesture implying that

they were not to be deceived by such misrepresentations. The conduct of

Augustus most sensibly affected me. In spite of all I could say or do

to the contrary, he persisted in saying that the ship was rapidly

nearing us, and in making preparations to go on board of her. Some

seaweed floating by the brig, he maintained that it was the ship’s

boat, and endeavoured to throw himself upon it, howling and shrieking

in the most heartrending manner, when I forcibly restrained him from

thus casting himself into the sea.

Having become in some degree pacified, we continued to watch the ship

until we finally lost sight of her, the weather becoming hazy, with a

light breeze springing up. As soon as she was entirely gone, Parker

turned suddenly towards me with an expression of countenance which made

me shudder. There was about him an air of self-possession which I had

not noticed in him until now, and before he opened his lips my heart

told me what he would say. He proposed, in a few words, that one of us

should die to preserve the existence of the others.

CHAPTER XII.

I had, for some time past, dwelt upon the prospect of our being reduced

to this last horrible extremity, and had secretly made up my mind to

suffer death in any shape or under any circumstances rather than resort

to such a course. Nor was this resolution in any degree weakened by the

present intensity of hunger under which I laboured. The proposition had

not been heard by either Peters or Augustus. I therefore took Parker

aside; and mentally praying to God for power to dissuade him from the

horrible purpose he entertained, I expostulated with him for a long

time and in the most supplicating manner, begging him in the name of

everything which he held sacred, and urging him by every species of

argument which the extremity of the case suggested, to abandon the

idea, and not to mention it to either of the other two.

He heard all I said without attempting to controvert any of my

arguments, and I had begun to hope that he would be prevailed upon to

do as I desired. But when I had ceased speaking, he said that he knew

very well all I had said was true, and that to resort to such a course

was the most horrible alternative which could enter into the mind of

man; but that he had now held out as long as human nature could be

sustained; that it was unnecessary for all to perish, when, by the

death of one, it was possible, and even probable, that the rest might

be finally preserved; adding that I might save myself the trouble of

trying to turn him from his purpose, his mind having been thoroughly

made up on the subject even before the appearance of the ship, and that

only her heaving in sight had prevented him from mentioning his

intention at an earlier period.

I now begged him, if he would not be prevailed upon to abandon his

design, at least to defer it for another day, when some vessel might

come to our relief; again reiterating every argument I could devise,

and which I thought likely to have influence with one of his rough

nature. He said, in reply, that he had not spoken until the very last

possible moment; that he could exist no longer without sustenance of

some kind; and that therefore in another day his suggestion would be

too late, as regarded himself at least.

Finding that he was not to be moved by anything I could say in a mild

tone, I now assumed a different demeanour, and told him that he must be

aware I had suffered less than any of us from our calamities; that my

health and strength, consequently, were at that moment far better than

his own, or than that either of Peters or Augustus; in short, that I

was in a condition to have my own way by force if I found it necessary;

and that, if he attempted in any manner to acquaint the others with his

bloody and cannibal designs, I would not hesitate to throw him into the

sea. Upon this he immediately seized me by the throat, and drawing a

knife, made several ineffectual efforts to stab me in the stomach; an

atrocity which his excessive debility alone prevented him from

accomplishing. In the mean time, being roused to a high pitch of anger,

I forced him to the vessel’s side, with the full intention of throwing

him overboard. He was saved from this fate, however, by the

interference of Peters, who now approached and separated us, asking the

cause of the disturbance. This Parker told before I could find means in

any manner to prevent him.

The effect of his words was even more terrible than what I had

anticipated. Both Augustus and Peters, who, it seems, had long secretly

entertained the same fearful idea which Parker had been merely the

first to broach, joined with him in his design, and insisted upon its

being immediately carried into effect. I had calculated that one at

least of the two former would be found still possessed of sufficient

strength of mind to side with myself in resisting any attempt to

execute so dreadful a purpose; and, with the aid of either one of them,

I had no fear of being able to prevent its accomplishment. Being

disappointed in this expectation, it became absolutely necessary that I

should attend to my own safety, as a further resistance on my part

might possibly be considered by men in their frightful condition a

sufficient excuse for refusing me fair play in the tragedy that I knew

would speedily be enacted.

I now told them I was willing to submit to the proposal, merely

requesting a delay of about one hour, in order that the fog which had

gathered around us might have an opportunity of lifting, when it was

possible that the ship we had seen might be again in sight. After great

difficulty I obtained from them a promise to wait thus long; and, as I

had anticipated (a breeze rapidly coming in), the fog lifted before the

hour had expired, when, no vessel appearing in sight, we prepared to

draw lots.

It is with extreme reluctance that I dwell upon the appalling scene

which ensued; a scene which, with its minutest details, no after events

have been able to efface in the slightest degree from my memory, and

whose stern recollection will imbitter every future moment of my

existence. Let me run over this portion of my narrative with as much

haste as the nature of the events to be spoken of will permit. The only

method we could devise for the terrific lottery, in which we were to

take each a chance, was that of drawing straws. Small splinters of wood

were made to answer our purpose, and it was agreed that I should be the

holder. I retired to one end of the hulk, while my poor companions

silently took up their station in the other with their backs turned

towards me. The bitterest anxiety which I endured at any period of this

fearful drama was while I occupied myself in the arrangement of the

lots. There are few conditions into which man can possibly fall where

he will not feel a deep interest in the preservation of his existence;

an interest momentarily increasing with the frailness of the tenure by

which that existence may be held. But now that the silent, definite,

and stern nature of the business in which I was engaged (so different

from the tumultuous dangers of the storm or the gradually approaching

horrors of famine) allowed me to reflect on the few chances I had of

escaping the most appalling of deaths—a death for the most appalling

of purposes—every particle of that energy which had so long buoyed me

up departed like feathers before the wind, leaving me a helpless prey

to the most abject and pitiable terror. I could not, at first, even

summon up sufficient strength to tear and fit together the small

splinters of wood, my fingers absolutely refusing their office, and my

knees knocking violently against each other. My mind ran over rapidly a

thousand absurd projects by which to avoid becoming a partner in the

awful speculation. I thought of falling on my knees to my companions,

and entreating them to let me escape this necessity; of suddenly

rushing upon them, and, by putting one of them to death, of rendering

the decision by lot useless—in short, of everything but of going

through with the matter I had in hand. At last, after wasting a long

time in this imbecile conduct, I was recalled to my senses by the voice

of Parker, who urged me to relieve them at once from the terrible

anxiety they were enduring. Even then I could not bring myself to

arrange the splinters upon the spot, but thought over every species of

finesse by which I could trick some one of my fellow-sufferers to draw

the short straw, as it had been agreed that whoever drew the shortest

of four splinters from my hand was to die for the preservation of the

rest. Before any one condemn me for this apparent heartlessness, let

him be placed in a situation precisely similar to my own.

At length delay was no longer possible, and, with a heart almost

bursting from my bosom, I advanced to the region of the forecastle,

where my companions were awaiting me. I held out my hand with the

splinters, and Peters immediately drew. He was free—his, at least,

was not the shortest; and there was now another chance against my

escape. I summoned up all my strength, and passed the lots to Augustus.

He also drew immediately, and he also was free; and now, whether I

should live or die, the chances were no more than precisely even. At

this moment all the fierceness of the tiger possessed my bosom, and I

felt towards my poor fellow-creature, Parker, the most intense, the

most diabolical hatred. But the feeling did not last; and, at length,

with a convulsive shudder and closed eyes, I held out the two remaining

splinters towards him. It was full five minutes before he could summon

resolution to draw, during which period of heartrending suspense I

never once opened my eyes. Presently one of the two lots was quickly

drawn from my hand. The decision was then over, yet I knew not whether

it was for me or against me. No one spoke, and still I dared not

satisfy myself by looking at the splinter I held. Peters at length took

me by the hand, and I forced myself to look up, when I immediately saw

by the countenance of Parker that I was safe, and that he it was who

had been doomed to suffer. Gasping for breath, I fell senseless to the

deck.

I recovered from my swoon in time to behold the consummation of the

tragedy in the death of him who had been chiefly instrumental in

bringing it about. He made no resistance whatever, and was stabbed in

the back by Peters, when he fell instantly dead. I must not dwell upon

the fearful repast which immediately ensued. Such things may be

imagined, but words have no power to impress the mind with the

exquisite horror of their reality. Let it suffice to say that, having

in some measure appeased the raging thirst which consumed us by the

blood of the victim, and having by common consent taken off the hands,

feet, and head, throwing them, together with the entrails, into the

sea, we devoured the rest of the body, piecemeal, during the four ever

memorable days of the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and

twentieth of the month.

On the nineteenth, there coming on a smart shower which lasted fifteen

or twenty minutes, we contrived to catch some water by means of a sheet

which had been fished up from the cabin by our drag just after the

gale. The quantity we took in all did not amount to more than half a

gallon; but even this scanty allowance supplied us with comparative

strength and hope.

On the twenty-first we were again reduced to the last necessity. The

weather still remained warm and pleasant, with occasional fogs and

light breezes, most usually from N. to W.

On the twenty-second, as we were sitting close huddled together,

gloomily revolving over our lamentable condition, there flashed through

my mind all at once an idea which inspired me with a bright gleam of

hope. I remembered that, when the foremast had been cut away, Peters,

being in the windward chains, passed one of the axes into my hand,

requesting me to put it, if possible, in a place of security, and that

a few minutes before the last heavy sea struck the brig and filled her

I had taken this axe into the forecastle, and laid it in one of the

larboard berths. I now thought it possible that, by getting at this

axe, we might cut through the deck over the storeroom, and thus readily

supply ourselves with provisions.

When I communicated this project to my companions, they uttered a

feeble shout of joy, and we all proceeded forthwith to the forecastle.

The difficulty of descending here was greater than that of going down

in the cabin, the opening being much smaller, for it will be remembered

that the whole framework about the cabin companion-hatch had been

carried away, whereas the forecastle-way, being a simple hatch of only

about three feet square, had remained uninjured. I did not hesitate,

however, to attempt the descent; and, a rope being fastened round my

body as before, I plunged boldly in, feet foremost, made my way quickly

to the berth, and, at the very first attempt, brought up the axe. It

was hailed with the most ecstatic joy and triumph, and the ease with

which it had been obtained was regarded as an omen of our ultimate

preservation.

We now commenced cutting at the deck with all the energy of rekindled

hope, Peters and myself taking the axe by turns, Augustus’s wounded arm

not permitting him to aid us in any degree. As we were still so feeble

as to be scarcely able to stand unsupported, and could consequently

work but a minute or two without resting, it soon became evident that

many long hours would be requisite to accomplish our task—that is, to

cut an opening sufficiently large to admit of a free access to the

storeroom. This consideration, however, did not discourage us; and,

working all night by the light of the moon, we succeeded in effecting

our purpose by daybreak on the morning of the twenty-third.

Peters now volunteered to go down; and, having made all arrangements as

before, he descended, and soon returned, bringing up with him a small

jar, which, to our great joy, proved to be full of olives. Having

shared these among us, and devoured them with the greatest avidity, we

proceeded to let him down again. This time he succeeded beyond our

utmost expectations, returning instantly with a large ham and a bottle

of Madeira wine. Of the latter we each took a moderate sup, having

learned by experience the pernicious consequences of indulging too

freely. The ham, except about two pounds near the bone, was not in a

condition to be eaten, having been entirely spoiled by the salt water.

The sound part was divided among us. Peters and Augustus, not being

able to restrain their appetite, swallowed theirs upon the instant; but

I was more cautious, and ate but a small portion of mine, dreading the

thirst which I knew would ensue. We now rested a while from our

labours, which had been intolerably severe.

By noon, feeling somewhat strengthened and refreshed, we again renewed

our attempt at getting up provision, Peters and myself going down

alternately, and always with more or less success, until sundown.

During this interval we had the good fortune to bring up, altogether,

four more small jars of olives, another ham, a carboy containing nearly

three gallons of excellent Cape Madeira wine, and, what gave us still

more delight, a small tortoise of the Gallipago breed, several of which

had been taken on board by Captain Barnard, as the Grampus was leaving

port, from the schooner Mary Pitts, just returned from a sealing voyage

in the Pacific.

In a subsequent portion of this narrative I shall have frequent

occasion to mention this species of tortoise. It is found principally,

as most of my readers may know, in the group of islands called the

Gallipagos, which, indeed, derive their name from the animal—the

Spanish word Gallipago meaning a fresh-water terapin. From the

peculiarity of their shape and action they have been sometimes called

the elephant tortoise. They are frequently found of an enormous size. I

have myself seen several which would weigh from twelve to fifteen

hundred pounds, although I do not remember that any navigator speaks of

having seen them weighing more than eight hundred. Their appearance is

singular, and even disgusting. Their steps are very slow, measured, and

heavy, their bodies being carried about a foot from the ground. Their

neck is long, and exceedingly slender; from eighteen inches to two feet

is a very common length, and I killed one, where the distance from the

shoulder to the extremity of the head was no less than three feet ten

inches. The head has a striking resemblance to that of a serpent. They

can exist without food for an almost incredible length of time,

instances having been known where they have been thrown into the hold

of a vessel and lain two years without nourishment of any kind—being

as fat, and, in every respect, in as good order at the expiration of

the time as when they were first put in. In one particular these

extraordinary animals bear a resemblance to the dromedary, or camel of

the desert. In a bag at the root of the neck they carry with them a

constant supply of water. In some instances, upon killing them after a

full year’s deprivation of all nourishment, as much as three gallons of

perfectly sweet and fresh water have been found in their bags. Their

food is chiefly wild parsley and celery, with purslain, sea-kelp, and

prickly pears, upon which latter vegetable they thrive wonderfully, a

great quantity of it being usually found on the hillsides near the

shore wherever the animal itself is discovered. They are excellent and

highly nutritious food, and have, no doubt, been the means of

preserving the lives of thousands of seamen employed in the

whale-fishery and other pursuits in the Pacific.

The one which we had the good fortune to bring up from the storeroom

was not of a large size, weighing probably sixty-five or seventy

pounds. It was a female, and in excellent condition, being exceedingly

fat, and having more than a quart of limpid and sweet water in its bag.

This was indeed a treasure; and, falling on our knees with one accord,

we returned fervent thanks to God for so seasonable a relief.

We had great difficulty in getting the animal up through the opening,

as its struggles were fierce and its strength prodigious. It was upon

the point of making its escape from Peters’s grasp, and slipping back

into the water, when Augustus, throwing a rope with a slip-knot around

its throat, held it up in this manner until I jumped into the hole by

the side of Peters, and assisted him in lifting it out.

The water we drew carefully from the bag into the jug, which, it will

be remembered, had been brought up before from the cabin. Having done

this, we broke off the neck of a bottle so as to form, with the cork, a

kind of glass, holding not quite half a gill. We then each drank one of

these measures full, and resolved to limit ourselves to this quantity

per day as long as it should hold out.

During the last two or three days, the weather having been dry and

pleasant, the bedding we had obtained from the cabin, as well as our

clothing, had become thoroughly dry, so that we passed this night (that

of the twenty-third) in comparative comfort, enjoying a tranquil

repose, after having supped plentifully on olives and ham, with a small

allowance of the wine. Being afraid of losing some of our stores

overboard during the night, in the event of a breeze springing up, we

secured them as well as possible with cordage to the fragments of the

windlass. Our tortoise, which we were anxious to preserve alive as long

as we could, we threw on his back, and otherwise carefully fastened.

CHAPTER XIII.

July 24. This morning saw us wonderfully recruited in spirits and

strength. Notwithstanding the perilous situation in which we were still

placed, ignorant of our position, although certainly at a great

distance from land, without more food than would last us for a

fortnight even with great care, almost entirely without water, and

floating about at the mercy of every wind and wave, on the merest wreck

in the world, still the infinitely more terrible distresses and dangers

from which we had so lately and so providentially been delivered caused

us to regard what we now endured as but little more than an ordinary

evil—so strictly comparative is either good or ill.

At sunrise we were preparing to renew our attempts at getting up

something from the storeroom, when, a smart shower coming on, with some

lightning, we turned our attention to the catching of water by means of

the sheet we had used before for this purpose. We had no other means of

collecting the rain than by holding the sheet spread out with one of

the forechain-plates in the middle of it. The water, thus conducted to

the centre, was drained through into our jug. We had nearly filled it

in this manner, when, a heavy squall coming on from the northward,

obliged us to desist, as the hulk began once more to roll so violently

that we could no longer keep our feet. We now went forward, and,

lashing ourselves securely to the remnant of the windlass as before,

awaited the event with far more calmness than could have been

anticipated, or would have been imagined possible under the

circumstances. At noon the wind had freshened into a two-reef breeze,

and by night into a stiff gale, accompanied with a tremendously heavy

swell. Experience having taught us, however, the best method of

arranging our lashings, we weathered this dreary night in tolerable

security, although thoroughly drenched at almost every instant by the

sea, and in momentary dread of being washed off. Fortunately, the

weather was so warm as to render the water rather grateful than

otherwise.

July 25. This morning the gale had diminished to a mere ten-knot

breeze, and the sea had gone down with it so considerably that we were

able to keep ourselves dry upon the deck. To our great grief, however,

we found that two jars of our olives, as well as the whole of our ham,

had been washed overboard, in spite of the careful manner in which they

had been fastened. We determined not to kill the tortoise as yet, and

contented ourselves for the present with a breakfast on a few of the

olives, and a measure of water each, which latter we mixed, half and

half, with wine, finding great relief and strength from the mixture,

without the distressing intoxication which had ensued upon drinking the

Port. The sea was still far too rough for the renewal of our efforts at

getting up provision from the storeroom. Several articles, of no

importance to us in our present situation, floated up through the

opening during the day, and were immediately washed overboard. We also

now observed that the hulk lay more along than ever, so that we could

not stand an instant without lashing ourselves. On this account we

passed a gloomy and uncomfortable day. At noon the sun appeared to be

nearly vertical, and we had no doubt that we had been driven down by

the long succession of northward and northwesterly winds into the near

vicinity of the equator. Towards evening saw several sharks, and were

somewhat alarmed by the audacious manner in which an enormously large

one approached us. At one time, a lurch throwing the deck very far

beneath the water, the monster actually swam in upon us, floundering

for some moments just over the companion-hatch, and striking Peters

violently with his tail. A heavy sea at length hurled him overboard,

much to our relief. In moderate weather we might have easily captured

him.

July 26. This morning, the wind having greatly abated, and the sea

not being very rough, we determined to renew our exertions in the

storeroom. After a great deal of hard labour during the whole day, we

found that nothing further was to be expected from this quarter, the

partitions of the room having been stove during the night, and its

contents swept into the hold. This discovery, as may be supposed,

filled us with despair.

July 27. The sea nearly smooth, with a light wind, and still from the

northward and westward. The sun coming out hotly in the afternoon, we

occupied ourselves in drying our clothes. Found great relief from

thirst, and much comfort otherwise, by bathing in the sea; in this,

however, we were forced to use great caution, being afraid of sharks,

several of which were seen swimming around the brig during the day.

July 28. Good weather still. The brig now began to lie along so

alarmingly that we feared she would eventually roll bottom up. Prepared

ourselves as well as we could for this emergency, lashing our tortoise,

water-jug, and two remaining jars of olives as far as possible over to

the windward, placing them outside the hull, below the main-chains. The

sea very smooth all day, with little or no wind.

July 29. A continuance of the same weather. Augustus’s wounded arm

began to evince symptoms of mortification. He complained of drowsiness

and excessive thirst, but no acute pain. Nothing could be done for his

relief beyond rubbing his wounds with a little of the vinegar from the

olives, and from this no benefit seemed to be experienced. We did

everything in our power for his comfort, and trebled his allowance of

water.

July 30. An excessively hot day, with no wind. An enormous shark kept

close by the hulk during the whole of the forenoon. We made several

unsuccessful attempts to capture him by means of a noose. Augustus much

worse, and evidently sinking as much from want of proper nourishment as

from the effect of his wounds. He constantly prayed to be released from

his sufferings, wishing for nothing but death. This evening we ate the

last of our olives, and found the water in our jug so putrid that we

could not swallow it at all without the addition of wine. Determined to

kill our tortoise in the morning.

July 31. After a night of excessive anxiety and fatigue, owing to the

position of the hulk, we set about killing and cutting up our tortoise.

He proved to be much smaller than we had supposed, although in good

condition—the whole meat about him not amounting to more than ten

pounds. With a view of preserving a portion of this as long as

possible, we cut it into fine pieces, and filled with them our three

remaining olive-jars and the wine-bottle (all of which had been kept),

pouring in afterward the vinegar from the olives. In this manner we put

away about three pounds of the tortoise, intending not to touch it

until we had consumed the rest. We concluded to restrict ourselves to

about four ounces of the meat per day; the whole would thus last us

thirteen days. A brisk shower, with severe thunder and lightning, came

on about dusk, but lasted so short a time that we only succeeded in

catching about half a pint of water. The whole of this, by common

consent, was given to Augustus, who now appeared to be in the last

extremity. He drank the water from the sheet as we caught it (we

holding it above him as he lay so as to let it run into his mouth), for

we had now nothing left capable of holding water, unless we had chosen

to empty out our wine from the carboy, or the stale water from the jug.

Either of these expedients would have been resorted to had the shower

lasted.

The sufferer seemed to derive but little benefit from the draught. His

arm was completely black from the wrist to the shoulder, and his feet

were like ice. We expected every moment to see him breathe his last. He

was frightfully emaciated; so much so that, although he weighed a

hundred and twenty-seven pounds upon his leaving Nantucket, he now did

not weigh more than forty or fifty at the farthest. His eyes were

sunk far in his head, being scarcely perceptible, and the skin of his

cheeks hung so loosely as to prevent his masticating any food, or even

swallowing any liquid, without great difficulty.

August 1. A continuance of the same calm weather, with an

oppressively hot sun. Suffered exceedingly from thirst, the water in

the jug being absolutely putrid and swarming with vermin. We contrived,

nevertheless, to swallow a portion of it by mixing it with wine—our

thirst, however, was but little abated. We found more relief by bathing

in the sea, but could not avail ourselves of this expedient except at

long intervals, on account of the continual presence of sharks. We now

saw clearly that Augustus could not be saved; that he was evidently

dying. We could do nothing to relieve his sufferings, which appeared to

be great. About twelve o’clock he expired in strong convulsions, and

without having spoken for several hours. His death filled us with the

most gloomy forebodings, and had so great an effect upon our spirits

that we sat motionless by the corpse during the whole day, and never

addressed each other except in a whisper. It was not until some time

after dark that we took courage to get up and throw the body overboard.

It was then loathsome beyond expression, and so far decayed that, as

Peters attempted to lift it, an entire leg came off in his grasp. As

the mass of putrefaction slipped over the vessel’s side into the water,

the glare of phosphoric light with which it was surrounded plainly

discovered to us seven or eight large sharks, the clashing of whose

horrible teeth, as their prey was torn to pieces among them, might have

been heard at the distance of a mile. We shrunk within ourselves in the

extremity of horror at the sound.

August 2. The same fearfully calm and hot weather. The dawn found us

in a state of pitiable dejection as well as bodily exhaustion. The

water in the jug was now absolutely useless, being a thick gelatinous

mass; nothing but frightful-looking worms mingled with slime. We threw

it out, and washed the jug well in the sea, afterward pouring a little

vinegar in it from our bottles of pickled tortoise. Our thirst could

now scarcely be endured, and we tried in vain to relieve it by wine,

which seemed only to add fuel to the flame, and excited us to a high

degree of intoxication. We afterward endeavoured to relieve our

sufferings by mixing the wine with seawater; but this instantly brought

about the most violent retchings, so that we never again attempted it.

During the whole day we anxiously sought an opportunity of bathing, but

to no purpose; for the hulk was now entirely besieged on all sides with

sharks—no doubt the identical monsters who had devoured our poor

companion on the evening before, and who were in momentary expectation

of another similar feast. This circumstance occasioned us the most

bitter regret, and filled us with the most depressing and melancholy

forebodings. We had experienced indescribable relief in bathing, and to

have this resource cut off in so frightful a manner was more than we

could bear. Nor, indeed, were we altogether free from the apprehension

of immediate danger, for the least slip or false movement would have

thrown us at once within reach of these voracious fish, who frequently

thrust themselves directly upon us, swimming up to leeward. No shouts

or exertions on our part seemed to alarm them. Even when one of the

largest was struck with an axe by Peters, and much wounded, he

persisted in his attempts to push in where we were. A cloud came up at

dusk, but, to our extreme anguish, passed over without discharging

itself. It is quite impossible to conceive our sufferings from thirst

at this period. We passed a sleepless night, both on this account and

through dread of the sharks.

August 3. No prospect of relief, and the brig lying still more and

more along, so that now we could not maintain a footing upon deck at

all. Busied ourselves in securing our wine and tortoise-meat, so that

we might not lose them in the event of our rolling over. Got out two

stout spikes from the forechains, and, by means of the axe, drove them

into the hull to windward within a couple of feet of the water; this

not being very far from the keel, as we were nearly upon our beam-ends.

To these spikes we now lashed our provisions, as being more secure than

their former position beneath the chains. Suffered great agony from

thirst during the whole day—no chance of bathing on account of the

sharks, which never left us for a moment. Found it impossible to sleep.

August 4. A little before daybreak we perceived that the hulk was

heeling over, and aroused ourselves to prevent being thrown off by the

movement. At first the roll was slow and gradual, and we contrived to

clamber over to windward very well, having taken the precaution to

leave ropes hanging from the spikes we had driven in for the provision.

But we had not calculated sufficiently upon the acceleration of the

impetus; for presently the heel became too violent to allow of our

keeping pace with it; and, before either of us knew what was to happen,

we found ourselves hurled furiously into the sea, and struggling

several fathoms beneath the surface, with the huge hull immediately

above us.

In going under the water I had been obliged to let go my hold upon the

rope; and finding that I was completely beneath the vessel, and my

strength utterly exhausted, I scarcely made a struggle for life, and

resigned myself, in a few seconds, to die. But here again I was

deceived, not having taken into consideration the natural rebound of

the hull to windward. The whirl of the water upward, which the vessel

occasioned in rolling partially back, brought me to the surface still

more violently than I had been plunged beneath. Upon coming up, I found

myself about twenty yards from the hulk, as near as I could judge. She

was lying keel up, rocking furiously from side to side, and the sea in

all directions around was much agitated, and full of strong whirlpools.

I could see nothing of Peters. An oil-cask was floating within a few

feet of me, and various other articles from the brig were scattered

about.

My principal terror was now on account of the sharks, which I knew to

be in my vicinity. In order to deter these, if possible, from

approaching me, I splashed the water vigorously with both hands and

feet as I swam towards the hulk, creating a body of foam. I have no

doubt that to this expedient, simple as it was, I was indebted for my

preservation; for the sea all around the brig, just before her rolling

over, was so crowded with these monsters, that I must have been, and

really was, in actual contact with some of them during my progress. By

great good fortune, however, I reached the side of the vessel in

safety, although so utterly weakened by the violent exertion I had used

that I should never have been able to get upon it but for the timely

assistance of Peters, who now, to my great joy, made his appearance

(having scrambled up to the keel from the opposite side of the hull),

and threw me the end of a rope—one of those which had been attached to

the spikes.

Having barely escaped this danger, our attention was now directed to

the dreadful imminency of another; that of absolute starvation. Our

whole stock of provision had been swept overboard in spite of all our

care in securing it; and seeing no longer the remotest possibility of

obtaining more, we gave way both of us to despair, weeping aloud like

children, and neither of us attempting to offer consolation to the

other. Such weakness can scarcely be conceived, and to those who have

never been similarly situated will, no doubt, appear unnatural; but it

must be remembered that our intellects were so entirely disordered by

the long course of privation and terror to which we had been subjected,

that we could not justly be considered, at that period, in the light of

rational beings. In subsequent perils, nearly as great, if not greater,

I bore up with fortitude against all the evils of my situation, and

Peters, it will be seen, evinced a stoical philosophy nearly as

incredible as his present childlike supineness and imbecility—the

mental condition made the difference.

The overturning of the brig, even with the consequent loss of the wine

and turtle, would not, in fact, have rendered our situation more

deplorable than before, except for the disappearance of the bedclothes

by which we had been hitherto enabled to catch rainwater, and of the

jug in which we had kept it when caught; for we found the whole bottom,

from within two or three feet of the bends as far as the keel, together

with the keel itself, _thickly covered with large barnacles, which

proved to be excellent and highly nutritious food_. Thus, in two

important respects, the accident we had so greatly dreaded proved a

benefit rather than an injury; it had opened to us a supply of

provisions, which we could not have exhausted, using it moderately, in

a month; and it had greatly contributed to our comfort as regards

position, we being much more at our ease, and in infinitely less

danger, than before.

The difficulty, however, of now obtaining water blinded us to all the

benefits of the change in our condition. That we might be ready to

avail ourselves, as far as possible, of any shower which might fall, we

took off our shirts, to make use of them as we had of the sheets—not

hoping, of course, to get more in this way, even under the most

favourable circumstances, than half a gill at a time. No signs of a

cloud appeared during the day, and the agonies of our thirst were

nearly intolerable. At night Peters obtained about an hour’s disturbed

sleep, but my intense sufferings would not permit me to close my eyes

for a single moment.

August 5. To-day, a gentle breeze springing up carried us through a

vast quantity of seaweed, among which we were so fortunate as to find

eleven small crabs, which afforded us several delicious meals. Their

shells being quite soft, we ate them entire, and found that they

irritated our thirst far less than the barnacles. Seeing no trace of

sharks among the seaweed, we also ventured to bathe, and remained in

the water for four or five hours, during which we experienced a very

sensible diminution of our thirst. Were greatly refreshed, and spent

the night somewhat more comfortably than before, both of us snatching a

little sleep.

August 6. This day we were blessed by a brisk and continual rain,

lasting from about noon until after dark. Bitterly did we now regret

the loss of our jug and carboy; for, in spite of the little means we

had of catching the water, we might have filled one, if not both of

them. As it was, we contrived to satisfy the cravings of thirst by

suffering the shirts to become saturated, and then wringing them so as

to let the grateful fluid trickle into our mouths. In this occupation

we passed the entire day.

August 7. Just at daybreak we both at the same instant descried a

sail to the eastward, and evidently coming towards us! We hailed the

glorious sight with a long, although feeble shout of rapture; and began

instantly to make every signal in our power, by flaring the shirts in

the air, leaping as high as our weak condition would permit, and even

by hallooing with all the strength of our lungs, although the vessel

could not have been less than fifteen miles distant. However, she still

continued to near our hulk, and we felt that, if she but held her

present course, she must eventually come so close as to perceive us. In

about an hour after we first discovered her we could clearly see the

people on her decks. She was a long, low, and rakish-looking topsail

schooner, with a black ball in her foretopsail, and had, apparently, a

full crew. We now became alarmed, for we could hardly imagine it

possible that she did not observe us, and were apprehensive that she

meant to leave us to perish as we were—an act of fiendish barbarity,

which, however incredible it may appear, has been repeatedly

perpetrated at sea, under circumstances very nearly similar, and by

beings who were regarded as belonging to the human species.[2] In this

instance, however, by the mercy of God, we were destined to be most

happily deceived; for presently we were aware of a sudden commotion on

the deck of the stranger, who immediately afterward run up a British

flag, and, hauling her wind, bore up directly upon us. In half an hour

more we found ourselves in her cabin. She proved to be the Jane Guy, of

Liverpool, Captain Guy, bound on a sealing and trading voyage to the

South Seas and Pacific.

[Footnote 2: The case of the brig Polly, of Boston, is one so much in

point, and her fate, in many respects, so remarkably similar to our

own, that I cannot forbear alluding to it here. This vessel, of one

hundred and thirty tons burden, sailed from Boston, with a cargo of

lumber and provisions, for Santa Croix, on the twelfth of December,

1811, under the command of Captain Casneau. There were eight souls on

board besides the captain—the mate, four seamen, and the cook,

together with a Mr. Hunt, and a negro girl belonging to him. On the

fifteenth, having cleared the shoal of Georges, she sprung a leak in a

gale of wind from the southeast, and was finally capsized; but, the

mast going by the board, she afterward righted. They remained in this

situation, without fire, and with very little provision, for the period

of one hundred and ninety-one days (from December the fifteenth to

June the twentieth) when Captain Casneau and Samuel Badger, the only

survivers, were taken off the wreck by the Fame, of Hull, Captain

Featherstone, bound home from Rio Janeiro. When picked up they were in

latitude _28 N., longitude 13 W., having drifted above two thousand

miles_. On the ninth of July the Fame fell in with the brig Dromeo,

Captain Perkins, who landed the two sufferers in Kennebeck. The

narrative from which we gather these details ends in the following

words.

“It is natural to inquire how they could float such a vast distance,

upon the most frequented part of the Atlantic, and not be discovered

all this time. _They were passed by more than a dozen sail, one of

which came so nigh them that they could distinctly see the people on

deck and on the rigging looking at them; but, to the inexpressible

disappointment of the starving and freezing men, they stifled the

dictates of compassion, hoisted sail, and cruelly abandoned them to

their fate._”]

CHAPTER XIV.

The Jane Guy was a fine-looking topsail schooner of a hundred and

eighty tons burden. She was unusually sharp in the bows, and on a wind,

in moderate weather, the fastest sailer I have ever seen. Her

qualities, however, as a rough sea-boat, were not so good, and her

draught of water was by far too great for the trade to which she was

destined. For this peculiar service a larger vessel, and one of a light

proportionate draught, is desirable—say a vessel of from three to

three hundred and fifty tons. She should be barque-rigged, and in other

respects of a different construction from the usual South Sea ships. It

is absolutely necessary that she should be well armed. She should have,

say ten or twelve twelve pound carronades, and two or three long

twelves, with brass blunderbusses, and water-tight arm-chests for each

top. Her anchors and cables should be of far greater strength than is

required for any other species of trade, and, above all, her crew

should be numerous and efficient—not less, for such a vessel as I have

described, than fifty or sixty able-bodied men. The Jane Guy had a crew

of thirty-five, all able seamen, besides the captain and mate, but she

was not altogether as well armed or otherwise equipped as a navigator

acquainted with the difficulties and dangers of the trade could have

desired.

Captain Guy was a gentleman of great urbanity of manner, and of

considerable experience in the southern traffic, to which he had

devoted a great portion of his life. He was deficient, however, in

energy, and, consequently, in that spirit of enterprise which is here

so absolutely requisite. He was part owner of the vessel in which he

sailed, and was invested with discretionary powers to cruise in the

South Seas for any cargo which might come most readily to hand. He had

on board, as usual in such voyages, beads, looking-glasses,

tinder-works, axes, hatchets, saws, adzes, planes, chisels, gouges,

gimlets, files, spokeshaves, rasps, hammers, nails, knives, scissors,

razors, needles, thread, crockery-ware, calico, trinkets, and other

similar articles.

The schooner sailed from Liverpool on the tenth of July, crossed the

Tropic of Cancer on the twenty-fifth, in longitude twenty degrees west,

and reached Sal, one of the Cape Verd Islands, on the twenty-ninth,

where she took in salt and other necessaries for the voyage. On the

third of August she left the Cape Verds and steered southwest,

stretching over towards the coast of Brazil so as to cross the equator

between the meridians of twenty-eight and thirty degrees west

longitude. This is the course usually taken by vessels bound from

Europe to the Cape of Good Hope, or by that route to the East Indies.

By proceeding thus they avoid the calms and strong contrary currents

which continually prevail on the coast of Guinea, while, in the end, it

is found to be the shortest track, as westerly winds are never wanting

afterward by which to reach the Cape. It was Captain Guy’s intention to

make his first stoppage at Kerguelen’s Land—I hardly know for what

reason. On the day we were picked up the schooner was off Cape St.

Roque, in longitude 31 W.; so that, when found, we had drifted

probably, from north to south, not less than five-and-twenty degrees.

On board the Jane Guy we were treated with all the kindness our

distressed situation demanded. In about a fortnight, during which time

we continued steering to the southeast, with gentle breezes and fine

weather, both Peters and myself recovered entirely from the effects of

our late privation and dreadful suffering, and we began to remember

what had passed rather as a frightful dream from which we had been

happily awakened, than as events which had taken place in sober and

naked reality. I have since found that this species of partial oblivion

is usually brought about by sudden transition, whether from joy to

sorrow or from sorrow to joy—the degree of forgetfulness being

proportioned to the degree of difference in the exchange. Thus, in my

own case, I now feel it impossible to realize the full extent of the

misery which I endured during the days spent upon the hulk. The

incidents are remembered, but not the feelings which the incidents

elicited at the time of their occurrence. I only know that, when they

did occur, I then thought human nature could sustain nothing more of

agony.

We continued our voyage for some weeks without any incidents of greater

moment than the occasional meeting with whaling-ships, and more

frequently with the black or right whale, so called in

contradistinction to the spermaceti. These, however, were chiefly found

south of the twenty-fifth parallel. On the sixteenth of September,

being in the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope, the schooner

encountered her first gale of any violence since leaving Liverpool. In

this neighbourhood, but more frequently to the south and east of the

promontory (we were to the westward), navigators have often to contend

with storms from the northward which rage with great fury. They always

bring with them a heavy sea, and one of their most dangerous features

is the instantaneous chopping round of the wind, an occurrence almost

certain to take place during the greatest force of the gale. A perfect

hurricane will be blowing at one moment from the northward or

northeast, and in the next not a breath of wind will be felt in that

direction, while from the southwest it will come out all at once with a

violence almost inconceivable. A bright spot to the southward is the

sure forerunner of the change, and vessels are thus enabled to take the

proper precautions.

It was about six in the morning when the blow came on with a white

squall, and, as usual, from the northward. By eight it had increased

very much, and brought down upon us one of the most tremendous seas I

had then ever beheld. Everything had been made as snug as possible, but

the schooner laboured excessively, and gave evidence of her bad

qualities as a seaboat, pitching her forecastle under at every plunge,

and with the greatest difficulty struggling up from one wave before she

was buried in another. Just before sunset the bright spot for which we

had been on the lookout made its appearance in the southwest, and in an

hour afterward we perceived the little headsail we carried flapping

listlessly against the mast. In two minutes more, in spite of every

preparation, we were hurled on our beam-ends as if by magic, and a

perfect wilderness of foam made a clear breach over us as we lay. The

blow from the southwest, however, luckily proved to be nothing more

than a squall, and we had the good fortune to right the vessel without

the loss of a spar. A heavy cross sea gave us great trouble for a few

hours after this, but towards morning we found ourselves in nearly as

good condition as before the gale. Captain Guy considered that he had

made an escape little less than miraculous.

On the thirteenth of October we came in sight of Prince Edward’s

Island, in latitude 46° 53’ S., longitude 37° 46’ E. Two days afterward

we found ourselves near Possession Island, and presently passed the

islands of Crozet, in latitude 42° 59’ S., longitude 48° E. On the

eighteenth we made Kerguelen’s or Desolation Island, in the Southern

Indian Ocean, and came to anchor in Christmas Harbour, having four

fathoms of water.

This island, or rather group of islands, bears southeast from the Cape

of Good Hope, and is distant therefrom nearly eight hundred leagues. It

was first discovered in 1772, by the Baron de Kergulen, or Kerguelen, a

Frenchman, who, thinking the land to form a portion of an extensive

southern continent, carried home information to that effect, which

produced much excitement at the time. The government, taking the matter

up, sent the baron back in the following year for the purpose of giving

his new discovery a critical examination, when the mistake was

discovered. In 1777, Captain Cook fell in with the same group, and gave

to the principal one the name of Desolation Island, a title which it

certainly well deserves. Upon approaching the land, however, the

navigator might be induced to suppose otherwise, as the sides of most

of the hills, from September to March, are clothed with very brilliant

verdure. This deceitful appearance is caused by a small plant

resembling saxifrage, which is abundant, growing in large patches on a

species of crumbling moss. Besides this plant there is scarcely a sign

of vegetation on the island, if we except some coarse rank grass near

the harbour, some lichen, and a shrub which bears resemblance to a

cabbage shooting into seed, and which has a bitter and acrid taste.

The face of the country is hilly, although none of the hills can be

called lofty. Their tops are perpetually covered with snow. There are

several harbours, of which Christmas Harbour is the most convenient. It

is the first to be met with on the northeast side of the island after

passing Cape François, which forms the northern shore, and, by its

peculiar shape, serves to distinguish the harbour. Its projecting point

terminates in a high rock, through which is a large hole, forming a

natural arch. The entrance is in latitude 48° 40’ S., longitude 69° 6’

E. Passing in here, good anchorage may be found under the shelter of

several small islands, which form a sufficient protection from all

easterly winds. Proceeding on eastwardly from this anchorage you come

to Wasp Bay, at the head of the harbour. This is a small basin,

completely landlocked, into which you can go with four fathoms, and

find anchorage in from ten to three, hard clay bottom. A ship might lie

here with her best bower ahead all the year round without risk. To the

westward, at the head of Wasp Bay, is a small stream of excellent

water, easily procured.

Some seal of the fur and hair species are still to be found on

Kerguelen’s Island, and sea elephants abound. The feathered tribes are

discovered in great numbers. Penguins are very plenty, and of these

there are four different kinds. The royal penguin, so called from its

size and beautiful plumage, is the largest. The upper part of the body

is usually gray, sometimes of a lilach tint; the under portion of the

purest white imaginable. The head is of a glossy and most brilliant

black, the feet also. The chief beauty of the plumage, however,

consists in two broad stripes of a gold colour, which pass along from

the head to the breast. The bill is long, and either pink or bright

scarlet. These birds walk erect, with a stately carriage. They carry

their heads high, with their wings drooping like two arms, and, as

their tails project from their body in a line with the legs, the

resemblance to a human figure is very striking, and would be apt to

deceive the spectator at a casual glance or in the gloom of the

evening. The royal penguins which we met with on Kerguelen’s Land were

rather larger than a goose. The other kinds are the macaroni, the

jackass, and the rookery penguin. These are much smaller, less

beautiful in plumage, and different in other respects.

Besides the penguin many other birds are here to be found, among which

may be mentioned seahens, blue peterels, teal, ducks, Port Egmont hens,

shags, Cape pigeons, the nelly, seaswallows, terns, seagulls, Mother

Carey’s chickens, Mother Carey’s geese, or the great peterel, and,

lastly, the albatross.

The great peterel is as large as the common albatross, and is

carnivorous. It is frequently called the break-bones, or osprey

peterel. They are not at all shy, and, when properly cooked, are

palatable food. In flying they sometimes sail very close to the surface

of the water, with the wings expanded, without appearing to move them

in the least degree, or make any exertion with them whatever.

The albatross is one of the largest and fiercest of the South Sea

birds. It is of the gull species, and takes its prey on the wing, never

coming on land except for the purpose of breeding. Between this bird

and the penguin the most singular friendship exists. Their nests are

constructed with great uniformity, upon a plan concerted between the

two species—that of the albatross being placed in the centre of a

little square formed by the nests of four penguins. Navigators have

agreed in calling an assemblage of such encampments a rookery. These

rookeries have been often described, but, as my readers may not all

have seen these descriptions, and as I shall have occasion hereafter to

speak of the penguin and albatross, it will not be amiss to say

something here of their mode of building and living.

When the season for incubation arrives, the birds assemble in vast

numbers, and for some days appear to be deliberating upon the proper

course to be pursued. At length they proceed to action. A level piece

of ground is selected, of suitable extent, usually comprising three or

four acres, and situated as near the sea as possible, being still

beyond its reach. The spot is chosen with reference to its evenness of

surface, and that is preferred which is the least encumbered with

stones. This matter being arranged, the birds proceed, with one accord,

and actuated apparently by one mind, to trace out, with mathematical

accuracy, either a square or other parallelogram, as may best suit the

nature of the ground, and of just sufficient size to accommodate easily

all the birds assembled, and no more—in this particular seeming

determined upon preventing the access of future stragglers who have not

participated in the labour of the encampment. One side of the place

thus marked out runs parallel with the water’s edge, and is left open

for ingress or egress.

Having defined the limits of the rookery, the colony now begin to clear

it of every species of rubbish, picking up stone by stone, and carrying

them outside of the lines, and close by them, so as to form a wall on

the three inland sides. Just within this wall a perfectly level and

smooth walk is formed, from six to eight feet wide, and extending

around the encampment—thus serving the purpose of a general promenade.

The next process is to partition out the whole area into small squares

exactly equal in size. This is done by forming narrow paths, very

smooth, and crossing each other at right angles throughout the entire

extent of the rookery. At each intersection of these paths the nest of

an albatross is constructed, and a penguin’s nest in the centre of each

square—thus every penguin is surrounded by four albatrosses, and each

albatross by a like number of penguins. The penguin’s nest consists of

a hole in the earth, very shallow, being only just of sufficient depth

to keep her single egg from rolling. The albatross is somewhat less

simple in her arrangements, erecting a hillock about a foot high and

two in diameter. This is made of earth, seaweed, and shells. On its

summit she builds her nest.

The birds take especial care never to leave their nests unoccupied for

an instant during the period of incubation, or, indeed, until the young

progeny are sufficiently strong to take care of themselves. While the

male is absent at sea in search of food, the female remains on duty,

and it is only upon the return of her partner that she ventures abroad.

The eggs are never left uncovered at all—while one bird leaves the

nest, the other nestling in by its side. This precaution is rendered

necessary by the thievish propensities prevalent in the rookery, the

inhabitants making no scruple to purloin each other’s eggs at every

good opportunity.

Although there are some rookeries in which the penguin and albatross

are the sole population, yet in most of them a variety of oceanic birds

are to be met with, enjoying all the privileges of citizenship, and

scattering their nests here and there, wherever they can find room,

never interfering, however, with the stations of the larger species.

The appearance of such encampments, when seen from a distance, is

exceedingly singular. The whole atmosphere just above the settlement is

darkened with the immense number of the albatross (mingled with the

smaller tribes) which are continually hovering over it, either going to

the ocean or returning home. At the same time a crowd of penguins are

to be observed, some passing to and fro in the narrow alleys, and some

marching, with the military strut so peculiar to them, around the

general promenade-ground which encircles the rookery. In short, survey

it as we will, nothing can be more astonishing than the spirit of

reflection evinced by these feathered beings, and nothing surely can be

better calculated to elicit reflection in every well-regulated human

intellect.

On the morning after our arrival in Christmas Harbour the chief mate,

Mr. Patterson, took the boats, and (although it was somewhat early in

the season) went in search of seal, leaving the captain and a young

relation of his on a point of barren land to the westward, they having

some business, whose nature I could not ascertain, to transact in the

interior of the island. Captain Guy took with him a bottle, in which

was a sealed letter, and made his way from the point on which he was

set on shore towards one of the highest peaks in the place. It is

probable that his design was to leave the letter on that height for

some vessel which he expected to come after him. As soon as we lost

sight of him we proceeded (Peters and myself being in the mate’s boat)

on our cruise around the coast, looking for seal. In this business we

were occupied about three weeks, examining with great care every nook

and corner, not only of Kerguelen’s Land, but of the several small

islands in the vicinity. Our labours, however, were not crowned with

any important success. We saw a great many fur seal, but they were

exceedingly shy, and, with the greatest exertions, we could only

procure three hundred and fifty skins in all. Sea elephants were

abundant, especially on the western coast of the main island, but of

these we killed only twenty, and this with great difficulty. On the

smaller islands we discovered a good many of the hair seal, but did not

molest them. We returned to the schooner on the eleventh, where we

found Captain Guy and his nephew, who gave a very bad account of the

interior, representing it as one of the most dreary and utterly barren

countries in the world. They had remained two nights on the island,

owing to some misunderstanding, on the part of the second mate, in

regard to the sending a jollyboat from the schooner to take them off.

CHAPTER XV.

On the twelfth we made sail from Christmas Harbour, retracing our way

to the westward, and leaving Marion’s Island, one of Crozet’s group, on

the larboard. We afterward passed Prince Edward’s Island, leaving it

also on our left; then, steering more to the northward, made, in

fifteen days, the islands of Tristan d’Acunha, in latitude 37° 8’ S.,

longitude 12° 8’ W.

This group, now so well known, and which consists of three circular

islands, was first discovered by the Portuguese, and was visited

afterward by the Dutch in 1643, and by the French in 1767. The three

islands together form a triangle, and are distant from each other about

ten miles, there being fine open passages between. The land in all of

them is very high, especially in Tristan d’Acunha, properly so called.

This is the largest of the group, being fifteen miles in circumference,

and so elevated that it can be seen in clear weather at the distance of

eighty or ninety miles. A part of the land towards the north rises more

than a thousand feet perpendicularly from the sea. A tableland at this

height extends back nearly to the centre of the island, and from this

tableland arises a lofty cone like that of Teneriffe. The lower half of

this cone is clothed with trees of good size, but the upper region is

barren rock, usually hidden among the clouds, and covered with snow

during the greater part of the year. There are no shoals or other

dangers about the island, the shores being remarkably bold and the

water deep. On the northwestern coast is a bay, with a beach of black

sand, where a landing with boats can be easily effected, provided there

be a southerly wind. Plenty of excellent water may here be readily

procured; also cod, and other fish, may be taken with hook and line.

The next island in point of size, and the most westwardly of the group,

is that called the Inaccessible. Its precise situation is 37° 17’ S.

latitude, longitude 12° 24’ W. It is seven or eight miles in

circumference, and on all sides presents a forbidding and precipitous

aspect. Its top is perfectly flat, and the whole region is steril,

nothing growing upon it except a few stunted shrubs.

Nightingale Island, the smallest and most southerly, is in latitude 37°

26’ S., longitude 12° 12’ W. Off its southern extremity is a high ledge

of rocky islets; a few also of a similar appearance are seen to the

northeast. The ground is irregular and steril, and a deep valley

partially separates it.

The shores of these islands abound, in the proper season, with sea

lions, sea elephants, the hair and fur seal, together with a great

variety of oceanic birds. Whales are also plenty in their vicinity.

Owing to the ease with which these various animals were here formerly

taken, the group has been much visited since its discovery. The Dutch

and French frequented it at a very early period. In 1790, Captain

Patten, of the ship Industry, of Philadelphia, made Tristan d’Acunha,

where he remained seven months (from August, 1790, to April, 1791) for

the purpose of collecting sealskins. In this time he gathered no less

than five thousand six hundred, and says that he would have had no

difficulty in loading a large ship with oil in three weeks. Upon his

arrival he found no quadrupeds, with the exception of a few wild

goats—the island now abounds with all our most valuable domestic

animals, which have been introduced by subsequent navigators.

I believe it was not long after Captain Patten’s visit that Captain

Colquhoun, of the American brig Betsey, touched at the largest of the

islands for the purpose of refreshment. He planted onions, potatoes,

cabbages, and a great many other vegetables, an abundance of all which

are now to be met with.

In 1811, a Captain Heywood, in the Nereus, visited Tristan. He found

there three Americans, who were residing upon the islands to prepare

sealskins and oil. One of these men was named Jonathan Lambert, and he

called himself the sovereign of the country. He had cleared and

cultivated about sixty acres of land, and turned his attention to

raising the coffee-plant and sugar-cane, with which he had been

furnished by the American minister at Rio Janeiro. This settlement,

however, was finally abandoned, and in 1817 the islands were taken

possession of by the British government, who sent a detachment for that

purpose from the Cape of Good Hope. They did not, however, retain them

long; but, upon the evacuation of the country as a British possession,

two or three English families took up their residence there

independently of the government. On the twenty-fifth of March, 1824,

the Berwick, Captain Jeffrey, from London to Van Diemen’s Land, arrived

at the place, where they found an Englishman of the name of Glass,

formerly a corporal in the British artillery. He claimed to be supreme

governor of the islands, and had under his control twenty-one men and

three women. He gave a very favourable account of the salubrity of the

climate and of the productiveness of the soil. The population occupied

themselves chiefly in collecting sealskins and sea elephant oil, with

which they traded to the Cape of Good Hope, Glass owning a small

schooner. At the period of our arrival the governor was still a

resident, but his little community had multiplied, there being

fifty-six persons upon Tristan, besides a smaller settlement of seven

on Nightingale Island. We had no difficulty in procuring almost every

kind of refreshment which we required—sheep, hogs, bullocks, rabbits,

poultry, goats, fish in great variety, and vegetables were abundant.

Having come to anchor close in with the large island, in eighteen

fathoms, we took all we wanted on board very conveniently. Captain Guy

also purchased of Glass five hundred sealskins and some ivory. We

remained here a week, during which the prevailing winds were from the

northward and westward, and the weather somewhat hazy. On the fifth of

November we made sail to the southward and westward, with the intention

of having a thorough search for a group of islands called the Auroras,

respecting whose existence a great diversity of opinion has existed.

These islands are said to have been discovered as early as 1762, by the

commander of the ship Aurora. In 1790, Captain Manuel de Oyarvido, in

the ship Princess, belonging to the Royal Philippine Company, sailed,

as he asserts, directly among them. In 1794, the Spanish corvette

Atrevida went with the determination of ascertaining their precise

situation, and, in a paper published by the Royal Hydrographical

Society of Madrid in the year 1809, the following language is used

respecting this expedition. “The corvette Atrevida practised, in their

immediate vicinity, from the twenty-first to the twenty-seventh of

January, all the necessary observations, and measured by chronometers

the difference of longitude between these islands and the port of

Soledad in the Malninas. The islands are three; they are very nearly in

the same meridian; the centre one is rather low, and the other two may

be seen at nine leagues distance.” The observations made on board the

Atrevida give the following results as the precise situation of each

island. The most northern is in latitude 52° 37’ 24” S., longitude 47°

43’ 15” W.; the middle one in latitude 53° 2’ 40” S., longitude 47° 55’

15” W.; and the most southern in latitude 53° 15’ 22” S., longitude 47°

57’ 15” W.

On the twenty-seventh of January, 1820, Captain James Weddel, of the

British navy, sailed from Staten Land also in search of the Auroras. He

reports that, having made the most diligent search, and passed not only

immediately over the spots indicated by the commander of the Atrevida,

but in every direction throughout the vicinity of these spots, he could

discover no indication of land. These conflicting statements have

induced other navigators to look out for the islands; and, strange to

say, while some have sailed through every inch of sea where they are

supposed to lie without finding them, there have been not a few who

declare positively that they have seen them, and even been close in

with their shores. It was Captain Guy’s intention to make every

exertion within his power to settle the question so oddly in

dispute.[3]

[Footnote 3: Among the vessels which at various times have professed to

meet with the Auroras may be mentioned the ship San Miguel, in 1769;

the ship Aurora, in 1774; the brig Pearl, in 1779; and the ship

Dolores, in 1790. They all agree in giving the mean latitude

fifty-three degrees south.]

We kept on our course, between the south and west, with variable

weather, until the twentieth of the month, when we found ourselves on

the debated ground, being in latitude 53° 15’ S., longitude 47° 58’

W.—that is to say, very nearly upon the spot indicated as the

situation of the most southern of the group. Not perceiving any sign of

land, we continued to the westward in the parallel of fifty-three

degrees south, as far as the meridian of fifty degrees west. We then

stood to the north as far as the parallel of fifty-two degrees south,

when we turned to the eastward, and kept our parallel by double

altitudes, morning and evening, and meridian altitudes of the planets

and moon. Having thus gone eastwardly to the meridian of the western

coast of Georgia, we kept that meridian until we were in the latitude

from which we set out. We then took diagonal courses throughout the

entire extent of sea circumscribed, keeping a lookout constantly at the

masthead, and repeating our examination with the greatest care for a

period of three weeks, during which the weather was remarkably pleasant

and fair, with no haze whatsoever. Of course we were thoroughly

satisfied that, whatever islands might have existed in this vicinity at

any former period, no vestige of them remained at the present day.

Since my return home I find that the same ground was traced over with

equal care in 1822 by Captain Johnson, of the American schooner Henry,

and by Captain Morrell, in the American schooner Wasp—in both cases

with the same result as in our own.

CHAPTER XVI.

It had been Captain Guy’s original intention, after satisfying himself

about the Auroras, to proceed through the Strait of Magellan, and up

along the western coast of Patagonia; but information received at

Tristan d’Acunha induced him to steer to the southward, in the hope of

falling in with some small islands said to lie about the parallel of

60° S., longitude 41° 20’ W. In the event of his not discovering these

lands, he designed, should the season prove favourable, to push on

towards the pole. Accordingly, on the twelfth of December, we made sail

in that direction. On the eighteenth we found ourselves about the

station indicated by Glass, and cruised for three days in that

neighbourhood without finding any traces of the islands he had

mentioned. On the twenty-first, the weather being unusually pleasant,

we again made sail to the southward, with the resolution of penetrating

in that course as far as possible. Before entering upon this portion of

my narrative, it may be as well, for the information of those readers

who have paid little attention to the progress of discovery in these

regions, to give some brief account of the very few attempts at

reaching the southern pole which have hitherto been made.

That of Captain Cook was the first of which we have any distinct

account. In 1772 he sailed to the south in the Resolution, accompanied

by Lieutenant Furneaux in the Adventure. In December he found himself

as far as the fifty-eighth parallel of south latitude, and in longitude

26° 57’ E. Here he met with narrow fields of ice, about eight or ten

inches thick, and running northwest and southeast. This ice was in

large cakes, and usually it was packed so closely that the vessels had

great difficulty in forcing a passage. At this period Captain Cook

supposed, from the vast number of birds to be seen, and from other

indications, that he was in the near vicinity of land. He kept on to

the southward, the weather being exceedingly cold, until he reached the

sixty-fourth parallel, in longitude 38° 14’ E. Here he had mild

weather, with gentle breezes, for five days, the thermometer being at

thirty-six. In January, 1773, the vessels crossed the Antarctic circle,

but did not succeed in penetrating much farther; for, upon reaching

latitude 67° 15’, they found all farther progress impeded by an immense

body of ice, extending all along the southern horizon as far as the eye

could reach. This ice was of every variety—and some large floes of it,

miles in extent, formed a compact mass, rising eighteen or twenty feet

above the water. It being late in the season, and no hope entertained

of rounding these obstructions, Captain Cook now reluctantly turned to

the northward.

In the November following he renewed his search in the Antarctic. In

latitude 59° 40’ he met with a strong current setting to the southward.

In December, when the vessels were in latitude 67° 31’, longitude 142°

54’ W., the cold was excessive, with heavy gales and fog. Here also

birds were abundant; the albatross, the penguin, and the peterel

especially. In latitude 70° 23’ some large islands of ice were

encountered, and shortly afterward, the clouds to the southward were

observed to be of a snowy whiteness, indicating the vicinity of field

ice. In latitude 71° 10’, longitude 106° 54’ W., the navigators were

stopped, as before, by an immense frozen expanse, which filled the

whole area of the southern horizon. The northern edge of this expanse

was ragged and broken, so firmly wedged together as to be utterly

impassable, and extending about a mile to the southward. Behind it the

frozen surface was comparatively smooth for some distance, until

terminated in the extreme back-ground by gigantic ranges of ice

mountains, the one towering above the other. Captain Cook concluded

that this vast field reached the southern pole or was joined to a

continent. Mr. J. N. Reynolds, whose great exertions and perseverance

have at length succeeded in getting set on foot a national expedition,

partly for the purpose of exploring these regions, thus speaks of the

attempt of the Resolution. “We are not surprised that Captain Cook was

unable to go beyond 71° 10’, but we are astonished that he did attain

that point on the meridian of 106° 54’ west longitude. Palmer’s Land

lies south of the Shetland, latitude sixty-four degrees, and tends to

the southward and westward farther than any navigator has yet

penetrated. Cook was standing for this land when his progress was

arrested by the ice; which, we apprehend, must always be the case in

that point, and so early in the season as the sixth of January—and we

should not be surprised if a portion of the icy mountains described was

attached to the main body of Palmer’s Land, or to some other portions

of land lying farther to the southward and westward.”

In 1803, Captains Kreutzenstern and Lisiausky were despatched by

Alexander of Russia for the purpose of circumnavigating the globe. In

endeavouring to get south, they made no farther than 59° 58’, in

longitude 70° 15’ W. They here met with strong currents setting

eastwardly. Whales were abundant, but they saw no ice. In regard to

this voyage, Mr. Reynolds observes that, if Kreutzenstern had arrived

where he did earlier in the season, he must have encountered ice—it

was March when he reached the latitude specified. The winds prevailing,

as they do, from the southward and westward, had carried the floes,

aided by currents, into that icy region bounded on the north by

Georgia, east by Sandwich Land and the South Orkneys, and west by the

South Shetland Islands.

In 1822, Captain James Weddell, of the British navy, with two very

small vessels, penetrated farther to the south than any previous

navigator, and this too, without encountering extraordinary

difficulties. He states that although he was frequently hemmed in by

ice before reaching the seventy-second parallel, yet, upon attaining

it, not a particle was to be discovered, and that, upon arriving at the

latitude of 74° 15’, no fields, and only three islands of ice were

visible. It is somewhat remarkable that, although vast flocks of birds

were seen, and other usual indications of land, and although, south of

the Shetlands, unknown coasts were observed from the masthead tending

southwardly, Weddell discourages the idea of land existing in the polar

regions of the south.

On the eleventh of January, 1823, Captain Benjamin Morrell, of the

American schooner Wasp, sailed from Kerguelen’s Land with a view of

penetrating as far south as possible. On the first of February he found

himself in latitude 64° 52’ S., longitude 118° 27’ E. The following

passage is extracted from his journal of that date. “The wind soon

freshened to an eleven-knot breeze, and we embraced this opportunity of

making to the west; being however convinced that the farther we went

south beyond latitude sixty-four degrees the less ice was to be

apprehended, we steered a little to the southward, until we crossed the

Antarctic circle, and were in latitude 69° 15’ E. In this latitude

there was no field ice, and very few ice islands in sight.”

Under the date of March fourteenth I find also this entry. “The sea was

now entirely free of field ice, and there were not more than a dozen

ice islands in sight. At the same time the temperature of the air and

water was at least thirteen degrees higher (more mild) than we had ever

found it between the parallels of sixty and sixty-two south. We were

now in latitude 70° 14’ S., and the temperature of the air was

forty-seven, and that of the water forty-four. In this situation I

found the variation to be 14° 27’ easterly, per azimuth… I have

several times passed within the Antarctic circle on different

meridians, and have uniformly found the temperature, both of the air

and the water, to become more and more mild the farther I advanced

beyond the sixty-fifth degree of south latitude, and that the variation

decreases in the same proportion. While north of this latitude, say

between sixty and sixty-five south, we frequently had great difficulty

in finding a passage for the vessel between the immense and almost

innumerable ice islands, some of which were from one to two miles in

circumference, and more than five hundred feet above the surface of the

water.”

Being nearly destitute of fuel and water, and without proper

instruments, it being also late in the season, Captain Morrell was now

obliged to put back, without attempting any farther progress to the

southward, although an entirely open sea lay before him. He expresses

the opinion that, had not these overruling considerations obliged him

to retreat, he could have penetrated, if not to the pole itself, at

least to the eighty-fifth parallel. I have given his ideas respecting

these matters somewhat at length, that the reader may have an

opportunity of seeing how far they were borne out by my own subsequent

experience.

In 1831, Captain Briscoe, in the employ of the Messieurs Enderby,

whale-ship owners of London, sailed in the brig Lively for the South

Seas, accompanied by the cutter Tula. On the twenty-eighth of February,

being in latitude 66° 30’ S., longitude 47° 31’ E., he descried land,

and “clearly discovered through the snow the black peaks of a range of

mountains running E. S. E.” He remained in this neighbourhood during

the whole of the following month, but was unable to approach the coast

nearer than within ten leagues, owing to the boisterous state of the

weather. Finding it impossible to make farther discovery during this

season, he returned northward to winter in Van Diemen’s Land.

In the beginning of 1832 he again proceeded southwardly, and on the

fourth of February land was seen to the southeast in latitude 67° 15’,

longitude 69° 29’ W. This was soon found to be an island near the

headland of the country he had first discovered. On the twenty-first of

the month he succeeded in landing on the latter, and took possession of

it in the name of William IV., calling it Adelaide’s Island, in honour

of the English queen. These particulars being made known to the Royal

Geographical Society of London, the conclusion was drawn by that body

“that there is a continuous tract of land extending from 47° 30’ E. to

69° 29’ W. longitude, running the parallel of from sixty-six to

sixty-seven degrees south latitude.” In respect to this conclusion Mr.

Reynolds observes, “In the correctness of it we by no means concur; nor

do the discoveries of Briscoe warrant any such inference. It was within

these limits that Weddell proceeded south on a meridian to the east of

Georgia, Sandwich Land, and the South Orkney and Shetland Islands.” My

own experience will be found to testify most directly to the falsity of

the conclusion arrived at by the society.

These are the principal attempts which have been made at penetrating to

a high southern latitude, and it will now be seen that there remained,

previous to the voyage of the Jane, nearly three hundred degrees of

longitude in which the Antarctic circle had not been crossed at all. Of

course a wide field lay before us for discovery, and it was with

feelings of most intense interest that I heard Captain Guy express his

resolution of pushing boldly to the southward.

CHAPTER XVII.

We kept our course southwardly for four days after giving up the search

for Glass’s Islands, without meeting with any ice at all. On the

twenty-sixth, at noon, we were in latitude 63° 23’ S., longitude 41°

25’ W. We now saw several large ice islands, and a floe of field ice,

not, however, of any great extent. The winds generally blew from the

southeast, or the northeast, but were very light. Whenever we had a

westerly wind, which was seldom, it was invariably attended with a rain

squall. Every day we had more or less snow. The thermometer, on the

twenty-seventh, stood at thirty-five.

January 1, 1828. This day we found ourselves completely hemmed in by

the ice, and our prospects looked cheerless indeed. A strong gale blew,

during the whole forenoon, from the northeast, and drove large cakes of

the drift against the rudder and counter with such violence that we all

trembled for the consequences. Towards evening, the gale still blowing

with fury, a large field in front separated, and we were enabled, by

carrying a press of sail, to force a passage through the smaller flakes

into some open water beyond. As we approached this space we took in

sail by degrees, and having at length got clear, lay to under a single

reefed foresail.

January 2. We had now tolerably pleasant weather. At noon we found

ourselves in latitude 69° 10’ S., longitude 42° 20’ W., having crossed

the Antarctic circle. Very little ice was to be seen to the southward,

although large fields of it lay behind us. This day we rigged some

sounding gear, using a large iron pot capable of holding twenty

gallons, and a line of two hundred fathoms. We found the current

setting to the north, about a quarter of a mile per hour. The

temperature of the air was now about thirty-three. Here we found the

variation to be 14° 28’ easterly, per azimuth.

January 5. We had still held on to the southward without any very

great impediments. On this morning, however, being in latitude 73° 15’

E., longitude 42° 10’ W., we were again brought to a stand by an

immense expanse of firm ice. We saw, nevertheless, much open water to

the southward, and felt no doubt of being able to reach it eventually.

Standing to the eastward along the edge of the floe, we at length came

to a passage of about a mile in width, through which we warped our way

by sundown. The sea in which we now were was thickly covered with ice

islands, but had no field ice, and we pushed on boldly as before. The

cold did not seem to increase, although we had snow very frequently,

and now and then hail squalls of great violence. Immense flocks of the

albatross flew over the schooner this day, going from southeast to

northwest.

January 7. The sea still remained pretty well open, so that we had no

difficulty in holding on our course. To the westward we saw some

icebergs of incredible size, and in the afternoon passed very near one

whose summit could not have been less than four hundred fathoms from

the surface of the ocean. Its girth was probably, at the base, three

quarters of a league, and several streams of water were running from

crevices in its sides. We remained in sight of this island two days,

and then only lost it in a fog.

January 10. Early this morning we had the misfortune to lose a man

overboard. He was an American, named Peter Vredenburgh, a native of

New-York, and was one of the most valuable hands on board the schooner.

In going over the bows his foot slipped, and he fell between two cakes

of ice, never rising again. At noon of this day we were in latitude 78°

30’, longitude 40° 15’ W. The cold was now excessive, and we had hail

squalls continually from the northward and eastward. In this direction

also we saw several more immense icebergs, and the whole horizon to the

eastward appeared to be blocked up with field ice, rising in tiers, one

mass above the other. Some driftwood floated by during the evening, and

a great quantity of birds flew over, among which were Nellies,

peterels, albatrosses, and a large bird of a brilliant blue plumage.

The variation here, per azimuth, was less than it had been previously

to our passing the Antarctic circle.

January 12. Our passage to the south again looked doubtful, as

nothing was to be seen in the direction of the pole but one apparently

limitless floe, backed by absolute mountains of ragged ice, one

precipice of which arose frowningly above the other. We stood to the

westward until the fourteenth, in the hope of finding an entrance.

January 14. This morning we reached the western extremity of the

field which had impeded us, and, weathering it, came to an open sea,

without a particle of ice. Upon sounding with two hundred fathoms, we

here found a current setting southwardly at the rate of half a mile per

hour. The temperature of the air was forty-seven, that of the water

thirty-four. We now sailed to the southward, without meeting any

interruption of moment until the sixteenth, when, at noon, we were in

latitude 81° 21’, longitude 42° W. We here again sounded, and found a

current setting still southwardly, and at the rate of three quarters of

a mile per hour. The variation per azimuth had diminished, and the

temperature of the air was mild and pleasant, the thermometer being as

high as fifty-one. At this period not a particle of ice was to be

discovered. All hands on board now felt certain of attaining the pole.

January 17. This day was full of incident. Innumerable flights of

birds flew over us from the southward, and several were shot from the

deck; one of them, a species of pelican, proved to be excellent eating.

About midday a small floe of ice was seen from the masthead off the

larboard bow, and upon it there appeared to be some large animal. As

the weather was good and nearly calm, Captain Guy ordered out two of

the boats to see what it was. Dirk Peters and myself accompanied the

mate in the larger boat. Upon coming up with the floe, we perceived

that it was in the possession of a gigantic creature of the race of the

Arctic bear, but far exceeding in size the largest of these animals.

Being well armed, we made no scruple of attacking it at once. Several

shots were fired in quick succession, the most of which took effect,

apparently, in the head and body. Nothing discouraged, however, the

monster threw himself from the ice, and swam, with open jaws, to the

boat in which were Peters and myself. Owing to the confusion which

ensued among us at this unexpected turn of the adventure, no person was

ready immediately with a second shot, and the bear had actually

succeeded in getting half his vast bulk across our gunwale, and seizing

one of the men by the small of his back, before any efficient means

were taken to repel him. In this extremity nothing but the promptness

and agility of Peters saved us from destruction. Leaping upon the back

of the huge beast, he plunged the blade of a knife behind the neck,

reaching the spinal marrow at a blow. The brute tumbled into the sea

lifeless, and without a struggle, rolling over Peters as he fell. The

latter soon recovered himself, and a rope being thrown him, he secured

the carcass before entering the boat. We then returned in triumph to

the schooner, towing our trophy behind us. This bear, upon

admeasurement, proved to be full fifteen feet in his greatest length.

His wool was perfectly white, and very coarse, curling tightly. The

eyes were of a blood red, and larger than those of the Arctic bear—the

snout also more rounded, rather resembling the snout of the bulldog.

The meat was tender, but excessively rank and fishy, although the men

devoured it with avidity, and declared it excellent eating.

Scarcely had we got our prize alongside, when the man at the masthead

gave the joyful shout of “land on the starboard bow!” All hands were

now upon the alert, and, a breeze springing up very opportunely from

the northward and eastward, we were soon close in with the coast. It

proved to be a low rocky islet, of about a league in circumference, and

altogether destitute of vegetation, if we except a species of prickly

pear. In approaching it from the northward, a singular ledge of rock is

seen projecting into the sea, and bearing a strong resemblance to

corded bales of cotton. Around this ledge to the westward is a small

bay, at the bottom of which our boats effected a convenient landing.

It did not take us long to explore every portion of the island, but,

with one exception, we found nothing worthy of observation. In the

southern extremity, we picked up near the shore, half buried in a pile

of loose stones, a piece of wood, which seemed to have formed the prow

of a canoe. There had been evidently some attempt at carving upon it,

and Captain Guy fancied that he made out the figure of a tortoise, but

the resemblance did not strike me very forcibly. Besides this prow, if

such it were, we found no other token that any living creature had ever

been here before. Around the coast we discovered occasional small floes

of ice—but these were very few. The exact situation of this islet (to

which Captain Guy gave the name of Bennet’s Islet, in honour of his

partner in the ownership of the schooner) is 82° 50’ S. latitude, 42°

20’ W. longitude.

We had now advanced to the southward more than eight degrees farther

than any previous navigators, and the sea still lay perfectly open

before us. We found, too, that the variation uniformly decreased as we

proceeded, and, what was still more surprising, that the temperature of

the air, and latterly of the water, became milder. The weather might

even be called pleasant, and we had a steady but very gentle breeze

always from some northern point of the compass. The sky was usually

clear, with now and then a slight appearance of thin vapour in the

southern horizon—this, however, was invariably of brief duration. Two

difficulties alone presented themselves to our view; we were getting

short of fuel, and symptoms of scurvy had occurred among several of the

crew. These considerations began to impress upon Captain Guy the

necessity of returning, and he spoke of it frequently. For my own part,

confident as I was of soon arriving at land of some description upon

the course we were pursuing, and having every reason to believe, from

present appearances, that we should not find it the steril soil met

with in the higher Arctic latitudes, I warmly pressed upon him the

expediency of persevering, at least for a few days longer, in the

direction we were now holding. So tempting an opportunity of solving

the great problem in regard to an Antarctic continent had never yet

been afforded to man, and I confess that I felt myself bursting with

indignation at the timid and ill-timed suggestions of our commander. I

believe, indeed, that what I could not refrain from saying to him on

this head had the effect of inducing him to push on. While, therefore,

I cannot but lament the most unfortunate and bloody events which

immediately arose from my advice, I must still be allowed to feel some

degree of gratification at having been instrumental, however remotely,

in opening to the eye of science one of the most intensely exciting

secrets which has ever engrossed its attention.

CHAPTER XVIII.

January 18. This morning[4] we continued to the southward, with the

same pleasant weather as before. The sea was entirely smooth, the air

tolerably warm and from the northeast, the temperature of the water

fifty-three. We now again got our sounding-gear in order, and, with a

hundred and fifty fathoms of line, found the current setting towards

the pole at the rate of a mile an hour. This constant tendency to the

southward, both in the wind and current, caused some degree of

speculation, and even of alarm, in different quarters of the schooner,

and I saw distinctly that no little impression had been made upon the

mind of Captain Guy. He was exceedingly sensitive to ridicule, however,

and I finally succeeded in laughing him out of his apprehensions. The

variation was now very trivial. In the course of the day we saw several

large whales of the right species, and innumerable flights of the

albatross passed over the vessel. We also picked up a bush, full of red

berries, like those of the hawthorn, and the carcass of a

singular-looking land-animal. It was three feet in length, and but six

inches in height, with four very short legs, the feet armed with long

claws of a brilliant scarlet, and resembling coral in substance. The

body was covered with a straight silky hair, perfectly white. The tail

was peaked like that of a rat, and about a foot and a half long. The

head resembled a cat’s, with the exception of the ears—these were

flapped like the ears of a dog. The teeth were of the same brilliant

scarlet as the claws.

[Footnote 4: The terms morning and evening, which I have made use

of to avoid confusion in my narrative, as far as possible, must not, of

course, be taken in their ordinary sense. For a long time past we had

had no night at all, the daylight being continual. The dates throughout

are according to nautical time, and the bearings must be understood as

per compass. I would also remark in this place, that I cannot, in the

first portion of what is here written, pretend to strict accuracy in

respect to dates, or latitudes and longitudes, having kept no regular

journal until after the period of which this first portion treats. In

many instances I have relied altogether upon memory.]

January 19. To-day, being in latitude 83° 20’, longitude 43° 5’ W.

(the sea being of an extraordinarily dark colour), we again saw land

from the masthead, and, upon a closer scrutiny, found it to be one of a

group of very large islands. The shore was precipitous, and the

interior seemed to be well wooded, a circumstance which occasioned us

great joy. In about four hours from our first discovering the land we

came to anchor in ten fathoms, sandy bottom, a league from the coast,

as a high surf, with strong ripples here and there, rendered a nearer

approach of doubtful expediency. The two largest boats were now ordered

out, and a party, well armed (among whom were Peters and myself),

proceeded to look for an opening in the reef which appeared to encircle

the island. After searching about for some time, we discovered an

inlet, which we were entering, when we saw four large canoes put off

from the shore, filled with men who seemed to be well armed. We waited

for them to come up, and, as they moved with great rapidity, they were

soon within hail. Captain Guy now held up a white handkerchief on the

blade of an oar, when the strangers made a full stop, and commenced a

loud jabbering all at once, intermingled with occasional shouts, in

which we could distinguish the words Anamoo-moo! and Lama-Lama!

They continued this for at least half an hour, during which we had a

good opportunity of observing their appearance.

In the four canoes, which might have been fifty feet long and five

broad, there were a hundred and ten savages in all. They were about the

ordinary stature of Europeans, but of a more muscular and brawny frame.

Their complexion a jet black, with thick and long woolly hair. They

were clothed in skins of an unknown black animal, shaggy and silky, and

made to fit the body with some degree of skill, the hair being inside,

except where turned out about the neck, wrists, and ankles. Their arms

consisted principally of clubs, of a dark, and apparently very heavy

wood. Some spears, however, were observed among them, headed with

flint, and a few slings. The bottoms of the canoes were full of black

stones about the size of a large egg.

When they had concluded their harangue (for it was clear they intended

their jabbering for such), one of them who seemed to be the chief stood

up in the prow of his canoe, and made signs for us to bring our boats

alongside of him. This hint we pretended not to understand, thinking it

the wiser plan to maintain, if possible, the interval between us, as

their number more than quadrupled our own. Finding this to be the case,

the chief ordered the three other canoes to hold back, while he

advanced towards us with his own. As soon as he came up with us he

leaped on board the largest of our boats, and seated himself by the

side of Captain Guy, pointing at the same time to the schooner, and

repeating the words Anamoo-moo! and Lama-Lama! We now put back to

the vessel, the four canoes following at a little distance.

Upon getting alongside the chief evinced symptoms of extreme surprise

and delight, clapping his hands, slapping his thighs and breast, and

laughing obstreperously. His followers behind joined in his merriment,

and for some minutes the din was so excessive as to be absolutely

deafening. Quiet being at length restored, Captain Guy ordered the

boats to be hoisted up, as a necessary precaution, and gave the chief

(whose name we soon found to be Too-wit) to understand that we could

admit no more than twenty of his men on deck at one time. With this

arrangement he appeared perfectly satisfied, and gave some directions

to the canoes, when one of them approached, the rest remaining about

fifty yards off. Twenty of the savages now got on board, and proceeded

to ramble over every part of the deck, and scramble about among the

rigging, making themselves much at home, and examining every article

with great inquisitiveness.

It was quite evident that they had never before seen any of the white

race—from whose complexion, indeed, they appeared to recoil. They

believed the Jane to be a living creature, and seemed to be afraid of

hurting it with the points of their spears, carefully turning them up.

Our crew were much amused with the conduct of Too-wit in one instance.

The cook was splitting some wood near the galley, and, by accident,

struck his axe into the deck, making a gash of considerable depth. The

chief immediately ran up, and pushing the cook on one side rather

roughly, commenced a half whine, half howl, strongly indicative of

sympathy in what he considered the sufferings of the schooner, patting

and smoothing the gash with his hand, and washing it from a bucket of

seawater which stood by. This was a degree of ignorance for which we

were not prepared, and for my part I could not help thinking some of it

affected.

When the visiters had satisfied, as well as they could, their curiosity

in regard to our upper works, they were admitted below, when their

amazement exceeded all bounds. Their astonishment now appeared to be

far too deep for words, for they roamed about in silence, broken only

by low ejaculations. The arms afforded them much food for speculation,

and they were suffered to handle and examine them at leisure. I do not

believe that they had the least suspicion of their actual use, but

rather took them for idols, seeing the care we had of them, and the

attention with which we watched their movements while handling them. At

the great guns their wonder was redoubled. They approached them with

every mark of the profoundest reverence and awe, but forbore to examine

them minutely. There were two large mirrors in the cabin, and here was

the acme of their amazement. Too-wit was the first to approach them,

and he had got in the middle of the cabin, with his face to one and his

back to the other, before he fairly perceived them. Upon raising his

eyes and seeing his reflected self in the glass, I thought the savage

would go mad; but, upon turning short round to make a retreat, and

beholding himself a second time in the opposite direction, I was afraid

he would expire upon the spot. No persuasions could prevail upon him to

take another look; but, throwing himself upon the floor, with his face

buried in his hands, he remained thus until we were obliged to drag him

upon deck.

The whole of the savages were admitted on board in this manner, twenty

at a time, Too-wit being suffered to remain during the entire period.

We saw no disposition to thievery among them, nor did we miss a single

article after their departure. Throughout the whole of their visit they

evinced the most friendly manner. There were, however, some points in

their demeanour which we found it impossible to understand: for

example, we could not get them to approach several very harmless

objects—such as the schooner’s sails, an egg, an open book, or a pan

of flour. We endeavoured to ascertain if they had among them any

articles which might be turned to account in the way of traffic, but

found great difficulty in being comprehended. We made out,

nevertheless, what greatly astonished us, that the islands abounded in

the large tortoise of the Gallipagos, one of which we saw in the canoe

of Too-wit. We saw also some biche de mer in the hands of one of the

savages, who was greedily devouring it in its natural state. These

anomalies, for they were such when considered in regard to the

latitude, induced Captain Guy to wish for a thorough investigation of

the country, in the hope of making a profitable speculation in his

discovery. For my own part, anxious as I was to know something more of

these islands, I was still more earnestly bent on prosecuting the

voyage to the southward without delay. We had now fine weather, but

there was no telling how long it would last; and being already in the

eighty-fourth parallel, with an open sea before us, a current setting

strongly to the southward, and the wind fair, I could not listen with

any patience to a proposition of stopping longer than was absolutely

necessary for the health of the crew and the taking on board a proper

supply of fuel and fresh provisions. I represented to the captain that

we might easily make this group on our return, and winter here in the

event of being blocked up by the ice. He at length came into my views

(for in some way, hardly known to myself, I had acquired much influence

over him), and it was finally resolved that, even in the event of our

finding biche de mer, we should only stay here a week to recruit, and

then push on to the southward while we might. Accordingly we made every

necessary preparation, and, under the guidance of Too-wit, got the Jane

through the reef in safety, coming to anchor about a mile from the

shore, in an excellent bay, completely landlocked, on the southeastern

coast of the main island, and in ten fathoms of water, black sandy

bottom. At the head of this bay there were three fine springs (we were

told) of good water, and we saw abundance of wood in the vicinity. The

four canoes followed us in, keeping, however, at a respectful distance.

Too-wit himself remained on board, and, upon our dropping anchor,

invited us to accompany him on shore, and visit his village in the

interior. To this Captain Guy consented; and ten savages being left on

board as hostages, a party of us, twelve in all, got in readiness to

attend the chief. We took care to be well armed, yet without evincing

any distrust. The schooner had her guns run out, her boarding-nettings

up, and every other proper precaution was taken to guard against

surprise. Directions were left with the chief mate to admit no person

on board during our absence, and, in the event of our not appearing in

twelve hours, to send the cutter, with a swivel, round the island in

search of us.

At every step we took inland the conviction forced itself upon us that

we were in a country differing essentially from any hitherto visited by

civilized men. We saw nothing with which we had been formerly

conversant. The trees resembled no growth of either the torrid, the

temperate, or the northern frigid zones, and were altogether unlike

those of the lower southern latitudes we had already traversed. The

very rocks were novel in their mass, their colour, and their

stratification; and the streams themselves, utterly incredible as it

may appear, had so little in common with those of other climates, that

we were scrupulous of tasting them, and, indeed, had difficulty in

bringing ourselves to believe that their qualities were purely those of

nature. At a small brook which crossed our path (the first we had

reached) Too-wit and his attendants halted to drink. On account of the

singular character of the water, we refused to taste it, supposing it

to be polluted; and it was not until some time afterward we came to

understand that such was the appearance of the streams throughout the

whole group. I am at a loss to give a distinct idea of the nature of

this liquid, and cannot do so without many words. Although it flowed

with rapidity in all declivities where common water would do so, yet

never, except when falling in a cascade, had it the customary

appearance of limpidity. It was, nevertheless, in point of fact, as

perfectly limpid as any limestone water in existence, the difference

being only in appearance. At first sight, and especially in cases where

little declivity was found, it bore resemblance, as regards

consistency, to a thick infusion of gum Arabic in common water. But

this was only the least remarkable of its extraordinary qualities. It

was not colourless, nor was it of any one uniform colour—presenting

to the eye, as it flowed, every possible shade of purple, like the hues

of a changeable silk. This variation in shade was produced in a manner

which excited as profound astonishment in the minds of our party as the

mirror had done in the case of Too-wit. Upon collecting a basinful, and

allowing it to settle thoroughly, we perceived that the whole mass of

liquid was made up of a number of distinct veins, each of a distinct

hue; that these veins did not commingle; and that their cohesion was

perfect in regard to their own particles among themselves, and

imperfect in regard to neighbouring veins. Upon passing the blade of a

knife athwart the veins, the water closed over it immediately, as with

us, and also, in withdrawing it, all traces of the passage of the knife

were instantly obliterated. If, however, the blade was passed down

accurately between two veins, a perfect separation was effected, which

the power of cohesion did not immediately rectify. The phenomena of

this water formed the first definite link in that vast chain of

apparent miracles with which I was destined to be at length encircled.

CHAPTER XIX.

We were nearly three hours in reaching the village, it being more than

nine miles in the interior, and the path lying through a rugged

country. As we passed along, the party of Too-wit (the whole hundred

and ten savages of the canoes) was momentarily strengthened by smaller

detachments, of from two to six or seven, which joined us, as if by

accident, at different turns in the road. There appeared so much of

system in this that I could not help feeling distrust, and I spoke to

Captain Guy of my apprehensions. It was now too late, however, to

recede, and we concluded that our best security lay in evincing a

perfect confidence in the good faith of Too-wit. We accordingly went

on, keeping a wary eye upon the manoeuvres of the savages, and not

permitting them to divide our numbers by pushing in between. In this

way, passing through a precipitous ravine, we at length reached what we

were told was the only collection of habitations upon the island. As we

came in sight of them, the chief set up a shout, and frequently

repeated the word Klock-Klock; which we supposed to be the name of

the village, or perhaps the generic name for villages.

The dwellings were of the most miserable description imaginable, and,

unlike those of even the lowest of the savage races with which mankind

are acquainted, were of no uniform plan. Some of them (and these we

found belonged to the Wampoos or Yampoos, the great men of the

land) consisted of a tree cut down at about four feet from the root,

with a large black skin thrown over it, and hanging in loose folds upon

the ground. Under this the savage nestled. Others were formed by means

of rough limbs of trees, with the withered foliage upon them, made to

recline, at an angle of forty-five degrees, against a bank of clay,

heaped up, without regular form, to the height of five or six feet.

Others, again, were mere holes dug in the earth perpendicularly, and

covered over with similar branches, these being removed when the tenant

was about to enter, and pulled on again when he had entered. A few were

built among the forked limbs of trees as they stood, the upper limbs

being partially cut through, so as to bend over upon the lower, thus

forming thicker shelter from the weather. The greater number, however,

consisted of small shallow caverns, apparently scratched in the face of

a precipitous ledge of dark stone, resembling fuller’s earth, with

which three sides of the village was bounded. At the door of each of

these primitive caverns was a small rock, which the tenant carefully

placed before the entrance upon leaving his residence, for what purpose

I could not ascertain, as the stone itself was never of sufficient size

to close up more than a third of the opening.

This village, if it were worthy of the name, lay in a valley of some

depth, and could only be approached from the southward, the precipitous

ledge of which I have already spoken cutting off all access in other

directions. Through the middle of the valley ran a brawling stream of

the same magical-looking water which has been described. We saw several

strange animals about the dwellings, all appearing to be thoroughly

domesticated. The largest of these creatures resembled our common hog

in the structure of the body and snout; the tail, however, was bushy,

and the legs slender as those of the antelope. Its motion was

exceedingly awkward and indecisive, and we never saw it attempt to run.

We noticed also several animals very similar in appearance, but of a

greater length of body, and covered with a black wool. There were a

great variety of tame fowls running about, and these seemed to

constitute the chief food of the natives. To our astonishment we saw

black albatross among these birds in a state of entire domestication,

going to sea periodically for food, but always returning to the village

as a home, and using the southern shore in the vicinity as a place of

incubation. There they were joined by their friends the pelicans as

usual, but these latter never followed them to the dwellings of the

savages. Among the other kinds of tame fowls were ducks, differing very

little from the canvass-back of our own country, black gannets, and a

large bird not unlike the buzzard in appearance, but not carnivorous.

Of fish there seemed to be a great abundance. We saw, during our visit,

a quantity of dried salmon, rock cod, blue dolphins, mackerel,

blackfish, skate, conger eels, elephant-fish, mullets, soles,

parrotfish, leather-jackets, gurnards, hake, flounders, paracutas, and

innumerable other varieties. We noticed, too, that most of them were

similar to the fish about the group of the Lord Auckland Islands, in a

latitude as low as fifty-one degrees south. The Gallipago tortoise was

also very plentiful. We saw but few wild animals, and none of a large

size, or of a species with which we were familiar. One or two serpents

of a formidable aspect crossed our path, but the natives paid them

little attention, and we concluded that they were not venomous.

As we approached the village with Too-wit and his party, a vast crowd

of the people rushed out to meet us, with loud shouts, among which we

could only distinguish the everlasting Anamoo-moo! and Lama-Lama!

We were much surprised at perceiving that, with one or two exceptions,

these new comers were entirely naked, the skins being used only by the

men of the canoes. All the weapons of the country seemed also to be in

the possession of the latter, for there was no appearance of any among

the villagers. There were a great many women and children, the former

not altogether wanting in what might be termed personal beauty. They

were straight, tall, and well formed, with a grace and freedom of

carriage not to be found in civilized society. Their lips, however,

like those of the men, were thick and clumsy, so that, even when

laughing, the teeth were never disclosed. Their hair was of a finer

texture than that of the males. Among these naked villagers there might

have been ten or twelve who were clothed, like the party of Too-wit, in

dresses of black skin, and armed with lances and heavy clubs. These

appeared to have great influence among the rest, and were always

addressed by the title Wampoo. These, too, were the tenants of the

black skin palaces. That of Too-wit was situated in the centre of the

village, and was much larger and somewhat better constructed than

others of its kind. The tree which formed its support was cut off at a

distance of twelve feet or thereabout from the root, and there were

several branches left just below the cut, these serving to extend the

covering, and in this way prevent its flapping about the trunk. The

covering, too, which consisted of four very large skins fastened

together with wooden skewers, was secured at the bottom with pegs

driven through it and into the ground. The floor was strewed with a

quantity of dry leaves by way of carpet.

To this hut we were conducted with great solemnity, and as many of the

natives crowded in after us as possible. Too-wit seated himself on the

leaves, and made signs that we should follow his example. This we did,

and presently found ourselves in a situation peculiarly uncomfortable,

if not indeed critical. We were on the ground, twelve in number, with

the savages, as many as forty, sitting on their hams so closely around

us that, if any disturbance had arisen, we should have found it

impossible to make use of our arms, or indeed to have risen on our

feet. The pressure was not only inside the tent, but outside, where

probably was every individual on the whole island, the crowd being

prevented from trampling us to death only by the incessant exertions

and vociferations of Too-wit. Our chief security lay, however, in the

presence of Too-wit himself among us, and we resolved to stick by him

closely, as the best chance of extricating ourselves from the dilemma,

sacrificing him immediately upon the first appearance of hostile

design.

After some trouble a certain degree of quiet was restored, when the

chief addressed us in a speech of great length, and very nearly

resembling the one delivered in the canoes, with the exception that the

Anamoo-moos! were now somewhat more strenuously insisted upon than

the Lama-Lamas! We listened in profound silence until the conclusion

of his harangue, when Captain Guy replied by assuring the chief of his

eternal friendship and good-will, concluding what he had to say by a

present of several strings of blue beads and a knife. At the former the

monarch, much to our surprise, turned up his nose with some expression

of contempt; but the knife gave him the most unlimited satisfaction,

and he immediately ordered dinner. This was handed into the tent over

the heads of the attendants, and consisted of the palpitating entrails

of a species of unknown animal, probably one of the slim-legged hogs

which we had observed in our approach to the village. Seeing us at a

loss how to proceed, he began, by way of setting us an example, to

devour yard after yard of the enticing food, until we could positively

stand it no longer, and evinced such manifest symptoms of rebellion of

stomach as inspired his majesty with a degree of astonishment only

inferior to that brought about by the looking-glasses. We declined,

however, partaking of the delicacies before us, and endeavoured to make

him understand that we had no appetite whatever, having just finished a

hearty déjeuner.

When the monarch had made an end of his meal, we commenced a series of

cross-questioning in every ingenious manner we could devise, with a

view of discovering what were the chief productions of the country, and

whether any of them might be turned to profit. At length he seemed to

have some idea of our meaning, and offered to accompany us to a part of

the coast where he assured us the biche de mer (pointing to a

specimen of that animal) was to be found in great abundance. We were

glad at this early opportunity of escaping from the oppression of the

crowd, and signified our eagerness to proceed. We now left the tent,

and, accompanied by the whole population of the village, followed the

chief to the southeastern extremity of the island, not far from the bay

where our vessel lay at anchor. We waited here for about an hour, until

the four canoes were brought round by some of the savages to our

station. The whole of our party then getting into one of them, we were

paddled along the edge of the reef before mentioned, and of another

still farther out, where we saw a far greater quantity of _biche de

mer_ than the oldest seaman among us had ever seen in those groups of

the lower latitudes most celebrated for this article of commerce. We

stayed near these reefs only long enough to satisfy ourselves that we

could easily load a dozen vessels with the animal if necessary, when we

were taken alongside the schooner, and parted with Too-wit after

obtaining from him a promise that he would bring us, in the course of

twenty-four hours, as many of the canvass-back ducks and Gallipago

tortoises as his canoes would hold. In the whole of this adventure we

saw nothing in the demeanour of the natives calculated to create

suspicion, with the single exception of the systematic manner in which

their party was strengthened during our route from the schooner to the

village.

CHAPTER XX.

The chief was as good as his word, and we were soon plentifully

supplied with fresh provision. We found the tortoises as fine as we had

ever seen, and the ducks surpassed our best species of wild fowl, being

exceedingly tender, juicy, and well-flavoured. Besides these, the

savages brought us, upon our making them comprehend our wishes, a vast

quantity of brown celery and scurvy grass, with a canoe-load of fresh

fish and some dried. The celery was a treat indeed, and the scurvy

grass proved of incalculable benefit in restoring those of our men who

had shown symptoms of disease. In a very short time we had not a single

person on the sick-list. We had also plenty of other kinds of fresh

provision, among which may be mentioned a species of shellfish

resembling the muscle in shape, but with the taste of an oyster.

Shrimps, too, and prawns were abundant, and albatross and other birds’

eggs with dark shells. We took in, too, a plentiful stock of the flesh

of the hog which I have mentioned before. Most of the men found it a

palatable food, but I thought it fishy and otherwise disagreeable. In

return for these good things we presented the natives with blue beads,

brass trinkets, nails, knives, and pieces of red cloth, they being

fully delighted in the exchange. We established a regular market on

shore, just under the guns of the schooner, where our barterings were

carried on with every appearance of good faith, and a degree of order

which their conduct at the village of Klock-klock had not led us to

expect from the savages.

Matters went on thus very amicably for several days, during which

parties of the natives were frequently on board the schooner, and

parties of our men frequently on shore, making long excursions into the

interior, and receiving no molestation whatever. Finding the ease with

which the vessel might be loaded with biche de mer, owing to the

friendly disposition of the islanders, and the readiness with which

they would render us assistance in collecting it, Captain Guy resolved

to enter into negotiation with Too-wit for the erection of suitable

houses in which to cure the article, and for the services of himself

and tribe in gathering as much as possible, while he himself took

advantage of the fine weather to prosecute his voyage to the southward.

Upon mentioning this project to the chief he seemed very willing to

enter into an agreement. A bargain was accordingly struck, perfectly

satisfactory to both parties, by which it was arranged that, after

making the necessary preparations, such as laying off the proper

grounds, erecting a portion of the buildings, and doing some other work

in which the whole of our crew would be required, the schooner should

proceed on her route, leaving three of her men on the island to

superintend the fulfilment of the project, and instruct the natives in

drying the biche de mer. In regard to terms, these were made to

depend upon the exertions of the savages in our absence. They were to

receive a stipulated quantity of blue beads, knives, red cloth, and so

forth, for every certain number of piculs of the biche de mer which

should be ready on our return.

A description of the nature of this important article of commerce, and

the method of preparing it, may prove of some interest to my readers,

and I can find no more suitable place than this for introducing an

account of it. The following comprehensive notice of the substance is

taken from a modern history of a voyage to the South Seas.

“It is that mollusca from the Indian Seas which is known in commerce

by the French name bouche de mer (a nice morsel from the sea). If I

am not much mistaken, the celebrated Cuvier calls it _gasteropeda

pulmonifera_. It is abundantly gathered in the coasts of the Pacific

Islands, and gathered especially for the Chinese market, where it

commands a great price, perhaps as much as their much-talked of edible

bird’s nests, which are probably made up of the gelatinous matter

picked up by a species of swallow from the body of these molluscæ. They

have no shell, no legs, nor any prominent part, except an absorbing

and an excretory, opposite organs; but, by their elastic wings, like

caterpillars or worms, they creep in shallow waters, in which, when

low, they can be seen by a kind of swallow, the sharp bill of which,

inserted in the soft animal, draws a gummy and filamentous substance,

which, by drying, can be wrought into the solid walls of their nest.

Hence the name of gasteropeda pulmonifera.

“This mollusca is oblong, and of different sizes, from three to

eighteen inches in length; and I have seen a few that were not less

than two feet long. They are nearly round, a little flattish on one

side, which lies next the bottom of the sea; and they are from one to

eight inches thick. They crawl up into shallow water at particular

seasons of the year, probably for the purpose of gendering, as we often

find them in pairs. It is when the sun has the most power on the water,

rendering it tepid, that they approach the shore; and they often go up

into places so shallow, that, on the tide’s receding, they are left

dry, exposed to the heat of the sun. But they do not bring forth their

young in shallow water, as we never see any of their progeny, and the

full-grown ones are always observed coming in from deep water. They

feed principally on that class of zoophytes which produce the coral.

“The biche de mer is generally taken in three or four feet water;

after which they are brought on shore, and split at one end with a

knife, the incision being one inch or more, according to the size of

the mollusca. Through this opening the entrails are forced out by

pressure, and they are much like those of any other small tenant of the

deep. The article is then washed, and afterward boiled to a certain

degree, which must not be too much or too little. They are then buried

in the ground for four hours, then boiled again for a short time, after

which they are dried, either by the fire or the sun. Those cured by the

sun are worth the most; but where one picul (133-1/3 lbs.) can be cured

that way, I can cure thirty piculs by the fire. When once properly

cured, they can be kept in a dry place for two or three years without

any risk; but they should be examined once in every few months, say

four times a year, to see if any dampness is likely to affect them.

“The Chinese, as before stated, consider biche de mer a very great

luxury, believing that it wonderfully strengthens and nourishes the

system, and renews the exhausted system of the immoderate voluptuary.

The first quality commands a high price in Canton, being worth ninety

dollars a picul; the second quality seventy-five dollars; the third

fifty dollars; the fourth thirty dollars; the fifth twenty dollars; the

sixth twelve dollars; the seventh eight dollars; and the eighth four

dollars; small cargoes, however, will often bring more in Manilla,

Singapore, and Batavia.”

An agreement having been thus entered into, we proceeded immediately to

land everything necessary for preparing the buildings and clearing the

ground. A large flat space near the eastern shore of the bay was

selected, where there was plenty both of wood and water, and within a

convenient distance of the principal reefs on which the biche de mer

was to be procured. We now all set to work in good earnest, and soon,

to the great astonishment of the savages, had felled a sufficient

number of trees for our purpose, getting them quickly in order for the

framework of the houses, which in two or three days were so far under

way that we could safely trust the rest of the work to the three men

whom we intended to leave behind. These were John Carson, Alfred

Harris, and ---- Peterson (all natives of London, I believe), who

volunteered their services in this respect.

By the last of the month we had everything in readiness for departure.

We had agreed, however, to pay a formal visit of leavestaking to the

village, and Too-wit insisted so pertinaciously upon our keeping the

promise, that we did not think it advisable to run the risk of

offending him by a final refusal. I believe that not one of us had at

this time the slightest suspicion of the good faith of the savages.

They had uniformly behaved with the greatest decorum, aiding us with

alacrity in our work, offering us their commodities frequently without

price, and never, in any instance, pilfering a single article, although

the high value they set upon the goods we had with us was evident by

the extravagant demonstrations of joy always manifested upon our making

them a present. The women especially were most obliging in every

respect, and, upon the whole, we should have been the most suspicious

of human beings had we entertained a single thought of perfidy on the

part of a people who treated us so well. A very short while sufficed to

prove that this apparent kindness of disposition was only the result of

a deeply-laid plan for our destruction, and that the islanders for whom

we entertained such inordinate feelings of esteem were among the most

barbarous, subtle, and bloodthirsty wretches that ever contaminated the

face of the globe.

It was on the first of February that we went on shore for the purpose

of visiting the village. Although, as said before, we entertained not

the slightest suspicion, still no proper precaution was neglected. Six

men were left in the schooner with instructions to permit none of the

savages to approach the vessel during our absence, under any pretence

whatever, and to remain constantly on deck. The boarding-nettings were

up, the guns double-shotted with grape and canister, and the swivels

loaded with canisters of musket-balls. She lay, with her anchor apeak,

about a mile from the shore, and no canoe could approach her in any

direction without being distinctly seen and exposed to the full fire of

our swivels immediately.

The six men being left on board, our shore-party consisted of

thirty-two persons in all. We were armed to the teeth, having with us

muskets, pistols, and cutlasses, besides each a long kind of seaman’s

knife, somewhat resembling the Bowie knife now so much used throughout

our western and southern country. A hundred of the black skin warriors

met us at the landing for the purpose of accompanying us on our way. We

noticed, however, with some surprise, that they were now entirely

without arms; and, upon questioning Too-wit in relation to this

circumstance, he merely answered that Mattee non we pa pa si—meaning

that there was no need of arms where all were brothers. We took this in

good part, and proceeded.

We had passed the spring and rivulet of which I before spoke, and were

now entering upon a narrow gorge leading through the chain of soapstone

hills among which the village was situated. This gorge was very rocky

and uneven, so much so that it was with no little difficulty we

scrambled through it on our first visit to Klock-klock. The whole

length of the ravine might have been a mile and a half, or probably two

miles. It wound in every possible direction through the hills (having

apparently formed, at some remote period, the bed of a torrent), in no

instance proceeding more than twenty yards without an abrupt turn. The

sides of this dell would have averaged, I am sure, seventy or eighty

feet in perpendicular altitude throughout the whole of their extent,

and in some portions they arose to an astonishing height, overshadowing

the pass so completely that but little of the light of day could

penetrate. The general width was about forty feet, and occasionally it

diminished so as not to allow the passage of more than five or six

persons abreast. In short, there could be no place in the world better

adapted for the consummation of an ambuscade, and it was no more than

natural that we should look carefully to our arms as we entered upon

it. When I now think of our egregious folly, the chief subject of

astonishment seems to be, that we should have ever ventured, under any

circumstances, so completely into the power of unknown savages as to

permit them to march both before and behind us in our progress through

this ravine. Yet such was the order we blindly took up, trusting

foolishly to the force of our party, the unarmed condition of Too-wit

and his men, the certain efficacy of our fire-arms (whose effect was

yet a secret to the natives), and, more than all, to the long-sustained

pretension of friendship kept up by these infamous wretches. Five or

six of them went on before, as if to lead the way, ostentatiously

busying themselves in removing the larger stones and rubbish from the

path. Next came our own party. We walked closely together, taking care

only to prevent separation. Behind followed the main body of the

savages, observing unusual order and decorum.

Dirk Peters, a man named Wilson Allen, and myself were on the right of

our companions, examining, as we went along, the singular

stratification of the precipice which overhung us. A fissure in the

soft rock attracted our attention. It was about wide enough for one

person to enter without squeezing, and extended back into the hill some

eighteen or twenty feet in a straight course, sloping afterward to the

left. The height of the opening, as far as we could see into it from

the main gorge, was perhaps sixty or seventy feet. There were one or

two stunted shrubs growing from the crevices, bearing a species of

filbert, which I felt some curiosity to examine, and pushed in briskly

for that purpose, gathering five or six of the nuts at a grasp, and

then hastily retreating. As I turned, I found that Peters and Allen had

followed me. I desired them to go back, as there was not room for two

persons to pass, saying they should have some of my nuts. They

accordingly turned, and were scrambling back, Allen being close to the

mouth of the fissure, when I was suddenly aware of a concussion

resembling nothing I had ever before experienced, and which impressed

me with a vague conception, if indeed I then thought of anything, that

the whole foundations of the solid globe were suddenly rent asunder,

and that the day of universal dissolution was at hand.

CHAPTER XXI.

As soon as I could collect my scattered senses, I found myself nearly

suffocated, and grovelling in utter darkness among a quantity of loose

earth, which was also falling upon me heavily in every direction,

threatening to bury me entirely. Horribly alarmed at this idea, I

struggled to gain my feet, and at length succeeded. I then remained

motionless for some moments, endeavouring to conceive what had happened

to me, and where I was. Presently I heard a deep groan just at my ear,

and afterward the smothered voice of Peters calling to me for aid in

the name of God. I scrambled one or two paces forward, when I fell

directly over the head and shoulders of my companion, who, I soon

discovered, was buried in a loose mass of earth as far as his middle,

and struggling desperately to free himself from the pressure. I tore

the dirt from around him with all the energy I could command, and at

length succeeded in getting him out.

As soon as we sufficiently recovered from our fright and surprise to be

capable of conversing rationally, we both came to the conclusion that

the walls of the fissure in which we had ventured had, by some

convulsion of nature, or probably from their own weight, caved in

overhead, and that we were consequently lost for ever, being thus

entombed alive. For a long time we gave up supinely to the most intense

agony and despair, such as cannot be adequately imagined by those who

have never been in a similar situation. I firmly believe that no

incident ever occurring in the course of human events is more adapted

to inspire the supremeness of mental and bodily distress than a case

like our own, of living inhumation. The blackness of darkness which

envelops the victim, the terrific oppression of lungs, the stifling

fumes from the damp earth, unite with the ghastly considerations that

we are beyond the remotest confines of hope, and that such is the

allotted portion of the dead, to carry into the human heart a degree

of appalling awe and horror not to be tolerated—never to be conceived.

At length Peters proposed that we should endeavour to ascertain

precisely the extent of our calamity, and grope about our prison; it

being barely possible, he observed, that some opening might be yet left

us for escape. I caught eagerly at this hope, and, arousing myself to

exertion, attempted to force my way through the loose earth. Hardly had

I advanced a single step before a glimmer of light became perceptible,

enough to convince me that, at all events, we should not immediately

perish for want of air. We now took some degree of heart, and

encouraged each other to hope for the best. Having scrambled over a

bank of rubbish which impeded our farther progress in the direction of

the light, we found less difficulty in advancing, and also experienced

some relief from the excessive oppression of lungs which had tormented

us. Presently we were enabled to obtain a glimpse of the objects

around, and discovered that we were near the extremity of the straight

portion of the fissure, where it made a turn to the left. A few

struggles more, and we reached the bend, when, to our inexpressible

joy, there appeared a long seam or crack extending upward a vast

distance, generally at an angle of about forty-five degrees, although

sometimes much more precipitous. We could not see through the whole

extent of this opening; but, as a good deal of light came down it, we

had little doubt of finding at the top of it (if we could by any means

reach the top) a clear passage into the open air.

I now called to mind that three of us had entered the fissure from the

main gorge, and that our companion, Allen, was still missing; we

determined at once to retrace our steps and look for him. After a long

search, and much danger from the farther caving in of the earth above

us, Peters at length cried out to me that he had hold of our

companion’s foot, and that his whole body was deeply buried beneath the

rubbish, beyond a possibility of extricating him. I soon found that

what he said was too true, and that, of course, life had been long

extinct. With sorrowful hearts, therefore, we left the corpse to its

fate, and again made our way to the bend.

The breadth of the seam was barely sufficient to admit us, and, after

one or two ineffectual efforts at getting up, we began once more to

despair. I have before said that the chain of hills through which ran

the main gorge was composed of a species of soft rock resembling

soapstone. The sides of the cleft we were now attempting to ascend were

of the same material, and so excessively slippery, being wet, that we

could get but little foothold upon them even in their least precipitous

parts; in some places, where the ascent was nearly perpendicular, the

difficulty was, of course, much aggravated; and, indeed, for some time

we thought it insurmountable. We took courage, however, from despair;

and what, by dint of cutting steps in the soft stone with our Bowie

knives, and swinging, at the risk of our lives, to small projecting

points of a harder species of slaty rock which now and then protruded

from the general mass, we at length reached a natural platform, from

which was perceptible a patch of blue sky, at the extremity of a

thickly-wooded ravine. Looking back now, with somewhat more leisure, at

the passage through which we had thus far proceeded, we clearly saw,

from the appearance of its sides, that it was of late formation, and we

concluded that the concussion, whatever it was, which had so

unexpectedly overwhelmed us, had also, at the same moment, laid open

this path for escape. Being quite exhausted with exertion, and, indeed,

so weak that we were scarcely able to stand or articulate, Peters now

proposed that we should endeavour to bring our companions to the rescue

by firing the pistols which still remained in our girdles—the muskets

as well as cutlasses had been lost among the loose earth at the bottom

of the chasm. Subsequent events proved that, had we fired, we should

have sorely repented it; but, luckily, a half suspicion of foul play

had by this time arisen in my mind, and we forbore to let the savages

know of our whereabouts.

After having reposed for about an hour, we pushed on slowly up the

ravine, and had gone no great way before we heard a succession of

tremendous yells. At length we reached what might be called the surface

of the ground; for our path hitherto, since leaving the platform, had

lain beneath an archway of high rock and foliage, at a vast distance

overhead. With great caution we stole to a narrow opening, through

which we had a clear sight of the surrounding country, when the whole

dreadful secret of the concussion broke upon us in one moment and at

one view.

The spot from which we looked was not far from the summit of the

highest peak in the range of the soapstone hills. The gorge in which

our party of thirty-two had entered ran within fifty feet to the left

of us. But, for at least one hundred yards, the channel or bed of this

gorge was entirely filled up with the chaotic ruins of more than a

million tons of earth and stone that had been artificially tumbled

within it. The means by which the vast mass had been precipitated were

not more simple than evident, for sure traces of the murderous work

were yet remaining. In several spots along the top of the eastern side

of the gorge (we were now on the western) might be seen stakes of wood

driven into the earth. In these spots the earth had not given way; but

throughout the whole extent of the face of the precipice from which the

mass had fallen, it was clear, from marks left in the soil resembling

those made by the drill of the rock-blaster, that stakes similar to

those we saw standing had been inserted, at not more than a yard apart,

for the length of perhaps three hundred feet, and ranging at about ten

feet back from the edge of the gulf. Strong cords of grape vine were

attached to the stakes still remaining on the hill, and it was evident

that such cords had also been attached to each of the other stakes. I

have already spoken of the singular stratification of these soapstone

hills; and the description just given of the narrow and deep fissure

through which we effected our escape from inhumation will afford a

further conception of its nature. This was such that almost every

natural convulsion would be sure to split the soil into perpendicular

layers or ridges running parallel with one another; and a very moderate

exertion of art would be sufficient for effecting the same purpose. Of

this stratification the savages had availed themselves to accomplish

their treacherous ends. There can be no doubt that, by the continuous

line of stakes, a partial rupture of the soil had been brought about,

probably to the depth of one or two feet, when, by means of a savage

pulling at the end of each of the cords (these cords being attached to

the tops of the stakes, and extending back from the edge of the cliff),

a vast leverage power was obtained, capable of hurling the whole face

of the hill, upon a given signal, into the bosom of the abyss below.

The fate of our poor companions was no longer a matter of uncertainty.

We alone had escaped from the tempest of that overwhelming destruction.

We were the only living white men upon the island.

CHAPTER XXII.

Our situation, as it now appeared, was scarcely less dreadful than when

we had conceived ourselves entombed for ever. We saw before us no

prospect but that of being put to death by the savages, or of dragging

out a miserable existence in captivity among them. We might, to be

sure, conceal ourselves for a time from their observation among the

fastnesses of the hills, and, as a final resort, in the chasm from

which we had just issued; but we must either perish in the long Polar

winter through cold and famine, or be ultimately discovered in our

efforts to obtain relief.

The whole country around us seemed to be swarming with savages, crowds

of whom, we now perceived, had come over from the islands to the

southward on flat rafts, doubtless with a view of lending their aid in

the capture and plunder of the Jane. The vessel still lay calmly at

anchor in the bay, those on board being apparently quite unconscious of

any danger awaiting them. How we longed at that moment to be with them!

either to aid in effecting their escape, or to perish with them in

attempting a defence. We saw no chance even of warning them of their

danger without bringing immediate destruction upon our own heads, with

but a remote hope of benefit to them. A pistol fired might suffice to

apprize them that something wrong had occurred; but the report could

not possibly inform them that their only prospect of safety lay in

getting out of the harbour forthwith—it could not tell them that no

principles of honour now bound them to remain, that their companions

were no longer among the living. Upon hearing the discharge they could

not be more thoroughly prepared to meet the foe, who were now getting

ready to attack, than they already were, and always had been. No good,

therefore, and infinite harm, would result from our firing, and, after

mature deliberation, we forbore.

Our next thought was to attempt a rush towards the vessel, to seize one

of the four canoes which lay at the head of the bay, and endeavour to

force a passage on board. But the utter impossibility of succeeding in

this desperate task soon became evident. The country, as I said before,

was literally swarming with the natives, skulking among the bushes and

recesses of the hills, so as not to be observed from the schooner. In

our immediate vicinity especially, and blockading the sole path by

which we could hope to attain the shore in the proper point, were

stationed the whole party of the black skin warriors, with Too-wit at

their head, and apparently only waiting for some re-enforcement to

commence his onset upon the Jane. The canoes, too, which lay at the

head of the bay were manned with savages, unarmed, it is true, but who

undoubtedly had arms within reach. We were forced, therefore, however

unwillingly, to remain in our place of concealment, mere spectators of

the conflict which presently ensued.

In about half an hour we saw some sixty or seventy rafts, or flatboats,

with outriggers, filled with savages, and coming round the southern

bight of the harbour. They appeared to have no arms except short clubs,

and stones which lay in the bottom of the rafts. Immediately afterward

another detachment, still larger, approached in an opposite direction,

and with similar weapons. The four canoes, too, were now quickly filled

with natives, starting up from the bushes at the head of the bay, and

put off swiftly to join the other parties. Thus, in less time than I

have taken to tell it, and as if by magic, the Jane saw herself

surrounded by an immense multitude of desperadoes evidently bent upon

capturing her at all hazards.

That they would succeed in so doing could not be doubted for an

instant. The six men left in the vessel, however resolutely they might

engage in her defence, were altogether unequal to the proper management

of the guns, or in any manner to sustain a contest at such odds. I

could hardly imagine that they would make resistance at all, but in

this was deceived; for presently I saw them get springs upon the cable,

and bring the vessel’s starboard broadside to bear upon the canoes,

which by this time were within pistol range, the rafts being nearly a

quarter of a mile to windward. Owing to some cause unknown, but most

probably to the agitation of our poor friends at seeing themselves in

so hopeless a situation, the discharge was an entire failure. Not a

canoe was hit or a single savage injured, the shots striking short and

ricochêting over their heads. The only effect produced upon them was

astonishment at the unexpected report and smoke, which was so excessive

that for some moments I almost thought they would abandon their design

entirely, and return to the shore. And this they would most likely have

done had our men followed up their broadside by a discharge of small

arms, in which, as the canoes were now so near at hand, they could not

have failed in doing some execution, sufficient, at least, to deter

this party from a farther advance, until they could have given the

rafts also a broadside. But, in place of this, they left the canoe

party to recover from their panic, and, by looking about them, to see

that no injury had been sustained, while they flew to the larboard to

get ready for the rafts.

The discharge to larboard produced the most terrible effect. The star

and double-headed shot of the large guns cut seven or eight of the

rafts completely asunder, and killed, perhaps, thirty or forty of the

savages outright, while a hundred of them, at least, were thrown into

the water, the most of them dreadfully wounded. The remainder,

frightened out of their senses, commenced at once a precipitate

retreat, not even waiting to pick up their maimed companions, who were

swimming about in every direction, screaming and yelling for aid. This

great success, however, came too late for the salvation of our devoted

people. The canoe party were already on board the schooner to the

number of more than a hundred and fifty, the most of them having

succeeded in scrambling up the chains and over the boarding nettings

even before the matches had been applied to the larboard guns. Nothing

could now withstand their brute rage. Our men were borne down at once,

overwhelmed, trodden under foot, and absolutely torn to pieces in an

instant.

Seeing this, the savages on the rafts got the better of their fears,

and came up in shoals to the plunder. In five minutes the Jane was a

pitiable scene indeed of havoc and tumultuous outrage. The decks were

split open and ripped up; the cordage, sails, and everything moveable

on deck demolished as if by magic; while, by dint of pushing at the

stern, towing with the canoes, and hauling at the sides, as they swam

in thousands around the vessel, the wretches finally forced her on

shore (the cable having been slipped), and delivered her over to the

good offices of Too-wit, who, during the whole of the engagement, had

maintained, like a skilful general, his post of security and

reconnoissance among the hills, but, now that the victory was completed

to his satisfaction, condescended to scamper down with his warriors of

the black skin, and become a partaker in the spoils.

Too-wit’s descent left us at liberty to quit our hiding-place and

reconnoitre the hill in the vicinity of the chasm. At about fifty yards

from the mouth of it we saw a small spring of water, at which we slaked

the burning thirst that now consumed us. Not far from the spring we

discovered several of the filbert-bushes which I mentioned before. Upon

tasting the nuts we found them palatable, and very nearly resembling in

flavour the common English filbert. We collected our hats full

immediately, deposited them within the ravine, and returned for more.

While we were busily employed in gathering these, a rustling in the

bushes alarmed us, and we were upon the point of stealing back to our

covert, when a large black bird of the bittern species strugglingly and

slowly arose above the shrubs. I was so much startled that I could do

nothing, but Peters had sufficient presence of mind to run up to it

before it could make its escape, and seize it by the neck. Its

struggles and screams were tremendous, and we had thoughts of letting

it go, lest the noise should alarm some of the savages who might be

still lurking in the neighbourhood. A stab with a Bowie knife, however,

at length brought it to the ground, and we dragged it into the ravine,

congratulating ourselves that, at all events, we had thus obtained a

supply of food enough to last us for a week.

We now went out again to look about us, and ventured a considerable

distance down the southern declivity of the hill, but met with nothing

else which could serve us for food. We therefore collected a quantity

of dry wood and returned, seeing one or two large parties of the

natives on their way to the village, laden with the plunder of the

vessel, and who, we were apprehensive, might discover us in passing

beneath the hill.

Our next care was to render our place of concealment as secure as

possible, and, with this object, we arranged some brushwood over the

aperture which I have before spoken of as the one through which we saw

the patch of blue sky, on reaching the platform from the interior of

the chasm. We left only a very small opening, just wide enough to admit

of our seeing the bay, without the risk of being discovered from below.

Having done this, we congratulated ourselves upon the security of the

position; for we were now completely excluded from observation, as long

as we chose to remain within the ravine itself, and not venture out

upon the hill. We could perceive no traces of the savages having ever

been within this hollow; but, indeed, when we came to reflect upon the

probability that the fissure through which we attained it had been only

just now created by the fall of the cliff opposite, and that no other

way of attaining it could be perceived, we were not so much rejoiced at

the thought of being secure from molestation as fearful lest there

should be absolutely no means left us for descent. We resolved to

explore the summit of the hill thoroughly, when a good opportunity

should offer. In the mean time we watched the motions of the savages

through our loophole.

They had already made a complete wreck of the vessel, and were now

preparing to set her on fire. In a little while we saw the smoke

ascending in huge volumes from her main-hatchway, and, shortly

afterward, a dense mass of flame burst up from the forecastle. The

rigging, masts, and what remained of the sails caught immediately, and

the fire spread rapidly along the decks. Still a great many of the

savages retained their stations about her, hammering with large stones,

axes, and cannon balls at the bolts and other copper and iron work. On

the beach, and in canoes and rafts, there were not less, altogether, in

the immediate vicinity of the schooner, than ten thousand natives,

besides the shoals of them who, laden with booty, were making their way

inland and over to the neighbouring islands. We now anticipated a

catastrophe, and were not disappointed. First of all there came a smart

shock (which we felt distinctly where we were as if we had been

slightly galvanized), but unattended with any visible signs of an

explosion. The savages were evidently startled, and paused for an

instant from their labours and yellings. They were upon the point of

recommencing, when suddenly a mass of smoke puffed up from the decks,

resembling a black and heavy thunder-cloud—then, as if from its

bowels, arose a tall stream of vivid fire to the height, apparently, of

a quarter of a mile—then there came a sudden circular expansion of the

flame—then the whole atmosphere was magically crowded, in a single

instant, with a wild chaos of wood, and metal, and human limbs—and,

lastly, came the concussion in its fullest fury, which hurled us

impetuously from our feet, while the hills echoed and re-echoed the

tumult, and a dense shower of the minutest fragments of the ruins

tumbled headlong in every direction around us.

The havoc among the savages far exceeded our utmost expectation, and

they had now, indeed, reaped the full and perfect fruits of their

treachery. Perhaps a thousand perished by the explosion, while at least

an equal number were desperately mangled. The whole surface of the bay

was literally strewn with the struggling and drowning wretches, and on

shore matters were even worse. They seemed utterly appalled by the

suddenness and completeness of their discomfiture, and made no efforts

at assisting one another. At length we observed a total change in their

demeanour. From absolute stupor they appeared to be, all at once,

aroused to the highest pitch of excitement, and rushed wildly about,

going to and from a certain point on the beach, with the strangest

expressions of mingled horror, rage, and intense curiosity depicted on

their countenances, and shouting, at the top of their voices,

Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

Presently we saw a large body go off into the hills, whence they

returned in a short time, carrying stakes of wood. These they brought

to the station where the crowd was the thickest, which now separated so

as to afford us a view of the object of all this excitement. We

perceived something white lying on the ground, but could not

immediately make out what it was. At length we saw that it was the

carcass of the strange animal with the scarlet teeth and claws which

the schooner had picked up at sea on the eighteenth of January. Captain

Guy had had the body preserved for the purpose of stuffing the skin and

taking it to England. I remember he had given some directions about it

just before our making the island, and it had been brought into the

cabin and stowed away in one of the lockers. It had now been thrown on

shore by the explosion; but why it had occasioned so much concern among

the savages was more than we could comprehend. Although they crowded

around the carcass at a little distance, none of them seemed willing to

approach it closely. By-and-by the men with the stakes drove them in a

circle around it, and, no sooner was this arrangement completed, than

the whole of the vast assembly rushed into the interior of the island,

with loud screams of Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

CHAPTER XXIII.

During the six or seven days immediately following we remained in our

hiding-place upon the hill, going out only occasionally, and then with

the greatest precaution, for water and filberts. We had made a kind of

pent-house on the platform, furnishing it with a bed of dry leaves, and

placing in it three large flat stones, which served us for both

fireplace and table. We kindled a fire without difficulty by rubbing

two pieces of dry wood together, the one soft, the other hard. The bird

we had taken in such good season proved excellent eating, although

somewhat tough. It was not an oceanic fowl, but a species of bittern,

with jet black and grizzly plumage, and diminutive wings in proportion

to its bulk. We afterward saw three of the same kind in the vicinity of

the ravine, apparently seeking for the one we had captured; but, as

they never alighted, we had no opportunity of catching them.

As long as this fowl lasted we suffered nothing from our situation; but

it was now entirely consumed, and it became absolutely necessary that

we should look out for provision. The filberts would not satisfy the

cravings of hunger, afflicting us, too, with severe gripings of the

bowels, and, if freely indulged in, with violent headache. We had seen

several large tortoises near the seashore to the eastward of the hill,

and perceived they might be easily taken, if we could get at them

without the observation of the natives. It was resolved, therefore, to

make an attempt at descending.

We commenced by going down the southern declivity, which seemed to

offer the fewest difficulties, but had not proceeded a hundred yards

before (as we had anticipated from appearances on the hill-top) our

progress was entirely arrested by a branch of the gorge in which our

companions had perished. We now passed along the edge of this for about

a quarter of a mile, when we were again stopped by a precipice of

immense depth, and, not being able to make our way along the brink of

it, we were forced to retrace our steps by the main ravine.

We now pushed over to the eastward, but with precisely similar fortune.

After an hour’s scramble, at the risk of breaking our necks, we

discovered that we had merely descended into a vast pit of black

granite, with fine dust at the bottom, and whence the only egress was

by the rugged path in which we had come down. Toiling again up this

path, we now tried the northern edge of the hill. Here we were obliged

to use the greatest possible caution in our manoeuvres, as the least

indiscretion would expose us to the full view of the savages in the

village. We crawled along, therefore, on our hands and knees, and,

occasionally, were even forced to throw ourselves at full length,

dragging our bodies along by means of the shrubbery. In this careful

manner we had proceeded but a little way, when we arrived at a chasm

far deeper than any we had yet seen, and leading directly into the main

gorge. Thus our fears were fully confirmed, and we found ourselves cut

off entirely from access to the world below. Thoroughly exhausted by

our exertions, we made the best of our way back to the platform, and,

throwing ourselves upon the bed of leaves, slept sweetly and soundly

for some hours.

For several days after this fruitless search we were occupied in

exploring every part of the summit of the hill, in order to inform

ourselves of its actual resources. We found that it would afford us no

food, with the exception of the unwholesome filberts, and a rank

species of scurvy grass which grew in a little patch of not more than

four rods square, and would be soon exhausted. On the fifteenth of

February, as near as I can remember, there was not a blade of this

left, and the nuts were growing scarce; our situation, therefore, could

hardly be more lamentable.[5] On the sixteenth we again went round the

walls of our prison, in hope of finding some avenue of escape, but to

no purpose. We also descended the chasm in which we had been

overwhelmed, with the faint expectation of discovering, through this

channel, some opening to the main ravine. Here, too, we were

disappointed, although we found and brought up with us a musket.

[Footnote 5: This day was rendered remarkable by our observing in the

south several huge wreaths of the grayish vapour I have before spoken

of.]

On the seventeenth we set out with the determination of examining more

thoroughly the chasm of black granite into which we had made our way in

the first search. We remembered that one of the fissures in the sides

of this pit had been but partially looked into, and we were anxious to

explore it, although with no expectation of discovering here any

opening.

We found no great difficulty in reaching the bottom of the hollow as

before, and were now sufficiently calm to survey it with some

attention. It was, indeed, one of the most singular-looking places

imaginable, and we could scarcely bring ourselves to believe it

altogether the work of nature. The pit, from its eastern to its western

extremity, was about five hundred yards in length, when all its

windings were threaded; the distance from east to west in a straight

line not being more (I should suppose, having no means of accurate

examination) than forty or fifty yards. Upon first descending into the

chasm, that is to say, for a hundred feet downward from the summit of

the hill, the sides of the abyss bore little resemblance to each other,

and, apparently, had at no time been connected, the one surface being

of the soapstone and the other of marl, granulated with some metallic

matter. The average breadth, or interval between the two cliffs, was

probably here sixty feet, but there seemed to be no regularity of

formation. Passing down, however, beyond the limit spoken of, the

interval rapidly contracted, and the sides began to run parallel,

although, for some distance farther, they were still dissimilar in

their material and form of surface. Upon arriving within fifty feet of

the bottom, a perfect regularity commenced. The sides were now entirely

uniform in substance, in colour, and in lateral direction, the material

being a very black and shining granite, and the distance between the

two sides, at all points facing each other, exactly twenty yards. The

precise formation of the chasm will be best understood by means of a

delineation taken upon the spot; for I had luckily with me a pocketbook

and pencil, which I preserved with great care through a long series of

subsequent adventure, and to which I am indebted for memoranda of many

subjects which would otherwise have been crowded from my remembrance.

[Illustration: Figure 1.]

This figure (see figure 1) gives the general outlines of the chasm,

without the minor cavities in the sides, of which there were several,

each cavity having a corresponding protuberance opposite. The bottom of

the gulf was covered to the depth of three or four inches with a powder

almost impalpable, beneath which we found a continuation of the black

granite. To the right, at the lower extremity, will be noticed the

appearance of a small opening; this is the fissure alluded to above,

and to examine which more minutely than before was the object of our

second visit. We now pushed into it with vigour, cutting away a

quantity of brambles which impeded us, and removing a vast heap of

sharp flints somewhat resembling arrowheads in shape. We were

encouraged to persevere, however, by perceiving some little light

proceeding from the farther end. We at length squeezed our way for

about thirty feet, and found that the aperture was a low and

regularly-formed arch, having a bottom of the same impalpable powder as

that in the main chasm. A strong light now broke upon us, and, turning

a short bend, we found ourselves in another lofty chamber, similar to

the one we had left in every respect but longitudinal form. Its general

figure is here given. (See figure 2.)

[Illustration: Figure 2.]

The total length of this chasm, commencing at the opening a and

proceeding round the curve b to the extremity d, is five hundred

and fifty yards. At c we discovered a small aperture similar to the

one through which we had issued from the other chasm, and this was

choked up in the same manner with brambles and a quantity of the white

arrowhead flints. We forced our way through it, finding it about forty

feet long, and emerged into a third chasm. This, too, was precisely

like the first, except in its longitudinal shape, which was thus. (See

figure 3.)

[Illustration: Figure 3.]

[Illustration: Figure 5.]

We found the entire length of the third chasm three hundred and twenty

yards. At the point a was an opening about six feet wide, and

extending fifteen feet into the rock, where it terminated in a bed of

marl, there being no other chasm beyond, as we had expected. We were

about leaving this fissure, into which very little light was admitted,

when Peters called my attention to a range of singular-looking

indentures in the surface of the marl forming the termination of the

cul-de-sac. With a very slight exertion of the imagination, the left,

or most northerly of these indentures might have been taken for the

intentional, although rude, representation of a human figure standing

erect, with outstretched arm. The rest of them bore also some little

resemblance to alphabetical characters, and Peters was willing, at all

events, to adopt the idle opinion that they were really such. I

convinced him of his error, finally, by directing his attention to the

floor of the fissure, where, among the powder, we picked up, piece by

piece, several large flakes of the marl, which had evidently been

broken off by some convulsion from the surface where the indentures

were found, and which had projecting points exactly fitting the

indentures; thus proving them to have been the work of nature. Figure

4. presents an accurate copy of the whole.

[Illustration: Figure 4.]

After satisfying ourselves that these singular caverns afforded us no

means of escape from our prison, we made our way back, dejected and

dispirited, to the summit of the hill. Nothing worth mentioning

occurred during the next twenty-four hours, except that, in examining

the ground to the eastward of the third chasm, we found two triangular

holes of great depth, and also with black granite sides. Into these

holes we did not think it worth while to attempt descending, as they

had the appearance of mere natural wells, without outlet. They were

each about twenty yards in circumference, and their shape, as well as

relative position in regard to the third chasm, is shown in figure 5,

preceding page.

CHAPTER XXIV.

On the twentieth of the month, finding it altogether impossible to

subsist any longer upon the filberts, the use of which occasioned us

the most excruciating torment, we resolved to make a desperate attempt

at descending the southern declivity of the hill. The face of the

precipice was here of the softest species of soapstone, although nearly

perpendicular throughout its whole extent (a depth of a hundred and

fifty feet at the least), and in many places even overarching. After

long search we discovered a narrow ledge about twenty feet below the

brink of the gulf; upon this Peters contrived to leap, with what

assistance I could render him by means of our pocket-handkerchiefs tied

together. With somewhat more difficulty I also got down; and we then

saw the possibility of descending the whole way by the process in which

we had clambered up from the chasm when we had been buried by the fall

of the hill—that is, by cutting steps in the face of the soapstone

with our knives. The extreme hazard of the attempt can scarcely be

conceived; but, as there was no other resource, we determined to

undertake it.

Upon the ledge where we stood there grew some filbert-bushes; and to

one of these we made fast an end of our rope of handkerchiefs. The

other end being tied round Peters’s waist, I lowered him down over the

edge of the precipice until the handkerchiefs were stretched tight. He

now proceeded to dig a deep hole in the soapstone (as far in as eight

or ten inches), sloping away the rock above to the height of a foot, or

thereabout, so as to allow of his driving, with the butt of a pistol, a

tolerably strong peg into the levelled surface. I then drew him up for

about four feet, when he made a hole similar to the one below, driving

in a peg as before, and having thus a resting-place for both feet and

hands. I now unfastened the handkerchiefs from the bush, throwing him

the end, which he tied to the peg in the uppermost hole, letting

himself down gently to a station about three feet lower than he had yet

been, that is, to the full extent of the handkerchiefs. Here he dug

another hole, and drove another peg. He then drew himself up, so as to

rest his feet in the hole just cut, taking hold with his hands upon the

peg in the one above. It was now necessary to untie the handkerchiefs

from the topmost peg, with the view of fastening them to the second;

and here he found that an error had been committed in cutting the holes

at so great a distance apart. However, after one or two unsuccessful

and dangerous attempts at reaching the knot (having to hold on with his

left hand while he laboured to undo the fastening with his right), he

at length cut the string, leaving six inches of it affixed to the peg.

Tying the handkerchiefs now to the second peg, he descended to a

station below the third, taking care not to go too far down. By these

means (means which I should never have conceived of myself, and for

which we were indebted altogether to Peters’s ingenuity and resolution)

my companion finally succeeded, with the occasional aid of projections

in the cliff, in reaching the bottom without accident.

It was some time before I could summon sufficient resolution to follow

him; but I did at length attempt it. Peters had taken off his shirt

before descending, and this, with my own, formed the rope necessary for

the adventure. After throwing down the musket found in the chasm, I

fastened this rope to the bushes, and let myself down rapidly,

striving, by the vigour of my movements, to banish the trepidation

which I could overcome in no other manner. This answered sufficiently

well for the first four or five steps; but presently I found my

imagination growing terribly excited by thoughts of the vast depth yet

to be descended, and the precarious nature of the pegs and soapstone

holes which were my only support. It was in vain I endeavoured to

banish these reflections, and to keep my eyes steadily bent upon the

flat surface of the cliff before me. The more earnestly I struggled

not to think, the more intensely vivid became my conceptions, and the

more horribly distinct. At length arrived that crisis of fancy, so

fearful in all similar cases, the crisis in which we begin to

anticipate the feelings with which we shall fall—to picture to

ourselves the sickness, and dizziness, and the last struggle, and the

half swoon, and the final bitterness of the rushing and headlong

descent. And now I found these fancies creating their own realities,

and all imagined horrors crowding upon me in fact. I felt my knees

strike violently together, while my fingers were gradually yet

certainly relaxing their grasp. There was a ringing in my ears, and I

said, “This is my knell of death!” And now I was consumed with the

irrepressible desire of looking below. I could not, I would not,

confine my glances to the cliff; and, with a wild, indefinable emotion

half of horror, half of a relieved oppression, I threw my vision far

down into the abyss. For one moment my fingers clutched convulsively

upon their hold, while, with the movement, the faintest possible idea

of ultimate escape wandered, like a shadow, through my mind—in the

next my whole soul was pervaded with a longing to fall; a desire, a

yearning, a passion utterly uncontrollable. I let go at once my grasp

upon the peg, and, turning half round from the precipice, remained

tottering for an instant against its naked face. But now there came a

spinning of the brain; a shrill-sounding and phantom voice screamed

within my ears; a dusky, fiendish, and filmy figure stood immediately

beneath me; and, sighing, I sunk down with a bursting heart, and

plunged within its arms.

I had swooned, and Peters had caught me as I fell. He had observed my

proceedings from his station at the bottom of the cliff; and,

perceiving my imminent danger, had endeavoured to inspire me with

courage by every suggestion he could devise; although my confusion of

mind had been so great as to prevent my hearing what he said, or being

conscious that he had even spoken to me at all. At length, seeing me

totter, he hastened to ascend to my rescue, and arrived just in time

for my preservation. Had I fallen with my full weight, the rope of

linen would inevitably have snapped, and I should have been

precipitated into the abyss; as it was, he contrived to let me down

gently, so as to remain suspended without danger until animation

returned. This was in about fifteen minutes. On recovery, my

trepidation had entirely vanished; I felt a new being, and, with some

little further aid from my companion, reached the bottom also in

safety.

We now found ourselves not far from the ravine which had proved the

tomb of our friends, and to the southward of the spot where the hill

had fallen. The place was one of singular wildness, and its aspect

brought to my mind the descriptions given by travellers of those dreary

regions marking the site of degraded Babylon. Not to speak of the ruins

of the disruptured cliff, which formed a chaotic barrier in the vista

to the northward, the surface of the ground in every other direction

was strewn with huge tumuli, apparently the wreck of some gigantic

structures of art; although, in detail, no semblance of art could be

detected. Scoria were abundant, and large shapeless blocks of the black

granite, intermingled with others of marl,[6] and both granulated with

metal. Of vegetation there were no traces whatsoever throughout the

whole of the desolate area within sight. Several immense scorpions were

seen, and various reptiles not elsewhere to be found in the high

latitudes.

[Footnote 6: The marl was also black; indeed, we noticed no

light-coloured substances of any kind upon the island.]

As food was our most immediate object, we resolved to make our way to

the seacoast, distant not more than half a mile, with a view of

catching turtle, several of which we had observed from our place of

concealment on the hill. We had proceeded some hundred yards, threading

our route cautiously between the huge rocks and tumuli, when, upon

turning a corner, five savages sprung upon us from a small cavern,

felling Peters to the ground with a blow from a club. As he fell the

whole party rushed upon him to secure their victim, leaving me time to

recover from my astonishment. I still had the musket, but the barrel

had received so much injury in being thrown from the precipice that I

cast it aside as useless, preferring to trust my pistols, which had

been carefully preserved in order. With these I advanced upon the

assailants, firing one after the other in quick succession. Two savages

fell, and one, who was in the act of thrusting a spear into Peters,

sprung to his feet without accomplishing his purpose. My companion

being thus released, we had no further difficulty. He had his pistols

also, but prudently declined using them, confiding in his great

personal strength, which far exceeded that of any person I have ever

known. Seizing a club from one of the savages who had fallen, he dashed

out the brains of the three who remained, killing each instantaneously

with a single blow of the weapon, and leaving us completely masters of

the field.

So rapidly had these events passed, that we could scarcely believe in

their reality, and were standing over the bodies of the dead in a

species of stupid contemplation, when we were brought to recollection

by the sound of shouts in the distance. It was clear that the savages

had been alarmed by the firing, and that we had little chance of

avoiding discovery. To regain the cliff, it would be necessary to

proceed in the direction of the shouts; and even should we succeed in

arriving at its base, we should never be able to ascend it without

being seen. Our situation was one of the greatest peril, and we were

hesitating in which path to commence a flight, when one of the savages

whom I had shot, and supposed dead, sprang briskly to his feet, and

attempted to make his escape. We overtook him, however, before he had

advanced many paces, and were about to put him to death, when Peters

suggested that we might derive some benefit from forcing him to

accompany us in our attempt at escape. We therefore dragged him with

us, making him understand that we would shoot him if he offered

resistance. In a few minutes he was perfectly submissive, and ran by

our sides as we pushed in among the rocks, making for the seashore.

So far, the irregularities of the ground we had been traversing hid the

sea, except at intervals, from our sight, and, when we first had it

fairly in view, it was, perhaps, two hundred yards distant. As we

emerged into the open beach we saw, to our great dismay, an immense

crowd of the natives pouring from the village, and from all visible

quarters of the island, making towards us with gesticulations of

extreme fury, and howling like wild beasts. We were upon the point of

turning upon our steps, and trying to secure a retreat among the

fastnesses of the rougher ground, when I discovered the bows of two

canoes projecting from behind a large rock which ran out into the

water. Towards these we now ran with all speed, and, reaching them,

found them unguarded, and without any other freight than three of the

large Gallipago turtles and the usual supply of paddles for sixty

rowers. We instantly took possession of one of them, and, forcing our

captive on board, pushed out to sea with all the strength we could

command.

We had not made, however, more than fifty yards from the shore before

we became sufficiently calm to perceive the great oversight of which we

had been guilty in leaving the other canoe in the power of the savages,

who, by this time, were not more than twice as far from the beach as

ourselves, and were rapidly advancing to the pursuit. No time was now

to be lost. Our hope was, at best, a forlorn one, but we had none

other. It was very doubtful whether, with the utmost exertion, we could

get back in time to anticipate them in taking possession of the canoe;

but yet there was a chance that we could. We might save ourselves if we

succeeded, while not to make the attempt was to resign ourselves to

inevitable butchery.

The canoe was modelled with the bow and stern alike, and, in place of

turning it round, we merely changed our position in paddling. As soon

as the savages perceived this they redoubled their yells, as well as

their speed, and approached with inconceivable rapidity. We pulled,

however, with all the energy of desperation, and arrived at the

contested point before more than one of the natives had attained it.

This man paid dearly for his superior agility, Peters shooting him

through the head with a pistol as he approached the shore. The foremost

among the rest of his party were probably some twenty or thirty paces

distant as we seized upon the canoe. We at first endeavoured to pull

her into the deep water, beyond the reach of the savages, but, finding

her too firmly aground, and there being no time to spare, Peters, with

one or two heavy strokes from the butt of the musket, succeeded in

dashing out a large portion of the bow and of one side. We then pushed

off. Two of the natives by this time had got hold of our boat,

obstinately refusing to let go, until we were forced to despatch them

with our knives. We were now clear off, and making great way out to

sea. The main body of the savages, upon reaching the broken canoe, set

up the most tremendous yell of rage and disappointment conceivable. In

truth, from everything I could see of these wretches, they appeared to

be the most wicked, hypocritical, vindictive, bloodthirsty, and

altogether fiendish race of men upon the face of the globe. It is clear

we should have had no mercy had we fallen into their hands. They made a

mad attempt at following us in the fractured canoe, but, finding it

useless, again vented their rage in a series of hideous vociferations,

and rushed up into the hills.

We were thus relieved from immediate danger, but our situation was

still sufficiently gloomy. We knew that four canoes of the kind we had

were at one time in the possession of the savages, and were not aware

of the fact (afterward ascertained from our captive) that two of these

had been blown to pieces in the explosion of the Jane Guy. We

calculated, therefore, upon being yet pursued, as soon as our enemies

could get round to the bay (distant about three miles) where the boats

were usually laid up. Fearing this, we made every exertion to leave the

island behind us, and went rapidly through the water, forcing the

prisoner to take a paddle. In about half an hour, when we had gained,

probably, five or six miles to the southward, a large fleet of the

flat-bottomed canoes or rafts was seen to emerge from the bay,

evidently with the design of pursuit. Presently they put back,

despairing to overtake us.

CHAPTER XXV.

We now found ourselves in the wide and desolate Antarctic Ocean, in a

latitude exceeding eighty-four degrees, in a frail canoe, and with no

provision but the three turtles. The long Polar winter, too, could not

be considered as far distant, and it became necessary that we should

deliberate well upon the course to be pursued. There were six or seven

islands in sight belonging to the same group, and distant from each

other about five or six leagues; but upon neither of these had we any

intention to venture. In coming from the northward in the Jane Guy we

had been gradually leaving behind us the severest regions of ice—this,

however little it may be in accordance with the generally-received

notions respecting the Antarctic, was a fact experience would not

permit us to deny. To attempt, therefore, getting back, would be

folly—especially at so late a period of the season. Only one course

seemed to be left open for hope. We resolved to steer boldly to the

southward, where there was at least a probability of discovering other

lands, and more than a probability of finding a still milder climate.

So far we had found the Antarctic, like the Arctic Ocean, peculiarly

free from violent storms or immoderately rough water; but our canoe

was, at best, of frail structure, although large, and we set busily to

work with a view of rendering her as safe as the limited means in our

possession would admit. The body of the boat was of no better material

than bark—the bark of a tree unknown. The ribs were of a tough osier,

well adapted to the purpose for which it was used. We had fifty feet

room from stem to stern, from four to six in breadth, and in depth

throughout four feet and a half—the boats thus differing vastly in

shape from those of any other inhabitants of the Southern Ocean with

whom civilized nations are acquainted. We never did believe them the

workmanship of the ignorant islanders who owned them; and some days

after this period discovered, by questioning our captive, that they

were in fact made by the natives of a group to the southwest of the

country where we found them, having fallen accidentally into the hands

of our barbarians. What we could do for the security of our boat was

very little indeed. Several wide rents were discovered near both ends,

and these we contrived to patch up with pieces of woollen jacket. With

the help of the superfluous paddles, of which there were a great many,

we erected a kind of framework about the bow, so as to break the force

of any seas which might threaten to fill us in that quarter. We also

set up two paddle-blades for masts, placing them opposite each other,

one by each gunwale, thus saving the necessity of a yard. To these

masts we attached a sail made of our shirts—doing this with some

difficulty, as here we could get no assistance from our prisoner

whatever, although he had been willing enough to labour in all the

other operations. The sight of the linen seemed to affect him in a very

singular manner. He could not be prevailed upon to touch it or go near

it, shuddering when we attempted to force him, and shrieking out

Tekeli-li!

Having completed our arrangements in regard to the security of the

canoe, we now set sail to the south southeast for the present, with the

view of weathering the most southerly of the group in sight. This being

done, we turned the bow full to the southward. The weather could by no

means be considered disagreeable. We had a prevailing and very gentle

wind from the northward, a smooth sea, and continual daylight. No ice

whatever was to be seen; _nor did I ever see one particle of this after

leaving the parallel of Bennet’s Islet_. Indeed, the temperature of the

water was here far too warm for its existence in any quantity. Having

killed the largest of our tortoises, and obtained from him not only

food, but a copious supply of water, we continued on our course,

without any incident of moment, for perhaps seven or eight days, during

which period we must have proceeded a vast distance to the southward,

as the wind blew constantly with us, and a very strong current set

continually in the direction we were pursuing.

March 1.[7] Many unusual phenomena now indicated that we were

entering upon a region of novelty and wonder. A high range of light

gray vapour appeared constantly in the southern horizon, flaring up

occasionally in lofty streaks, now darting from east to west, now from

west to east, and again presenting a level and uniform summit—in

short, having all the wild variations of the Aurora Borealis. The

average height of this vapour, as apparent from our station, was about

twenty-five degrees. The temperature of the sea seemed to be increasing

momentarily, and there was a very perceptible alteration in its colour.

[Footnote 7: For obvious reasons I cannot pretend to strict accuracy in

these dates. They are given principally with a view to perspicuity of

narration, and as set down in my pencil memoranda.]

March 2. To-day, by repeated questioning of our captive, we came to

the knowledge of many particulars in regard to the island of the

massacre, its inhabitants, and customs—but with these how can I now

detain the reader? I may say, however, that we learned there were eight

islands in the group—that they were governed by a common king, named

Tsalemon or Psalemoun, who resided in one of the smallest of the

islands—that the black skins forming the dress of the warriors came

from an animal of huge size to be found only in a valley near the court

of the king—that the inhabitants of the group fabricated no other

boats than the flat-bottomed rafts; the four canoes being all of the

kind in their possession, and these having been obtained, by mere

accident, from some large island to the southwest—that his own name

was Nu-Nu—that he had no knowledge of Bennet’s Islet—and that the

appellation of the island we had left was Tsalal. The commencement of

the words Tsalemon and Tsalal was given with a prolonged hissing

sound, which we found it impossible to imitate, even after repeated

endeavours, and which was precisely the same with the note of the black

bittern we had eaten upon the summit of the hill.

March 3. The heat of the water was now truly remarkable, and its

colour was undergoing a rapid change, being no longer transparent, but

of a milky consistency and hue. In our immediate vicinity it was

usually smooth, never so rough as to endanger the canoe—but we were

frequently surprised at perceiving, to our right and left, at different

distances, sudden and extensive agitations of the surface—these, we at

length noticed, were always preceded by wild flickerings in the region

of vapour to the southward.

March 4. To-day, with the view of widening our sail, the breeze from

the northward dying away perceptibly, I took from my coat-pocket a

white handkerchief. Nu-Nu was seated at my elbow, and the linen

accidentally flaring in his face, he became violently affected with

convulsions. These were succeeded by drowsiness and stupor, and low

murmurings of Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

March 5. The wind had entirely ceased, but it was evident that we

were still hurrying on to the southward, under the influence of a

powerful current. And now, indeed, it would seem reasonable that we

should experience some alarm at the turn events were taking—but we

felt none. The countenance of Peters indicated nothing of this nature,

although it wore at times an expression I could not fathom. The Polar

winter appeared to be coming on—but coming without its terrors. I felt

a numbness of body and mind—a dreaminess of sensation—but this was

all.

March 6. The gray vapour had now arisen many more degrees above the

horizon, and was gradually losing its grayness of tint. The heat of the

water was extreme, even unpleasant to the touch, and its milky hue was

more evident than ever. To-day a violent agitation of the water

occurred very close to the canoe. It was attended, as usual, with a

wild flaring up of the vapour at its summit, and a momentary division

at its base. A fine white powder, resembling ashes—but certainly not

such—fell over the canoe and over a large surface of the water, as the

flickering died away among the vapour and the commotion subsided in the

sea. Nu-Nu now threw himself on his face in the bottom of the boat, and

no persuasions could induce him to arise.

March 7. This day we questioned Nu-Nu concerning the motives of his

countrymen in destroying our companions; but he appeared to be too

utterly overcome by terror to afford us any rational reply. He still

obstinately lay in the bottom of the boat; and, upon our reiterating

the questions as to the motive, made use only of idiotic

gesticulations, such as raising with his forefinger the upper lip, and

displaying the teeth which lay beneath it. These were black. We had

never before seen the teeth of an inhabitant of Tsalal.

March 8. To-day there floated by us one of the white animals whose

appearance upon the beach at Tsalal had occasioned so wild a commotion

among the savages. I would have picked it up, but there came over me a

sudden listlessness, and I forbore. The heat of the water still

increased, and the hand could no longer be endured within it. Peters

spoke little, and I knew not what to think of his apathy. Nu-Nu

breathed, and no more.

March 9. The white ashy material fell now continually around us, and

in vast quantities. The range of vapour to the southward had arisen

prodigiously in the horizon, and began to assume more distinctness of

form. I can liken it to nothing but a limitless cataract, rolling

silently into the sea from some immense and far-distant rampart in the

heaven. The gigantic curtain ranged along the whole extent of the

southern horizon. It emitted no sound.

March 21. A sullen darkness now hovered above us—but from out the

milky depths of the ocean a luminous glare arose, and stole up along

the bulwarks of the boat. We were nearly overwhelmed by the white ashy

shower which settled upon us and upon the canoe, but melted into the

water as it fell. The summit of the cataract was utterly lost in the

dimness and the distance. Yet we were evidently approaching it with a

hideous velocity. At intervals there were visible in it wide, yawning,

but momentary rents, and from out these rents, within which was a chaos

of flitting and indistinct images, there came rushing and mighty, but

soundless winds, tearing up the enkindled ocean in their course.

March 22. The darkness had materially increased, relieved only by the

glare of the water thrown back from the white curtain before us. Many

gigantic and pallidly white birds flew continuously now from beyond the

veil, and their scream was the eternal Tekeli-li! as they retreated

from our vision. Hereupon Nu-Nu stirred in the bottom of the boat; but,

upon touching him, we found his spirit departed. And now we rushed into

the embraces of the cataract, where a chasm threw itself open to

receive us. But there arose in our pathway a shrouded human figure,

very far larger in its proportions than any dweller among men. And the

hue of the skin of the figure was of the perfect whiteness of the snow.

NOTE.

The circumstances connected with the late sudden and distressing death

of Mr. Pym are already well known to the public through the medium of

the daily press. It is feared that the few remaining chapters which

were to have completed his narrative, and which were retained by him,

while the above were in type, for the purpose of revision, have been

irrecoverably lost through the accident by which he perished himself.

This, however, may prove not to be the case, and the papers, if

ultimately found, will be given to the public.

No means have been left untried to remedy the deficiency. The gentleman

whose name is mentioned in the preface, and who, from the statement

there made, might be supposed able to fill the vacuum, has declined the

task—this for satisfactory reasons connected with the general

inaccuracy of the details afforded him, and his disbelief in the entire

truth of the latter portions of the narration. Peters, from whom some

information might be expected, is still alive, and a resident of

Illinois, but cannot be met with at present. He may hereafter be found,

and will, no doubt, afford material for a conclusion of Mr. Pym’s

account.

The loss of the two or three final chapters (for there were but two or

three) is the more deeply to be regretted, as, it cannot be doubted,

they contained matter relative to the Pole itself, or at least to

regions in its very near proximity; and as, too, the statements of the

author in relation to these regions may shortly be verified or

contradicted by means of the governmental expedition now preparing for

the Southern Ocean.

On one point in the Narrative some remarks may be well offered; and it

would afford the writer of this appendix much pleasure if what he may

here observe should have a tendency to throw credit, in any degree,

upon the very singular pages now published. We allude to the chasms

found in the island of Tsalal, and to the whole of the figures in the

latter portion of Chapter XXIII.

Mr. Pym has given the figures of the chasms without comment, and speaks

decidedly of the indentures found at the extremity of the most

easterly of these chasms as having but a fanciful resemblance to

alphabetical characters, and, in short, as being positively not such.

This assertion is made in a manner so simple, and sustained by a

species of demonstration so conclusive (viz., the fitting of the

projections of the fragments found among the dust into the indentures

upon the wall), that we are forced to believe the writer in earnest;

and no reasonable reader should suppose otherwise. But as the facts in

relation to all the figures are most singular (especially when taken

in connexion with statements made in the body of the narrative), it may

be as well to say a word or two concerning them all—this, too, the

more especially as the facts in question have, beyond doubt, escaped

the attention of Mr. Poe.

Figure 1, then, figure 2, figure 3, and figure 5, when conjoined with

one another in the precise order which the chasms themselves presented,

and when deprived of the small lateral branches or arches (which, it

will be remembered, served only as means of communication between the

main chambers, and were of totally distinct character), constitute an

Ethiopian verbal root—the root [Illustration] “To be shady”—whence

all the inflections of shadow or darkness.

In regard to the “left or most northwardly” of the indentures in figure

4, it is more than probable that the opinion of Peters was correct, and

that the hieroglyphical appearance was really the work of art, and

intended as the representation of a human form. The delineation is

before the reader, and he may, or may not, perceive the resemblance

suggested; but the rest of the indentures afford strong confirmation of

Peters’s idea. The upper range is evidently the Arabic verbal root

[Illustration] “To be white,” whence all the inflections of brilliancy

and whiteness. The lower range is not so immediately perspicuous. The

characters are somewhat broken and disjointed; nevertheless, it cannot

be doubted that, in their perfect state, they formed the full Egyptian

word [Illustration] “The region of the south.” It should be observed

that these interpretations confirm the opinion of Peters in regard to

the “most northwardly” of the figures. The arm is outstretched towards

the south.

Conclusions such as these open a wide field for speculation and

exciting conjecture. They should be regarded, perhaps, in connexion

with some of the most faintly-detailed incidents of the narrative;

although in no visible manner is this chain of connexion complete.

Tekeli-li! was the cry of the affrighted natives of Tsalal upon

discovering the carcass of the white animal picked up at sea. This

also was the shuddering exclamation of the captive Tsalalian upon

encountering the white materials in possession of Mr. Pym. This also

was the shriek of the swift-flying, white, and gigantic birds which

issued from the vapoury white curtain of the South. Nothing white

was to be found at Tsalal, and nothing otherwise in the subsequent

voyage to the region beyond. It is not impossible that “Tsalal,” the

appellation of the island of the chasms, may be found, upon minute

philological scrutiny, to betray either some alliance with the chasms

themselves, or some reference to the Ethiopian characters so

mysteriously written in their windings.

_“I have graven it within the hills, and my vengeance upon the dust

within the rock.”_

THE END.

[Transcriber’s Note: The last two chapters, Chapters XXIV and XXV were

named, respectively, XXIII and XXIV in the original publication, with,

therefore, two chapters XXIII. This has been corrected in this

transcription.]

CHAPTER II.

In no affairs of mere prejudice, pro or con, do we deduce inferences

with entire certainty even from the most simple data. It might be

supposed that a catastrophe such as I have just related would have

effectually cooled my incipient passion for the sea. On the contrary, I

never experienced a more ardent longing for the wild adventures

incident to the life of a navigator than within a week after our

miraculous deliverance. This short period proved amply long enough to

erase from my memory the shadows, and bring out in vivid light all the

pleasurably exciting points of colour, all the picturesqueness of the

late perilous accident. My conversations with Augustus grew daily more

frequent and more intensely full of interest. He had a manner of

relating his stories of the ocean (more than one half of which I now

suspect to have been sheer fabrications) well adapted to have weight

with one of my enthusiastic temperament, and somewhat gloomy, although

glowing imagination. It is strange, too, that he most strongly enlisted

my feelings in behalf of the life of a seaman, when he depicted his

more terrible moments of suffering and despair. For the bright side of

the painting I had a limited sympathy. My visions were of shipwreck and

famine; of death or captivity among barbarian hordes; of a lifetime

dragged out in sorrow and tears, upon some gray and desolate rock, in

an ocean unapproachable and unknown. Such visions or desires—for they

amounted to desires—are common, I have since been assured, to the

whole numerous race of the melancholy among men—at the time of which I

speak I regarded them only as prophetic glimpses of a destiny which I

felt myself in a measure bound to fulfil. Augustus thoroughly entered

into my state of mind. It is probable, indeed, that our intimate

communion had resulted in a partial interchange of character.

About eighteen months after the period of the Ariel’s disaster, the

firm of Lloyd and Vredenburgh (a house connected in some manner with

the Messieurs Enderby, I believe, of Liverpool) were engaged in

repairing and fitting out the brig Grampus for a whaling voyage. She

was an old hulk, and scarcely seaworthy when all was done to her that

could be done. I hardly know why she was chosen in preference to other

good vessels belonging to the same owners—but so it was. Mr. Barnard

was appointed to command her, and Augustus was going with him. While

the brig was getting ready, he frequently urged upon me the excellency

of the opportunity now offered for indulging my desire of travel. He

found me by no means an unwilling listener—yet the matter could not be

so easily arranged. My father made no direct opposition; but my mother

went into hysterics at the bare mention of the design; and, more than

all, my grandfather, from whom I expected much, vowed to cut me off

with a shilling if I should ever broach the subject to him again. These

difficulties, however, so far from abating my desire, only added fuel

to the flame. I determined to go at all hazards; and, having made known

my intention to Augustus, we set about arranging a plan by which it

might be accomplished. In the meantime I forbore speaking to any of my

relations in regard to the voyage, and, as I busied myself ostensibly

with my usual studies, it was supposed that I had abandoned the design.

I have since frequently examined my conduct on this occasion with

sentiments of displeasure as well as of surprise. The intense hypocrisy

I made use of for the furtherance of my project—an hypocrisy pervading

every word and action of my life for so long a period of time—could

only have been rendered tolerable to myself by the wild and burning

expectation with which I looked forward to the fulfilment of my

long-cherished visions of travel.

In pursuance of my scheme of deception, I was necessarily obliged to

leave much to the management of Augustus, who was employed for the

greater part of every day on board the Grampus, attending to some

arrangements for his father in the cabin and cabin hold. At night,

however, we were sure to have a conference, and talk over our hopes.

After nearly a month passed in this manner, without our hitting upon

any plan we thought likely to succeed, he told me at last that he had

determined upon everything necessary. I had a relation living in New

Bedford, a Mr. Ross, at whose house I was in the habit of spending

occasionally two or three weeks at a time. The brig was to sail about

the middle of June (June, 1827), and it was agreed that, a day or two

before her putting to sea, my father was to receive a note, as usual,

from Mr. Ross, asking me to come over and spend a fortnight with Robert

and Emmet (his sons). Augustus charged himself with the enditing of

this note and getting it delivered. Having set out, as supposed, for

New Bedford, I was then to report myself to my companion, who would

contrive a hiding-place for me in the Grampus. This hiding-place, he

assured me, would be rendered sufficiently comfortable for a residence

of many days, during which I was not to make my appearance. When the

brig had proceeded so far on her course as to make any turning back a

matter out of question, I should then, he said, be formally installed

in all the comforts of the cabin; and as to his father, he would only

laugh heartily at the joke. Vessels enough would be met with by which a

letter might be sent home explaining the adventure to my parents.

The middle of June at length arrived, and everything had been matured.

The note was written and delivered, and on a Monday morning I left the

house for the New Bedford packet, as supposed. I went, however,

straight to Augustus, who was waiting for me at the corner of a street.

It had been our original plan that I should keep out of the way until

dark, and then slip on board the brig; but, as there was now a thick

fog in our favour, it was agreed to lose no time in secreting me.

Augustus led the way to the wharf, and I followed at a little distance,

enveloped in a thick seaman’s cloak, which he had brought with him, so

that my person might not be easily recognised. Just as we turned the

second corner, after passing Mr. Edmund’s well, who should appear,

standing right in front of me, and looking me full in the face, but old

Mr. Peterson, my grandfather. “Why, bless my soul, Gordon,” said he,

after a long pause, “why, why—whose dirty cloak is that you have

on?” “Sir!” I replied, assuming, as well as I could, in the exigency of

the moment, an air of offended surprise, and talking in the gruffest of

all imaginable tones—“sir! you are a sum’mat mistaken—my name, in the

first place, bee’nt nothing at all like Goddin, and I’d want you for to

know better, you blackguard, than to call my new obercoat a darty one!”

For my life I could hardly refrain from screaming with laughter at the

odd manner in which the old gentleman received this handsome rebuke. He

started back two or three steps, turned first pale and then excessively

red, threw up his spectacles, then, putting them down, ran full tilt at

me, with his umbrella uplifted. He stopped short, however, in his

career, as if struck with a sudden recollection; and presently, turning

round, hobbled off down the street, shaking all the while with rage,

and muttering between his teeth, “Won’t do—new glasses—thought it was

Gordon—d----d good-for-nothing salt water Long Tom.”

After this narrow escape we proceeded with greater caution, and arrived

at our point of destination in safety. There were only one or two of

the hands on board, and these were busy forward, doing something to the

forecastle combings. Captain Barnard, we knew very well, was engaged at

Lloyd and Vredenburgh’s, and would remain there until late in the

evening, so we had little to apprehend on his account. Augustus went

first up the vessel’s side, and in a short while I followed him,

without being noticed by the men at work. We proceeded at once into the

cabin, and found no person there. It was fitted up in the most

comfortable style—a thing somewhat unusual in a whaling-vessel. There

were four very excellent staterooms, with wide and convenient berths.

There was also a large stove, I took notice, and a remarkably thick and

valuable carpet covering the floor of both the cabin and staterooms.

The ceiling was full seven feet high, and, in short, everything

appeared of a more roomy and agreeable nature than I had anticipated.

Augustus, however, would allow me but little time for observation,

insisting upon the necessity of my concealing myself as soon as

possible. He led the way into his own stateroom, which was on the

starboard side of the brig, and next to the bulkheads. Upon entering,

he closed the door and bolted it. I thought I had never seen a nicer

little room than the one in which I now found myself. It was about ten

feet long, and had only one berth, which, as I said before, was wide

and convenient. In that portion of the closet nearest the bulkheads

there was a space of four feet square, containing a table, a chair, and

a set of hanging shelves full of books, chiefly books of voyages and

travels. There were many other little comforts in the room, among which

I ought not to forget a kind of safe or refrigerator, in which Augustus

pointed out to me a host of delicacies, both in the eating and drinking

department.

He now pressed with his knuckles upon a certain spot of the carpet in

one corner of the space just mentioned, letting me know that a portion

of the flooring, about sixteen inches square, had been neatly cut out

and again adjusted. As he pressed, this portion rose up at one end

sufficiently to allow the passage of his finger beneath. In this manner

he raised the mouth of the trap (to which the carpet was still fastened

by tacks), and I found that it led into the after hold. He next lit a

small taper by means of a phosphorus match, and, placing the light in a

dark lantern, descended with it through the opening, bidding me follow.

I did so, and he then pulled the cover upon the hole, by means of a

nail driven into the under side—the carpet, of course, resuming its

original position on the floor of the stateroom, and all traces of the

aperture being concealed.

The taper gave out so feeble a ray, that it was with the greatest

difficulty I could grope my way through the confused mass of lumber

among which I now found myself. By degrees, however, my eyes became

accustomed to the gloom, and I proceeded with less trouble, holding on

to the skirts of my friend’s coat. He brought me, at length, after

creeping and winding through innumerable narrow passages, to an

iron-bound box, such as is used sometimes for packing fine earthenware.

It was nearly four feet high, and full six long, but very narrow. Two

large empty oil-casks lay on the top of it, and above these, again, a

vast quantity of straw matting, piled up as high as the floor of the

cabin. In every other direction around was wedged as closely as

possible, even up to the ceiling, a complete chaos of almost every

species of ship-furniture, together with a heterogeneous medley of

crates, hampers, barrels, and bales, so that it seemed a matter no less

than miraculous that we had discovered any passage at all to the box. I

afterward found that Augustus had purposely arranged the stowage in

this hold with a view to affording me a thorough concealment, having

had only one assistant in the labour, a man not going out in the brig.

My companion now showed me that one of the ends of the box could be

removed at pleasure. He slipped it aside and displayed the interior, at

which I was excessively amused. A mattress from one of the cabin berths

covered the whole of its bottom, and it contained almost every article

of mere comfort which could be crowded into so small a space, allowing

me, at the same time, sufficient room for my accommodation, either in a

sitting position or lying at full length. Among other things, there

were some books, pen, ink, and paper, three blankets, a large jug full

of water, a keg of sea-biscuit, three or four immense Bologna sausages,

an enormous ham, a cold leg of roast mutton, and half a dozen bottles

of cordials and liqueurs. I proceeded immediately to take possession of

my little apartment, and this with feelings of higher satisfaction, I

am sure, than any monarch ever experienced upon entering a new palace.

Augustus now pointed out to me the method of fastening the open end of

the box, and then, holding the taper close to the deck, showed me a

piece of dark whipcord lying along it. This, he said, extended from my

hiding-place throughout all the necessary windings among the lumber, to

a nail which was driven into the deck of the hold, immediately beneath

the trapdoor leading into his stateroom. By means of this cord I should

be enabled readily to trace my way out without his guidance, provided

any unlooked-for accident should render such a step necessary. He now

took his departure, leaving with me the lantern, together with a

copious supply of tapers and phosphorus, and promising to pay me a

visit as often as he could contrive to do so without observation. This

was on the seventeenth of June.

I remained three days and nights (as nearly as I could guess) in my

hiding-place without getting out of it at all, except twice for the

purpose of stretching my limbs by standing erect between two crates

just opposite the opening. During the whole period I saw nothing of

Augustus; but this occasioned me little uneasiness, as I knew the brig

was expected to put to sea every hour, and in the bustle he would not

easily find opportunities of coming down to me. At length I heard the

trap open and shut, and presently he called in a low voice, asking if

all was well, and if there was anything I wanted. “Nothing,” I replied;

“I am as comfortable as can be; when will the brig sail?” “She will be

under weigh in less than half an hour,” he answered. “I came to let you

know, and for fear you should be uneasy at my absence. I shall not have

a chance of coming down again for some time—perhaps for three or four

days more. All is going on right aboveboard. After I go up and close

the trap, do you creep along by the whipcord to where the nail is

driven in. You will find my watch there—it may be useful to you, as

you have no daylight to keep time by. I suppose you can’t tell how long

you have been buried—only three days—this is the twentieth. I would

bring the watch to your box, but am afraid of being missed.” With this

he went up.

In about an hour after he had gone I distinctly felt the brig in

motion, and congratulated myself upon having at length fairly commenced

a voyage. Satisfied with this idea, I determined to make my mind as

easy as possible, and await the course of events until I should be

permitted to exchange the box for the more roomy, although hardly more

comfortable, accommodations of the cabin. My first care was to get the

watch. Leaving the taper burning, I groped along in the dark, following

the cord through windings innumerable, in some of which I discovered

that, after toiling a long distance, I was brought back within a foot

or two of a former position. At length I reached the nail, and,

securing the object of my journey, returned with it in safety. I now

looked over the books which had been so thoughtfully provided, and

selected the expedition of Lewis and Clarke to the mouth of the

Columbia. With this I amused myself for some time, when, growing

sleepy, I extinguished the light with great care, and soon fell into a

sound slumber.

Upon awaking I felt strangely confused in mind, and some time elapsed

before I could bring to recollection all the various circumstances of

my situation. By degrees, however, I remembered all. Striking a light,

I looked at the watch; but it was run down, and there were,

consequently, no means of determining how long I had slept. My limbs

were greatly cramped, and I was forced to relieve them by standing

between the crates. Presently, feeling an almost ravenous appetite, I

bethought myself of the cold mutton, some of which I had eaten just

before going to sleep, and found excellent. What was my astonishment at

discovering it to be in a state of absolute putrefaction! This

circumstance occasioned me great disquietude; for, connecting it with

the disorder of mind I experienced upon awaking, I began to suppose

that I must have slept for an inordinately long period of time. The

close atmosphere of the hold might have had something to do with this,

and might, in the end, be productive of the most serious results. My

head ached excessively; I fancied that I drew every breath with

difficulty; and, in short, I was oppressed with a multitude of gloomy

feelings. Still I could not venture to make any disturbance by opening

the trap or otherwise, and, having wound up the watch, contented myself

as well as possible.

Throughout the whole of the next tedious twenty-four hours no person

came to my relief, and I could not help accusing Augustus of the

grossest inattention. What alarmed me chiefly was, that the water in my

jug was reduced to about half a pint, and I was suffering much from

thirst, having eaten freely of the Bologna sausages after the loss of

my mutton. I became very uneasy, and could no longer take any interest

in my books. I was overpowered, too, with a desire to sleep, yet

trembled at the thought of indulging it, lest there might exist some

pernicious influence, like that of burning charcoal, in the confined

air of the hold. In the mean time the roll of the brig told me that we

were far in the main ocean, and a dull humming sound, which reached my

ears as if from an immense distance, convinced me no ordinary gale was

blowing. I could not imagine a reason for the absence of Augustus. We

were surely far enough advanced on our voyage to allow of my going up.

Some accident might have happened to him—but I could think of none

which would account for his suffering me to remain so long a prisoner,

except, indeed, his having suddenly died or fallen overboard, and upon

this idea I could not dwell with any degree of patience. It was

possible that we had been baffled by head winds, and were still in the

near vicinity of Nantucket. This notion, however, I was forced to

abandon; for, such being the case, the brig must have frequently gone

about; and I was entirely satisfied, from her continual inclination to

the larboard, that she had been sailing all along with a steady breeze

on her starboard quarter. Besides, granting that we were still in the

neighbourhood of the island, why should not Augustus have visited me

and informed me of the circumstance? Pondering in this manner upon the

difficulties of my solitary and cheerless condition, I resolved to wait

yet another twenty-four hours, when, if no relief were obtained, I

would make my way to the trap, and endeavour either to hold a parley

with my friend, or get at least a little fresh air through the opening,

and a further supply of water from his stateroom. While occupied with

this thought, however, I fell, in spite of every exertion to the

contrary, into a state of profound sleep, or rather stupor. My dreams

were of the most terrific description. Every species of calamity and

horror befell me. Among other miseries, I was smothered to death

between huge pillows, by demons of the most ghastly and ferocious

aspect. Immense serpents held me in their embrace, and looked earnestly

in my face with their fearfully shining eyes. Then deserts, limitless,

and of the most forlorn and awe-inspiring character, spread themselves

out before me. Immensely tall trunks of trees, gray and leafless, rose

up in endless succession as far as the eye could reach. Their roots

were concealed in wide-spreading morasses, whose dreary water lay

intensely black, still, and altogether terrible, beneath. And the

strange trees seemed endowed with a human vitality, and, waving to and

fro their skeleton arms, were crying to the silent waters for mercy, in

the shrill and piercing accents of the most acute agony and despair.

The scene changed; and I stood, naked and alone, amid the burning

sand-plains of Zahara. At my feet lay crouched a fierce lion of the

tropics. Suddenly his wild eyes opened and fell upon me. With a

convulsive bound he sprang to his feet, and laid bare his horrible

teeth. In another instant there burst from his red throat a roar like

the thunder of the firmament, and I fell impetuously to the earth.

Stifling in a paroxysm of terror, I at last found myself partially

awake. My dream, then, was not all a dream. Now, at least, I was in

possession of my senses. The paws of some huge and real monster were

pressing heavily upon my bosom—his hot breath was in my ear—and his

white and ghastly fangs were gleaming upon me through the gloom.

Had a thousand lives hung upon the movement of a limb or the utterance

of a syllable, I could have neither stirred nor spoken. The beast,

whatever it was, retained his position without attempting any immediate

violence, while I lay in an utterly helpless, and, I fancied, a dying

condition beneath him. I felt that my powers of body and mind were fast

leaving me—in a word, that I was perishing, and perishing of sheer

fright. My brain swam—I grew deadly sick—my vision failed—even the

glaring eyeballs above me grew dim. Making a last strong effort, I at

length breathed a faint ejaculation to God, and resigned myself to die.

The sound of my voice seemed to arouse all the latent fury of the

animal. He precipitated himself at full length upon my body; but what

was my astonishment, when, with a long and low whine, he commenced

licking my face and hands with the greatest eagerness, and with the

most extravagant demonstrations of affection and joy! I was bewildered,

utterly lost in amazement—but I could not forget the peculiar whine of

my Newfoundland dog Tiger, and the odd manner of his caresses I well

knew. It was he. I experienced a sudden rush of blood to my temples—a

giddy and overpowering sense of deliverance and reanimation. I rose

hurriedly from the mattress upon which I had been lying, and, throwing

myself upon the neck of my faithful follower and friend, relieved the

long oppression of my bosom in a flood of the most passionate tears.

As upon a former occasion, my conceptions were in a state of the

greatest indistinctness and confusion after leaving the mattress. For a

long time I found it nearly impossible to connect any ideas—but, by

very slow degrees, my thinking faculties returned, and I again called

to memory the several incidents of my condition. For the presence of

Tiger I tried in vain to account; and after busying myself with a

thousand different conjectures respecting him, was forced to content

myself with rejoicing that he was with me to share my dreary solitude,

and render me comfort by his caresses. Most people love their dogs—but

for Tiger I had an affection far more ardent than common; and never,

certainly, did any creature more truly deserve it. For seven years he

had been my inseparable companion, and in a multitude of instances had

given evidence of all the noble qualities for which we value the

animal. I had rescued him, when a puppy, from the clutches of a

malignant little villain in Nantucket, who was leading him, with a rope

around his neck, to the water; and the grown dog repaid the obligation,

about three years afterward, by saving me from the bludgeon of a

street-robber.

Getting now hold of the watch, I found, upon applying it to my ear,

that it had again run down; but at this I was not at all surprised,

being convinced, from the peculiar state of my feelings, that I had

slept, as before, for a very long period of time; how long, it was of

course impossible to say. I was burning up with fever, and my thirst

was almost intolerable. I felt about the box for my little remaining

supply of water; for I had no light, the taper having burnt to the

socket of the lantern, and the phosphorus-box not coming readily to

hand. Upon finding the jug, however, I discovered it to be

empty—Tiger, no doubt, having been tempted to drink it, as well as to

devour the remnant of mutton, the bone of which lay, well picked, by

the opening of the box. The spoiled meat I could well spare, but my

heart sank as I thought of the water. I was feeble in the extreme—so

much so that I shook all over, as with an ague, at the slightest

movement or exertion. To add to my troubles, the brig was pitching and

rolling with great violence, and the oil-casks which lay upon my box

were in momentary danger of falling down, so as to block up the only

way of ingress or egress. I felt, also, terrible sufferings from

sea-sickness. These considerations determined me to make my way, at all

hazards, to the trap, and obtain immediate relief, before I should be

incapacitated from doing so altogether. Having come to this resolve, I

again felt about for the phosphorus-box and tapers. The former I found

after some little trouble; but, not discovering the tapers as soon as I

had expected (for I remembered very nearly the spot in which I had

placed them), I gave up the search for the present, and bidding Tiger

lie quiet, began at once my journey towards the trap.

In this attempt my great feebleness became more than ever apparent. It

was with the utmost difficulty I could crawl along at all, and very

frequently my limbs sank suddenly from beneath me; when, falling

prostrate on my face, I would remain for some minutes in a state

bordering on insensibility. Still I struggled forward by slow degrees,

dreading every moment that I should swoon amid the narrow and intricate

windings of the lumber, in which event I had nothing but death to

expect as the result. At length, upon making a push forward with all

the energy I could command, I struck my forehead violently against the

sharp corner of an iron-bound crate. The accident only stunned me for a

few moments; but I found, to my inexpressible grief, that the quick and

violent roll of the vessel had thrown the crate entirely across my

path, so as effectually to block up the passage. With my utmost

exertions I could not move it a single inch from its position, it being

closely wedged in among the surrounding boxes and ship-furniture. It

became necessary, therefore, enfeebled as I was, either to leave the

guidance of the whipcord and seek out a new passage, or to climb over

the obstacle, and resume the path on the other side. The former

alternative presented too many difficulties and dangers to be thought

of without a shudder. In my present weak state of both mind and body, I

should infallibly lose my way if I attempted it, and perish miserably

amid the dismal and disgusting labyrinths of the hold. I proceeded,

therefore, without hesitation, to summon up all my remaining strength

and fortitude, and endeavour, as I best might, to clamber over the

crate.

Upon standing erect, with this end in view, I found the undertaking

even a more serious task than my fears had led me to imagine. On each

side of the narrow passage arose a complete wall of various heavy

lumber, which the least blunder on my part might be the means of

bringing down upon my head; or, if this accident did not occur, the

path might be effectually blocked up against my return by the

descending mass, as it was in front by the obstacle there. The crate

itself was a long and unwieldy box, upon which no foothold could be

obtained. In vain I attempted, by every means in my power, to reach the

top, with the hope of being thus enabled to draw myself up. Had I

succeeded in reaching it, it is certain that my strength would have

proved utterly inadequate to the task of getting over, and it was

better in every respect that I failed. At length, in a desperate effort

to force the crate from its ground, I felt a strong vibration in the

side next me. I thrust my hand eagerly to the edge of the planks, and

found that a very large one was loose. With my pocket-knife, which

luckily I had with me, I succeeded, after great labour, in prying it

entirely off; and, getting through the aperture, discovered, to my

exceeding joy, that there were no boards on the opposite side—in other

words, that the top was wanting, it being the bottom through which I

had forced my way. I now met with no important difficulty in proceeding

along the line until I finally reached the nail. With a beating heart I

stood erect, and with a gentle touch pressed against the cover of the

trap. It did not rise as soon as I had expected, and I pressed it with

somewhat more determination, still dreading lest some other person than

Augustus might be in his stateroom. The door, however, to my

astonishment, remained steady, and I became somewhat uneasy, for I knew

that it had formerly required little or no effort to remove it. I

pushed it strongly—it was nevertheless firm: with all my strength—it

still did not give way: with rage, with fury, with despair—it set at

defiance my utmost efforts; and it was evident, from the unyielding

nature of the resistance, that the hole had either been discovered and

effectually nailed up, or that some immense weight had been placed upon

it, which it was useless to think of removing.

My sensations were those of extreme horror and dismay. In vain I

attempted to reason on the probable cause of my being thus entombed. I

could summon up no connected chain of reflection, and, sinking on the

floor, gave way, unresistingly, to the most gloomy imaginings, in which

the dreadful deaths of thirst, famine, suffocation, and premature

interment, crowded upon me as the prominent disasters to be

encountered. At length there returned to me some portion of presence of

mind. I arose, and felt with my fingers for the seams or cracks of the

aperture. Having found them, I examined them closely to ascertain if

they emitted any light from the stateroom; but none was visible. I then

forced the penblade of my knife through them, until I met with some

hard obstacle. Scraping against it, I discovered it to be a solid mass

of iron, which, from its peculiar wavy feel as I passed the blade along

it, I concluded to be a chain-cable. The only course now left me was to

retrace my way to the box, and there either yield to my sad fate, or

try so to tranquillize my mind as to admit of my arranging some plan of

escape. I immediately set about the attempt, and succeeded, after

innumerable difficulties, in getting back. As I sank, utterly

exhausted, upon the mattress, Tiger threw himself at full length by my

side, and seemed as if desirous, by his caresses, of consoling me in my

troubles, and urging me to bear them with fortitude.

The singularity of his behaviour at length forcibly arrested my

attention. After licking my face and hands for some minutes, he would

suddenly cease doing so, and utter a low whine. Upon reaching out my

hand towards him, I then invariably found him lying on his back, with

his paws uplifted. This conduct, so frequently repeated, appeared

strange, and I could in no manner account for it. As the dog seemed

distressed, I concluded that he had received some injury; and, taking

his paws in my hands, I examined them one by one, but found no sign of

any hurt. I then supposed him hungry, and gave him a large piece of

ham, which he devoured with avidity—afterward, however, resuming his

extraordinary manoeuvres. I now imagined that he was suffering, like

myself, the torments of thirst, and was about adopting this conclusion

as the true one, when the idea occurred to me that I had as yet only

examined his paws, and that there might possibly be a wound upon some

portion of his body or head. The latter I felt carefully over, but

found nothing. On passing my hand, however, along his back, I perceived

a slight erection of the hair extending completely across it. Probing

this with my finger, I discovered a string, and, tracing it up, found

that it encircled the whole body. Upon a closer scrutiny, I came across

a small slip of what had the feeling of letter paper, through which the

string had been fastened in such a manner as to bring it immediately

beneath the left shoulder of the animal.

CHAPTER III.

The thought instantly occurred to me that the paper was a note from

Augustus, and that some unaccountable accident having happened to

prevent his relieving me from my dungeon, he had devised this method of

acquainting me with the true state of affairs. Trembling with

eagerness, I now commenced another search for my phosphorus matches and

tapers. I had a confused recollection of having put them carefully away

just before falling asleep; and, indeed, previously to my last journey

to the trap, I had been able to remember the exact spot where I had

deposited them. But now I endeavoured in vain to call it to mind, and

busied myself for a full hour in a fruitless and vexatious search for

the missing articles; never, surely, was there a more tantalizing state

of anxiety and suspense. At length, while groping about, with my head

close to the ballast, near the opening of the box, and outside of it, I

perceived a faint glimmering of light in the direction of the steerage.

Greatly surprised, I endeavoured to make my way towards it, as it

appeared to be but a few feet from my position. Scarcely had I moved

with this intention, when I lost sight of the glimmer entirely, and,

before I could bring it into view again, was obliged to feel along by

the box until I had exactly resumed my original situation. Now, moving

my head with caution to and fro, I found that, by proceeding slowly,

with great care, in an opposite direction to that in which I had at

first started, I was enabled to draw near the light, still keeping it

in view. Presently I came directly upon it (having squeezed my way

through innumerable narrow windings), and found that it proceeded from

some fragments of my matches lying in an empty barrel turned upon its

side. I was wondering how they came in such a place, when my hand fell

upon two or three pieces of taper-wax, which had been evidently mumbled

by the dog. I concluded at once that he had devoured the whole of my

supply of candles, and I felt hopeless of being ever able to read the

note of Augustus. The small remnants of the wax were so mashed up among

other rubbish in the barrel, that I despaired of deriving any service

from them, and left them as they were. The phosphorus, of which there

was only a speck or two, I gathered up as well as I could, and returned

with it, after much difficulty, to my box, where Tiger had all the

while remained.

What to do next I could not tell. The hold was so intensely dark that I

could not see my hand, however close I would hold it to my face. The

white slip of paper could barely be discerned, and not even that when I

looked at it directly; by turning the exterior portions of the retina

towards it, that is to say, by surveying it slightly askance, I found

that it became in some measure perceptible. Thus the gloom of my prison

may be imagined, and the note of my friend, if indeed it were a note

from him, seemed only likely to throw me into further trouble, by

disquieting to no purpose my already enfeebled and agitated mind. In

vain I revolved in my brain a multitude of absurd expedients for

procuring light—such expedients precisely as a man in the perturbed

sleep occasioned by opium would be apt to fall upon for a similar

purpose—each and all of which appear by turns to the dreamer the most

reasonable and the most preposterous of conceptions, just as the

reasoning or imaginative faculties flicker, alternately, one above the

other. At last an idea occurred to me which seemed rational, and which

gave me cause to wonder, very justly, that I had not entertained it

before. I placed the slip of paper on the back of a book, and,

collecting the fragments of the phosphorus matches which I had brought

from the barrel, laid them together upon the paper. I then, with the

palm of my hand, rubbed the whole over quickly yet steadily. A clear

light diffused itself immediately throughout the whole surface; and had

there been any writing upon it, I should not have experienced the least

difficulty, I am sure, in reading it. Not a syllable was there,

however—nothing but a dreary and unsatisfactory blank; the

illumination died away in a few seconds, and my heart died away within

me as it went.

I have before stated more than once that my intellect, for some period

prior to this, had been in a condition nearly bordering on idiocy.

There were, to be sure, momentary intervals of perfect sanity, and, now

and then, even of energy; but these were few. It must be remembered

that I had been, for many days certainly, inhaling the almost

pestilential atmosphere of a close hold in a whaling vessel, and a long

portion of that time but scantily supplied with water. For the last

fourteen or fifteen hours I had none—nor had I slept during that time.

Salt provisions of the most exciting kind had been my chief, and,

indeed, since the loss of the mutton, my only supply of food, with the

exception of the sea-biscuit; and these latter were utterly useless to

me, as they were too dry and hard to be swallowed in the swollen and

parched condition of my throat. I was now in a high state of fever, and

in every respect exceedingly ill. This will account for the fact that

many miserable hours of despondency elapsed after my last adventure

with the phosphorus, before the thought suggested itself that I had

examined only one side of the paper. I shall not attempt to describe my

feelings of rage (for I believe I was more angry than anything else)

when the egregious oversight I had committed flashed suddenly upon my

perception. The blunder itself would have been unimportant, had not my

own folly and impetuosity rendered it otherwise—in my disappointment

at not finding some words upon the slip, I had childishly torn it in

pieces and thrown it away, it was impossible to say where.

From the worst part of this dilemma I was relieved by the sagacity of

Tiger. Having got, after a long search, a small piece of the note, I

put it to the dog’s nose, and endeavoured to make him understand that

he must bring me the rest of it. To my astonishment (for I had taught

him none of the usual tricks for which his breed are famous), he seemed

to enter at once into my meaning, and, rummaging about for a few

moments, soon found another considerable portion. Bringing me this, he

paused a while, and, rubbing his nose against my hand, appeared to be

waiting for my approval of what he had done. I patted him on the head,

when he immediately made off again. It was now some minutes before he

came back—but when he did come, he brought with him a large slip,

which proved to be all the paper missing—it having been torn, it

seems, only into three pieces. Luckily, I had no trouble in finding

what few fragments of the phosphorus were left—being guided by the

indistinct glow one or two of the particles still emitted. My

difficulties had taught me the necessity of caution, and I now took

time to reflect upon what I was about to do. It was very probable, I

considered, that some words were written upon that side of the paper

which had not been examined—but which side was that? Fitting the

pieces together gave me no clew in this respect, although it assured me

that the words (if there were any) would be found all on one side, and

connected in a proper manner, as written. There was the greater

necessity of ascertaining the point in question beyond a doubt, as the

phosphorus remaining would be altogether insufficient for a third

attempt, should I fail in the one I was now about to make. I placed the

paper on a book as before, and sat for some minutes thoughtfully

revolving the matter over in my mind. At last I thought it barely

possible that the written side might have some unevenness on its

surface, which a delicate sense of feeling might enable me to detect. I

determined to make the experiment, and passed my finger very carefully

over the side which first presented itself—nothing, however, was

perceptible, and I turned the paper, adjusting it on the book. I now

again carried my forefinger cautiously along, when I was aware of an

exceedingly slight, but still discernible glow, which followed as it

proceeded. This, I knew, must arise from some very minute remaining

particles of the phosphorus with which I had covered the paper in my

previous attempt. The other, or under side, then, was that on which lay

the writing, if writing there should finally prove to be. Again I

turned the note, and went to work as I had previously done. Having

rubbed in the phosphorus, a brilliancy ensued as before—but this time

several lines of MS. in a large hand, and apparently in red ink, became

distinctly visible. The glimmer, although sufficiently bright, was but

momentary. Still, had I not been too greatly excited, there would have

been ample time enough for me to peruse the whole three sentences

before me—for I saw there were three. In my anxiety, however, to read

all at once, I succeeded only in reading the seven concluding words,

which thus appeared: “blood—your life depends upon lying close.”

Had I been able to ascertain the entire contents of the note—the full

meaning of the admonition which my friend had thus attempted to convey,

that admonition, even although it should have revealed a story of

disaster the most unspeakable, could not, I am firmly convinced, have

imbued my mind with one tithe of the harrowing and yet indefinable

horror with which I was inspired by the fragmentary warning thus

received. And “blood” too, that word of all words—so rife at all

times with mystery, and suffering, and terror—how trebly full of

import did it now appear—how chillily and heavily (disjointed, as it

thus was, from any foregoing words to qualify or render it distinct)

did its vague syllables fall, amid the deep gloom of my prison, into

the innermost recesses of my soul!

Augustus had, undoubtedly, good reasons for wishing me to remain

concealed, and I formed a thousand surmises as to what they could

be—but I could think of nothing affording a satisfactory solution of

the mystery. Just after returning from my last journey to the trap, and

before my attention had been otherwise directed by the singular conduct

of Tiger, I had come to the resolution of making myself heard at all

events by those on board, or, if I could not succeed in this directly,

of trying to cut my way through the orlop deck. The half certainty

which I felt of being able to accomplish one of these two purposes in

the last emergency, had given me courage (which I should not otherwise

have had) to endure the evils of my situation. The few words I had been

able to read, however, had cut me off from these final resources, and I

now, for the first time, felt all the misery of my fate. In a paroxysm

of despair I threw myself again upon the mattress, where, for about the

period of a day and night, I lay in a kind of stupor, relieved only by

momentary intervals of reason and recollection.

At length I once more arose, and busied myself in reflection upon the

horrors which encompassed me. For another twenty-four hours it was

barely possible that I might exist without water—for a longer time I

could not do so. During the first portion of my imprisonment I had made

free use of the cordials with which Augustus had supplied me, but they

only served to excite fever, without in the least degree assuaging my

thirst. I had now only about a gill left, and this was of a species of

strong peach liqueur at which my stomach revolted. The sausages were

entirely consumed; of the ham nothing remained but a small piece of the

skin; and all the biscuit, except a few fragments of one, had been

eaten by Tiger. To add to my troubles, I found that my headache was

increasing momentarily, and with it the species of delirium which had

distressed me more or less since my first falling asleep. For some

hours past it had been with the greatest difficulty I could breathe at

all, and now each attempt at so doing was attended with the most

distressing spasmodic action of the chest. But there was still another

and very different source of disquietude, and one, indeed, whose

harassing terrors had been the chief means of arousing me to exertion

from my stupor on the mattress. It arose from the demeanour of the dog.

I first observed an alteration in his conduct while rubbing in the

phosphorus on the paper in my last attempt. As I rubbed, he ran his

nose against my hand with a slight snarl; but I was too greatly excited

at the time to pay much attention to the circumstance. Soon afterward,

it will be remembered, I threw myself on the mattress, and fell into a

species of lethargy. Presently I became aware of a singular hissing

sound close at my ears, and discovered it to proceed from Tiger, who

was panting and wheezing in a state of the greatest apparent

excitement, his eyeballs flashing fiercely through the gloom. I spoke

to him, when he replied with a low growl, and then remained quiet.

Presently I relapsed into my stupor, from which I was again awakened in

a similar manner. This was repeated three or four times, until finally

his behaviour inspired me with so great a degree of fear that I became

fully aroused. He was now lying close by the door of the box, snarling

fearfully, although in a kind of under tone, and grinding his teeth as

if strongly convulsed. I had no doubt whatever that the want of water

or the confined atmosphere of the hold had driven him mad, and I was at

a loss what course to pursue. I could not endure the thought of killing

him, yet it seemed absolutely necessary for my own safety. I could

distinctly perceive his eyes fastened upon me with an expression of the

most deadly animosity, and I expected every instant that he would

attack me. At last I could endure my terrible situation no longer, and

determined to make my way from the box at all hazards, and despatch

him, if his opposition should render it necessary for me to do so. To

get out, I had to pass directly over his body, and he already seemed to

anticipate my design—raising himself upon his fore legs (as I

perceived by the altered position of his eyes), and displaying the

whole of his white fangs, which were easily discernible. I took the

remains of the ham-skin, and the bottle containing the liqueur, and

secured them about my person, together with a large carving-knife which

Augustus had left me—then, folding my cloak as closely around me as

possible, I made a movement towards the mouth of the box. No sooner did

I do this than the dog sprang with a loud growl towards my throat. The

whole weight of his body struck me on the right shoulder, and I fell

violently to the left, while the enraged animal passed entirely over

me. I had fallen upon my knees, with my head buried among the blankets,

and these protected me from a second furious assault, during which I

felt the sharp teeth pressing vigorously upon the woollen which

enveloped my neck—yet, luckily, without being able to penetrate all

the folds. I was now beneath the dog, and a few moments would place me

completely in his power. Despair gave me strength, and I rose bodily

up, shaking him from me by main force, and dragging with me the

blankets from the mattress. These I now threw over him, and before he

could extricate himself I had got through the door and closed it

effectually against his pursuit. In this struggle, however, I had been

forced to drop the morsel of ham-skin, and I now found my whole stock

of provisions reduced to a single gill of liqueur. As this reflection

crossed my mind, I felt myself actuated by one of those fits of

perverseness which might be supposed to influence a spoiled child in

similar circumstances, and, raising the bottle to my lips, I drained it

to the last drop, and dashed it furiously upon the floor.

Scarcely had the echo of the crash died away, when I heard my name

pronounced in an eager but subdued voice, issuing from the direction of

the steerage. So unexpected was anything of the kind, and so intense

was the emotion excited within me by the sound, that I endeavoured in

vain to reply. My powers of speech totally failed, and, in an agony of

terror lest my friend should conclude me dead, and return without

attempting to reach me, I stood up between the crates near the door of

the box, trembling convulsively, and gasping and struggling for

utterance. Had a thousand worlds depended upon a syllable, I could not

have spoken it. There was a slight movement now audible among the

lumber somewhere forward of my station. The sound presently grew less

distinct, then again less so, and still less. Shall I ever forget my

feelings at this moment? He was going—my friend—my companion, from

whom I had a right to expect so much—he was going—he would abandon

me—he was gone! He would leave me to perish miserably, to expire in

the most horrible and loathsome of dungeons—and one word—one little

syllable would save me—yet that single syllable I could not utter! I

felt, I am sure, more than ten thousand times the agonies of death

itself. My brain reeled, and I fell, deadly sick, against the end of

the box.

As I fell, the carving-knife was shaken out from the waistband of my

pantaloons, and dropped with a rattling sound to the floor. Never did

any strain of the richest melody come so sweetly to my ears! With the

intensest anxiety I listened to ascertain the effect of the noise upon

Augustus—for I knew that the person who called my name could be no one

but himself. All was silent for some moments. At length I again heard

the word Arthur! repeated in a low tone, and one full of hesitation.

Reviving hope loosened at once my powers of speech, and I now screamed,

at the top of my voice, “Augustus! oh Augustus!” “Hush—for God’s

sake be silent!” he replied, in a voice trembling with agitation; “I

will be with you immediately—as soon as I can make my way through the

hold.” For a long time I heard him moving among the lumber, and every

moment seemed to me an age. At length I felt his hand upon my shoulder,

and he placed at the same moment a bottle of water to my lips. Those

only who have been suddenly redeemed from the jaws of the tomb, or who

have known the insufferable torments of thirst under circumstances as

aggravated as those which encompassed me in my dreary prison, can form

any idea of the unutterable transports which that one long draught of

the richest of all physical luxuries afforded.

When I had in some degree satisfied my thirst, Augustus produced from

his pocket three or four cold boiled potatoes, which I devoured with

the greatest avidity. He had brought with him a light in a dark

lantern, and the grateful rays afforded me scarcely less comfort than

the food and drink. But I was impatient to learn the cause of his

protracted absence, and he proceeded to recount what had happened on

board during my incarceration.

CHAPTER IV.

The brig put to sea, as I had supposed, in about an hour after he had

left the watch. This was on the twentieth of June. It will be

remembered that I had then been in the hold for three days; and, during

this period, there was so constant a bustle on board, and so much

running to and fro, especially in the cabin and staterooms, that he had

had no chance of visiting me without the risk of having the secret of

the trap discovered. When at length he did come, I had assured him that

I was doing as well as possible; and, therefore, for the two next days

he felt but little uneasiness on my account—still, however, watching

an opportunity of going down. It was not until the fourth day that he

found one. Several times during this interval he had made up his mind

to let his father know of the adventure, and have me come up at once;

but we were still within reaching distance of Nantucket, and it was

doubtful, from some expressions which had escaped Captain Barnard,

whether he would not immediately put back if he discovered me to be on

board. Besides, upon thinking the matter over, Augustus, so he told me,

could not imagine that I was in immediate want, or that I would

hesitate, in such case, to make myself heard at the trap. When,

therefore, he considered everything, he concluded to let me stay until

he could meet with an opportunity of visiting me unobserved. This, as I

said before, did not occur until the fourth day after his bringing me

the watch, and the seventh since I had first entered the hold. He then

went down without taking with him any water or provisions, intending in

the first place merely to call my attention, and get me to come from

the box to the trap—when he would go up to the stateroom and thence

hand me down a supply. When he descended for this purpose he found that

I was asleep, for it seems that I was snoring very loudly. From all the

calculations I can make on the subject, this must have been the slumber

into which I fell just after my return from the trap with the watch,

and which, consequently, must have lasted _for more than three entire

days and nights_ at the very least. Latterly, I have had reason, both

from my own experience and the assurance of others, to be acquainted

with the strong soporific effects of the stench arising from old

fish-oil when closely confined; and when I think of the condition of

the hold in which I was imprisoned, and the long period during which

the brig had been used as a whaling vessel, I am more inclined to

wonder that I awoke at all, after once falling asleep, than that I

should have slept uninterruptedly for the period specified above.

Augustus called to me at first in a low voice and without closing the

trap—but I made him no reply. He then shut the trap, and spoke to me

in a louder, and finally in a very loud tone—still I continued to

snore. He was now at a loss what to do. It would take him some time to

make his way through the lumber to my box, and in the mean while his

absence would be noticed by Captain Barnard, who had occasion for his

services every minute, in arranging and copying papers connected with

the business of the voyage. He determined, therefore, upon reflection,

to ascend, and await another opportunity of visiting me. He was the

more easily induced to this resolve, as my slumber appeared to be of

the most tranquil nature, and he could not suppose that I had undergone

any inconvenience from my incarceration. He had just made up his mind

on these points when his attention was arrested by an unusual bustle,

the sound of which proceeded apparently from the cabin. He sprang

through the trap as quickly as possible, closed it, and threw open the

door of his stateroom. No sooner had he put his foot over the threshold

than a pistol flashed in his face, and he was knocked down, at the same

moment, by a blow from a handspike.

A strong hand held him on the cabin floor, with a tight grasp upon his

throat—still he was able to see what was going on around him. His

father was tied hand and foot, and lying along the steps of the

companion-way with his head down, and a deep wound in the forehead,

from which the blood was flowing in a continued stream. He spoke not a

word, and was apparently dying. Over him stood the first mate, eying

him with an expression of fiendish derision, and deliberately searching

his pockets, from which he presently drew forth a large wallet and a

chronometer. Seven of the crew (among whom was the cook, a negro) were

rummaging the staterooms on the larboard for arms, where they soon

equipped themselves with muskets and ammunition. Besides Augustus and

Captain Barnard, there were nine men altogether in the cabin, and these

among the most ruffianly of the brig’s company. The villains now went

upon deck, taking my friend with them, after having secured his arms

behind his back. They proceeded straight to the forecastle, which was

fastened down—two of the mutineers standing by it with axes—two also

at the main hatch. The mate called out in a loud voice, “Do you hear

there below? tumble up with you—one by one, now, mark that—and no

grumbling.” It was some minutes before any one appeared: at last an

Englishman, who had shipped as a raw hand, came up, weeping piteously,

and entreating the mate in the most humble manner to spare his life.

The only reply was a blow on the forehead from an axe. The poor fellow

fell to the deck without a groan, and the black cook lifted him up in

his arms as he would a child, and tossed him deliberately into the sea.

Hearing the blow and the plunge of the body, the men below could now be

induced to venture on deck neither by threats nor promises, until a

proposition was made to smoke them out. A general rush then ensued, and

for a moment it seemed possible that the brig might be retaken. The

mutineers, however, succeeded at last in closing the forecastle

effectually before more than six of their opponents could get up. These

six, finding themselves so greatly outnumbered and without arms,

submitted after a brief struggle. The mate gave them fair words—no

doubt with a view of inducing those below to yield, for they had no

difficulty in hearing all that was said on deck. The result proved his

sagacity, no less than his diabolical villany. All in the forecastle

presently signified their intention of submitting, and, ascending one

by one, were pinioned and thrown on their backs together with the first

six—there being in all, of the crew who were not concerned in the

mutiny, twenty-seven.

A scene of the most horrible butchery ensued. The bound seamen were

dragged to the gangway. Here the cook stood with an axe, striking each

victim on the head as he was forced over the side of the vessel by the

other mutineers. In this manner twenty-two perished, and Augustus had

given himself up for lost, expecting every moment his own turn to come

next. But it seemed that the villains were now either weary, or in some

measure disgusted with their bloody labour; for the four remaining

prisoners, together with my friend, who had been thrown on the deck

with the rest, were respited while the mate sent below for rum, and the

whole murderous party held a drunken carouse, which lasted until

sunset. They now fell to disputing in regard to the fate of the

survivers, who lay not more than four paces off, and could distinguish

every word said. Upon some of the mutineers the liquor appeared to have

a softening effect, for several voices were heard in favour of

releasing the captives altogether, on condition of joining the mutiny

and sharing the profits. The black cook, however (who in all respects

was a perfect demon, and who seemed to exert as much influence, if not

more, than the mate himself), would listen to no proposition of the

kind, and rose repeatedly for the purpose of resuming his work at the

gangway. Fortunately, he was so far overcome by intoxication as to be

easily restrained by the less bloodthirsty of the party, among whom was

a line-manager, who went by the name of Dirk Peters. This man was the

son of an Indian squaw of the tribe of Upsarokas, who live among the

fastnesses of the Black Hills near the source of the Missouri. His

father was a fur-trader, I believe, or at least connected in some

manner with the Indian trading-posts on Lewis river. Peters himself was

one of the most purely ferocious-looking men I ever beheld. He was

short in stature—not more than four feet eight inches high—but his

limbs were of the most Herculean mould. His hands, especially, were so

enormously thick and broad as hardly to retain a human shape. His arms,

as well as legs, were bowed in the most singular manner, and appeared

to possess no flexibility whatever. His head was equally deformed,

being of immense size, with an indentation on the crown (like that on

the head of most negroes), and entirely bald. To conceal this latter

deficiency, which did not proceed from old age, he usually wore a wig

formed of any hair-like material which presented itself—occasionally

the skin of a Spanish dog or American grizzly bear. At the time spoken

of he had on a portion of one of these bearskins; and it added no

little to the natural ferocity of his countenance, which betook of the

Upsaroka character. The mouth extended nearly from ear to ear; the lips

were thin, and seemed, like some other portions of his frame, to be

devoid of natural pliancy, so that the ruling expression never varied

under the influence of any emotion whatever. This ruling expression may

be conceived when it is considered that the teeth were exceedingly long

and protruding, and never even partially covered, in any instance, by

the lips. To pass this man with a casual glance, one might imagine him

to be convulsed with laughter—but a second look would induce a

shuddering acknowledgment, that if such an expression were indicative

of merriment, the merriment must be that of a demon. Of this singular

being many anecdotes were prevalent among the seafaring men of

Nantucket. These anecdotes went to prove his prodigious strength when

under excitement, and some of them had given rise to a doubt of his

sanity. But on board the Grampus, it seems, he was regarded at the time

of the mutiny with feelings more of derision than of anything else. I

have been thus particular in speaking of Dirk Peters, because,

ferocious as he appeared, he proved the main instrument in preserving

the life of Augustus, and because I shall have frequent occasion to

mention him hereafter in the course of my narrative—a narrative, let

me here say, which, in its latter portions, will be found to include

incidents of a nature so entirely out of the range of human experience,

and for this reason so far beyond the limits of human credulity, that I

proceed in utter hopelessness of obtaining credence for all that I

shall tell, yet confidently trusting in time and progressing science to

verify some of the most important and most improbable of my statements.

After much indecision and two or three violent quarrels, it was

determined at last that all the prisoners (with the exception of

Augustus, whom Peters insisted in a jocular manner upon keeping as his

clerk) should be set adrift in one of the smallest whaleboats. The mate

went down into the cabin to see if Captain Barnard was still

living—for, it will be remembered, he was left below when the

mutineers came up. Presently the two made their appearance, the captain

pale as death, but somewhat recovered from the effects of his wound. He

spoke to the men in a voice hardly articulate, entreated them not to

set him adrift, but to return to their duty, and promising to land them

wherever they chose, and to take no steps for bringing them to justice.

He might as well have spoken to the winds. Two of the ruffians seized

him by the arms and hurled him over the brig’s side into the boat,

which had been lowered while the mate went below. The four men who were

lying on the deck were then untied and ordered to follow, which they

did without attempting any resistance—Augustus being still left in his

painful position, although he struggled and prayed only for the poor

satisfaction of being permitted to bid his father farewell. A handful

of sea-biscuit and a jug of water were now handed down; but neither

mast, sail, oar, nor compass. The boat was towed astern for a few

minutes, during which the mutineers held another consultation—it was

then finally cut adrift. By this time night had come on—there were

neither moon nor stars visible—and a short and ugly sea was running,

although there was no great deal of wind. The boat was instantly out of

sight, and little hope could be entertained for the unfortunate

sufferers who were in it. This event happened, however, in latitude 35°

30’ north, longitude 61° 20’ west, and consequently at no very great

distance from the Bermuda Islands. Augustus therefore endeavoured to

console himself with the idea that the boat might either succeed in

reaching the land, or come sufficiently near to be fallen in with by

vessels off the coast.

All sail was now put upon the brig, and she continued her original

course to the southwest—the mutineers being bent upon some piratical

expedition, in which, from all that could be understood, a ship was to

be intercepted on her way from the Cape Verd Islands to Porto Rico. No

attention was paid to Augustus, who was untied and suffered to go about

anywhere forward of the cabin companion-way. Dirk Peters treated him

with some degree of kindness, and on one occasion saved him from the

brutality of the cook. His situation was still one of the most

precarious, as the men were continually intoxicated, and there was no

relying upon their continued good-humour or carelessness in regard to

himself. His anxiety on my account he represented, however, as the most

distressing result of his condition; and, indeed, I had never reason to

doubt the sincerity of his friendship. More than once he had resolved

to acquaint the mutineers with the secret of my being on board, but was

restrained from so doing, partly through recollection of the atrocities

he had already beheld, and partly through a hope of being able soon to

bring me relief. For the latter purpose he was constantly on the watch;

but, in spite of the most constant vigilance, three days elapsed after

the boat was cut adrift before any chance occurred. At length, on the

night of the third day, there came on a heavy blow from the eastward,

and all hands were called up to take in sail. During the confusion

which ensued, he made his way below unobserved, and into the stateroom.

What was his grief and horror in discovering that the latter had been

rendered a place of deposite for a variety of sea-stores and

ship-furniture, and that several fathoms of old chain-cable, which had

been stowed away beneath the companion-ladder, had been dragged thence

to make room for a chest, and were now lying immediately upon the trap!

To remove it without discovery was impossible, and he returned on deck

as quickly as he could. As he came up the mate seized him by the

throat, and demanding what he had been doing in the cabin, was about

flinging him over the larboard bulwark, when his life was again

preserved through the interference of Dirk Peters. Augustus was now put

in handcuffs (of which there were several pairs on board), and his feet

lashed tightly together. He was then taken into the steerage, and

thrown into a lower berth next to the forecastle bulkheads, with the

assurance that he should never put his foot on deck again “until the

brig was no longer a brig.” This was the expression of the cook, who

threw him into the berth—it is hardly possible to say what precise

meaning was intended by the phrase. The whole affair, however, proved

the ultimate means of my relief, as will presently appear.

CHAPTER V.

For some minutes after the cook had left the forecastle, Augustus

abandoned himself to despair, never hoping to leave the berth alive. He

now came to the resolution of acquainting the first of the men who

should come down with my situation, thinking it better to let me take

my chance with the mutineers than perish of thirst in the hold—for it

had been ten days since I was first imprisoned, and my jug of water was

not a plentiful supply even for four. As he was thinking on this

subject, the idea came all at once into his head that it might be

possible to communicate with me by the way of the main hold. In any

other circumstances, the difficulty and hazard of the undertaking would

have prevented him from attempting it; but now he had, at all events,

little prospect of life, and consequently little to lose—he bent his

whole mind, therefore, upon the task.

His handcuffs were the first consideration. At first he saw no method

of removing them, and feared that he should thus be baffled in the very

outset; but, upon a closer scrutiny, he discovered that the irons could

be slipped off and on at pleasure with very little effort or

inconvenience, merely by squeezing his hands through them—this species

of manacle being altogether ineffectual in confining young persons, in

whom the smaller bones readily yield to pressure. He now untied his

feet, and, leaving the cord in such a manner that it could easily be

readjusted in the event of any person’s coming down, proceeded to

examine the bulkhead where it joined the berth. The partition here was

of soft pine board, an inch thick, and he saw that he should have

little trouble in cutting his way through. A voice was now heard at the

forecastle companion-way, and he had just time to put his right hand

into its handcuff (the left had not been removed), and to draw the rope

in a slipknot around his ankle, when Dirk Peters came below, followed

by Tiger, who immediately leaped into the berth and lay down. The dog

had been brought on board by Augustus, who knew my attachment to the

animal, and thought it would give me pleasure to have him with me

during the voyage. He went up to our house for him immediately after

first taking me into the hold, but did not think of mentioning the

circumstance upon his bringing the watch. Since the mutiny, Augustus

had not seen him before his appearance with Dirk Peters, and had given

him up for lost, supposing him to have been thrown overboard by some of

the malignant villains belonging to the mate’s gang. It appeared

afterward that he had crawled into a hole beneath a whaleboat, from

which, not having room to turn round, he could not extricate himself.

Peters at last let him out, and with a species of good feeling which my

friend knew well how to appreciate, had now brought him to him in the

forecastle as a companion, leaving at the same time some salt junk and

potatoes, with a can of water; he then went on deck, promising to come

down with something more to eat on the next day.

When he had gone, Augustus freed both hands from the manacles and

unfastened his feet. He then turned down the head of the mattress on

which he had been lying, and with his penknife (for the ruffians had

not thought it worth while to search him) commenced cutting vigorously

across one of the partition planks, as closely as possible to the floor

of the berth. He chose to cut here, because, if suddenly interrupted,

he would be able to conceal what had been done by letting the head of

the mattress fall into its proper position. For the remainder of the

day, however, no disturbance occurred, and by night he had completely

divided the plank. It should here be observed, that none of the crew

occupied the forecastle as a sleeping-place, living altogether in the

cabin since the mutiny, drinking the wines, and feasting on the sea

stores of Captain Barnard, and giving no more heed than was absolutely

necessary to the navigation of the brig. These circumstances proved

fortunate both for myself and Augustus; for, had matters been

otherwise, he would have found it impossible to reach me. As it was, he

proceeded with confidence in his design. It was near daybreak, however,

before he completed the second division of the board (which was about a

foot above the first cut), thus making an aperture quite large enough

to admit his passage through with facility to the main orlop deck.

Having got here, he made his way with but little trouble to the lower

main hatch, although in so doing he had to scramble over tiers of

oil-casks piled nearly as high as the upper deck, there being barely

room enough left for his body. Upon reaching the hatch, he found that

Tiger had followed him below, squeezing between two rows of the casks.

It was now too late, however, to attempt getting to me before dawn, as

the chief difficulty lay in passing through the close stowage in the

lower hold. He therefore resolved to return, and wait till the next

night. With this design he proceeded to loosen the hatch, so that he

might have as little detention as possible when he should come again.

No sooner had he loosened it than Tiger sprang eagerly to the small

opening produced, snuffed for a moment, and then uttered a long whine,

scratching at the same time, as if anxious to remove the covering with

his paws. There could be no doubt, from his behaviour, that he was

aware of my being in the hold, and Augustus thought it possible that he

would be able to get to me if he put him down. He now hit upon the

expedient of sending the note, as it was especially desirable that I

should make no attempt at forcing my way out, at least under existing

circumstances, and there could be no certainty of his getting to me

himself on the morrow as he intended. After events proved how fortunate

it was that the idea occurred to him as it did: for, had it not been

for the receipt of the note, I should undoubtedly have fallen upon some

plan, however desperate, of alarming the crew, and both our lives would

most probably have been sacrificed in consequence.

Having concluded to write, the difficulty was now to procure the

materials for so doing. An old toothpick was soon made into a pen; and

this by means of feeling altogether, for the between-decks were as dark

as pitch. Paper enough was obtained from the back of a letter—a

duplicate of the forged letter from Mr. Ross. This had been the

original draught; but the handwriting not being sufficiently well

imitated, Augustus had written another, thrusting the first, by good

fortune, into his coat-pocket, where it was now most opportunely

discovered. Ink alone was thus wanting, and a substitute was

immediately found for this by means of a slight incision with the

penknife on the back of a finger just above the nail—a copious flow of

blood ensuing, as usual from wounds in that vicinity. The note was now

written, as well as it could be in the dark and under the

circumstances. It briefly explained that a mutiny had taken place; that

Captain Barnard was set adrift; and that I might expect immediate

relief as far as provisions were concerned, but must not venture upon

making any disturbance. It concluded with these words, _“I have

scrawled this with blood—your life depends upon lying close.”_

The slip of paper being tied upon the dog, he was now put down the

hatchway, and Augustus made the best of his way back to the forecastle,

where he found no reason to believe that any of the crew had been in

his absence. To conceal the hole in the partition, he drove his knife

in just above it, and hung up a pea-jacket which he found in the berth.

His handcuffs were then replaced, and also the rope around his ankles.

These arrangements were scarcely completed when Dirk Peters came below,

very drunk, but in excellent humour, and bringing with him my friend’s

allowance of provision for the day. This consisted of a dozen large

Irish potatoes roasted, and a pitcher of water. He sat for some time on

a chest by the berth, and talked freely about the mate, and the general

concerns of the brig. His demeanour was exceedingly capricious and even

grotesque. At one time Augustus was much alarmed by his odd conduct. At

last, however, he went on deck, muttering a promise to bring his

prisoner a good dinner on the morrow. During the day two of the crew

(harpooners) came down, accompanied by the cook, all three in nearly

the last stage of intoxication. Like Peters, they made no scruple of

talking unreservedly about their plans. It appeared that they were much

divided among themselves as to their ultimate course, agreeing in no

point except the attack on the ship from the Cape Verd Islands, with

which they were in hourly expectation of meeting. As far as could be

ascertained, the mutiny had not been brought about altogether for the

sake of booty; a private pique of the chief mate’s against Captain

Barnard having been the main instigation. There now seemed to be two

principal factions among the crew—one headed by the mate, the other by

the cook. The former party were for seizing the first suitable vessel

which should present itself, and equipping it at some of the West India

Islands for a piratical cruise. The latter division, however, which was

the stronger, and included Dirk Peters among its partisans, were bent

upon pursuing the course originally laid out for the brig into the

South Pacific; there either to take whale, or act otherwise, as

circumstances should suggest. The representations of Peters, who had

frequently visited these regions, had great weight, apparently, with

the mutineers, wavering as they were between half-engendered notions of

profit and pleasure. He dwelt on the world of novelty and amusement to

be found among the innumerable islands of the Pacific, on the perfect

security and freedom from all restraint to be enjoyed, but, more

particularly, on the deliciousness of the climate, on the abundant

means of good living, and on the voluptuous beauty of the women. As

yet, nothing had been absolutely determined upon; but the pictures of

the hybrid line-manager were taking strong hold upon the ardent

imaginations of the seamen, and there was every probability that his

intentions would be finally carried into effect.

The three men went away in about an hour, and no one else entered the

forecastle all day. Augustus lay quiet until nearly night. He then

freed himself from the rope and irons, and prepared for his attempt. A

bottle was found in one of the berths, and this he filled with water

from the pitcher left by Peters, storing his pockets at the same time

with cold potatoes. To his great joy he also came across a lantern,

with a small piece of tallow candle in it. This he could light at any

moment, as he had in his possession a box of phosphorus matches. When

it was quite dark, he got through the hole in the bulkhead, having

taken the precaution to arrange the bedclothes in the berth so as to

convey the idea of a person covered up. When through, he hung up the

pea-jacket on his knife, as before, to conceal the aperture—this

manoeuvre being easily effected, as he did not readjust the piece of

plank taken out until afterward. He was now on the main orlop deck, and

proceeded to make his way, as before, between the upper deck and the

oil-casks to the main hatchway. Having reached this, he lit the piece

of candle, and descended, groping with extreme difficulty among the

compact stowage of the hold. In a few moments he became alarmed at the

insufferable stench and the closeness of the atmosphere. He could not

think it possible that I had survived my confinement for so long a

period breathing so oppressive an air. He called my name repeatedly,

but I made him no reply, and his apprehensions seemed thus to be

confirmed. The brig was rolling violently, and there was so much noise

in consequence, that it was useless to listen for any weak sound, such

as those of my breathing or snoring. He threw open the lantern, and

held it as high as possible, whenever an opportunity occurred, in order

that, by observing the light, I might, if alive, be aware that succour

was approaching. Still nothing was heard from me, and the supposition

of my death began to assume the character of certainty. He determined,

nevertheless, to force a passage, if possible, to the box, and at least

ascertain beyond a doubt the truth of his surmises. He pushed on for

some time in a most pitiable state of anxiety, until, at length, he

found the pathway utterly blocked up, and that there was no possibility

of making any farther way by the course in which he had set out.

Overcome now by his feelings, he threw himself among the lumber in

despair, and wept like a child. It was at this period that he heard the

crash occasioned by the bottle which I had thrown down. Fortunate,

indeed, was it that the incident occurred—for, upon this incident,

trivial as it appears, the thread of my destiny depended. Many years

elapsed, however, before I was aware of this fact. A natural shame and

regret for his weakness and indecision prevented Augustus from

confiding to me at once what a more intimate and unreserved communion

afterward induced him to reveal. Upon finding his further progress in

the hold impeded by obstacles which he could not overcome, he had

resolved to abandon his attempt at reaching me, and return at once to

the forecastle. Before condemning him entirely on this head, the

harassing circumstances which embarrassed him should be taken into

consideration. The night was fast wearing away, and his absence from

the forecastle might be discovered; and, indeed, would necessarily be

so, if he should fail to get back to the berth by daybreak. His candle

was expiring in the socket, and there would be the greatest difficulty

in retracing his way to the hatchway in the dark. It must be allowed,

too, that he had every good reason to believe me dead; in which event

no benefit could result to me from his reaching the box, and a world of

danger would be encountered to no purpose by himself. He had repeatedly

called, and I had made him no answer. I had been now eleven days and

nights with no more water than that contained in the jug which he had

left with me, a supply which it was not at all probable I had hoarded

in the beginning of my confinement, as I had had every cause to expect

a speedy release. The atmosphere of the hold, too, must have appeared

to him, coming from the comparatively open air of the steerage, of a

nature absolutely poisonous, and by far more intolerable than it had

seemed to me upon my first taking up my quarters in the box—the

hatchways at that time having been constantly open for many months

previous. Add to these considerations that of the scene of bloodshed

and terror so lately witnessed by my friend; his confinement,

privations, and narrow escapes from death; together with the frail and

equivocal tenure by which he still existed—circumstances all so well

calculated to prostrate every energy of mind—and the reader will be

easily brought, as I have been, to regard his apparent falling off in

friendship and in faith with sentiments rather of sorrow than of anger.

The crash of the bottle was distinctly heard, yet Augustus was not sure

that it proceeded from the hold. The doubt, however, was sufficient

inducement to persevere. He clambered up nearly to the orlop deck by

means of the stowage, and then watching for a lull in the pitchings of

the vessel, he called out to me in as loud a tone as he could

command—regardless, for the moment, of the danger of being overheard

by the crew. It will be remembered that on this occasion the voice

reached me, but I was so entirely overcome by violent agitation as to

be incapable of reply. Confident, now, that his worst apprehensions

were well founded, he descended, with a view of getting back to the

forecastle without loss of time. In his haste some small boxes were

thrown down, the noise occasioned by which I heard, as will be

recollected. He had made considerable progress on his return when the

fall of the knife again caused him to hesitate. He retraced his steps

immediately, and, clambering up the stowage a second time, called out

my name, loudly as before, having watched for a lull. This time I found

voice to answer. Overjoyed at discovering me to be still alive, he now

resolved to brave every difficulty and danger in reaching me. Having

extricated himself as quickly as possible from the labyrinth of lumber

by which he was hemmed in, he at length struck into an opening which

promised better, and finally, after a series of struggles, arrived at

the box in a state of utter exhaustion.

CHAPTER VI.

The leading particulars of this narration were all that Augustus

communicated to me while we remained near the box. It was not until

afterward that he entered fully into all the details. He was

apprehensive of being missed, and I was wild with impatience to leave

my detested place of confinement. We resolved to make our way at once

to the hole in the bulkhead, near which I was to remain for the

present, while he went through to reconnoitre. To leave Tiger in the

box was what neither of us could endure to think of; yet, how to act

otherwise was the question. He now seemed to be perfectly quiet, and we

could not even distinguish the sound of his breathing upon applying our

ears closely to the box. I was convinced that he was dead, and

determined to open the door. We found him lying at full length,

apparently in a deep stupor, yet still alive. No time was to be lost,

yet I could not bring myself to abandon an animal who had now been

twice instrumental in saving my life, without some attempt at

preserving him. We therefore dragged him along with us as well as we

could, although with the greatest difficulty and fatigue; Augustus,

during part of the time, being forced to clamber over the impediments

in our way with the huge dog in his arms—a feat to which the

feebleness of my frame rendered me totally inadequate. At length we

succeeded in reaching the hole, when Augustus got through, and Tiger

was pushed in afterward. All was found to be safe, and we did not fail

to return sincere thanks to God for our deliverance from the imminent

danger we had escaped. For the present it was agreed that I should

remain near the opening, through which my companion could readily

supply me with a part of his daily provision, and where I could have

the advantages of breathing an atmosphere comparatively pure.

In explanation of some portions of this narrative wherein I have spoken

of the stowage of the brig, and which may appear ambiguous to some of

my readers who may have seen a proper or regular stowage, I must here

state that the manner in which this most important duty had been

performed on board the Grampus was a most shameful piece of neglect on

the part of Captain Barnard, who was by no means as careful or as

experienced a seaman as the hazardous nature of the service on which he

was employed would seem necessarily to demand. A proper stowage cannot

be accomplished in a careless manner, and many most disastrous

accidents, even within the limits of my own experience, have arisen

from neglect or ignorance in this particular. Coasting vessels, in the

frequent hurry and bustle attendant upon taking in or discharging

cargo, are the most liable to mishap from the want of a proper

attention to stowage. The great point is to allow no possibility of the

cargo or ballast’s shifting position even in the most violent rollings

of the vessel. With this end, great attention must be paid, not only to

the bulk taken in, but to the nature of the bulk, and whether there be

a full or only a partial cargo. In most kinds of freight the stowage is

accomplished by means of a screw. Thus, in a load of tobacco or flour,

the whole is screwed so tightly into the hold of the vessel that the

barrels or hogsheads upon discharging are found to be completely

flattened, and take some time to regain their original shape. This

screwing, however, is resorted to principally with a view of obtaining

more room in the hold; for in a full load of any such commodities as

flour or tobacco, there can be no danger of any shifting whatever, at

least none from which inconvenience can result. There have been

instances, indeed, where this method of screwing has resulted in the

most lamentable consequences, arising from a cause altogether distinct

from the danger attendant upon a shifting of cargo. A load of cotton,

for example, tightly screwed while in certain conditions, has been

known, through the expansion of its bulk, to rend a vessel asunder at

sea. There can be no doubt, either, that the same result would ensue in

the case of tobacco, while undergoing its usual course of fermentation,

were it not for the interstices consequent upon the rotundity of the

hogsheads.

It is when a partial cargo is received that danger is chiefly to be

apprehended from shifting, and that precautions should be always taken

to guard against such misfortune. Only those who have encountered a

violent gale of wind, or, rather, who have experienced the rolling of a

vessel in a sudden calm after the gale, can form an idea of the

tremendous force of the plunges, and of the consequent terrible impetus

given to all loose articles in the vessel. It is then that the

necessity of a cautious stowage, when there is a partial cargo, becomes

obvious. When lying to (especially with a small head sail), a vessel

which is not properly modelled in the bows is frequently thrown upon

her beam-ends; this occurring even every fifteen or twenty minutes upon

an average, yet without any serious consequences resulting, _provided

there be a proper stowage_. If this, however, has not been strictly

attended to, in the first of these heavy lurches the whole of the cargo

tumbles over to the side of the vessel which lies upon the water, and,

being thus prevented from regaining her equilibrium, as she would

otherwise necessarily do, she is certain to fill in a few seconds and

go down. It is not too much to say that at least one half of the

instances in which vessels have foundered in heavy gales at sea may be

attributed to a shifting of cargo or of ballast.

When a partial cargo of any kind is taken on board, the whole, after

being first stowed as compactly as may be, should be covered with a

layer of stout shifting-boards, extending completely across the vessel.

Upon these boards strong temporary stanchions should be erected,

reaching to the timbers above, and thus securing everything in its

place. In cargoes consisting of grain, or any similar matter,

additional precautions are requisite. A hold filled entirely with grain

upon leaving port will be found not more than three fourths full upon

reaching its destination—this, too, although the freight, when

measured bushel by bushel by the consignee, will overrun by a vast deal

(on account of the swelling of the grain) the quantity consigned. This

result is occasioned by settling during the voyage, and is the more

perceptible in proportion to the roughness of the weather experienced.

If grain loosely thrown in a vessel, then, is ever so well secured by

shifting-boards and stanchions, it will be liable to shift in a long

passage so greatly as to bring about the most distressing calamities.

To prevent these, every method should be employed before leaving port

to settle the cargo as much as possible; and for this there are many

contrivances, among which may be mentioned the driving of wedges into

the grain. Even after all this is done, and unusual pains taken to

secure the shifting-boards, no seaman who knows what he is about will

feel altogether secure in a gale of any violence with a cargo of grain

on board, and, least of all, with a partial cargo. Yet there are

hundreds of our coasting vessels, and, it is likely, many more from the

ports of Europe, which sail daily with partial cargoes, even of the

most dangerous species, and without any precautions whatever. The

wonder is that no more accidents occur than do actually happen. A

lamentable instance of this heedlessness occurred to my knowledge in

the case of Captain Joel Rice of the schooner Firefly, which sailed

from Richmond, Virginia, to Madeira, with a cargo of corn, in the year

1825. The captain had gone many voyages without serious accident,

although he was in the habit of paying no attention whatever to his

stowage, more than to secure it in the ordinary manner. He had never

before sailed with a cargo of grain, and on this occasion had the corn

thrown on board loosely, when it did not much more than half fill the

vessel. For the first portion of the voyage he met with nothing more

than light breezes; but when within a day’s sail of Madeira there came

on a strong gale from the N. N. E. which forced him to lie to. He

brought the schooner to the wind under a double-reefed foresail alone,

when she rode as well as any vessel could be expected to do, and

shipped not a drop of water. Towards night the gale somewhat abated,

and she rolled with more unsteadiness than before, but still did very

well, until a heavy lurch threw her upon her beam-ends to starboard.

The corn was then heard to shift bodily, the force of the movement

bursting open the main hatchway. The vessel went down like a shot. This

happened within hail of a small sloop from Madeira, which picked up one

of the crew (the only person saved), and which rode out the gale in

perfect security, as indeed a jollyboat might have done under proper

management.

The stowage on board the Grampus was most clumsily done, if stowage

that could be called which was little better than a promiscuous

huddling together of oil-casks[1] and ship furniture. I have already

spoken of the condition of articles in the hold. On the orlop deck

there was space enough for my body (as I have stated) between the

oil-casks and the upper deck; a space was left open around the main

hatchway; and several other large spaces were left in the stowage. Near

the hole cut through the bulkhead by Augustus there was room enough for

an entire cask, and in this space I found myself comfortably situated

for the present.

[Footnote 1: Whaling vessels are usually fitted with iron

oil-tanks—why the Grampus was not I have never been able to

ascertain.]

By the time my friend had got safely into the berth, and readjusted his

handcuffs and the rope, it was broad daylight. We had made a narrow

escape indeed; for scarcely had he arranged all matters, when the mate

came below, with Dirk Peters and the cook. They talked for some time

about the vessel from the Cape Verds, and seemed to be excessively

anxious for her appearance. At length the cook came to the berth in

which Augustus was lying, and seated himself in it near the head. I

could see and hear everything from my hiding-place, for the piece cut

out had not been put back, and I was in momentary expectation that the

negro would fall against the pea-jacket, which was hung up to conceal

the aperture, in which case all would have been discovered, and our

lives would, no doubt, have been instantly sacrificed. Our good fortune

prevailed, however; and although he frequently touched it as the vessel

rolled, he never pressed against it sufficiently to bring about a

discovery. The bottom of the jacket had been carefully fastened to the

bulkhead, so that the hole might not be seen by its swinging to one

side. All this time Tiger was lying in the foot of the berth, and

appeared to have recovered in some measure his faculties, for I could

see him occasionally open his eyes and draw a long breath.

After a few minutes the mate and cook went above, leaving Dirk Peters

behind, who, as soon as they were gone, came and sat himself down in

the place just occupied by the mate. He began to talk very sociably

with Augustus, and we could now see that the greater part of his

apparent intoxication, while the two others were with him, was a feint.

He answered all my companion’s questions with perfect freedom; told him

that he had no doubt of his father’s having been picked up, as there

were no less than five sail in sight just before sundown on the day he

was cut adrift; and used other language of a consolatory nature, which

occasioned me no less surprise than pleasure. Indeed, I began to

entertain hopes, that through the instrumentality of Peters we might be

finally enabled to regain possession of the brig, and this idea I

mentioned to Augustus as soon as I found an opportunity. He thought the

matter possible, but urged the necessity of the greatest caution in

making the attempt, as the conduct of the hybrid appeared to be

instigated by the most arbitrary caprice alone; and, indeed, it was

difficult to say if he was at any moment of sound mind. Peters went

upon deck in about an hour, and did not return again until noon, when

he brought Augustus a plentiful supply of junk beef and pudding. Of

this, when we were left alone, I partook heartily, without returning

through the hole. No one else came down into the forecastle during the

day, and at night I got into Augustus’s berth, where I slept soundly

and sweetly until nearly daybreak, when he awakened me upon hearing a

stir upon deck, and I regained my hiding-place as quickly as possible.

When the day was fully broke, we found that Tiger had recovered his

strength almost entirely, and gave no indications of hydrophobia,

drinking a little water that was offered him with great apparent

eagerness. During the day he regained all his former vigour and

appetite. His strange conduct had been brought on, no doubt, by the

deleterious quality of the air of the hold, and had no connexion with

canine madness. I could not sufficiently rejoice that I had persisted

in bringing him with me from the box. This day was the thirtieth of

June, and the thirteenth since the Grampus made sail from Nantucket.

On the second of July the mate came below, drunk as usual, and in an

excessively good-humour. He came to Augustus’s berth, and, giving him a

slap on the back, asked him if he thought he could behave himself if he

let him loose, and whether he would promise not to be going into the

cabin again. To this, of course, my friend answered in the affirmative,

when the ruffian set him at liberty, after making him drink from a

flask of rum which he drew from his coat-pocket. Both now went on deck,

and I did not see Augustus for about three hours. He then came below

with the good news that he had obtained permission to go about the brig

as he pleased anywhere forward of the mainmast, and that he had been

ordered to sleep, as usual, in the forecastle. He brought me, too, a

good dinner, and a plentiful supply of water. The brig was still

cruising for the vessel from the Cape Verds, and a sail was now in

sight which was thought to be the one in question. As the events of the

ensuing eight days were of little importance, and had no direct bearing

upon the main incidents of my narrative, I will here throw them into

the form of a journal, as I do not wish to omit them altogether.

July 3. Augustus furnished me with three blankets, with which I

contrived a comfortable bed in my hiding-place. No one came below,

except my companion, during the day. Tiger took his station in the

berth just by the aperture, and slept heavily, as if not yet entirely

recovered from the effects of his sickness. Towards night a flaw of

wind struck the brig before sail could be taken in, and very nearly

capsized her. The puff died away immediately, however, and no damage

was done beyond the splitting of the foretopsail. Dirk Peters treated

Augustus all this day with great kindness, and entered into a long

conversation with him respecting the Pacific Ocean, and the islands he

had visited in that region. He asked him whether he would not like to

go with the mutineers on a kind of exploring and pleasure voyage in

those quarters, and said that the men were gradually coming over to the

mate’s views. To this Augustus thought it best to reply that he would

be glad to go on such an adventure, since nothing better could be done,

and that anything was preferable to a piratical life.

July 4th. The vessel in sight proved to be a small brig from

Liverpool, and was allowed to pass unmolested. Augustus spent most of

his time on deck, with a view of obtaining all the information in his

power respecting the intentions of the mutineers. They had frequent and

violent quarrels among themselves, in one of which a harpooner, Jim

Bonner, was thrown overboard. The party of the mate was gaining ground.

Jim Bonner belonged to the cook’s gang, of which Peters was a partisan.

July 5th. About daybreak there came on a stiff breeze from the west,

which at noon freshened into a gale, so that the brig could carry

nothing more than her trysail and foresail. In taking in the

foretopsail, Simms, one of the common hands, and belonging also to the

cook’s gang, fell overboard, being very much in liquor, and was

drowned—no attempt being made to save him. The whole number of persons

on board was now thirteen, to wit: Dirk Peters; Seymour, the black

cook; ---- Jones; ---- Greely; Hartman Rogers; and William Allen, of

the cook’s party; the mate, whose name I never learned; Absalom Hicks;

---- Wilson; John Hunt; and Richard Parker, of the mate’s

party—besides Augustus and myself.

July 6th. The gale lasted all this day, blowing in heavy squalls,

accompanied with rain. The brig took in a good deal of water through

her seams, and one of the pumps was kept continually going, Augustus

being forced to take his turn. Just at twilight a large ship passed

close by us, without having been discovered until within hail. This

ship was supposed to be the one for which the mutineers were on the

look-out. The mate hailed her, but the reply was drowned in the roaring

of the gale. At eleven, a sea was shipped amid-ships, which tore away a

great portion of the larboard bulwarks, and did some other slight

damage. Towards morning the weather moderated, and at sunrise there was

very little wind.

July 7th. There was a heavy swell running all this day, during which

the brig, being light, rolled excessively, and many articles broke

loose in the hold, as I could hear distinctly from my hiding-place. I

suffered a great deal from sea-sickness. Peters had a long conversation

this day with Augustus, and told him that two of his gang, Greely and

Allen, had gone over to the mate, and were resolved to turn pirates. He

put several questions to Augustus which he did not then exactly

understand. During a part of this evening the leak gained upon the

vessel; and little could be done to remedy it, as it was occasioned by

the brig’s straining, and taking in the water through her seams. A sail

was thrummed, and got under the bows, which aided us in some measure,

so that we began to gain upon the leak.

July 8th. A light breeze sprung up at sunrise from the eastward, when

the mate headed the brig to the southwest, with the intention of making

some of the West India islands, in pursuance of his piratical designs.

No opposition was made by Peters or the cook; at least none in the

hearing of Augustus. All idea of taking the vessel from the Cape Verds

was abandoned. The leak was now easily kept under by one pump going

every three quarters of an hour. The sail was drawn from beneath the

bows. Spoke two small schooners during the day.

July 9th. Fine weather. All hands employed in repairing bulwarks.

Peters had again a long conversation with Augustus, and spoke more

plainly than he had done heretofore. He said nothing should induce him

to come into the mate’s views, and even hinted his intention of taking

the brig out of his hands. He asked my friend if he could depend upon

his aid in such case, to which Augustus said, “Yes,” without

hesitation. Peters then said he would sound the others of his party

upon the subject, and went away. During the remainder of the day

Augustus had no opportunity of speaking with him privately.

CHAPTER VII.

July 10. Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk. Weather hazy, with

a light baffling wind from the eastward. To-day Hartman Rogers died,

having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass

of grog. This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters

placed his main reliance. He told Augustus that he believed the mate

had poisoned him, and that he expected, if he did not be on the

look-out, his own turn would come shortly. There were now only himself,

Jones, and the cook belonging to his own gang—on the other side there

were five. He had spoken to Jones about taking the command from the

mate; but the project having been coolly received, he had been deterred

from pressing the matter any further, or from saying anything to the

cook. It was well, as it happened, that he was so prudent, for in the

afternoon the cook expressed his determination of siding with the mate,

and went over formally to that party; while Jones took an opportunity

of quarrelling with Peters, and hinted that he would let the mate know

of the plan in agitation. There was now, evidently, no time to be lost,

and Peters expressed his determination of attempting to take the vessel

at all hazards, provided Augustus would lend him his aid. My friend at

once assured him of his willingness to enter into any plan for that

purpose, and, thinking the opportunity a favourable one, made known the

fact of my being on board. At this the hybrid was not more astonished

than delighted, as he had no reliance whatever upon Jones, whom he

already considered as belonging to the party of the mate. They went

below immediately, when Augustus called to me by name, and Peters and

myself were soon made acquainted. It was agreed that we should attempt

to retake the vessel upon the first good opportunity, leaving Jones

altogether out of our councils. In the event of success we were to run

the brig into the first port that offered, and deliver her up. The

desertion of his party had frustrated Peters’s design of going into the

Pacific—an adventure which could not be accomplished without a crew,

and he depended upon either getting acquitted upon trial on the score

of insanity (which he solemnly averred had actuated him in lending his

aid to the mutiny), or upon obtaining a pardon, if found guilty,

through the representations of Augustus and myself. Our deliberations

were interrupted for the present by the cry of “All hands take in

sail,” and Peters and Augustus ran up on deck.

As usual, the crew were nearly all drunk; and, before sail could be

properly taken in, a violent squall laid the brig on her beam-ends. By

keeping her away, however, she righted, having shipped a good deal of

water. Scarcely was everything secure, when another squall took the

vessel, and immediately afterward another—no damage being done. There

was every appearance of a gale of wind, which, indeed, shortly came on,

with great fury, from the northward and westward. All was made as snug

as possible, and we laid to, as usual, under a close-reefed foresail.

As night drew on, the wind increased in violence, with a remarkably

heavy sea. Peters now came into the forecastle with Augustus, and we

resumed our deliberations.

We agreed that no opportunity could be more favourable than the present

for carrying our design into effect, as an attempt at such a moment

would never be anticipated. As the brig was snugly laid to, there would

be no necessity of manoeuvring her until good weather, when, if we

succeeded in our attempt, we might liberate one, or perhaps two of the

men, to aid us in taking her into port. The main difficulty was the

great disproportion in our forces. There were only three of us, and in

the cabin there were nine. All the arms on board, too, were in their

possession, with the exception of a pair of small pistols which Peters

had concealed about his person, and the large seaman’s knife which he

always wore in the waistband of his pantaloons. From certain

indications, too, such, for example, as there being no such thing as an

axe or a handspike lying in their customary places, we began to fear

that the mate had his suspicions, at least in regard to Peters, and

that he would let slip no opportunity of getting rid of him. It was

clear, indeed, that what we should determine to do could not be done

too soon. Still the odds were too much against us to allow of our

proceeding without the greatest caution.

Peters proposed that he should go up on deck, and enter into

conversation with the watch (Allen), when he would be able to throw him

into the sea without trouble, and without making any disturbance, by

seizing a good opportunity; that Augustus and myself should then come

up, and endeavour to provide ourselves with some kind of weapons from

the deck; and that we should then make a rush together, and secure the

companion-way before any opposition could be offered. I objected to

this, because I could not believe that the mate (who was a cunning

fellow in all matters which did not affect his superstitious

prejudices) would suffer himself to be so easily entrapped. The very

fact of there being a watch on deck at all was sufficient proof that he

was upon the alert—it not being usual, except in vessels where

discipline is most rigidly enforced, to station a watch on deck when a

vessel is lying to in a gale of wind. As I address myself principally,

if not altogether, to persons who have never been to sea, it may be as

well to state the exact condition of a vessel under such circumstances.

Lying to, or, in sea-parlance “laying to,” is a measure resorted to for

various purposes, and effected in various manners. In moderate weather,

it is frequently done with a view of merely bringing the vessel to a

stand-still, to wait for another vessel, or any similar object. If the

vessel which lies to is under full sail, the manoeuvre is usually

accomplished by throwing round some portion of her sails so as to let

the wind take them aback, when she becomes stationary. But we are now

speaking of lying to in a gale of wind. This is done when the wind is

ahead, and too violent to admit of carrying sail without danger of

capsizing; and sometimes even when the wind is fair, but the sea too

heavy for the vessel to be put before it. If a vessel be suffered to

scud before the wind in a very heavy sea, much damage is usually done

her by the shipping of water over her stern, and sometimes by the

violent plunges she makes forward. This manoeuvre, then, is seldom

resorted to in such case, unless through necessity. When the vessel is

in a leaky condition, she is often put before the wind even in the

heaviest seas; for, when lying to, her seams are sure to be greatly

opened by her violent straining, and it is not so much the case when

scudding. Often, too, it becomes necessary to scud a vessel, either

when the blast is so exceedingly furious as to tear in pieces the sail

which is employed with a view of bringing her head to the wind, or

when, through the false modelling of the frame or other causes, this

main object cannot be effected.

Vessels in a gale of wind are laid to in different manners, according

to their peculiar construction. Some lie to best under a foresail, and

this, I believe, is the sail most usually employed. Large square-rigged

vessels have sails for the express purpose, called storm-staysails. But

the jib is occasionally employed by itself—sometimes the jib and

foresail, or a double-reefed foresail, and not unfrequently the

after-sails, are made use of. Foretopsails are very often found to

answer the purpose better than any other species of sail. The Grampus

was generally laid to under a close-reefed foresail.

When a vessel is to be laid to, her head is brought up to the wind just

so nearly as to fill the sail under which she lies, when hauled flat

aft, that is, when brought diagonally across the vessel. This being

done, the bows point within a few degrees of the direction from which

the wind issues, and the windward bow of course receives the shock of

the waves. In this situation a good vessel will ride out a very heavy

gale of wind without shipping a drop of water, and without any further

attention being requisite on the part of the crew. The helm is usually

lashed down, but this is altogether unnecessary (except on account of

the noise it makes when loose), for the rudder has no effect upon the

vessel when lying to. Indeed, the helm had far better be left loose

than lashed very fast, for the rudder is apt to be torn off by heavy

seas if there be no room for the helm to play. As long as the sail

holds, a well-modelled vessel will maintain her situation, and ride

every sea, as if instinct with life and reason. If the violence of the

wind, however, should tear the sail into pieces (a feat which it

requires a perfect hurricane to accomplish under ordinary

circumstances), there is then imminent danger. The vessel falls off

from the wind, and, coming broadside to the sea, is completely at its

mercy: the only resource in this case is to put her quickly before the

wind, letting her scud until some other sail can be set. Some vessels

will lie to under no sail whatever, but such are not to be trusted at

sea.

But to return from this digression. It had never been customary with

the mate to have any watch on deck when lying to in a gale of wind, and

the fact that he had now one, coupled with the circumstance of the

missing axes and handspikes, fully convinced us that the crew were too

well on the watch to be taken by surprise in the manner Peters had

suggested. Something, however, was to be done, and that with as little

delay as practicable, for there could be no doubt that a suspicion

having been once entertained against Peters, he would be sacrificed

upon the earliest occasion, and one would certainly be either found or

made upon the breaking of the gale.

Augustus now suggested that if Peters could contrive to remove, under

any pretext, the piece of chain-cable which lay over the trap in the

stateroom, we might possibly be able to come upon them unawares by

means of the hold; but a little reflection convinced us that the vessel

rolled and pitched too violently for any attempt of that nature.

By good fortune I at length hit upon the idea of working upon the

superstitious terrors and guilty conscience of the mate. It will be

remembered that one of the crew, Hartman Rogers, had died during the

morning, having been attacked two days before with spasms after

drinking some spirits and water. Peters had expressed to us his opinion

that this man had been poisoned by the mate, and for this belief he had

reasons, so he said, which were incontrovertible, but which he could

not be prevailed upon to explain to us—this wayward refusal being only

in keeping with other points of his singular character. But whether or

not he had any better grounds for suspecting the mate than we had

ourselves, we were easily led to fall in with his suspicion, and

determined to act accordingly.

Rogers had died about eleven in the forenoon, in violent convulsions;

and the corpse presented in a few minutes after death one of the most

horrid and loathsome spectacles I ever remember to have seen. The

stomach was swollen immensely, like that of a man who has been drowned

and lain under water for many weeks. The hands were in the same

condition, while the face was shrunken, shrivelled, and of a chalky

whiteness, except where relieved by two or three glaring red splotches,

like those occasioned by the erysipelas: one of these splotches

extended diagonally across the face, completely covering up an eye as

if with a band of red velvet. In this disgusting condition the body had

been brought up from the cabin at noon to be thrown overboard, when the

mate getting a glimpse of it (for he now saw it for the first time),

and being either touched with remorse for his crime or struck with

terror at so horrible a sight, ordered the men to sew the body up in

its hammock, and allow it the usual rites of sea-burial. Having given

these directions he went below, as if to avoid any further sight of his

victim. While preparations were making to obey his orders, the gale

came on with great fury, and the design was abandoned for the present.

The corpse, left to itself, was washed into the larboard scuppers,

where it still lay at the time of which I speak, floundering about with

the furious lurches of the brig.

Having arranged our plan, we set about putting it in execution as

speedily as possible. Peters went upon deck, and, as he had

anticipated, was immediately accosted by Allen, who appeared to be

stationed more as a watch upon the forecastle than for any other

purpose. The fate of this villain, however, was speedily and silently

decided; for Peters, approaching him in a careless manner, as if about

to address him, seized him by the throat, and, before he could utter a

single cry, tossed him over the bulwarks. He then called to us, and we

came up. Our first precaution was to look about for something with

which to arm ourselves, and in doing this we had to proceed with great

care, for it was impossible to stand on deck an instant without holding

fast, and violent seas broke over the vessel at every plunge forward.

It was indispensable, too, that we should be quick in our operations,

for every minute we expected the mate to be up to set the pumps going,

as it was evident the brig must be taking in water very fast. After

searching about for some time, we could find nothing more fit for our

purpose than the two pump-handles, one of which Augustus took, and I

the other. Having secured these, we stripped off the shirt of the

corpse and dropped the body overboard. Peters and myself then went

below, leaving Augustus to watch upon deck, where he took his station

just where Allen had been placed, and with his back to the cabin

companion-way, so that, if any one of the mate’s gang should come up,

he might suppose it was the watch.

As soon as I got below I commenced disguising myself so as to represent

the corpse of Rogers. The shirt which we had taken from the body aided

us very much, for it was of a singular form and character, and easily

recognisable—a kind of smock, which the deceased wore over his other

clothing. It was a blue stockinett, with large white stripes running

across. Having put this on, I proceeded to equip myself with a false

stomach, in imitation of the horrible deformity of the swollen corpse.

This was soon effected by means of stuffing with some bedclothes. I

then gave the same appearance to my hands by drawing on a pair of white

woollen mittens, and filling them in with any kind of rags that offered

themselves. Peters then arranged my face, first rubbing it well over

with white chalk, and afterward splotching it with blood, which he took

from a cut in his finger. The streak across the eye was not forgotten,

and presented a most shocking appearance.

CHAPTER VIII.

As I viewed myself in a fragment of looking-glass which hung up in the

cabin, and by the dim light of a kind of battle-lantern, I was so

impressed with a sense of vague awe at my appearance, and at the

recollection of the terrific reality which I was thus representing,

that I was seized with a violent tremour, and could scarcely summon

resolution to go on with my part. It was necessary, however, to act

with decision, and Peters and myself went upon deck.

We there found everything safe, and, keeping close to the bulwarks, the

three of us crept to the cabin companion-way. It was only partially

closed, precautions having been taken to prevent its being suddenly

pushed to from without, by means of placing billets of wood on the

upper step so as to interfere with the shutting. We found no difficulty

in getting a full view of the interior of the cabin through the cracks

where the hinges were placed. It now proved to have been very fortunate

for us that we had not attempted to take them by surprise, for they

were evidently on the alert. Only one was asleep, and he lying just at

the foot of the companion-ladder, with a musket by his side. The rest

were seated on several mattresses, which had been taken from the berths

and thrown on the floor. They were engaged in earnest conversation; and

although they had been carousing, as appeared from two empty jugs, with

some tin tumblers which lay about, they were not as much intoxicated as

usual. All had knives, one or two of them pistols, and a great many

muskets were lying in a berth close at hand.

We listened to their conversation for some time before we could make up

our minds how to act, having as yet resolved on nothing determinate,

except that we would attempt to paralyze their exertions, when we

should attack them, by means of the apparition of Rogers. They were

discussing their piratical plans, in which all we could hear distinctly

was, that they would unite with the crew of a schooner Hornet, and, if

possible, get the schooner herself into their possession preparatory to

some attempt on a large scale, the particulars of which could not be

made out by either of us.

One of the men spoke of Peters, when the mate replied to him in a low

voice which could not be distinguished, and afterward added more

loudly, that “he could not understand his being so much forward with

the captain’s brat in the forecastle, and he thought the sooner both of

them were overboard the better.” To this no answer was made, but we

could easily perceive that the hint was well received by the whole

party, and more particularly by Jones. At this period I was excessively

agitated, the more so as I could see that neither Augustus nor Peters

could determine how to act. I made up my mind, however, to sell my life

as dearly as possible, and not to suffer myself to be overcome by any

feelings of trepidation.

The tremendous noise made by the roaring of the wind in the rigging and

the washing of the sea over the deck prevented us from hearing what was

said except during momentary lulls. In one of these we all distinctly

heard the mate tell one of the men to “go forward, and order the d----d

lubbers to come into the cabin, where he could have an eye upon them,

for he wanted no such secret doings on board the brig.” It was well for

us that the pitching of the vessel at this moment was so violent as to

prevent this order from being carried into instant execution. The cook

got up from his mattress to go for us, when a tremendous lurch, which I

thought would carry away the masts, threw him headlong against one of

the larboard stateroom doors, bursting it open, and creating a good

deal of other confusion. Luckily, neither of our party was thrown from

his position, and we had time to make a precipitate retreat to the

forecastle, and arrange a hurried plan of action before the messenger

made his appearance, or rather before he put his head out of the

companion-hatch, for he did not come on deck. From this station he

could not notice the absence of Allen, and he accordingly bawled out as

if to him, repeating the orders of the mate. Peters cried out, “Ay,

ay,” in a disguised voice, and the cook immediately went below, without

entertaining a suspicion that all was not right.

My two companions now proceeded boldly aft and down into the cabin,

Peters closing the door after him in the same manner he had found it.

The mate received them with feigned cordiality, and told Augustus that,

since he had behaved himself so well of late, he might take up his

quarters in the cabin, and be one of them for the future. He then

poured him out a tumbler half full of rum, and made him drink it. All

this I saw and heard, for I followed my friends to the cabin as soon as

the door was shut, and took up my old point of observation. I had

brought with me the two pump-handles, one of which I secured near the

companion-way, to be ready for use when required.

I now steadied myself as well as possible so as to have a good view of

all that was passing within, and endeavoured to nerve myself to the

task of descending among the mutineers when Peters should make a signal

to me as agreed upon. Presently he contrived to turn the conversation

upon the bloody deeds of the mutiny, and, by degrees, led the men to

talk of the thousand superstitions which are so universally current

among seamen. I could not make out all that was said, but I could

plainly see the effects of the conversation in the countenances of

those present. The mate was evidently much agitated, and presently,

when some one mentioned the terrific appearance of Rogers’s corpse, I

thought he was upon the point of swooning. Peters now asked him if he

did not think it would be better to have the body thrown overboard at

once, as it was too horrible a sight to see it floundering about in the

scuppers. At this the villain absolutely gasped for breath, and turned

his head slowly round upon his companions, as if imploring some one to

go up and perform the task. No one, however, stirred, and it was quite

evident that the whole party were wound up to the highest pitch of

nervous excitement. Peters now made me the signal. I immediately threw

open the door of the companion-way, and, descending without uttering a

syllable, stood erect in the midst of the party.

The intense effect produced by this sudden apparition is not at all to

be wondered at when the various circumstances are taken into

consideration. Usually, in cases of a similar nature, there is left in

the mind of the spectator some glimmering of doubt as to the reality of

the vision before his eyes; a degree of hope, however feeble, that he

is the victim of chicanery, and that the apparition is not actually a

visitant from the world of shadows. It is not too much to say that such

remnants of doubt have been at the bottom of almost every such

visitation, and that the appalling horror which has sometimes been

brought about, is to be attributed, even in the cases most in point,

and where most suffering has been experienced, more to a kind of

anticipative horror, lest the apparition might possibly be real, than

to an unwavering belief in its reality. But, in the present instance,

it will be seen immediately, that in the minds of the mutineers there

was not even the shadow of a basis upon which to rest a doubt that the

apparition of Rogers was indeed a revivification of his disgusting

corpse, or at least its spiritual image. The isolated situation of the

brig, with its entire inaccessibility on account of the gale, confined

the apparently possible means of deception within such narrow and

definite limits, that they must have thought themselves enabled to

survey them all at a glance. They had now been at sea twenty-four days,

without holding more than a speaking communication with any vessel

whatever. The whole of the crew, too, at least all whom they had the

most remote reason for suspecting to be on board, were assembled in the

cabin, with the exception of Allen, the watch; and his gigantic stature

(he was six feet six inches high) was too familiar in their eyes to

permit the notion that he was the apparition before them to enter their

minds even for an instant. Add to these considerations the

awe-inspiring nature of the tempest, and that of the conversation

brought about by Peters; the deep impression which the loathsomeness of

the actual corpse had made in the morning upon the imaginations of the

men; the excellence of the imitation in my person; and the uncertain

and wavering light in which they beheld me, as the glare of the cabin

lantern, swinging violently to and fro, fell dubiously and fitfully

upon my figure, and there will be no reason to wonder that the

deception had even more than the entire effect which we had

anticipated. The mate sprang up from the mattress on which he was

lying, and, without uttering a syllable, fell back, stone dead, upon

the cabin floor, and was hurled to the leeward like a log by a heavy

roll of the brig. Of the remaining seven there were but three who had

at first any degree of presence of mind. The four others sat for some

time rooted apparently to the floor, the most pitiable objects of

horror and utter despair my eyes ever encountered. The only opposition

we experienced at all was from the cook, John Hunt, and Richard Parker;

but they made but a feeble and irresolute defence. The two former were

shot instantly by Peters, and I felled Parker with a blow on the head

from the pump-handle which I had brought with me. In the mean time

Augustus seized one of the muskets lying on the floor, and shot another

mutineer (---- Wilson) through the breast. There were now but three

remaining; but by this time they had become aroused from their

lethargy, and perhaps began to see that a deception had been practised

upon them, for they fought with great resolution and fury, and, but for

the immense muscular strength of Peters, might have ultimately got the

better of us. These three men were ---- Jones, ---- Greely, and Absalom

Hicks. Jones had thrown Augustus on the floor, stabbed him in several

places along the right arm, and would no doubt have soon despatched him

(as neither Peters nor myself could immediately get rid of our own

antagonists), had it not been for the timely aid of a friend upon whose

assistance we surely had never depended. This friend was no other than

Tiger. With a low growl he bounded into the cabin, at a most critical

moment for Augustus, and throwing himself upon Jones, pinned him to the

floor in an instant. My friend, however, was now too much injured to

render us any aid whatever, and I was so encumbered with my disguise

that I could do but little. The dog would not leave his hold upon the

throat of Jones—Peters, nevertheless, was far more than a match for

the two men who remained, and would, no doubt, have despatched them

sooner, had it not been for the narrow space in which he had to act,

and the tremendous lurches of the vessel. Presently he was enabled to

get hold of a heavy stool, several of which lay about the floor. With

this he beat out the brains of Greely as he was in the act of

discharging a musket at me, and immediately afterward a roll of the

brig throwing him in contact with Hicks, he seized him by the throat,

and, by dint of sheer strength, strangled him instantaneously. Thus, in

far less time than I have taken to tell it, we found ourselves masters

of the brig.

The only person of our opponents who was left alive was Richard Parker.

This man, it will be remembered, I had knocked down with a blow from

the pump-handle at the commencement of the attack. He now lay

motionless by the door of the shattered stateroom; but, upon Peters

touching him with his foot, he spoke, and entreated for mercy. His head

was only slightly cut, and otherwise he had received no injury, having

been merely stunned by the blow. He now got up, and, for the present,

we secured his hands behind his back. The dog was still growling over

Jones; but, upon examination, we found him completely dead, the blood

issuing in a stream from a deep wound in the throat, inflicted, no

doubt, by the sharp teeth of the animal.

It was now about one o’clock in the morning, and the wind was still

blowing tremendously. The brig evidently laboured much more than usual,

and it became absolutely necessary that something should be done with a

view of easing her in some measure. At almost every roll to leeward she

shipped a sea, several of which came partially down into the cabin

during our scuffle, the hatchway having been left open by myself when I

descended. The entire range of bulwarks to larboard had been swept

away, as well as the caboose, together with the jollyboat from the

counter. The creaking and working of the mainmast, too, gave indication

that it was nearly sprung. To make room for more stowage in the after

hold, the heel of this mast had been stepped between decks (a very

reprehensible practice, occasionally resorted to by ignorant

ship-builders), so that it was in imminent danger of working from its

step. But, to crown all our difficulties, we plummed the well, and

found no less than seven feet water.

Leaving the bodies of the crew lying in the cabin, we got to work

immediately at the pumps—Parker, of course, being set at liberty to

assist us in the labour. Augustus’s arm was bound up as well as we

could effect it, and he did what he could, but that was not much.

However, we found that we could just manage to keep the leak from

gaining upon us by having one pump constantly going. As there were only

four of us, this was severe labour; but we endeavoured to keep up our

spirits, and looked anxiously for daybreak, when we hoped to lighten

the brig by cutting away the mainmast.

In this manner we passed a night of terrible anxiety and fatigue, and,

when the day at length broke, the gale had neither abated in the least,

nor were there any signs of its abating. We now dragged the bodies on

deck and threw them overboard. Our next care was to get rid of the

mainmast. The necessary preparations having been made, Peters cut away

at the mast (having found axes in the cabin), while the rest of us

stood by the stays and lanyards. As the brig gave a tremendous

lee-lurch, the word was given to cut away the weather-lanyards, which

being done, the whole mass of wood and rigging plunged into the sea,

clear of the brig, and without doing any material injury. We now found

that the vessel did not labour quite as much as before, but our

situation was still exceedingly precarious, and, in spite of the utmost

exertions, we could not gain upon the leak without the aid of both

pumps. The little assistance which Augustus could render us was not

really of any importance. To add to our distress, a heavy sea, striking

the brig to windward, threw her off several points from the wind, and,

before she could regain her position, another broke completely over

her, and hurled her full upon her beam-ends. The ballast now shifted in

a mass to leeward (the stowage had been knocking about perfectly at

random for some time), and for a few moments we thought nothing could

save us from capsizing. Presently, however, we partially righted; but

the ballast still retaining its place to larboard, we lay so much along

that it was useless to think of working the pumps, which indeed we

could not have done much longer in any case, as our hands were entirely

raw with the excessive labour we had undergone, and were bleeding in

the most horrible manner.

Contrary to Parker’s advice, we now proceeded to cut away the foremast,

and at length accomplished it after much difficulty, owing to the

position in which we lay. In going overboard the wreck took with it the

bowsprit, and left us a complete hulk.

So far we had had reason to rejoice in the escape of our longboat,

which had received no damage from any of the huge seas which had come

on board. But we had not long to congratulate ourselves; for the

foremast having gone, and, of course, the foresail with it, by which

the brig had been steadied, every sea now made a complete breach over

us, and in five minutes our deck was swept from stem to stern, the

longboat and starboard bulwarks torn off, and even the windlass

shattered into fragments. It was, indeed, hardly possible for us to be

in a more pitiable condition.

At noon there seemed to be some slight appearance of the gale’s

abating, but in this we were sadly disappointed, for it only lulled for

a few minutes to blow with redoubled fury. About four in the afternoon

it was utterly impossible to stand up against the violence of the

blast; and, as the night closed in upon us, I had not a shadow of hope

that the vessel would hold together until morning.

By midnight we had settled very deep in the water, which was now up to

the orlop deck. The rudder went soon afterward, the sea which tore it

away lifting the after portion of the brig entirely from the water,

against which she thumped in her descent with such a concussion as

would be occasioned by going ashore. We had all calculated that the

rudder would hold its own to the last, as it was unusually strong,

being rigged as I have never seen one rigged either before or since.

Down its main timber there ran a succession of stout iron hooks, and

others in the same manner down the stern-post. Through these hooks

there extended a very thick wrought-iron rod, the rudder being thus

held to the stern-post, and swinging freely on the rod. The tremendous

force of the sea which tore it off may be estimated by the fact, that

the hooks in the stern-post, which ran entirely through it, being

clinched on the inside, were drawn every one of them completely out of

the solid wood.

We had scarcely time to draw breath after the violence of this shock,

when one of the most tremendous waves I had then ever known broke right

on board of us, sweeping the companion-way clear off, bursting in the

hatchways, and filling every inch of the vessel with water.

CHAPTER IX.

Luckily, just before night, all four of us had lashed ourselves firmly

to the fragments of the windlass, lying in this manner as flat upon the

deck as possible. This precaution alone saved us from destruction. As

it was, we were all more or less stunned by the immense weight of water

which tumbled upon us, and which did not roll from above us until we

were nearly exhausted. As soon as I could recover breath, I called

aloud to my companions. Augustus alone replied, saying, “It is all over

with us, and may God have mercy upon our souls.” By-and-by both the

others were enabled to speak, when they exhorted us to take courage, as

there was still hope; it being impossible, from the nature of the

cargo, that the brig could go down, and there being every chance that

the gale would blow over by the morning. These words inspired me with

new life; for, strange as it may seem, although it was obvious that a

vessel with a cargo of empty oil-casks would not sink, I had been

hitherto so confused in mind as to have overlooked this consideration

altogether; and the danger which I had for some time regarded as the

most imminent was that of foundering. As hope revived within me, I made

use of every opportunity to strengthen the lashings which held me to

the remains of the windlass, and in this occupation I soon discovered

that my companions were also busy. The night was as dark as it could

possibly be, and the horrible shrieking din and confusion which

surrounded us it is useless to attempt describing. Our deck lay level

with the sea, or rather we were encircled with a towering ridge of

foam, a portion of which swept over us every instant. It is not too

much to say that our heads were not fairly out of water more than one

second in three. Although we lay close together, no one of us could see

the other, or, indeed, any portion of the brig itself, upon which we

were so tempestuously hurled about. At intervals we called one to the

other, thus endeavouring to keep alive hope, and render consolation and

encouragement to such of us as stood most in need of it. The feeble

condition of Augustus made him an object of solicitude with us all; and

as, from the lacerated condition of his right arm, it must have been

impossible for him to secure his lashings with any degree of firmness,

we were in momentary expectation of finding that he had gone

overboard—yet to render him aid was a thing altogether out of the

question. Fortunately, his station was more secure than that of any of

the rest of us; for the upper part of his body lying just beneath a

portion of the shattered windlass, the seas, as they tumbled in upon

him, were greatly broken in their violence. In any other situation than

this (into which he had been accidentally thrown after having lashed

himself in a very exposed spot) he must inevitably have perished before

morning. Owing to the brig’s lying so much along, we were all less

liable to be washed off than otherwise would have been the case. The

heel, as I have before stated, was to larboard, about one half of the

deck being constantly under water. The seas, therefore, which struck us

to starboard were much broken by the vessel’s side, only reaching us in

fragments as we lay flat on our faces; while those which came from

larboard, being what are called back-water seas, and obtaining little

hold upon us on account of our posture, had not sufficient force to

drag us from our fastenings.

In this frightful situation we lay until the day broke so as to show us

more fully the horrors which surrounded us. The brig was a mere log,

rolling about at the mercy of every wave; the gale was upon the

increase, if anything, blowing indeed a complete hurricane, and there

appeared to us no earthly prospect of deliverance. For several hours we

held on in silence, expecting every moment that our lashings would

either give way, that the remains of the windlass would go by the

board, or that some of the huge seas, which roared in every direction

around us and above us, would drive the hulk so far beneath the water

that we should be drowned before it could regain the surface. By the

mercy of God, however, we were preserved from these imminent dangers,

and about midday were cheered by the light of the blessed sun. Shortly

afterward we could perceive a sensible diminution in the force of the

wind, when, now for the first time since the latter part of the evening

before, Augustus spoke, asking Peters, who lay closest to him, if he

thought there was any possibility of our being saved. As no reply was

at first made to this question, we all concluded that the hybrid had

been drowned where he lay; but presently, to our great joy, he spoke,

although very feebly, saying that he was in great pain, being so cut by

the tightness of his lashings across the stomach, that he must either

find means of loosening them or perish, as it was impossible that he

could endure his misery much longer. This occasioned us great distress,

as it was altogether useless to think of aiding him in any manner while

the sea continued washing over us as it did. We exhorted him to bear

his sufferings with fortitude, and promised to seize the first

opportunity which should offer itself to relieve him. He replied that

it would soon be too late; that it would be all over with him before we

could help him; and then, after moaning for some minutes, lay silent,

when we concluded that he had perished.

As the evening drew on, the sea had fallen so much that scarcely more

than one wave broke over the hulk from windward in the course of five

minutes, and the wind had abated a great deal, although still blowing a

severe gale. I had not heard any of my companions speak for hours, and

now called to Augustus. He replied, although very feebly, so that I

could not distinguish what he said. I then spoke to Peters and to

Parker, neither of whom returned any answer.

Shortly after this period I fell into a state of partial insensibility,

during which the most pleasing images floated in my imagination; such

as green trees, waving meadows of ripe grain, processions of dancing

girls, troops of cavalry, and other phantasies. I now remember that, in

all which passed before my mind’s eye, motion was a predominant idea.

Thus, I never fancied any stationary object, such as a house, a

mountain, or anything of that kind; but windmills, ships, large birds,

balloons, people on horseback, carriages driving furiously, and similar

moving objects, presented themselves in endless succession. When I

recovered from this state, the sun was, as near as I could guess, an

hour high. I had the greatest difficulty in bringing to recollection

the various circumstances connected with my situation, and for some

time remained firmly convinced that I was still in the hold of the

brig, near the box, and that the body of Parker was that of Tiger.

When I at length completely came to my senses, I found that the wind

blew no more than a moderate breeze, and that the sea was comparatively

calm; so much so that it only washed over the brig amidships. My left

arm had broken loose from its lashings, and was much cut about the

elbow; my right was entirely benumbed, and the hand and wrist swollen

prodigiously by the pressure of the rope, which had worked from the

shoulder downward. I was also in great pain from another rope which

went about my waist, and had been drawn to an insufferable degree of

tightness. Looking round upon my companions, I saw that Peters still

lived, although a thick line was pulled so forcibly around his loins as

to give him the appearance of being cut nearly in two; as I stirred, he

made a feeble motion to me with his hand, pointing to the rope.

Augustus gave no indication of life whatever, and was bent nearly

double across a splinter of the windlass. Parker spoke to me when he

saw me moving, and asked me if I had not sufficient strength to release

him from his situation; saying, that if I would summon up what spirits

I could, and contrive to untie him, we might yet save our lives; but

that otherwise we must all perish. I told him to take courage, and I

would endeavour to free him. Feeling in my pantaloons’ pocket, I got

hold of my penknife, and, after several ineffectual attempts, at length

succeeded in opening it. I then, with my left hand, managed to free my

right from its fastenings, and afterward cut the other ropes which held

me. Upon attempting, however, to move from my position, I found that my

legs failed me altogether, and that I could not get up; neither could I

move my right arm in any direction. Upon mentioning this to Parker, he

advised me to lie quiet for a few minutes, holding on to the windlass

with my left hand, so as to allow time for the blood to circulate.

Doing this, the numbness presently began to die away, so that I could

move first one of my legs, and then the other; and, shortly afterward,

I regained the partial use of my right arm. I now crawled with great

caution towards Parker, without getting on my legs, and soon cut loose

all the lashings about him, when, after a short delay, he also

recovered the partial use of his limbs. We now lost no time in getting

loose the rope from Peters. It had cut a deep gash through the

waistband of his woollen pantaloons, and through two shirts, and made

its way into his groin, from which the blood flowed out copiously as we

removed the cordage. No sooner had we removed it, however, than he

spoke, and seemed to experience instant relief—being able to move with

much greater ease than either Parker or myself—this was no doubt owing

to the discharge of blood.

We had little hope that Augustus would recover, as he evinced no signs

of life; but, upon getting to him, we discovered that he had merely

swooned from loss of blood, the bandages we had placed around his

wounded arm having been torn off by the water; none of the ropes which

held him to the windlass were drawn sufficiently tight to occasion his

death. Having relieved him from the fastenings, and got him clear of

the broken wood about the windlass, we secured him in a dry place to

windward, with his head somewhat lower than his body, and all three of

us busied ourselves in chafing his limbs. In about half an hour he came

to himself, although it was not until the next morning that he gave

signs of recognising any of us, or had sufficient strength to speak. By

the time we had thus got clear of our lashings it was quite dark, and

it began to cloud up, so that we were again in the greatest agony lest

it should come on to blow hard, in which event nothing could have saved

us from perishing, exhausted as we were. By good fortune it continued

very moderate during the night, the sea subsiding every minute, which

gave us great hopes of ultimate preservation. A gentle breeze still

blew from the N. W., but the weather was not at all cold. Augustus was

lashed carefully to windward in such a manner as to prevent him from

slipping overboard with the rolls of the vessel, as he was still too

weak to hold on at all. For ourselves there was no such necessity. We

sat close together, supporting each other with the aid of the broken

ropes about the windlass, and devising methods of escape from our

frightful situation. We derived much comfort from taking off our

clothes and wringing the water from them. When we put them on after

this, they felt remarkably warm and pleasant, and served to invigorate

us in no little degree. We helped Augustus off with his, and wrung them

for him, when he experienced the same comfort.

Our chief sufferings were now those of hunger and thirst, and, when we

looked forward to the means of relief in this respect, our hearts sunk

within us, and we were induced to regret that we had escaped the less

dreadful perils of the sea. We endeavoured, however, to console

ourselves with the hope of being speedily picked up by some vessel, and

encouraged each other to bear with fortitude the evils that might

happen.

The morning of the fourteenth at length dawned, and the weather still

continued clear and pleasant, with a steady but very light breeze from

the N. W. The sea was now quite smooth, and as, from some cause which

we could not determine, the brig did not lie so much along as she had

done before, the deck was comparatively dry, and we could move about

with freedom. We had now been better than three entire days and nights

without either food or drink, and it became absolutely necessary that

we should make an attempt to get up something from below. As the brig

was completely full of water, we went to this work despondingly, and

with but little expectation of being able to obtain anything. We made a

kind of drag by driving some nails which we broke out from the remains

of the companion-hatch into two pieces of wood. Tying these across each

other, and fastening them to the end of a rope, we threw them into the

cabin, and dragged them to and fro, in the faint hope of being thus

able to entangle some article which might be of use to us for food, or

which might at least render us assistance in getting it. We spent the

greater part of the morning in this labour without effect, fishing up

nothing more than a few bedclothes, which were readily caught by the

nails. Indeed, our contrivance was so very clumsy, that any greater

success was hardly to be anticipated.

We now tried the forecastle, but equally in vain, and were upon the

brink of despair, when Peters proposed that we should fasten a rope to

his body, and let him make an attempt to get up something by diving

into the cabin. This proposition we hailed with all the delight which

reviving hope could inspire. He proceeded immediately to strip off his

clothes with the exception of his pantaloons; and a strong rope was

then carefully fastened around his middle, being brought up over his

shoulders in such a manner that there was no possibility of its

slipping. The undertaking was one of great difficulty and danger; for,

as we could hardly expect to find much, if any provision in the cabin

itself, it was necessary that the diver, after letting himself down,

should make a turn to the right, and proceed under water a distance of

ten or twelve feet, in a narrow passage, to the storeroom, and return,

without drawing breath.

Everything being ready, Peters now descended into the cabin, going down

the companion-ladder until the water reached his chin. He then plunged

in, head first, turning to the right as he plunged, and endeavouring to

make his way to the storeroom. In this first attempt, however, he was

altogether unsuccessful. In less than half a minute after his going

down we felt the rope jerked violently (the signal we had agreed upon

when he desired to be drawn up). We accordingly drew him up instantly,

but so incautiously as to bruise him badly against the ladder. He had

brought nothing with him, and had been unable to penetrate more than a

very little way into the passage, owing to the constant exertions he

found it necessary to make in order to keep himself from floating up

against the deck. Upon getting out he was very much exhausted, and had

to rest full fifteen minutes before he could again venture to descend.

The second attempt met with even worse success; for he remained so long

under water without giving the signal, that, becoming alarmed for his

safety, we drew him out without it, and found that he was almost at the

last gasp, having, as he said, repeatedly jerked at the rope without

our feeling it. This was probably owing to a portion of it having

become entangled in the balustrade at the foot of the ladder. This

balustrade was, indeed, so much in the way, that we determined to

remove it, if possible, before proceeding with our design. As we had no

means of getting it away except by main force, we all descended into

the water as far as we could on the ladder, and, giving a pull against

it with our united strength, succeeded in breaking it down.

The third attempt was equally unsuccessful with the two first, and it

now became evident that nothing could be done in this manner without

the aid of some weight with which the diver might steady himself, and

keep to the floor of the cabin while making his search. For a long time

we looked about in vain for something which might answer this purpose;

but at length, to our great joy, we discovered one of the

weather-forechains so loose that we had not the least difficulty in

wrenching it off. Having fastened this securely to one of his ancles,

Peters now made his fourth descent into the cabin, and this time

succeeded in making his way to the door of the steward’s room. To his

inexpressible grief, however, he found it locked, and was obliged to

return without effecting an entrance, as, with the greatest exertion,

he could remain under water not more, at the utmost extent, than a

single minute. Our affairs now looked gloomy indeed, and neither

Augustus nor myself could refrain from bursting into tears, as we

thought of the host of difficulties which encompassed us, and the

slight probability which existed of our finally making an escape. But

this weakness was not of long duration. Throwing ourselves on our knees

to God, we implored his aid in the many dangers which beset us; and

arose with renewed hope and vigour to think what could yet be done by

mortal means towards accomplishing our deliverance.

CHAPTER X.

Shortly afterward an incident occurred which I am induced to look upon

as more intensely productive of emotion, as far more replete with the

extremes first of delight and then of horror, than even any of the

thousand chances which afterward befell me in nine long years, crowded

with events of the most startling, and, in many cases, of the most

unconceived and unconceivable character. We were lying on the deck near

the companion-way, and debating the possibility of yet making our way

into the storeroom, when, looking towards Augustus, who lay fronting

myself, I perceived that he had become all at once deadly pale, and

that his lips were quivering in the most singular and unaccountable

manner. Greatly alarmed, I spoke to him, but he made me no reply, and I

was beginning to think that he was suddenly taken ill, when I took

notice of his eyes, which were glaring apparently at some object behind

me. I turned my head, and shall never forget the ecstatic joy which

thrilled through every particle of my frame, when I perceived a large

brig bearing down upon us, and not more than a couple of miles off. I

sprung to my feet as if a musket bullet had suddenly struck me to the

heart; and, stretching out my arms in the direction of the vessel,

stood in this manner, motionless, and unable to articulate a syllable.

Peters and Parker were equally affected, although in different ways.

The former danced about the deck like a madman, uttering the most

extravagant rhodomontades, intermingled with howls and imprecations,

while the latter burst into tears, and continued for many minutes

weeping like a child.

The vessel in sight was a large hermaphrodite brig, of a Dutch build,

and painted black, with a tawdry gilt figurehead. She had evidently

seen a good deal of rough weather, and, we supposed, had suffered much

in the gale which had proved so disastrous to ourselves; for her

foretopmast was gone, and some of her starboard bulwarks. When we first

saw her, she was, as I have already said, about two miles off and to

windward, bearing down upon us. The breeze was very gentle, and what

astonished us chiefly was, that she had no other sails set than her

foresail and mainsail, with a flying jib—of course she came down but

slowly, and our impatience amounted nearly to phrensy. The awkward

manner in which she steered, too, was remarked by all of us, even

excited as we were. She yawed about so considerably, that once or twice

we thought it impossible she could see us, or imagined that, having

seen us, and discovered no person on board, she was about to tack and

make off in another direction. Upon each of these occasions we screamed

and shouted at the top of our voices, when the stranger would appear to

change for a moment her intention, and again hold on towards us—this

singular conduct being repeated two or three times, so that at last we

could think of no other manner of accounting for it than by supposing

the helmsman to be in liquor.

No person was seen upon her decks until she arrived within about a

quarter of a mile of us. We then saw three seamen, whom by their dress

we took to be Hollanders. Two of these were lying on some old sails

near the forecastle, and the third, who appeared to be looking at us

with great curiosity, was leaning over the starboard bow near the

bowsprit. This last was a stout and tall man, with a very dark skin. He

seemed by his manner to be encouraging us to have patience, nodding to

us in a cheerful although rather odd way, and smiling constantly so as

to display a set of the most brilliantly white teeth. As his vessel

drew nearer, we saw a red flannel cap which he had on fall from his

head into the water; but of this he took little or no notice,

continuing his odd smiles and gesticulations. I relate these things and

circumstances minutely, and I relate them, it must be understood,

precisely as they appeared to us.

The brig came on slowly, and now more steadily than before, and—I

cannot speak calmly of this event—our hearts leaped up wildly within

us, and we poured out our whole souls in shouts and thanksgiving to God

for the complete, unexpected, and glorious deliverance that was so

palpably at hand. Of a sudden, and all at once, there came wafted over

the ocean from the strange vessel (which was now close upon us) a

smell, a stench, such as the whole world has no name for—no conception

of—hellish—utterly suffocating—insufferable, inconceivable. I gasped

for breath, and, turning to my companions, perceived that they were

paler than marble. But we had now no time left for question or

surmise—the brig was within fifty feet of us, and it seemed to be her

intention to run under our counter, that we might board her without her

putting out a boat. We rushed aft, when, suddenly, a wide yaw threw her

off full five or six points from the course she had been running, and,

as she passed under our stern at the distance of about twenty feet, we

had a full view of her decks. Shall I ever forget the triple horror of

that spectacle? Twenty-five or thirty human bodies, among whom were

several females, lay scattered about between the counter and the

galley, in the last and most loathsome state of putrefaction! We

plainly saw that not a soul lived in that fated vessel! Yet we could

not help shouting to the dead for help! Yes, long and loudly did we

beg, in the agony of the moment, that those silent and disgusting

images would stay for us, would not abandon us to become like them,

would receive us among their goodly company! We were raving with horror

and despair—thoroughly mad through the anguish of our grievous

disappointment.

As our first loud yell of terror broke forth, it was replied to by

something, from near the bowsprit of the stranger, so closely

resembling the scream of a human voice that the nicest ear might have

been startled and deceived. At this instant another sudden yaw brought

the region of the forecastle for a moment into view, and we beheld at

once the origin of the sound. We saw the tall stout figure still

leaning on the bulwark, and still nodding his head to and fro, but his

face was now turned from us so that we could not behold it. His arms

were extended over the rail, and the palms of his hands fell outward.

His knees were lodged upon a stout rope, tightly stretched, and

reaching from the heel of the bowsprit to a cathead. On his back, from

which a portion of the shirt had been torn, leaving it bare, there sat

a huge seagull, busily gorging itself with the horrible flesh, its bill

and talons deep buried, and its white plumage spattered all over with

blood. As the brig moved further round so as to bring us close in view,

the bird, with much apparent difficulty, drew out its crimsoned head,

and, after eying us for a moment as if stupified, arose lazily from the

body upon which it had been feasting, and, flying directly above our

deck, hovered there a while with a portion of clotted and liver-like

substance in its beak. The horrid morsel dropped at length with a

sullen splash immediately at the feet of Parker. May God forgive me,

but now, for the first time, there flashed through my mind a thought, a

thought which I will not mention, and I felt myself making a step

towards the ensanguined spot. I looked upward, and the eyes of Augustus

met my own with a degree of intense and eager meaning which immediately

brought me to my senses. I sprang forward quickly, and, with a deep

shudder, threw the frightful thing into the sea.

The body from which it had been taken, resting as it did upon the rope,

had been easily swayed to and fro by the exertions of the carnivorous

bird, and it was this motion which had at first impressed us with the

belief of its being alive. As the gull relieved it of its weight, it

swung round and fell partially over, so that the face was fully

discovered. Never, surely, was any object so terribly full of awe! The

eyes were gone, and the whole flesh around the mouth, leaving the teeth

utterly naked. This, then, was the smile which had cheered us on to

hope! this the—but I forbear. The brig, as I have already told, passed

under our stern, and made its way slowly but steadily to leeward. With

her and with her terrible crew went all our gay visions of deliverance

and joy. Deliberately as she went by, we might possibly have found

means of boarding her, had not our sudden disappointment, and the

appalling nature of the discovery which accompanied it, laid entirely

prostrate every active faculty of mind and body. We had seen and felt,

but we could neither think nor act, until, alas, too late. How much our

intellects had been weakened by this incident may be estimated by the

fact, that, when the vessel had proceeded so far that we could perceive

no more than the half of her hull, the proposition was seriously

entertained of attempting to overtake her by swimming!

I have, since this period, vainly endeavoured to obtain some clew to

the hideous uncertainty which enveloped the fate of the stranger. Her

build and general appearance, as I have before stated, led us to the

belief that she was a Dutch trader, and the dresses of the crew also

sustained this opinion. We might have easily seen the name upon her

stern, and, indeed, taken other observations which would have guided us

in making out her character; but the intense excitement of the moment

blinded us to everything of that nature. From the saffron-like hue of

such of the corpses as were not entirely decayed, we concluded that the

whole of her company had perished by the yellow fever, or some other

virulent disease of the same fearful kind. If such were the case (and I

know not what else to imagine), death, to judge from the positions of

the bodies, must have come upon them in a manner awfully sudden and

overwhelming, in a way totally distinct from that which generally

characterizes even the most deadly pestilences with which mankind are

acquainted. It is possible, indeed, that poison, accidentally

introduced into some of their sea-stores, may have brought about the

disaster; or that the eating some unknown venomous species of fish, or

other marine animal, or oceanic bird, might have induced it—but it is

utterly useless to form conjectures where all is involved, and will, no

doubt, remain for ever involved, in the most appalling and unfathomable

mystery.

CHAPTER XI.

We spent the remainder of the day in a condition of stupid lethargy,

gazing after the retreating vessel until the darkness, hiding her from

our sight, recalled us in some measure to our senses. The pangs of

hunger and thirst then returned, absorbing all other cares and

considerations. Nothing, however, could be done until the morning, and,

securing ourselves as well as possible, we endeavoured to snatch a

little repose. In this I succeeded beyond my expectation, sleeping

until my companions, who had not been so fortunate, aroused me at

daybreak to renew our attempts at getting up provision from the hull.

It was now a dead calm, with the sea as smooth as I have ever known

it—the weather warm and pleasant. The brig was out of sight. We

commenced our operations by wrenching off, with some trouble, another

of the forechains; and having fastened both to Peters’s feet, he again

made an endeavour to reach the door of the storeroom, thinking it

possible that he might be able to force it open, provided he could get

at it in sufficient time; and this he hoped to do, as the hulk lay much

more steadily than before.

He succeeded very quickly in reaching the door, when, loosening one of

the chains from his ankle, he made every exertion to force a passage

with it, but in vain, the framework of the room being far stronger than

was anticipated. He was quite exhausted with his long stay under water,

and it became absolutely necessary that some other one of us should

take his place. For this service Parker immediately volunteered; but,

after making three ineffectual efforts, found that he could never even

succeed in getting near the door. The condition of Augustus’s wounded

arm rendered it useless for him to attempt going down, as he would be

unable to force the room open should he reach it, and it accordingly

now devolved upon me to exert myself for our common deliverance.

Peters had left one of the chains in the passage, and I found, upon

plunging in, that I had not sufficient ballast to keep me firmly down.

I determined, therefore, to attempt no more, in my first effort, than

merely to recover the other chain. In groping along the floor of the

passage for this I felt a hard substance, which I immediately grasped,

not having time to ascertain what it was, but returning and ascending

instantly to the surface. The prize proved to be a bottle, and our joy

may be conceived when I say that it was found to be full of Port wine.

Giving thanks to God for this timely and cheering assistance, we

immediately drew the cork with my penknife, and, each taking a moderate

sup, felt the most indescribable comfort from the warmth, strength, and

spirits with which it inspired us. We then carefully recorked the

bottle, and, by means of a handkerchief, swung it in such a manner that

there was no possibility of its getting broken.

Having rested a while after this fortunate discovery, I again

descended, and now recovered the chain, with which I instantly came up.

I then fastened it on and went down for the third time, when I became

fully satisfied that no exertions whatever, in that situation, would

enable me to force open the door of the storeroom. I therefore returned

in despair.

There seemed now to be no longer any room for hope, and I could

perceive in the countenances of my companions that they had made up

their minds to perish. The wine had evidently produced in them a

species of delirium, which, perhaps, I had been prevented from feeling

by the immersion I had undergone since drinking it. They talked

incoherently, and about matters unconnected with our condition, Peters

repeatedly asking me questions about Nantucket. Augustus, too, I

remember, approached me with a serious air, and requested me to lend

him a pocket-comb, as his hair was full of fish scales, and he wished

to get them out before going on shore. Parker appeared somewhat less

affected, and urged me to dive at random into the cabin, and bring up

any article which might come to hand. To this I consented, and, in the

first attempt, after staying under a full minute, brought up a small

leather trunk belonging to Captain Barnard. This was immediately opened

in the faint hope that it might contain something to eat or drink. We

found nothing, however, except a box of razors and two linen shirts. I

now went down again, and returned without any success. As my head came

above water I heard a crash on deck, and, upon getting up, saw that my

companions had ungratefully taken advantage of my absence to drink the

remainder of the wine, having let the bottle fall in the endeavour to

replace it before I saw them. I remonstrated with them on the

heartlessness of their conduct, when Augustus burst into tears. The

other two endeavoured to laugh the matter off as a joke, but I hope

never again to behold laughter of such a species: the distortion of

countenance was absolutely frightful. Indeed, it was apparent that the

stimulus, in the empty state of their stomachs, had taken instant and

violent effect, and that they were all exceedingly intoxicated. With

great difficulty I prevailed upon them to lie down, when they fell very

soon into a heavy slumber, accompanied with loud stertorous breathing.

I now found myself, as it were, alone in the brig, and my reflections,

to be sure, were of the most fearful and gloomy nature. No prospect

offered itself to my view but a lingering death by famine, or, at the

best, by being overwhelmed in the first gale which should spring up,

for in our present exhausted condition we could have no hope of living

through another.

The gnawing hunger which I now experienced was nearly insupportable,

and I felt myself capable of going to any lengths in order to appease

it. With my knife I cut off a small portion of the leather trunk, and

endeavoured to eat it, but found it utterly impossible to swallow a

single morsel, although I fancied that some little alleviation of my

suffering was obtained by chewing small pieces of it and spitting them

out. Towards night my companions awoke, one by one, each in an

indescribable state of weakness and horror, brought on by the wine,

whose fumes had now evaporated. They shook as if with a violent ague,

and uttered the most lamentable cries for water. Their condition

affected me in the most lively degree, at the same time causing me to

rejoice in the fortunate train of circumstances which had prevented me

from indulging in the wine, and consequently from sharing their

melancholy and most distressing sensations. Their conduct, however,

gave me great uneasiness and alarm; for it was evident that, unless

some favourable change took place, they could afford me no assistance

in providing for our common safety. I had not yet abandoned all idea of

being able to get up something from below; but the attempt could not

possibly be resumed until some one of them was sufficiently master of

himself to aid me by holding the end of the rope while I went down.

Parker appeared to be somewhat more in possession of his senses than

the others, and I endeavoured, by every means in my power, to arouse

him. Thinking that a plunge in the seawater might have a beneficial

effect, I contrived to fasten the end of a rope around his body, and

then, leading him to the companion-way (he remaining quite passive all

the while), pushed him in, and immediately drew him out. I had good

reason to congratulate myself upon having made this experiment; for he

appeared much revived and invigorated, and, upon getting out, asked me,

in a rational manner, why I had so served him. Having explained my

object, he expressed himself indebted to me, and said that he felt

greatly better from the immersion, afterward conversing sensibly upon

our situation. We then resolved to treat Augustus and Peters in the

same way, which we immediately did, when they both experienced much

benefit from the shock. This idea of sudden immersion had been

suggested to me by reading in some medical work the good effect of the

shower-bath in a case where the patient was suffering from _mania à

potu_.

Finding that I could now trust my companions to hold the end of the

rope, I again made three or four plunges into the cabin, although it

was now quite dark, and a gentle but long swell from the northward

rendered the hulk somewhat unsteady. In the course of these attempts I

succeeded in bringing up two case-knives, a three-gallon jug, empty,

and a blanket, but nothing which could serve us for food. I continued

my efforts, after getting these articles, until I was completely

exhausted, but brought up nothing else. During the night Parker and

Peters occupied themselves by turns in the same manner; but nothing

coming to hand, we now gave up this attempt in despair, concluding that

we were exhausting ourselves in vain.

We passed the remainder of this night in a state of the most intense

mental and bodily anguish that can possibly be imagined. The morning of

the sixteenth at length dawned, and we looked eagerly around the

horizon for relief, but to no purpose. The sea was still smooth, with

only a long swell from the northward, as on yesterday. This was the

sixth day since we had tasted either food or drink, with the exception

of the bottle of Port wine, and it was clear that we could hold out but

a very little while longer unless something could be obtained. I never

saw before, nor wish to see again, human beings so utterly emaciated as

Peters and Augustus. Had I met them on shore in their present condition

I should not have had the slightest suspicion that I had ever beheld

them. Their countenances were totally changed in character, so that I

could not bring myself to believe them really the same individuals with

whom I had been in company but a few days before. Parker, although

sadly reduced, and so feeble that he could not raise his head from his

bosom, was not so far gone as the other two. He suffered with great

patience, making no complaint, and endeavouring to inspire us with hope

in every manner he could devise. For myself, although at the

commencement of the voyage I had been in bad health, and was at all

times of a delicate constitution, I suffered less than any of us, being

much less reduced in frame, and retaining my powers of mind in a

surprising degree, while the rest were completely prostrated in

intellect, and seemed to be brought to a species of second childhood,

generally simpering in their expressions, with idiotic smiles, and

uttering the most absurd platitudes. At intervals, however, they would

appear to revive suddenly, as if inspired all at once with a

consciousness of their condition, when they would spring upon their

feet in a momentary flash of vigour, and speak, for a short period, of

their prospects, in a manner altogether rational, although full of the

most intense despair. It is possible, however, that my companions may

have entertained the same opinion of their own condition as I did of

mine, and that I may have unwittingly been guilty of the same

extravagances and imbecilities as themselves—this is a matter which

cannot be determined.

About noon Parker declared that he saw land off the larboard quarter,

and it was with the utmost difficulty I could restrain him from

plunging into the sea with the view of swimming towards it. Peters and

Augustus took little notice of what he said, being apparently wrapped

up in moody contemplation. Upon looking in the direction pointed out I

could not perceive the faintest appearance of the shore—indeed, I was

too well aware that we were far from any land to indulge in a hope of

that nature. It was a long time, nevertheless, before I could convince

Parker of his mistake. He then burst into a flood of tears, weeping

like a child, with loud cries and sobs, for two or three hours, when,

becoming exhausted, he fell asleep.

Peters and Augustus now made several ineffectual efforts to swallow

portions of the leather. I advised them to chew it and spit it out; but

they were too excessively debilitated to be able to follow my advice. I

continued to chew pieces of it at intervals, and found some relief from

so doing; my chief distress was for water, and I was only prevented

from taking a draught from the sea by remembering the horrible

consequences which thus have resulted to others who were similarly

situated with ourselves.

The day wore on in this manner, when I suddenly discovered a sail to

the eastward, and on our larboard bow. She appeared to be a large ship,

and was coming nearly athwart us, being probably twelve or fifteen

miles distant. None of my companions had as yet discovered her, and I

forbore to tell them of her for the present, lest we might again be

disappointed of relief. At length, upon her getting nearer, I saw

distinctly that she was heading immediately for us, with her light

sails filled. I could now contain myself no longer, and pointed her out

to my fellow-sufferers. They immediately sprang to their feet, again

indulging in the most extravagant demonstrations of joy, weeping,

laughing in an idiotic manner, jumping, stamping upon the deck, tearing

their hair, and praying and cursing by turns. I was so affected by

their conduct, as well as by what I now considered a sure prospect of

deliverance, that I could not refrain from joining in with their

madness, and gave way to the impulses of my gratitude and ecstasy by

lying and rolling on the deck, clapping my hands, shouting, and other

similar acts, until I was suddenly called to my recollection, and once

more to the extreme of human misery and despair, by perceiving the ship

all at once with her stern fully presented towards us, and steering in

a direction nearly opposite to that in which I had at first perceived

her.

It was some time before I could induce my poor companions to believe

that this sad reverse in our prospects had actually taken place. They

replied to all my assertions with a stare and a gesture implying that

they were not to be deceived by such misrepresentations. The conduct of

Augustus most sensibly affected me. In spite of all I could say or do

to the contrary, he persisted in saying that the ship was rapidly

nearing us, and in making preparations to go on board of her. Some

seaweed floating by the brig, he maintained that it was the ship’s

boat, and endeavoured to throw himself upon it, howling and shrieking

in the most heartrending manner, when I forcibly restrained him from

thus casting himself into the sea.

Having become in some degree pacified, we continued to watch the ship

until we finally lost sight of her, the weather becoming hazy, with a

light breeze springing up. As soon as she was entirely gone, Parker

turned suddenly towards me with an expression of countenance which made

me shudder. There was about him an air of self-possession which I had

not noticed in him until now, and before he opened his lips my heart

told me what he would say. He proposed, in a few words, that one of us

should die to preserve the existence of the others.

CHAPTER XII.

I had, for some time past, dwelt upon the prospect of our being reduced

to this last horrible extremity, and had secretly made up my mind to

suffer death in any shape or under any circumstances rather than resort

to such a course. Nor was this resolution in any degree weakened by the

present intensity of hunger under which I laboured. The proposition had

not been heard by either Peters or Augustus. I therefore took Parker

aside; and mentally praying to God for power to dissuade him from the

horrible purpose he entertained, I expostulated with him for a long

time and in the most supplicating manner, begging him in the name of

everything which he held sacred, and urging him by every species of

argument which the extremity of the case suggested, to abandon the

idea, and not to mention it to either of the other two.

He heard all I said without attempting to controvert any of my

arguments, and I had begun to hope that he would be prevailed upon to

do as I desired. But when I had ceased speaking, he said that he knew

very well all I had said was true, and that to resort to such a course

was the most horrible alternative which could enter into the mind of

man; but that he had now held out as long as human nature could be

sustained; that it was unnecessary for all to perish, when, by the

death of one, it was possible, and even probable, that the rest might

be finally preserved; adding that I might save myself the trouble of

trying to turn him from his purpose, his mind having been thoroughly

made up on the subject even before the appearance of the ship, and that

only her heaving in sight had prevented him from mentioning his

intention at an earlier period.

I now begged him, if he would not be prevailed upon to abandon his

design, at least to defer it for another day, when some vessel might

come to our relief; again reiterating every argument I could devise,

and which I thought likely to have influence with one of his rough

nature. He said, in reply, that he had not spoken until the very last

possible moment; that he could exist no longer without sustenance of

some kind; and that therefore in another day his suggestion would be

too late, as regarded himself at least.

Finding that he was not to be moved by anything I could say in a mild

tone, I now assumed a different demeanour, and told him that he must be

aware I had suffered less than any of us from our calamities; that my

health and strength, consequently, were at that moment far better than

his own, or than that either of Peters or Augustus; in short, that I

was in a condition to have my own way by force if I found it necessary;

and that, if he attempted in any manner to acquaint the others with his

bloody and cannibal designs, I would not hesitate to throw him into the

sea. Upon this he immediately seized me by the throat, and drawing a

knife, made several ineffectual efforts to stab me in the stomach; an

atrocity which his excessive debility alone prevented him from

accomplishing. In the mean time, being roused to a high pitch of anger,

I forced him to the vessel’s side, with the full intention of throwing

him overboard. He was saved from this fate, however, by the

interference of Peters, who now approached and separated us, asking the

cause of the disturbance. This Parker told before I could find means in

any manner to prevent him.

The effect of his words was even more terrible than what I had

anticipated. Both Augustus and Peters, who, it seems, had long secretly

entertained the same fearful idea which Parker had been merely the

first to broach, joined with him in his design, and insisted upon its

being immediately carried into effect. I had calculated that one at

least of the two former would be found still possessed of sufficient

strength of mind to side with myself in resisting any attempt to

execute so dreadful a purpose; and, with the aid of either one of them,

I had no fear of being able to prevent its accomplishment. Being

disappointed in this expectation, it became absolutely necessary that I

should attend to my own safety, as a further resistance on my part

might possibly be considered by men in their frightful condition a

sufficient excuse for refusing me fair play in the tragedy that I knew

would speedily be enacted.

I now told them I was willing to submit to the proposal, merely

requesting a delay of about one hour, in order that the fog which had

gathered around us might have an opportunity of lifting, when it was

possible that the ship we had seen might be again in sight. After great

difficulty I obtained from them a promise to wait thus long; and, as I

had anticipated (a breeze rapidly coming in), the fog lifted before the

hour had expired, when, no vessel appearing in sight, we prepared to

draw lots.

It is with extreme reluctance that I dwell upon the appalling scene

which ensued; a scene which, with its minutest details, no after events

have been able to efface in the slightest degree from my memory, and

whose stern recollection will imbitter every future moment of my

existence. Let me run over this portion of my narrative with as much

haste as the nature of the events to be spoken of will permit. The only

method we could devise for the terrific lottery, in which we were to

take each a chance, was that of drawing straws. Small splinters of wood

were made to answer our purpose, and it was agreed that I should be the

holder. I retired to one end of the hulk, while my poor companions

silently took up their station in the other with their backs turned

towards me. The bitterest anxiety which I endured at any period of this

fearful drama was while I occupied myself in the arrangement of the

lots. There are few conditions into which man can possibly fall where

he will not feel a deep interest in the preservation of his existence;

an interest momentarily increasing with the frailness of the tenure by

which that existence may be held. But now that the silent, definite,

and stern nature of the business in which I was engaged (so different

from the tumultuous dangers of the storm or the gradually approaching

horrors of famine) allowed me to reflect on the few chances I had of

escaping the most appalling of deaths—a death for the most appalling

of purposes—every particle of that energy which had so long buoyed me

up departed like feathers before the wind, leaving me a helpless prey

to the most abject and pitiable terror. I could not, at first, even

summon up sufficient strength to tear and fit together the small

splinters of wood, my fingers absolutely refusing their office, and my

knees knocking violently against each other. My mind ran over rapidly a

thousand absurd projects by which to avoid becoming a partner in the

awful speculation. I thought of falling on my knees to my companions,

and entreating them to let me escape this necessity; of suddenly

rushing upon them, and, by putting one of them to death, of rendering

the decision by lot useless—in short, of everything but of going

through with the matter I had in hand. At last, after wasting a long

time in this imbecile conduct, I was recalled to my senses by the voice

of Parker, who urged me to relieve them at once from the terrible

anxiety they were enduring. Even then I could not bring myself to

arrange the splinters upon the spot, but thought over every species of

finesse by which I could trick some one of my fellow-sufferers to draw

the short straw, as it had been agreed that whoever drew the shortest

of four splinters from my hand was to die for the preservation of the

rest. Before any one condemn me for this apparent heartlessness, let

him be placed in a situation precisely similar to my own.

At length delay was no longer possible, and, with a heart almost

bursting from my bosom, I advanced to the region of the forecastle,

where my companions were awaiting me. I held out my hand with the

splinters, and Peters immediately drew. He was free—his, at least,

was not the shortest; and there was now another chance against my

escape. I summoned up all my strength, and passed the lots to Augustus.

He also drew immediately, and he also was free; and now, whether I

should live or die, the chances were no more than precisely even. At

this moment all the fierceness of the tiger possessed my bosom, and I

felt towards my poor fellow-creature, Parker, the most intense, the

most diabolical hatred. But the feeling did not last; and, at length,

with a convulsive shudder and closed eyes, I held out the two remaining

splinters towards him. It was full five minutes before he could summon

resolution to draw, during which period of heartrending suspense I

never once opened my eyes. Presently one of the two lots was quickly

drawn from my hand. The decision was then over, yet I knew not whether

it was for me or against me. No one spoke, and still I dared not

satisfy myself by looking at the splinter I held. Peters at length took

me by the hand, and I forced myself to look up, when I immediately saw

by the countenance of Parker that I was safe, and that he it was who

had been doomed to suffer. Gasping for breath, I fell senseless to the

deck.

I recovered from my swoon in time to behold the consummation of the

tragedy in the death of him who had been chiefly instrumental in

bringing it about. He made no resistance whatever, and was stabbed in

the back by Peters, when he fell instantly dead. I must not dwell upon

the fearful repast which immediately ensued. Such things may be

imagined, but words have no power to impress the mind with the

exquisite horror of their reality. Let it suffice to say that, having

in some measure appeased the raging thirst which consumed us by the

blood of the victim, and having by common consent taken off the hands,

feet, and head, throwing them, together with the entrails, into the

sea, we devoured the rest of the body, piecemeal, during the four ever

memorable days of the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and

twentieth of the month.

On the nineteenth, there coming on a smart shower which lasted fifteen

or twenty minutes, we contrived to catch some water by means of a sheet

which had been fished up from the cabin by our drag just after the

gale. The quantity we took in all did not amount to more than half a

gallon; but even this scanty allowance supplied us with comparative

strength and hope.

On the twenty-first we were again reduced to the last necessity. The

weather still remained warm and pleasant, with occasional fogs and

light breezes, most usually from N. to W.

On the twenty-second, as we were sitting close huddled together,

gloomily revolving over our lamentable condition, there flashed through

my mind all at once an idea which inspired me with a bright gleam of

hope. I remembered that, when the foremast had been cut away, Peters,

being in the windward chains, passed one of the axes into my hand,

requesting me to put it, if possible, in a place of security, and that

a few minutes before the last heavy sea struck the brig and filled her

I had taken this axe into the forecastle, and laid it in one of the

larboard berths. I now thought it possible that, by getting at this

axe, we might cut through the deck over the storeroom, and thus readily

supply ourselves with provisions.

When I communicated this project to my companions, they uttered a

feeble shout of joy, and we all proceeded forthwith to the forecastle.

The difficulty of descending here was greater than that of going down

in the cabin, the opening being much smaller, for it will be remembered

that the whole framework about the cabin companion-hatch had been

carried away, whereas the forecastle-way, being a simple hatch of only

about three feet square, had remained uninjured. I did not hesitate,

however, to attempt the descent; and, a rope being fastened round my

body as before, I plunged boldly in, feet foremost, made my way quickly

to the berth, and, at the very first attempt, brought up the axe. It

was hailed with the most ecstatic joy and triumph, and the ease with

which it had been obtained was regarded as an omen of our ultimate

preservation.

We now commenced cutting at the deck with all the energy of rekindled

hope, Peters and myself taking the axe by turns, Augustus’s wounded arm

not permitting him to aid us in any degree. As we were still so feeble

as to be scarcely able to stand unsupported, and could consequently

work but a minute or two without resting, it soon became evident that

many long hours would be requisite to accomplish our task—that is, to

cut an opening sufficiently large to admit of a free access to the

storeroom. This consideration, however, did not discourage us; and,

working all night by the light of the moon, we succeeded in effecting

our purpose by daybreak on the morning of the twenty-third.

Peters now volunteered to go down; and, having made all arrangements as

before, he descended, and soon returned, bringing up with him a small

jar, which, to our great joy, proved to be full of olives. Having

shared these among us, and devoured them with the greatest avidity, we

proceeded to let him down again. This time he succeeded beyond our

utmost expectations, returning instantly with a large ham and a bottle

of Madeira wine. Of the latter we each took a moderate sup, having

learned by experience the pernicious consequences of indulging too

freely. The ham, except about two pounds near the bone, was not in a

condition to be eaten, having been entirely spoiled by the salt water.

The sound part was divided among us. Peters and Augustus, not being

able to restrain their appetite, swallowed theirs upon the instant; but

I was more cautious, and ate but a small portion of mine, dreading the

thirst which I knew would ensue. We now rested a while from our

labours, which had been intolerably severe.

By noon, feeling somewhat strengthened and refreshed, we again renewed

our attempt at getting up provision, Peters and myself going down

alternately, and always with more or less success, until sundown.

During this interval we had the good fortune to bring up, altogether,

four more small jars of olives, another ham, a carboy containing nearly

three gallons of excellent Cape Madeira wine, and, what gave us still

more delight, a small tortoise of the Gallipago breed, several of which

had been taken on board by Captain Barnard, as the Grampus was leaving

port, from the schooner Mary Pitts, just returned from a sealing voyage

in the Pacific.

In a subsequent portion of this narrative I shall have frequent

occasion to mention this species of tortoise. It is found principally,

as most of my readers may know, in the group of islands called the

Gallipagos, which, indeed, derive their name from the animal—the

Spanish word Gallipago meaning a fresh-water terapin. From the

peculiarity of their shape and action they have been sometimes called

the elephant tortoise. They are frequently found of an enormous size. I

have myself seen several which would weigh from twelve to fifteen

hundred pounds, although I do not remember that any navigator speaks of

having seen them weighing more than eight hundred. Their appearance is

singular, and even disgusting. Their steps are very slow, measured, and

heavy, their bodies being carried about a foot from the ground. Their

neck is long, and exceedingly slender; from eighteen inches to two feet

is a very common length, and I killed one, where the distance from the

shoulder to the extremity of the head was no less than three feet ten

inches. The head has a striking resemblance to that of a serpent. They

can exist without food for an almost incredible length of time,

instances having been known where they have been thrown into the hold

of a vessel and lain two years without nourishment of any kind—being

as fat, and, in every respect, in as good order at the expiration of

the time as when they were first put in. In one particular these

extraordinary animals bear a resemblance to the dromedary, or camel of

the desert. In a bag at the root of the neck they carry with them a

constant supply of water. In some instances, upon killing them after a

full year’s deprivation of all nourishment, as much as three gallons of

perfectly sweet and fresh water have been found in their bags. Their

food is chiefly wild parsley and celery, with purslain, sea-kelp, and

prickly pears, upon which latter vegetable they thrive wonderfully, a

great quantity of it being usually found on the hillsides near the

shore wherever the animal itself is discovered. They are excellent and

highly nutritious food, and have, no doubt, been the means of

preserving the lives of thousands of seamen employed in the

whale-fishery and other pursuits in the Pacific.

The one which we had the good fortune to bring up from the storeroom

was not of a large size, weighing probably sixty-five or seventy

pounds. It was a female, and in excellent condition, being exceedingly

fat, and having more than a quart of limpid and sweet water in its bag.

This was indeed a treasure; and, falling on our knees with one accord,

we returned fervent thanks to God for so seasonable a relief.

We had great difficulty in getting the animal up through the opening,

as its struggles were fierce and its strength prodigious. It was upon

the point of making its escape from Peters’s grasp, and slipping back

into the water, when Augustus, throwing a rope with a slip-knot around

its throat, held it up in this manner until I jumped into the hole by

the side of Peters, and assisted him in lifting it out.

The water we drew carefully from the bag into the jug, which, it will

be remembered, had been brought up before from the cabin. Having done

this, we broke off the neck of a bottle so as to form, with the cork, a

kind of glass, holding not quite half a gill. We then each drank one of

these measures full, and resolved to limit ourselves to this quantity

per day as long as it should hold out.

During the last two or three days, the weather having been dry and

pleasant, the bedding we had obtained from the cabin, as well as our

clothing, had become thoroughly dry, so that we passed this night (that

of the twenty-third) in comparative comfort, enjoying a tranquil

repose, after having supped plentifully on olives and ham, with a small

allowance of the wine. Being afraid of losing some of our stores

overboard during the night, in the event of a breeze springing up, we

secured them as well as possible with cordage to the fragments of the

windlass. Our tortoise, which we were anxious to preserve alive as long

as we could, we threw on his back, and otherwise carefully fastened.

CHAPTER XIII.

July 24. This morning saw us wonderfully recruited in spirits and

strength. Notwithstanding the perilous situation in which we were still

placed, ignorant of our position, although certainly at a great

distance from land, without more food than would last us for a

fortnight even with great care, almost entirely without water, and

floating about at the mercy of every wind and wave, on the merest wreck

in the world, still the infinitely more terrible distresses and dangers

from which we had so lately and so providentially been delivered caused

us to regard what we now endured as but little more than an ordinary

evil—so strictly comparative is either good or ill.

At sunrise we were preparing to renew our attempts at getting up

something from the storeroom, when, a smart shower coming on, with some

lightning, we turned our attention to the catching of water by means of

the sheet we had used before for this purpose. We had no other means of

collecting the rain than by holding the sheet spread out with one of

the forechain-plates in the middle of it. The water, thus conducted to

the centre, was drained through into our jug. We had nearly filled it

in this manner, when, a heavy squall coming on from the northward,

obliged us to desist, as the hulk began once more to roll so violently

that we could no longer keep our feet. We now went forward, and,

lashing ourselves securely to the remnant of the windlass as before,

awaited the event with far more calmness than could have been

anticipated, or would have been imagined possible under the

circumstances. At noon the wind had freshened into a two-reef breeze,

and by night into a stiff gale, accompanied with a tremendously heavy

swell. Experience having taught us, however, the best method of

arranging our lashings, we weathered this dreary night in tolerable

security, although thoroughly drenched at almost every instant by the

sea, and in momentary dread of being washed off. Fortunately, the

weather was so warm as to render the water rather grateful than

otherwise.

July 25. This morning the gale had diminished to a mere ten-knot

breeze, and the sea had gone down with it so considerably that we were

able to keep ourselves dry upon the deck. To our great grief, however,

we found that two jars of our olives, as well as the whole of our ham,

had been washed overboard, in spite of the careful manner in which they

had been fastened. We determined not to kill the tortoise as yet, and

contented ourselves for the present with a breakfast on a few of the

olives, and a measure of water each, which latter we mixed, half and

half, with wine, finding great relief and strength from the mixture,

without the distressing intoxication which had ensued upon drinking the

Port. The sea was still far too rough for the renewal of our efforts at

getting up provision from the storeroom. Several articles, of no

importance to us in our present situation, floated up through the

opening during the day, and were immediately washed overboard. We also

now observed that the hulk lay more along than ever, so that we could

not stand an instant without lashing ourselves. On this account we

passed a gloomy and uncomfortable day. At noon the sun appeared to be

nearly vertical, and we had no doubt that we had been driven down by

the long succession of northward and northwesterly winds into the near

vicinity of the equator. Towards evening saw several sharks, and were

somewhat alarmed by the audacious manner in which an enormously large

one approached us. At one time, a lurch throwing the deck very far

beneath the water, the monster actually swam in upon us, floundering

for some moments just over the companion-hatch, and striking Peters

violently with his tail. A heavy sea at length hurled him overboard,

much to our relief. In moderate weather we might have easily captured

him.

July 26. This morning, the wind having greatly abated, and the sea

not being very rough, we determined to renew our exertions in the

storeroom. After a great deal of hard labour during the whole day, we

found that nothing further was to be expected from this quarter, the

partitions of the room having been stove during the night, and its

contents swept into the hold. This discovery, as may be supposed,

filled us with despair.

July 27. The sea nearly smooth, with a light wind, and still from the

northward and westward. The sun coming out hotly in the afternoon, we

occupied ourselves in drying our clothes. Found great relief from

thirst, and much comfort otherwise, by bathing in the sea; in this,

however, we were forced to use great caution, being afraid of sharks,

several of which were seen swimming around the brig during the day.

July 28. Good weather still. The brig now began to lie along so

alarmingly that we feared she would eventually roll bottom up. Prepared

ourselves as well as we could for this emergency, lashing our tortoise,

water-jug, and two remaining jars of olives as far as possible over to

the windward, placing them outside the hull, below the main-chains. The

sea very smooth all day, with little or no wind.

July 29. A continuance of the same weather. Augustus’s wounded arm

began to evince symptoms of mortification. He complained of drowsiness

and excessive thirst, but no acute pain. Nothing could be done for his

relief beyond rubbing his wounds with a little of the vinegar from the

olives, and from this no benefit seemed to be experienced. We did

everything in our power for his comfort, and trebled his allowance of

water.

July 30. An excessively hot day, with no wind. An enormous shark kept

close by the hulk during the whole of the forenoon. We made several

unsuccessful attempts to capture him by means of a noose. Augustus much

worse, and evidently sinking as much from want of proper nourishment as

from the effect of his wounds. He constantly prayed to be released from

his sufferings, wishing for nothing but death. This evening we ate the

last of our olives, and found the water in our jug so putrid that we

could not swallow it at all without the addition of wine. Determined to

kill our tortoise in the morning.

July 31. After a night of excessive anxiety and fatigue, owing to the

position of the hulk, we set about killing and cutting up our tortoise.

He proved to be much smaller than we had supposed, although in good

condition—the whole meat about him not amounting to more than ten

pounds. With a view of preserving a portion of this as long as

possible, we cut it into fine pieces, and filled with them our three

remaining olive-jars and the wine-bottle (all of which had been kept),

pouring in afterward the vinegar from the olives. In this manner we put

away about three pounds of the tortoise, intending not to touch it

until we had consumed the rest. We concluded to restrict ourselves to

about four ounces of the meat per day; the whole would thus last us

thirteen days. A brisk shower, with severe thunder and lightning, came

on about dusk, but lasted so short a time that we only succeeded in

catching about half a pint of water. The whole of this, by common

consent, was given to Augustus, who now appeared to be in the last

extremity. He drank the water from the sheet as we caught it (we

holding it above him as he lay so as to let it run into his mouth), for

we had now nothing left capable of holding water, unless we had chosen

to empty out our wine from the carboy, or the stale water from the jug.

Either of these expedients would have been resorted to had the shower

lasted.

The sufferer seemed to derive but little benefit from the draught. His

arm was completely black from the wrist to the shoulder, and his feet

were like ice. We expected every moment to see him breathe his last. He

was frightfully emaciated; so much so that, although he weighed a

hundred and twenty-seven pounds upon his leaving Nantucket, he now did

not weigh more than forty or fifty at the farthest. His eyes were

sunk far in his head, being scarcely perceptible, and the skin of his

cheeks hung so loosely as to prevent his masticating any food, or even

swallowing any liquid, without great difficulty.

August 1. A continuance of the same calm weather, with an

oppressively hot sun. Suffered exceedingly from thirst, the water in

the jug being absolutely putrid and swarming with vermin. We contrived,

nevertheless, to swallow a portion of it by mixing it with wine—our

thirst, however, was but little abated. We found more relief by bathing

in the sea, but could not avail ourselves of this expedient except at

long intervals, on account of the continual presence of sharks. We now

saw clearly that Augustus could not be saved; that he was evidently

dying. We could do nothing to relieve his sufferings, which appeared to

be great. About twelve o’clock he expired in strong convulsions, and

without having spoken for several hours. His death filled us with the

most gloomy forebodings, and had so great an effect upon our spirits

that we sat motionless by the corpse during the whole day, and never

addressed each other except in a whisper. It was not until some time

after dark that we took courage to get up and throw the body overboard.

It was then loathsome beyond expression, and so far decayed that, as

Peters attempted to lift it, an entire leg came off in his grasp. As

the mass of putrefaction slipped over the vessel’s side into the water,

the glare of phosphoric light with which it was surrounded plainly

discovered to us seven or eight large sharks, the clashing of whose

horrible teeth, as their prey was torn to pieces among them, might have

been heard at the distance of a mile. We shrunk within ourselves in the

extremity of horror at the sound.

August 2. The same fearfully calm and hot weather. The dawn found us

in a state of pitiable dejection as well as bodily exhaustion. The

water in the jug was now absolutely useless, being a thick gelatinous

mass; nothing but frightful-looking worms mingled with slime. We threw

it out, and washed the jug well in the sea, afterward pouring a little

vinegar in it from our bottles of pickled tortoise. Our thirst could

now scarcely be endured, and we tried in vain to relieve it by wine,

which seemed only to add fuel to the flame, and excited us to a high

degree of intoxication. We afterward endeavoured to relieve our

sufferings by mixing the wine with seawater; but this instantly brought

about the most violent retchings, so that we never again attempted it.

During the whole day we anxiously sought an opportunity of bathing, but

to no purpose; for the hulk was now entirely besieged on all sides with

sharks—no doubt the identical monsters who had devoured our poor

companion on the evening before, and who were in momentary expectation

of another similar feast. This circumstance occasioned us the most

bitter regret, and filled us with the most depressing and melancholy

forebodings. We had experienced indescribable relief in bathing, and to

have this resource cut off in so frightful a manner was more than we

could bear. Nor, indeed, were we altogether free from the apprehension

of immediate danger, for the least slip or false movement would have

thrown us at once within reach of these voracious fish, who frequently

thrust themselves directly upon us, swimming up to leeward. No shouts

or exertions on our part seemed to alarm them. Even when one of the

largest was struck with an axe by Peters, and much wounded, he

persisted in his attempts to push in where we were. A cloud came up at

dusk, but, to our extreme anguish, passed over without discharging

itself. It is quite impossible to conceive our sufferings from thirst

at this period. We passed a sleepless night, both on this account and

through dread of the sharks.

August 3. No prospect of relief, and the brig lying still more and

more along, so that now we could not maintain a footing upon deck at

all. Busied ourselves in securing our wine and tortoise-meat, so that

we might not lose them in the event of our rolling over. Got out two

stout spikes from the forechains, and, by means of the axe, drove them

into the hull to windward within a couple of feet of the water; this

not being very far from the keel, as we were nearly upon our beam-ends.

To these spikes we now lashed our provisions, as being more secure than

their former position beneath the chains. Suffered great agony from

thirst during the whole day—no chance of bathing on account of the

sharks, which never left us for a moment. Found it impossible to sleep.

August 4. A little before daybreak we perceived that the hulk was

heeling over, and aroused ourselves to prevent being thrown off by the

movement. At first the roll was slow and gradual, and we contrived to

clamber over to windward very well, having taken the precaution to

leave ropes hanging from the spikes we had driven in for the provision.

But we had not calculated sufficiently upon the acceleration of the

impetus; for presently the heel became too violent to allow of our

keeping pace with it; and, before either of us knew what was to happen,

we found ourselves hurled furiously into the sea, and struggling

several fathoms beneath the surface, with the huge hull immediately

above us.

In going under the water I had been obliged to let go my hold upon the

rope; and finding that I was completely beneath the vessel, and my

strength utterly exhausted, I scarcely made a struggle for life, and

resigned myself, in a few seconds, to die. But here again I was

deceived, not having taken into consideration the natural rebound of

the hull to windward. The whirl of the water upward, which the vessel

occasioned in rolling partially back, brought me to the surface still

more violently than I had been plunged beneath. Upon coming up, I found

myself about twenty yards from the hulk, as near as I could judge. She

was lying keel up, rocking furiously from side to side, and the sea in

all directions around was much agitated, and full of strong whirlpools.

I could see nothing of Peters. An oil-cask was floating within a few

feet of me, and various other articles from the brig were scattered

about.

My principal terror was now on account of the sharks, which I knew to

be in my vicinity. In order to deter these, if possible, from

approaching me, I splashed the water vigorously with both hands and

feet as I swam towards the hulk, creating a body of foam. I have no

doubt that to this expedient, simple as it was, I was indebted for my

preservation; for the sea all around the brig, just before her rolling

over, was so crowded with these monsters, that I must have been, and

really was, in actual contact with some of them during my progress. By

great good fortune, however, I reached the side of the vessel in

safety, although so utterly weakened by the violent exertion I had used

that I should never have been able to get upon it but for the timely

assistance of Peters, who now, to my great joy, made his appearance

(having scrambled up to the keel from the opposite side of the hull),

and threw me the end of a rope—one of those which had been attached to

the spikes.

Having barely escaped this danger, our attention was now directed to

the dreadful imminency of another; that of absolute starvation. Our

whole stock of provision had been swept overboard in spite of all our

care in securing it; and seeing no longer the remotest possibility of

obtaining more, we gave way both of us to despair, weeping aloud like

children, and neither of us attempting to offer consolation to the

other. Such weakness can scarcely be conceived, and to those who have

never been similarly situated will, no doubt, appear unnatural; but it

must be remembered that our intellects were so entirely disordered by

the long course of privation and terror to which we had been subjected,

that we could not justly be considered, at that period, in the light of

rational beings. In subsequent perils, nearly as great, if not greater,

I bore up with fortitude against all the evils of my situation, and

Peters, it will be seen, evinced a stoical philosophy nearly as

incredible as his present childlike supineness and imbecility—the

mental condition made the difference.

The overturning of the brig, even with the consequent loss of the wine

and turtle, would not, in fact, have rendered our situation more

deplorable than before, except for the disappearance of the bedclothes

by which we had been hitherto enabled to catch rainwater, and of the

jug in which we had kept it when caught; for we found the whole bottom,

from within two or three feet of the bends as far as the keel, together

with the keel itself, _thickly covered with large barnacles, which

proved to be excellent and highly nutritious food_. Thus, in two

important respects, the accident we had so greatly dreaded proved a

benefit rather than an injury; it had opened to us a supply of

provisions, which we could not have exhausted, using it moderately, in

a month; and it had greatly contributed to our comfort as regards

position, we being much more at our ease, and in infinitely less

danger, than before.

The difficulty, however, of now obtaining water blinded us to all the

benefits of the change in our condition. That we might be ready to

avail ourselves, as far as possible, of any shower which might fall, we

took off our shirts, to make use of them as we had of the sheets—not

hoping, of course, to get more in this way, even under the most

favourable circumstances, than half a gill at a time. No signs of a

cloud appeared during the day, and the agonies of our thirst were

nearly intolerable. At night Peters obtained about an hour’s disturbed

sleep, but my intense sufferings would not permit me to close my eyes

for a single moment.

August 5. To-day, a gentle breeze springing up carried us through a

vast quantity of seaweed, among which we were so fortunate as to find

eleven small crabs, which afforded us several delicious meals. Their

shells being quite soft, we ate them entire, and found that they

irritated our thirst far less than the barnacles. Seeing no trace of

sharks among the seaweed, we also ventured to bathe, and remained in

the water for four or five hours, during which we experienced a very

sensible diminution of our thirst. Were greatly refreshed, and spent

the night somewhat more comfortably than before, both of us snatching a

little sleep.

August 6. This day we were blessed by a brisk and continual rain,

lasting from about noon until after dark. Bitterly did we now regret

the loss of our jug and carboy; for, in spite of the little means we

had of catching the water, we might have filled one, if not both of

them. As it was, we contrived to satisfy the cravings of thirst by

suffering the shirts to become saturated, and then wringing them so as

to let the grateful fluid trickle into our mouths. In this occupation

we passed the entire day.

August 7. Just at daybreak we both at the same instant descried a

sail to the eastward, and evidently coming towards us! We hailed the

glorious sight with a long, although feeble shout of rapture; and began

instantly to make every signal in our power, by flaring the shirts in

the air, leaping as high as our weak condition would permit, and even

by hallooing with all the strength of our lungs, although the vessel

could not have been less than fifteen miles distant. However, she still

continued to near our hulk, and we felt that, if she but held her

present course, she must eventually come so close as to perceive us. In

about an hour after we first discovered her we could clearly see the

people on her decks. She was a long, low, and rakish-looking topsail

schooner, with a black ball in her foretopsail, and had, apparently, a

full crew. We now became alarmed, for we could hardly imagine it

possible that she did not observe us, and were apprehensive that she

meant to leave us to perish as we were—an act of fiendish barbarity,

which, however incredible it may appear, has been repeatedly

perpetrated at sea, under circumstances very nearly similar, and by

beings who were regarded as belonging to the human species.[2] In this

instance, however, by the mercy of God, we were destined to be most

happily deceived; for presently we were aware of a sudden commotion on

the deck of the stranger, who immediately afterward run up a British

flag, and, hauling her wind, bore up directly upon us. In half an hour

more we found ourselves in her cabin. She proved to be the Jane Guy, of

Liverpool, Captain Guy, bound on a sealing and trading voyage to the

South Seas and Pacific.

[Footnote 2: The case of the brig Polly, of Boston, is one so much in

point, and her fate, in many respects, so remarkably similar to our

own, that I cannot forbear alluding to it here. This vessel, of one

hundred and thirty tons burden, sailed from Boston, with a cargo of

lumber and provisions, for Santa Croix, on the twelfth of December,

1811, under the command of Captain Casneau. There were eight souls on

board besides the captain—the mate, four seamen, and the cook,

together with a Mr. Hunt, and a negro girl belonging to him. On the

fifteenth, having cleared the shoal of Georges, she sprung a leak in a

gale of wind from the southeast, and was finally capsized; but, the

mast going by the board, she afterward righted. They remained in this

situation, without fire, and with very little provision, for the period

of one hundred and ninety-one days (from December the fifteenth to

June the twentieth) when Captain Casneau and Samuel Badger, the only

survivers, were taken off the wreck by the Fame, of Hull, Captain

Featherstone, bound home from Rio Janeiro. When picked up they were in

latitude _28 N., longitude 13 W., having drifted above two thousand

miles_. On the ninth of July the Fame fell in with the brig Dromeo,

Captain Perkins, who landed the two sufferers in Kennebeck. The

narrative from which we gather these details ends in the following

words.

“It is natural to inquire how they could float such a vast distance,

upon the most frequented part of the Atlantic, and not be discovered

all this time. _They were passed by more than a dozen sail, one of

which came so nigh them that they could distinctly see the people on

deck and on the rigging looking at them; but, to the inexpressible

disappointment of the starving and freezing men, they stifled the

dictates of compassion, hoisted sail, and cruelly abandoned them to

their fate._”]

CHAPTER XIV.

The Jane Guy was a fine-looking topsail schooner of a hundred and

eighty tons burden. She was unusually sharp in the bows, and on a wind,

in moderate weather, the fastest sailer I have ever seen. Her

qualities, however, as a rough sea-boat, were not so good, and her

draught of water was by far too great for the trade to which she was

destined. For this peculiar service a larger vessel, and one of a light

proportionate draught, is desirable—say a vessel of from three to

three hundred and fifty tons. She should be barque-rigged, and in other

respects of a different construction from the usual South Sea ships. It

is absolutely necessary that she should be well armed. She should have,

say ten or twelve twelve pound carronades, and two or three long

twelves, with brass blunderbusses, and water-tight arm-chests for each

top. Her anchors and cables should be of far greater strength than is

required for any other species of trade, and, above all, her crew

should be numerous and efficient—not less, for such a vessel as I have

described, than fifty or sixty able-bodied men. The Jane Guy had a crew

of thirty-five, all able seamen, besides the captain and mate, but she

was not altogether as well armed or otherwise equipped as a navigator

acquainted with the difficulties and dangers of the trade could have

desired.

Captain Guy was a gentleman of great urbanity of manner, and of

considerable experience in the southern traffic, to which he had

devoted a great portion of his life. He was deficient, however, in

energy, and, consequently, in that spirit of enterprise which is here

so absolutely requisite. He was part owner of the vessel in which he

sailed, and was invested with discretionary powers to cruise in the

South Seas for any cargo which might come most readily to hand. He had

on board, as usual in such voyages, beads, looking-glasses,

tinder-works, axes, hatchets, saws, adzes, planes, chisels, gouges,

gimlets, files, spokeshaves, rasps, hammers, nails, knives, scissors,

razors, needles, thread, crockery-ware, calico, trinkets, and other

similar articles.

The schooner sailed from Liverpool on the tenth of July, crossed the

Tropic of Cancer on the twenty-fifth, in longitude twenty degrees west,

and reached Sal, one of the Cape Verd Islands, on the twenty-ninth,

where she took in salt and other necessaries for the voyage. On the

third of August she left the Cape Verds and steered southwest,

stretching over towards the coast of Brazil so as to cross the equator

between the meridians of twenty-eight and thirty degrees west

longitude. This is the course usually taken by vessels bound from

Europe to the Cape of Good Hope, or by that route to the East Indies.

By proceeding thus they avoid the calms and strong contrary currents

which continually prevail on the coast of Guinea, while, in the end, it

is found to be the shortest track, as westerly winds are never wanting

afterward by which to reach the Cape. It was Captain Guy’s intention to

make his first stoppage at Kerguelen’s Land—I hardly know for what

reason. On the day we were picked up the schooner was off Cape St.

Roque, in longitude 31 W.; so that, when found, we had drifted

probably, from north to south, not less than five-and-twenty degrees.

On board the Jane Guy we were treated with all the kindness our

distressed situation demanded. In about a fortnight, during which time

we continued steering to the southeast, with gentle breezes and fine

weather, both Peters and myself recovered entirely from the effects of

our late privation and dreadful suffering, and we began to remember

what had passed rather as a frightful dream from which we had been

happily awakened, than as events which had taken place in sober and

naked reality. I have since found that this species of partial oblivion

is usually brought about by sudden transition, whether from joy to

sorrow or from sorrow to joy—the degree of forgetfulness being

proportioned to the degree of difference in the exchange. Thus, in my

own case, I now feel it impossible to realize the full extent of the

misery which I endured during the days spent upon the hulk. The

incidents are remembered, but not the feelings which the incidents

elicited at the time of their occurrence. I only know that, when they

did occur, I then thought human nature could sustain nothing more of

agony.

We continued our voyage for some weeks without any incidents of greater

moment than the occasional meeting with whaling-ships, and more

frequently with the black or right whale, so called in

contradistinction to the spermaceti. These, however, were chiefly found

south of the twenty-fifth parallel. On the sixteenth of September,

being in the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope, the schooner

encountered her first gale of any violence since leaving Liverpool. In

this neighbourhood, but more frequently to the south and east of the

promontory (we were to the westward), navigators have often to contend

with storms from the northward which rage with great fury. They always

bring with them a heavy sea, and one of their most dangerous features

is the instantaneous chopping round of the wind, an occurrence almost

certain to take place during the greatest force of the gale. A perfect

hurricane will be blowing at one moment from the northward or

northeast, and in the next not a breath of wind will be felt in that

direction, while from the southwest it will come out all at once with a

violence almost inconceivable. A bright spot to the southward is the

sure forerunner of the change, and vessels are thus enabled to take the

proper precautions.

It was about six in the morning when the blow came on with a white

squall, and, as usual, from the northward. By eight it had increased

very much, and brought down upon us one of the most tremendous seas I

had then ever beheld. Everything had been made as snug as possible, but

the schooner laboured excessively, and gave evidence of her bad

qualities as a seaboat, pitching her forecastle under at every plunge,

and with the greatest difficulty struggling up from one wave before she

was buried in another. Just before sunset the bright spot for which we

had been on the lookout made its appearance in the southwest, and in an

hour afterward we perceived the little headsail we carried flapping

listlessly against the mast. In two minutes more, in spite of every

preparation, we were hurled on our beam-ends as if by magic, and a

perfect wilderness of foam made a clear breach over us as we lay. The

blow from the southwest, however, luckily proved to be nothing more

than a squall, and we had the good fortune to right the vessel without

the loss of a spar. A heavy cross sea gave us great trouble for a few

hours after this, but towards morning we found ourselves in nearly as

good condition as before the gale. Captain Guy considered that he had

made an escape little less than miraculous.

On the thirteenth of October we came in sight of Prince Edward’s

Island, in latitude 46° 53’ S., longitude 37° 46’ E. Two days afterward

we found ourselves near Possession Island, and presently passed the

islands of Crozet, in latitude 42° 59’ S., longitude 48° E. On the

eighteenth we made Kerguelen’s or Desolation Island, in the Southern

Indian Ocean, and came to anchor in Christmas Harbour, having four

fathoms of water.

This island, or rather group of islands, bears southeast from the Cape

of Good Hope, and is distant therefrom nearly eight hundred leagues. It

was first discovered in 1772, by the Baron de Kergulen, or Kerguelen, a

Frenchman, who, thinking the land to form a portion of an extensive

southern continent, carried home information to that effect, which

produced much excitement at the time. The government, taking the matter

up, sent the baron back in the following year for the purpose of giving

his new discovery a critical examination, when the mistake was

discovered. In 1777, Captain Cook fell in with the same group, and gave

to the principal one the name of Desolation Island, a title which it

certainly well deserves. Upon approaching the land, however, the

navigator might be induced to suppose otherwise, as the sides of most

of the hills, from September to March, are clothed with very brilliant

verdure. This deceitful appearance is caused by a small plant

resembling saxifrage, which is abundant, growing in large patches on a

species of crumbling moss. Besides this plant there is scarcely a sign

of vegetation on the island, if we except some coarse rank grass near

the harbour, some lichen, and a shrub which bears resemblance to a

cabbage shooting into seed, and which has a bitter and acrid taste.

The face of the country is hilly, although none of the hills can be

called lofty. Their tops are perpetually covered with snow. There are

several harbours, of which Christmas Harbour is the most convenient. It

is the first to be met with on the northeast side of the island after

passing Cape François, which forms the northern shore, and, by its

peculiar shape, serves to distinguish the harbour. Its projecting point

terminates in a high rock, through which is a large hole, forming a

natural arch. The entrance is in latitude 48° 40’ S., longitude 69° 6’

E. Passing in here, good anchorage may be found under the shelter of

several small islands, which form a sufficient protection from all

easterly winds. Proceeding on eastwardly from this anchorage you come

to Wasp Bay, at the head of the harbour. This is a small basin,

completely landlocked, into which you can go with four fathoms, and

find anchorage in from ten to three, hard clay bottom. A ship might lie

here with her best bower ahead all the year round without risk. To the

westward, at the head of Wasp Bay, is a small stream of excellent

water, easily procured.

Some seal of the fur and hair species are still to be found on

Kerguelen’s Island, and sea elephants abound. The feathered tribes are

discovered in great numbers. Penguins are very plenty, and of these

there are four different kinds. The royal penguin, so called from its

size and beautiful plumage, is the largest. The upper part of the body

is usually gray, sometimes of a lilach tint; the under portion of the

purest white imaginable. The head is of a glossy and most brilliant

black, the feet also. The chief beauty of the plumage, however,

consists in two broad stripes of a gold colour, which pass along from

the head to the breast. The bill is long, and either pink or bright

scarlet. These birds walk erect, with a stately carriage. They carry

their heads high, with their wings drooping like two arms, and, as

their tails project from their body in a line with the legs, the

resemblance to a human figure is very striking, and would be apt to

deceive the spectator at a casual glance or in the gloom of the

evening. The royal penguins which we met with on Kerguelen’s Land were

rather larger than a goose. The other kinds are the macaroni, the

jackass, and the rookery penguin. These are much smaller, less

beautiful in plumage, and different in other respects.

Besides the penguin many other birds are here to be found, among which

may be mentioned seahens, blue peterels, teal, ducks, Port Egmont hens,

shags, Cape pigeons, the nelly, seaswallows, terns, seagulls, Mother

Carey’s chickens, Mother Carey’s geese, or the great peterel, and,

lastly, the albatross.

The great peterel is as large as the common albatross, and is

carnivorous. It is frequently called the break-bones, or osprey

peterel. They are not at all shy, and, when properly cooked, are

palatable food. In flying they sometimes sail very close to the surface

of the water, with the wings expanded, without appearing to move them

in the least degree, or make any exertion with them whatever.

The albatross is one of the largest and fiercest of the South Sea

birds. It is of the gull species, and takes its prey on the wing, never

coming on land except for the purpose of breeding. Between this bird

and the penguin the most singular friendship exists. Their nests are

constructed with great uniformity, upon a plan concerted between the

two species—that of the albatross being placed in the centre of a

little square formed by the nests of four penguins. Navigators have

agreed in calling an assemblage of such encampments a rookery. These

rookeries have been often described, but, as my readers may not all

have seen these descriptions, and as I shall have occasion hereafter to

speak of the penguin and albatross, it will not be amiss to say

something here of their mode of building and living.

When the season for incubation arrives, the birds assemble in vast

numbers, and for some days appear to be deliberating upon the proper

course to be pursued. At length they proceed to action. A level piece

of ground is selected, of suitable extent, usually comprising three or

four acres, and situated as near the sea as possible, being still

beyond its reach. The spot is chosen with reference to its evenness of

surface, and that is preferred which is the least encumbered with

stones. This matter being arranged, the birds proceed, with one accord,

and actuated apparently by one mind, to trace out, with mathematical

accuracy, either a square or other parallelogram, as may best suit the

nature of the ground, and of just sufficient size to accommodate easily

all the birds assembled, and no more—in this particular seeming

determined upon preventing the access of future stragglers who have not

participated in the labour of the encampment. One side of the place

thus marked out runs parallel with the water’s edge, and is left open

for ingress or egress.

Having defined the limits of the rookery, the colony now begin to clear

it of every species of rubbish, picking up stone by stone, and carrying

them outside of the lines, and close by them, so as to form a wall on

the three inland sides. Just within this wall a perfectly level and

smooth walk is formed, from six to eight feet wide, and extending

around the encampment—thus serving the purpose of a general promenade.

The next process is to partition out the whole area into small squares

exactly equal in size. This is done by forming narrow paths, very

smooth, and crossing each other at right angles throughout the entire

extent of the rookery. At each intersection of these paths the nest of

an albatross is constructed, and a penguin’s nest in the centre of each

square—thus every penguin is surrounded by four albatrosses, and each

albatross by a like number of penguins. The penguin’s nest consists of

a hole in the earth, very shallow, being only just of sufficient depth

to keep her single egg from rolling. The albatross is somewhat less

simple in her arrangements, erecting a hillock about a foot high and

two in diameter. This is made of earth, seaweed, and shells. On its

summit she builds her nest.

The birds take especial care never to leave their nests unoccupied for

an instant during the period of incubation, or, indeed, until the young

progeny are sufficiently strong to take care of themselves. While the

male is absent at sea in search of food, the female remains on duty,

and it is only upon the return of her partner that she ventures abroad.

The eggs are never left uncovered at all—while one bird leaves the

nest, the other nestling in by its side. This precaution is rendered

necessary by the thievish propensities prevalent in the rookery, the

inhabitants making no scruple to purloin each other’s eggs at every

good opportunity.

Although there are some rookeries in which the penguin and albatross

are the sole population, yet in most of them a variety of oceanic birds

are to be met with, enjoying all the privileges of citizenship, and

scattering their nests here and there, wherever they can find room,

never interfering, however, with the stations of the larger species.

The appearance of such encampments, when seen from a distance, is

exceedingly singular. The whole atmosphere just above the settlement is

darkened with the immense number of the albatross (mingled with the

smaller tribes) which are continually hovering over it, either going to

the ocean or returning home. At the same time a crowd of penguins are

to be observed, some passing to and fro in the narrow alleys, and some

marching, with the military strut so peculiar to them, around the

general promenade-ground which encircles the rookery. In short, survey

it as we will, nothing can be more astonishing than the spirit of

reflection evinced by these feathered beings, and nothing surely can be

better calculated to elicit reflection in every well-regulated human

intellect.

On the morning after our arrival in Christmas Harbour the chief mate,

Mr. Patterson, took the boats, and (although it was somewhat early in

the season) went in search of seal, leaving the captain and a young

relation of his on a point of barren land to the westward, they having

some business, whose nature I could not ascertain, to transact in the

interior of the island. Captain Guy took with him a bottle, in which

was a sealed letter, and made his way from the point on which he was

set on shore towards one of the highest peaks in the place. It is

probable that his design was to leave the letter on that height for

some vessel which he expected to come after him. As soon as we lost

sight of him we proceeded (Peters and myself being in the mate’s boat)

on our cruise around the coast, looking for seal. In this business we

were occupied about three weeks, examining with great care every nook

and corner, not only of Kerguelen’s Land, but of the several small

islands in the vicinity. Our labours, however, were not crowned with

any important success. We saw a great many fur seal, but they were

exceedingly shy, and, with the greatest exertions, we could only

procure three hundred and fifty skins in all. Sea elephants were

abundant, especially on the western coast of the main island, but of

these we killed only twenty, and this with great difficulty. On the

smaller islands we discovered a good many of the hair seal, but did not

molest them. We returned to the schooner on the eleventh, where we

found Captain Guy and his nephew, who gave a very bad account of the

interior, representing it as one of the most dreary and utterly barren

countries in the world. They had remained two nights on the island,

owing to some misunderstanding, on the part of the second mate, in

regard to the sending a jollyboat from the schooner to take them off.

CHAPTER XV.

On the twelfth we made sail from Christmas Harbour, retracing our way

to the westward, and leaving Marion’s Island, one of Crozet’s group, on

the larboard. We afterward passed Prince Edward’s Island, leaving it

also on our left; then, steering more to the northward, made, in

fifteen days, the islands of Tristan d’Acunha, in latitude 37° 8’ S.,

longitude 12° 8’ W.

This group, now so well known, and which consists of three circular

islands, was first discovered by the Portuguese, and was visited

afterward by the Dutch in 1643, and by the French in 1767. The three

islands together form a triangle, and are distant from each other about

ten miles, there being fine open passages between. The land in all of

them is very high, especially in Tristan d’Acunha, properly so called.

This is the largest of the group, being fifteen miles in circumference,

and so elevated that it can be seen in clear weather at the distance of

eighty or ninety miles. A part of the land towards the north rises more

than a thousand feet perpendicularly from the sea. A tableland at this

height extends back nearly to the centre of the island, and from this

tableland arises a lofty cone like that of Teneriffe. The lower half of

this cone is clothed with trees of good size, but the upper region is

barren rock, usually hidden among the clouds, and covered with snow

during the greater part of the year. There are no shoals or other

dangers about the island, the shores being remarkably bold and the

water deep. On the northwestern coast is a bay, with a beach of black

sand, where a landing with boats can be easily effected, provided there

be a southerly wind. Plenty of excellent water may here be readily

procured; also cod, and other fish, may be taken with hook and line.

The next island in point of size, and the most westwardly of the group,

is that called the Inaccessible. Its precise situation is 37° 17’ S.

latitude, longitude 12° 24’ W. It is seven or eight miles in

circumference, and on all sides presents a forbidding and precipitous

aspect. Its top is perfectly flat, and the whole region is steril,

nothing growing upon it except a few stunted shrubs.

Nightingale Island, the smallest and most southerly, is in latitude 37°

26’ S., longitude 12° 12’ W. Off its southern extremity is a high ledge

of rocky islets; a few also of a similar appearance are seen to the

northeast. The ground is irregular and steril, and a deep valley

partially separates it.

The shores of these islands abound, in the proper season, with sea

lions, sea elephants, the hair and fur seal, together with a great

variety of oceanic birds. Whales are also plenty in their vicinity.

Owing to the ease with which these various animals were here formerly

taken, the group has been much visited since its discovery. The Dutch

and French frequented it at a very early period. In 1790, Captain

Patten, of the ship Industry, of Philadelphia, made Tristan d’Acunha,

where he remained seven months (from August, 1790, to April, 1791) for

the purpose of collecting sealskins. In this time he gathered no less

than five thousand six hundred, and says that he would have had no

difficulty in loading a large ship with oil in three weeks. Upon his

arrival he found no quadrupeds, with the exception of a few wild

goats—the island now abounds with all our most valuable domestic

animals, which have been introduced by subsequent navigators.

I believe it was not long after Captain Patten’s visit that Captain

Colquhoun, of the American brig Betsey, touched at the largest of the

islands for the purpose of refreshment. He planted onions, potatoes,

cabbages, and a great many other vegetables, an abundance of all which

are now to be met with.

In 1811, a Captain Heywood, in the Nereus, visited Tristan. He found

there three Americans, who were residing upon the islands to prepare

sealskins and oil. One of these men was named Jonathan Lambert, and he

called himself the sovereign of the country. He had cleared and

cultivated about sixty acres of land, and turned his attention to

raising the coffee-plant and sugar-cane, with which he had been

furnished by the American minister at Rio Janeiro. This settlement,

however, was finally abandoned, and in 1817 the islands were taken

possession of by the British government, who sent a detachment for that

purpose from the Cape of Good Hope. They did not, however, retain them

long; but, upon the evacuation of the country as a British possession,

two or three English families took up their residence there

independently of the government. On the twenty-fifth of March, 1824,

the Berwick, Captain Jeffrey, from London to Van Diemen’s Land, arrived

at the place, where they found an Englishman of the name of Glass,

formerly a corporal in the British artillery. He claimed to be supreme

governor of the islands, and had under his control twenty-one men and

three women. He gave a very favourable account of the salubrity of the

climate and of the productiveness of the soil. The population occupied

themselves chiefly in collecting sealskins and sea elephant oil, with

which they traded to the Cape of Good Hope, Glass owning a small

schooner. At the period of our arrival the governor was still a

resident, but his little community had multiplied, there being

fifty-six persons upon Tristan, besides a smaller settlement of seven

on Nightingale Island. We had no difficulty in procuring almost every

kind of refreshment which we required—sheep, hogs, bullocks, rabbits,

poultry, goats, fish in great variety, and vegetables were abundant.

Having come to anchor close in with the large island, in eighteen

fathoms, we took all we wanted on board very conveniently. Captain Guy

also purchased of Glass five hundred sealskins and some ivory. We

remained here a week, during which the prevailing winds were from the

northward and westward, and the weather somewhat hazy. On the fifth of

November we made sail to the southward and westward, with the intention

of having a thorough search for a group of islands called the Auroras,

respecting whose existence a great diversity of opinion has existed.

These islands are said to have been discovered as early as 1762, by the

commander of the ship Aurora. In 1790, Captain Manuel de Oyarvido, in

the ship Princess, belonging to the Royal Philippine Company, sailed,

as he asserts, directly among them. In 1794, the Spanish corvette

Atrevida went with the determination of ascertaining their precise

situation, and, in a paper published by the Royal Hydrographical

Society of Madrid in the year 1809, the following language is used

respecting this expedition. “The corvette Atrevida practised, in their

immediate vicinity, from the twenty-first to the twenty-seventh of

January, all the necessary observations, and measured by chronometers

the difference of longitude between these islands and the port of

Soledad in the Malninas. The islands are three; they are very nearly in

the same meridian; the centre one is rather low, and the other two may

be seen at nine leagues distance.” The observations made on board the

Atrevida give the following results as the precise situation of each

island. The most northern is in latitude 52° 37’ 24” S., longitude 47°

43’ 15” W.; the middle one in latitude 53° 2’ 40” S., longitude 47° 55’

15” W.; and the most southern in latitude 53° 15’ 22” S., longitude 47°

57’ 15” W.

On the twenty-seventh of January, 1820, Captain James Weddel, of the

British navy, sailed from Staten Land also in search of the Auroras. He

reports that, having made the most diligent search, and passed not only

immediately over the spots indicated by the commander of the Atrevida,

but in every direction throughout the vicinity of these spots, he could

discover no indication of land. These conflicting statements have

induced other navigators to look out for the islands; and, strange to

say, while some have sailed through every inch of sea where they are

supposed to lie without finding them, there have been not a few who

declare positively that they have seen them, and even been close in

with their shores. It was Captain Guy’s intention to make every

exertion within his power to settle the question so oddly in

dispute.[3]

[Footnote 3: Among the vessels which at various times have professed to

meet with the Auroras may be mentioned the ship San Miguel, in 1769;

the ship Aurora, in 1774; the brig Pearl, in 1779; and the ship

Dolores, in 1790. They all agree in giving the mean latitude

fifty-three degrees south.]

We kept on our course, between the south and west, with variable

weather, until the twentieth of the month, when we found ourselves on

the debated ground, being in latitude 53° 15’ S., longitude 47° 58’

W.—that is to say, very nearly upon the spot indicated as the

situation of the most southern of the group. Not perceiving any sign of

land, we continued to the westward in the parallel of fifty-three

degrees south, as far as the meridian of fifty degrees west. We then

stood to the north as far as the parallel of fifty-two degrees south,

when we turned to the eastward, and kept our parallel by double

altitudes, morning and evening, and meridian altitudes of the planets

and moon. Having thus gone eastwardly to the meridian of the western

coast of Georgia, we kept that meridian until we were in the latitude

from which we set out. We then took diagonal courses throughout the

entire extent of sea circumscribed, keeping a lookout constantly at the

masthead, and repeating our examination with the greatest care for a

period of three weeks, during which the weather was remarkably pleasant

and fair, with no haze whatsoever. Of course we were thoroughly

satisfied that, whatever islands might have existed in this vicinity at

any former period, no vestige of them remained at the present day.

Since my return home I find that the same ground was traced over with

equal care in 1822 by Captain Johnson, of the American schooner Henry,

and by Captain Morrell, in the American schooner Wasp—in both cases

with the same result as in our own.

CHAPTER XVI.

It had been Captain Guy’s original intention, after satisfying himself

about the Auroras, to proceed through the Strait of Magellan, and up

along the western coast of Patagonia; but information received at

Tristan d’Acunha induced him to steer to the southward, in the hope of

falling in with some small islands said to lie about the parallel of

60° S., longitude 41° 20’ W. In the event of his not discovering these

lands, he designed, should the season prove favourable, to push on

towards the pole. Accordingly, on the twelfth of December, we made sail

in that direction. On the eighteenth we found ourselves about the

station indicated by Glass, and cruised for three days in that

neighbourhood without finding any traces of the islands he had

mentioned. On the twenty-first, the weather being unusually pleasant,

we again made sail to the southward, with the resolution of penetrating

in that course as far as possible. Before entering upon this portion of

my narrative, it may be as well, for the information of those readers

who have paid little attention to the progress of discovery in these

regions, to give some brief account of the very few attempts at

reaching the southern pole which have hitherto been made.

That of Captain Cook was the first of which we have any distinct

account. In 1772 he sailed to the south in the Resolution, accompanied

by Lieutenant Furneaux in the Adventure. In December he found himself

as far as the fifty-eighth parallel of south latitude, and in longitude

26° 57’ E. Here he met with narrow fields of ice, about eight or ten

inches thick, and running northwest and southeast. This ice was in

large cakes, and usually it was packed so closely that the vessels had

great difficulty in forcing a passage. At this period Captain Cook

supposed, from the vast number of birds to be seen, and from other

indications, that he was in the near vicinity of land. He kept on to

the southward, the weather being exceedingly cold, until he reached the

sixty-fourth parallel, in longitude 38° 14’ E. Here he had mild

weather, with gentle breezes, for five days, the thermometer being at

thirty-six. In January, 1773, the vessels crossed the Antarctic circle,

but did not succeed in penetrating much farther; for, upon reaching

latitude 67° 15’, they found all farther progress impeded by an immense

body of ice, extending all along the southern horizon as far as the eye

could reach. This ice was of every variety—and some large floes of it,

miles in extent, formed a compact mass, rising eighteen or twenty feet

above the water. It being late in the season, and no hope entertained

of rounding these obstructions, Captain Cook now reluctantly turned to

the northward.

In the November following he renewed his search in the Antarctic. In

latitude 59° 40’ he met with a strong current setting to the southward.

In December, when the vessels were in latitude 67° 31’, longitude 142°

54’ W., the cold was excessive, with heavy gales and fog. Here also

birds were abundant; the albatross, the penguin, and the peterel

especially. In latitude 70° 23’ some large islands of ice were

encountered, and shortly afterward, the clouds to the southward were

observed to be of a snowy whiteness, indicating the vicinity of field

ice. In latitude 71° 10’, longitude 106° 54’ W., the navigators were

stopped, as before, by an immense frozen expanse, which filled the

whole area of the southern horizon. The northern edge of this expanse

was ragged and broken, so firmly wedged together as to be utterly

impassable, and extending about a mile to the southward. Behind it the

frozen surface was comparatively smooth for some distance, until

terminated in the extreme back-ground by gigantic ranges of ice

mountains, the one towering above the other. Captain Cook concluded

that this vast field reached the southern pole or was joined to a

continent. Mr. J. N. Reynolds, whose great exertions and perseverance

have at length succeeded in getting set on foot a national expedition,

partly for the purpose of exploring these regions, thus speaks of the

attempt of the Resolution. “We are not surprised that Captain Cook was

unable to go beyond 71° 10’, but we are astonished that he did attain

that point on the meridian of 106° 54’ west longitude. Palmer’s Land

lies south of the Shetland, latitude sixty-four degrees, and tends to

the southward and westward farther than any navigator has yet

penetrated. Cook was standing for this land when his progress was

arrested by the ice; which, we apprehend, must always be the case in

that point, and so early in the season as the sixth of January—and we

should not be surprised if a portion of the icy mountains described was

attached to the main body of Palmer’s Land, or to some other portions

of land lying farther to the southward and westward.”

In 1803, Captains Kreutzenstern and Lisiausky were despatched by

Alexander of Russia for the purpose of circumnavigating the globe. In

endeavouring to get south, they made no farther than 59° 58’, in

longitude 70° 15’ W. They here met with strong currents setting

eastwardly. Whales were abundant, but they saw no ice. In regard to

this voyage, Mr. Reynolds observes that, if Kreutzenstern had arrived

where he did earlier in the season, he must have encountered ice—it

was March when he reached the latitude specified. The winds prevailing,

as they do, from the southward and westward, had carried the floes,

aided by currents, into that icy region bounded on the north by

Georgia, east by Sandwich Land and the South Orkneys, and west by the

South Shetland Islands.

In 1822, Captain James Weddell, of the British navy, with two very

small vessels, penetrated farther to the south than any previous

navigator, and this too, without encountering extraordinary

difficulties. He states that although he was frequently hemmed in by

ice before reaching the seventy-second parallel, yet, upon attaining

it, not a particle was to be discovered, and that, upon arriving at the

latitude of 74° 15’, no fields, and only three islands of ice were

visible. It is somewhat remarkable that, although vast flocks of birds

were seen, and other usual indications of land, and although, south of

the Shetlands, unknown coasts were observed from the masthead tending

southwardly, Weddell discourages the idea of land existing in the polar

regions of the south.

On the eleventh of January, 1823, Captain Benjamin Morrell, of the

American schooner Wasp, sailed from Kerguelen’s Land with a view of

penetrating as far south as possible. On the first of February he found

himself in latitude 64° 52’ S., longitude 118° 27’ E. The following

passage is extracted from his journal of that date. “The wind soon

freshened to an eleven-knot breeze, and we embraced this opportunity of

making to the west; being however convinced that the farther we went

south beyond latitude sixty-four degrees the less ice was to be

apprehended, we steered a little to the southward, until we crossed the

Antarctic circle, and were in latitude 69° 15’ E. In this latitude

there was no field ice, and very few ice islands in sight.”

Under the date of March fourteenth I find also this entry. “The sea was

now entirely free of field ice, and there were not more than a dozen

ice islands in sight. At the same time the temperature of the air and

water was at least thirteen degrees higher (more mild) than we had ever

found it between the parallels of sixty and sixty-two south. We were

now in latitude 70° 14’ S., and the temperature of the air was

forty-seven, and that of the water forty-four. In this situation I

found the variation to be 14° 27’ easterly, per azimuth… I have

several times passed within the Antarctic circle on different

meridians, and have uniformly found the temperature, both of the air

and the water, to become more and more mild the farther I advanced

beyond the sixty-fifth degree of south latitude, and that the variation

decreases in the same proportion. While north of this latitude, say

between sixty and sixty-five south, we frequently had great difficulty

in finding a passage for the vessel between the immense and almost

innumerable ice islands, some of which were from one to two miles in

circumference, and more than five hundred feet above the surface of the

water.”

Being nearly destitute of fuel and water, and without proper

instruments, it being also late in the season, Captain Morrell was now

obliged to put back, without attempting any farther progress to the

southward, although an entirely open sea lay before him. He expresses

the opinion that, had not these overruling considerations obliged him

to retreat, he could have penetrated, if not to the pole itself, at

least to the eighty-fifth parallel. I have given his ideas respecting

these matters somewhat at length, that the reader may have an

opportunity of seeing how far they were borne out by my own subsequent

experience.

In 1831, Captain Briscoe, in the employ of the Messieurs Enderby,

whale-ship owners of London, sailed in the brig Lively for the South

Seas, accompanied by the cutter Tula. On the twenty-eighth of February,

being in latitude 66° 30’ S., longitude 47° 31’ E., he descried land,

and “clearly discovered through the snow the black peaks of a range of

mountains running E. S. E.” He remained in this neighbourhood during

the whole of the following month, but was unable to approach the coast

nearer than within ten leagues, owing to the boisterous state of the

weather. Finding it impossible to make farther discovery during this

season, he returned northward to winter in Van Diemen’s Land.

In the beginning of 1832 he again proceeded southwardly, and on the

fourth of February land was seen to the southeast in latitude 67° 15’,

longitude 69° 29’ W. This was soon found to be an island near the

headland of the country he had first discovered. On the twenty-first of

the month he succeeded in landing on the latter, and took possession of

it in the name of William IV., calling it Adelaide’s Island, in honour

of the English queen. These particulars being made known to the Royal

Geographical Society of London, the conclusion was drawn by that body

“that there is a continuous tract of land extending from 47° 30’ E. to

69° 29’ W. longitude, running the parallel of from sixty-six to

sixty-seven degrees south latitude.” In respect to this conclusion Mr.

Reynolds observes, “In the correctness of it we by no means concur; nor

do the discoveries of Briscoe warrant any such inference. It was within

these limits that Weddell proceeded south on a meridian to the east of

Georgia, Sandwich Land, and the South Orkney and Shetland Islands.” My

own experience will be found to testify most directly to the falsity of

the conclusion arrived at by the society.

These are the principal attempts which have been made at penetrating to

a high southern latitude, and it will now be seen that there remained,

previous to the voyage of the Jane, nearly three hundred degrees of

longitude in which the Antarctic circle had not been crossed at all. Of

course a wide field lay before us for discovery, and it was with

feelings of most intense interest that I heard Captain Guy express his

resolution of pushing boldly to the southward.

CHAPTER XVII.

We kept our course southwardly for four days after giving up the search

for Glass’s Islands, without meeting with any ice at all. On the

twenty-sixth, at noon, we were in latitude 63° 23’ S., longitude 41°

25’ W. We now saw several large ice islands, and a floe of field ice,

not, however, of any great extent. The winds generally blew from the

southeast, or the northeast, but were very light. Whenever we had a

westerly wind, which was seldom, it was invariably attended with a rain

squall. Every day we had more or less snow. The thermometer, on the

twenty-seventh, stood at thirty-five.

January 1, 1828. This day we found ourselves completely hemmed in by

the ice, and our prospects looked cheerless indeed. A strong gale blew,

during the whole forenoon, from the northeast, and drove large cakes of

the drift against the rudder and counter with such violence that we all

trembled for the consequences. Towards evening, the gale still blowing

with fury, a large field in front separated, and we were enabled, by

carrying a press of sail, to force a passage through the smaller flakes

into some open water beyond. As we approached this space we took in

sail by degrees, and having at length got clear, lay to under a single

reefed foresail.

January 2. We had now tolerably pleasant weather. At noon we found

ourselves in latitude 69° 10’ S., longitude 42° 20’ W., having crossed

the Antarctic circle. Very little ice was to be seen to the southward,

although large fields of it lay behind us. This day we rigged some

sounding gear, using a large iron pot capable of holding twenty

gallons, and a line of two hundred fathoms. We found the current

setting to the north, about a quarter of a mile per hour. The

temperature of the air was now about thirty-three. Here we found the

variation to be 14° 28’ easterly, per azimuth.

January 5. We had still held on to the southward without any very

great impediments. On this morning, however, being in latitude 73° 15’

E., longitude 42° 10’ W., we were again brought to a stand by an

immense expanse of firm ice. We saw, nevertheless, much open water to

the southward, and felt no doubt of being able to reach it eventually.

Standing to the eastward along the edge of the floe, we at length came

to a passage of about a mile in width, through which we warped our way

by sundown. The sea in which we now were was thickly covered with ice

islands, but had no field ice, and we pushed on boldly as before. The

cold did not seem to increase, although we had snow very frequently,

and now and then hail squalls of great violence. Immense flocks of the

albatross flew over the schooner this day, going from southeast to

northwest.

January 7. The sea still remained pretty well open, so that we had no

difficulty in holding on our course. To the westward we saw some

icebergs of incredible size, and in the afternoon passed very near one

whose summit could not have been less than four hundred fathoms from

the surface of the ocean. Its girth was probably, at the base, three

quarters of a league, and several streams of water were running from

crevices in its sides. We remained in sight of this island two days,

and then only lost it in a fog.

January 10. Early this morning we had the misfortune to lose a man

overboard. He was an American, named Peter Vredenburgh, a native of

New-York, and was one of the most valuable hands on board the schooner.

In going over the bows his foot slipped, and he fell between two cakes

of ice, never rising again. At noon of this day we were in latitude 78°

30’, longitude 40° 15’ W. The cold was now excessive, and we had hail

squalls continually from the northward and eastward. In this direction

also we saw several more immense icebergs, and the whole horizon to the

eastward appeared to be blocked up with field ice, rising in tiers, one

mass above the other. Some driftwood floated by during the evening, and

a great quantity of birds flew over, among which were Nellies,

peterels, albatrosses, and a large bird of a brilliant blue plumage.

The variation here, per azimuth, was less than it had been previously

to our passing the Antarctic circle.

January 12. Our passage to the south again looked doubtful, as

nothing was to be seen in the direction of the pole but one apparently

limitless floe, backed by absolute mountains of ragged ice, one

precipice of which arose frowningly above the other. We stood to the

westward until the fourteenth, in the hope of finding an entrance.

January 14. This morning we reached the western extremity of the

field which had impeded us, and, weathering it, came to an open sea,

without a particle of ice. Upon sounding with two hundred fathoms, we

here found a current setting southwardly at the rate of half a mile per

hour. The temperature of the air was forty-seven, that of the water

thirty-four. We now sailed to the southward, without meeting any

interruption of moment until the sixteenth, when, at noon, we were in

latitude 81° 21’, longitude 42° W. We here again sounded, and found a

current setting still southwardly, and at the rate of three quarters of

a mile per hour. The variation per azimuth had diminished, and the

temperature of the air was mild and pleasant, the thermometer being as

high as fifty-one. At this period not a particle of ice was to be

discovered. All hands on board now felt certain of attaining the pole.

January 17. This day was full of incident. Innumerable flights of

birds flew over us from the southward, and several were shot from the

deck; one of them, a species of pelican, proved to be excellent eating.

About midday a small floe of ice was seen from the masthead off the

larboard bow, and upon it there appeared to be some large animal. As

the weather was good and nearly calm, Captain Guy ordered out two of

the boats to see what it was. Dirk Peters and myself accompanied the

mate in the larger boat. Upon coming up with the floe, we perceived

that it was in the possession of a gigantic creature of the race of the

Arctic bear, but far exceeding in size the largest of these animals.

Being well armed, we made no scruple of attacking it at once. Several

shots were fired in quick succession, the most of which took effect,

apparently, in the head and body. Nothing discouraged, however, the

monster threw himself from the ice, and swam, with open jaws, to the

boat in which were Peters and myself. Owing to the confusion which

ensued among us at this unexpected turn of the adventure, no person was

ready immediately with a second shot, and the bear had actually

succeeded in getting half his vast bulk across our gunwale, and seizing

one of the men by the small of his back, before any efficient means

were taken to repel him. In this extremity nothing but the promptness

and agility of Peters saved us from destruction. Leaping upon the back

of the huge beast, he plunged the blade of a knife behind the neck,

reaching the spinal marrow at a blow. The brute tumbled into the sea

lifeless, and without a struggle, rolling over Peters as he fell. The

latter soon recovered himself, and a rope being thrown him, he secured

the carcass before entering the boat. We then returned in triumph to

the schooner, towing our trophy behind us. This bear, upon

admeasurement, proved to be full fifteen feet in his greatest length.

His wool was perfectly white, and very coarse, curling tightly. The

eyes were of a blood red, and larger than those of the Arctic bear—the

snout also more rounded, rather resembling the snout of the bulldog.

The meat was tender, but excessively rank and fishy, although the men

devoured it with avidity, and declared it excellent eating.

Scarcely had we got our prize alongside, when the man at the masthead

gave the joyful shout of “land on the starboard bow!” All hands were

now upon the alert, and, a breeze springing up very opportunely from

the northward and eastward, we were soon close in with the coast. It

proved to be a low rocky islet, of about a league in circumference, and

altogether destitute of vegetation, if we except a species of prickly

pear. In approaching it from the northward, a singular ledge of rock is

seen projecting into the sea, and bearing a strong resemblance to

corded bales of cotton. Around this ledge to the westward is a small

bay, at the bottom of which our boats effected a convenient landing.

It did not take us long to explore every portion of the island, but,

with one exception, we found nothing worthy of observation. In the

southern extremity, we picked up near the shore, half buried in a pile

of loose stones, a piece of wood, which seemed to have formed the prow

of a canoe. There had been evidently some attempt at carving upon it,

and Captain Guy fancied that he made out the figure of a tortoise, but

the resemblance did not strike me very forcibly. Besides this prow, if

such it were, we found no other token that any living creature had ever

been here before. Around the coast we discovered occasional small floes

of ice—but these were very few. The exact situation of this islet (to

which Captain Guy gave the name of Bennet’s Islet, in honour of his

partner in the ownership of the schooner) is 82° 50’ S. latitude, 42°

20’ W. longitude.

We had now advanced to the southward more than eight degrees farther

than any previous navigators, and the sea still lay perfectly open

before us. We found, too, that the variation uniformly decreased as we

proceeded, and, what was still more surprising, that the temperature of

the air, and latterly of the water, became milder. The weather might

even be called pleasant, and we had a steady but very gentle breeze

always from some northern point of the compass. The sky was usually

clear, with now and then a slight appearance of thin vapour in the

southern horizon—this, however, was invariably of brief duration. Two

difficulties alone presented themselves to our view; we were getting

short of fuel, and symptoms of scurvy had occurred among several of the

crew. These considerations began to impress upon Captain Guy the

necessity of returning, and he spoke of it frequently. For my own part,

confident as I was of soon arriving at land of some description upon

the course we were pursuing, and having every reason to believe, from

present appearances, that we should not find it the steril soil met

with in the higher Arctic latitudes, I warmly pressed upon him the

expediency of persevering, at least for a few days longer, in the

direction we were now holding. So tempting an opportunity of solving

the great problem in regard to an Antarctic continent had never yet

been afforded to man, and I confess that I felt myself bursting with

indignation at the timid and ill-timed suggestions of our commander. I

believe, indeed, that what I could not refrain from saying to him on

this head had the effect of inducing him to push on. While, therefore,

I cannot but lament the most unfortunate and bloody events which

immediately arose from my advice, I must still be allowed to feel some

degree of gratification at having been instrumental, however remotely,

in opening to the eye of science one of the most intensely exciting

secrets which has ever engrossed its attention.

CHAPTER XVIII.

January 18. This morning[4] we continued to the southward, with the

same pleasant weather as before. The sea was entirely smooth, the air

tolerably warm and from the northeast, the temperature of the water

fifty-three. We now again got our sounding-gear in order, and, with a

hundred and fifty fathoms of line, found the current setting towards

the pole at the rate of a mile an hour. This constant tendency to the

southward, both in the wind and current, caused some degree of

speculation, and even of alarm, in different quarters of the schooner,

and I saw distinctly that no little impression had been made upon the

mind of Captain Guy. He was exceedingly sensitive to ridicule, however,

and I finally succeeded in laughing him out of his apprehensions. The

variation was now very trivial. In the course of the day we saw several

large whales of the right species, and innumerable flights of the

albatross passed over the vessel. We also picked up a bush, full of red

berries, like those of the hawthorn, and the carcass of a

singular-looking land-animal. It was three feet in length, and but six

inches in height, with four very short legs, the feet armed with long

claws of a brilliant scarlet, and resembling coral in substance. The

body was covered with a straight silky hair, perfectly white. The tail

was peaked like that of a rat, and about a foot and a half long. The

head resembled a cat’s, with the exception of the ears—these were

flapped like the ears of a dog. The teeth were of the same brilliant

scarlet as the claws.

[Footnote 4: The terms morning and evening, which I have made use

of to avoid confusion in my narrative, as far as possible, must not, of

course, be taken in their ordinary sense. For a long time past we had

had no night at all, the daylight being continual. The dates throughout

are according to nautical time, and the bearings must be understood as

per compass. I would also remark in this place, that I cannot, in the

first portion of what is here written, pretend to strict accuracy in

respect to dates, or latitudes and longitudes, having kept no regular

journal until after the period of which this first portion treats. In

many instances I have relied altogether upon memory.]

January 19. To-day, being in latitude 83° 20’, longitude 43° 5’ W.

(the sea being of an extraordinarily dark colour), we again saw land

from the masthead, and, upon a closer scrutiny, found it to be one of a

group of very large islands. The shore was precipitous, and the

interior seemed to be well wooded, a circumstance which occasioned us

great joy. In about four hours from our first discovering the land we

came to anchor in ten fathoms, sandy bottom, a league from the coast,

as a high surf, with strong ripples here and there, rendered a nearer

approach of doubtful expediency. The two largest boats were now ordered

out, and a party, well armed (among whom were Peters and myself),

proceeded to look for an opening in the reef which appeared to encircle

the island. After searching about for some time, we discovered an

inlet, which we were entering, when we saw four large canoes put off

from the shore, filled with men who seemed to be well armed. We waited

for them to come up, and, as they moved with great rapidity, they were

soon within hail. Captain Guy now held up a white handkerchief on the

blade of an oar, when the strangers made a full stop, and commenced a

loud jabbering all at once, intermingled with occasional shouts, in

which we could distinguish the words Anamoo-moo! and Lama-Lama!

They continued this for at least half an hour, during which we had a

good opportunity of observing their appearance.

In the four canoes, which might have been fifty feet long and five

broad, there were a hundred and ten savages in all. They were about the

ordinary stature of Europeans, but of a more muscular and brawny frame.

Their complexion a jet black, with thick and long woolly hair. They

were clothed in skins of an unknown black animal, shaggy and silky, and

made to fit the body with some degree of skill, the hair being inside,

except where turned out about the neck, wrists, and ankles. Their arms

consisted principally of clubs, of a dark, and apparently very heavy

wood. Some spears, however, were observed among them, headed with

flint, and a few slings. The bottoms of the canoes were full of black

stones about the size of a large egg.

When they had concluded their harangue (for it was clear they intended

their jabbering for such), one of them who seemed to be the chief stood

up in the prow of his canoe, and made signs for us to bring our boats

alongside of him. This hint we pretended not to understand, thinking it

the wiser plan to maintain, if possible, the interval between us, as

their number more than quadrupled our own. Finding this to be the case,

the chief ordered the three other canoes to hold back, while he

advanced towards us with his own. As soon as he came up with us he

leaped on board the largest of our boats, and seated himself by the

side of Captain Guy, pointing at the same time to the schooner, and

repeating the words Anamoo-moo! and Lama-Lama! We now put back to

the vessel, the four canoes following at a little distance.

Upon getting alongside the chief evinced symptoms of extreme surprise

and delight, clapping his hands, slapping his thighs and breast, and

laughing obstreperously. His followers behind joined in his merriment,

and for some minutes the din was so excessive as to be absolutely

deafening. Quiet being at length restored, Captain Guy ordered the

boats to be hoisted up, as a necessary precaution, and gave the chief

(whose name we soon found to be Too-wit) to understand that we could

admit no more than twenty of his men on deck at one time. With this

arrangement he appeared perfectly satisfied, and gave some directions

to the canoes, when one of them approached, the rest remaining about

fifty yards off. Twenty of the savages now got on board, and proceeded

to ramble over every part of the deck, and scramble about among the

rigging, making themselves much at home, and examining every article

with great inquisitiveness.

It was quite evident that they had never before seen any of the white

race—from whose complexion, indeed, they appeared to recoil. They

believed the Jane to be a living creature, and seemed to be afraid of

hurting it with the points of their spears, carefully turning them up.

Our crew were much amused with the conduct of Too-wit in one instance.

The cook was splitting some wood near the galley, and, by accident,

struck his axe into the deck, making a gash of considerable depth. The

chief immediately ran up, and pushing the cook on one side rather

roughly, commenced a half whine, half howl, strongly indicative of

sympathy in what he considered the sufferings of the schooner, patting

and smoothing the gash with his hand, and washing it from a bucket of

seawater which stood by. This was a degree of ignorance for which we

were not prepared, and for my part I could not help thinking some of it

affected.

When the visiters had satisfied, as well as they could, their curiosity

in regard to our upper works, they were admitted below, when their

amazement exceeded all bounds. Their astonishment now appeared to be

far too deep for words, for they roamed about in silence, broken only

by low ejaculations. The arms afforded them much food for speculation,

and they were suffered to handle and examine them at leisure. I do not

believe that they had the least suspicion of their actual use, but

rather took them for idols, seeing the care we had of them, and the

attention with which we watched their movements while handling them. At

the great guns their wonder was redoubled. They approached them with

every mark of the profoundest reverence and awe, but forbore to examine

them minutely. There were two large mirrors in the cabin, and here was

the acme of their amazement. Too-wit was the first to approach them,

and he had got in the middle of the cabin, with his face to one and his

back to the other, before he fairly perceived them. Upon raising his

eyes and seeing his reflected self in the glass, I thought the savage

would go mad; but, upon turning short round to make a retreat, and

beholding himself a second time in the opposite direction, I was afraid

he would expire upon the spot. No persuasions could prevail upon him to

take another look; but, throwing himself upon the floor, with his face

buried in his hands, he remained thus until we were obliged to drag him

upon deck.

The whole of the savages were admitted on board in this manner, twenty

at a time, Too-wit being suffered to remain during the entire period.

We saw no disposition to thievery among them, nor did we miss a single

article after their departure. Throughout the whole of their visit they

evinced the most friendly manner. There were, however, some points in

their demeanour which we found it impossible to understand: for

example, we could not get them to approach several very harmless

objects—such as the schooner’s sails, an egg, an open book, or a pan

of flour. We endeavoured to ascertain if they had among them any

articles which might be turned to account in the way of traffic, but

found great difficulty in being comprehended. We made out,

nevertheless, what greatly astonished us, that the islands abounded in

the large tortoise of the Gallipagos, one of which we saw in the canoe

of Too-wit. We saw also some biche de mer in the hands of one of the

savages, who was greedily devouring it in its natural state. These

anomalies, for they were such when considered in regard to the

latitude, induced Captain Guy to wish for a thorough investigation of

the country, in the hope of making a profitable speculation in his

discovery. For my own part, anxious as I was to know something more of

these islands, I was still more earnestly bent on prosecuting the

voyage to the southward without delay. We had now fine weather, but

there was no telling how long it would last; and being already in the

eighty-fourth parallel, with an open sea before us, a current setting

strongly to the southward, and the wind fair, I could not listen with

any patience to a proposition of stopping longer than was absolutely

necessary for the health of the crew and the taking on board a proper

supply of fuel and fresh provisions. I represented to the captain that

we might easily make this group on our return, and winter here in the

event of being blocked up by the ice. He at length came into my views

(for in some way, hardly known to myself, I had acquired much influence

over him), and it was finally resolved that, even in the event of our

finding biche de mer, we should only stay here a week to recruit, and

then push on to the southward while we might. Accordingly we made every

necessary preparation, and, under the guidance of Too-wit, got the Jane

through the reef in safety, coming to anchor about a mile from the

shore, in an excellent bay, completely landlocked, on the southeastern

coast of the main island, and in ten fathoms of water, black sandy

bottom. At the head of this bay there were three fine springs (we were

told) of good water, and we saw abundance of wood in the vicinity. The

four canoes followed us in, keeping, however, at a respectful distance.

Too-wit himself remained on board, and, upon our dropping anchor,

invited us to accompany him on shore, and visit his village in the

interior. To this Captain Guy consented; and ten savages being left on

board as hostages, a party of us, twelve in all, got in readiness to

attend the chief. We took care to be well armed, yet without evincing

any distrust. The schooner had her guns run out, her boarding-nettings

up, and every other proper precaution was taken to guard against

surprise. Directions were left with the chief mate to admit no person

on board during our absence, and, in the event of our not appearing in

twelve hours, to send the cutter, with a swivel, round the island in

search of us.

At every step we took inland the conviction forced itself upon us that

we were in a country differing essentially from any hitherto visited by

civilized men. We saw nothing with which we had been formerly

conversant. The trees resembled no growth of either the torrid, the

temperate, or the northern frigid zones, and were altogether unlike

those of the lower southern latitudes we had already traversed. The

very rocks were novel in their mass, their colour, and their

stratification; and the streams themselves, utterly incredible as it

may appear, had so little in common with those of other climates, that

we were scrupulous of tasting them, and, indeed, had difficulty in

bringing ourselves to believe that their qualities were purely those of

nature. At a small brook which crossed our path (the first we had

reached) Too-wit and his attendants halted to drink. On account of the

singular character of the water, we refused to taste it, supposing it

to be polluted; and it was not until some time afterward we came to

understand that such was the appearance of the streams throughout the

whole group. I am at a loss to give a distinct idea of the nature of

this liquid, and cannot do so without many words. Although it flowed

with rapidity in all declivities where common water would do so, yet

never, except when falling in a cascade, had it the customary

appearance of limpidity. It was, nevertheless, in point of fact, as

perfectly limpid as any limestone water in existence, the difference

being only in appearance. At first sight, and especially in cases where

little declivity was found, it bore resemblance, as regards

consistency, to a thick infusion of gum Arabic in common water. But

this was only the least remarkable of its extraordinary qualities. It

was not colourless, nor was it of any one uniform colour—presenting

to the eye, as it flowed, every possible shade of purple, like the hues

of a changeable silk. This variation in shade was produced in a manner

which excited as profound astonishment in the minds of our party as the

mirror had done in the case of Too-wit. Upon collecting a basinful, and

allowing it to settle thoroughly, we perceived that the whole mass of

liquid was made up of a number of distinct veins, each of a distinct

hue; that these veins did not commingle; and that their cohesion was

perfect in regard to their own particles among themselves, and

imperfect in regard to neighbouring veins. Upon passing the blade of a

knife athwart the veins, the water closed over it immediately, as with

us, and also, in withdrawing it, all traces of the passage of the knife

were instantly obliterated. If, however, the blade was passed down

accurately between two veins, a perfect separation was effected, which

the power of cohesion did not immediately rectify. The phenomena of

this water formed the first definite link in that vast chain of

apparent miracles with which I was destined to be at length encircled.

CHAPTER XIX.

We were nearly three hours in reaching the village, it being more than

nine miles in the interior, and the path lying through a rugged

country. As we passed along, the party of Too-wit (the whole hundred

and ten savages of the canoes) was momentarily strengthened by smaller

detachments, of from two to six or seven, which joined us, as if by

accident, at different turns in the road. There appeared so much of

system in this that I could not help feeling distrust, and I spoke to

Captain Guy of my apprehensions. It was now too late, however, to

recede, and we concluded that our best security lay in evincing a

perfect confidence in the good faith of Too-wit. We accordingly went

on, keeping a wary eye upon the manoeuvres of the savages, and not

permitting them to divide our numbers by pushing in between. In this

way, passing through a precipitous ravine, we at length reached what we

were told was the only collection of habitations upon the island. As we

came in sight of them, the chief set up a shout, and frequently

repeated the word Klock-Klock; which we supposed to be the name of

the village, or perhaps the generic name for villages.

The dwellings were of the most miserable description imaginable, and,

unlike those of even the lowest of the savage races with which mankind

are acquainted, were of no uniform plan. Some of them (and these we

found belonged to the Wampoos or Yampoos, the great men of the

land) consisted of a tree cut down at about four feet from the root,

with a large black skin thrown over it, and hanging in loose folds upon

the ground. Under this the savage nestled. Others were formed by means

of rough limbs of trees, with the withered foliage upon them, made to

recline, at an angle of forty-five degrees, against a bank of clay,

heaped up, without regular form, to the height of five or six feet.

Others, again, were mere holes dug in the earth perpendicularly, and

covered over with similar branches, these being removed when the tenant

was about to enter, and pulled on again when he had entered. A few were

built among the forked limbs of trees as they stood, the upper limbs

being partially cut through, so as to bend over upon the lower, thus

forming thicker shelter from the weather. The greater number, however,

consisted of small shallow caverns, apparently scratched in the face of

a precipitous ledge of dark stone, resembling fuller’s earth, with

which three sides of the village was bounded. At the door of each of

these primitive caverns was a small rock, which the tenant carefully

placed before the entrance upon leaving his residence, for what purpose

I could not ascertain, as the stone itself was never of sufficient size

to close up more than a third of the opening.

This village, if it were worthy of the name, lay in a valley of some

depth, and could only be approached from the southward, the precipitous

ledge of which I have already spoken cutting off all access in other

directions. Through the middle of the valley ran a brawling stream of

the same magical-looking water which has been described. We saw several

strange animals about the dwellings, all appearing to be thoroughly

domesticated. The largest of these creatures resembled our common hog

in the structure of the body and snout; the tail, however, was bushy,

and the legs slender as those of the antelope. Its motion was

exceedingly awkward and indecisive, and we never saw it attempt to run.

We noticed also several animals very similar in appearance, but of a

greater length of body, and covered with a black wool. There were a

great variety of tame fowls running about, and these seemed to

constitute the chief food of the natives. To our astonishment we saw

black albatross among these birds in a state of entire domestication,

going to sea periodically for food, but always returning to the village

as a home, and using the southern shore in the vicinity as a place of

incubation. There they were joined by their friends the pelicans as

usual, but these latter never followed them to the dwellings of the

savages. Among the other kinds of tame fowls were ducks, differing very

little from the canvass-back of our own country, black gannets, and a

large bird not unlike the buzzard in appearance, but not carnivorous.

Of fish there seemed to be a great abundance. We saw, during our visit,

a quantity of dried salmon, rock cod, blue dolphins, mackerel,

blackfish, skate, conger eels, elephant-fish, mullets, soles,

parrotfish, leather-jackets, gurnards, hake, flounders, paracutas, and

innumerable other varieties. We noticed, too, that most of them were

similar to the fish about the group of the Lord Auckland Islands, in a

latitude as low as fifty-one degrees south. The Gallipago tortoise was

also very plentiful. We saw but few wild animals, and none of a large

size, or of a species with which we were familiar. One or two serpents

of a formidable aspect crossed our path, but the natives paid them

little attention, and we concluded that they were not venomous.

As we approached the village with Too-wit and his party, a vast crowd

of the people rushed out to meet us, with loud shouts, among which we

could only distinguish the everlasting Anamoo-moo! and Lama-Lama!

We were much surprised at perceiving that, with one or two exceptions,

these new comers were entirely naked, the skins being used only by the

men of the canoes. All the weapons of the country seemed also to be in

the possession of the latter, for there was no appearance of any among

the villagers. There were a great many women and children, the former

not altogether wanting in what might be termed personal beauty. They

were straight, tall, and well formed, with a grace and freedom of

carriage not to be found in civilized society. Their lips, however,

like those of the men, were thick and clumsy, so that, even when

laughing, the teeth were never disclosed. Their hair was of a finer

texture than that of the males. Among these naked villagers there might

have been ten or twelve who were clothed, like the party of Too-wit, in

dresses of black skin, and armed with lances and heavy clubs. These

appeared to have great influence among the rest, and were always

addressed by the title Wampoo. These, too, were the tenants of the

black skin palaces. That of Too-wit was situated in the centre of the

village, and was much larger and somewhat better constructed than

others of its kind. The tree which formed its support was cut off at a

distance of twelve feet or thereabout from the root, and there were

several branches left just below the cut, these serving to extend the

covering, and in this way prevent its flapping about the trunk. The

covering, too, which consisted of four very large skins fastened

together with wooden skewers, was secured at the bottom with pegs

driven through it and into the ground. The floor was strewed with a

quantity of dry leaves by way of carpet.

To this hut we were conducted with great solemnity, and as many of the

natives crowded in after us as possible. Too-wit seated himself on the

leaves, and made signs that we should follow his example. This we did,

and presently found ourselves in a situation peculiarly uncomfortable,

if not indeed critical. We were on the ground, twelve in number, with

the savages, as many as forty, sitting on their hams so closely around

us that, if any disturbance had arisen, we should have found it

impossible to make use of our arms, or indeed to have risen on our

feet. The pressure was not only inside the tent, but outside, where

probably was every individual on the whole island, the crowd being

prevented from trampling us to death only by the incessant exertions

and vociferations of Too-wit. Our chief security lay, however, in the

presence of Too-wit himself among us, and we resolved to stick by him

closely, as the best chance of extricating ourselves from the dilemma,

sacrificing him immediately upon the first appearance of hostile

design.

After some trouble a certain degree of quiet was restored, when the

chief addressed us in a speech of great length, and very nearly

resembling the one delivered in the canoes, with the exception that the

Anamoo-moos! were now somewhat more strenuously insisted upon than

the Lama-Lamas! We listened in profound silence until the conclusion

of his harangue, when Captain Guy replied by assuring the chief of his

eternal friendship and good-will, concluding what he had to say by a

present of several strings of blue beads and a knife. At the former the

monarch, much to our surprise, turned up his nose with some expression

of contempt; but the knife gave him the most unlimited satisfaction,

and he immediately ordered dinner. This was handed into the tent over

the heads of the attendants, and consisted of the palpitating entrails

of a species of unknown animal, probably one of the slim-legged hogs

which we had observed in our approach to the village. Seeing us at a

loss how to proceed, he began, by way of setting us an example, to

devour yard after yard of the enticing food, until we could positively

stand it no longer, and evinced such manifest symptoms of rebellion of

stomach as inspired his majesty with a degree of astonishment only

inferior to that brought about by the looking-glasses. We declined,

however, partaking of the delicacies before us, and endeavoured to make

him understand that we had no appetite whatever, having just finished a

hearty déjeuner.

When the monarch had made an end of his meal, we commenced a series of

cross-questioning in every ingenious manner we could devise, with a

view of discovering what were the chief productions of the country, and

whether any of them might be turned to profit. At length he seemed to

have some idea of our meaning, and offered to accompany us to a part of

the coast where he assured us the biche de mer (pointing to a

specimen of that animal) was to be found in great abundance. We were

glad at this early opportunity of escaping from the oppression of the

crowd, and signified our eagerness to proceed. We now left the tent,

and, accompanied by the whole population of the village, followed the

chief to the southeastern extremity of the island, not far from the bay

where our vessel lay at anchor. We waited here for about an hour, until

the four canoes were brought round by some of the savages to our

station. The whole of our party then getting into one of them, we were

paddled along the edge of the reef before mentioned, and of another

still farther out, where we saw a far greater quantity of _biche de

mer_ than the oldest seaman among us had ever seen in those groups of

the lower latitudes most celebrated for this article of commerce. We

stayed near these reefs only long enough to satisfy ourselves that we

could easily load a dozen vessels with the animal if necessary, when we

were taken alongside the schooner, and parted with Too-wit after

obtaining from him a promise that he would bring us, in the course of

twenty-four hours, as many of the canvass-back ducks and Gallipago

tortoises as his canoes would hold. In the whole of this adventure we

saw nothing in the demeanour of the natives calculated to create

suspicion, with the single exception of the systematic manner in which

their party was strengthened during our route from the schooner to the

village.

CHAPTER XX.

The chief was as good as his word, and we were soon plentifully

supplied with fresh provision. We found the tortoises as fine as we had

ever seen, and the ducks surpassed our best species of wild fowl, being

exceedingly tender, juicy, and well-flavoured. Besides these, the

savages brought us, upon our making them comprehend our wishes, a vast

quantity of brown celery and scurvy grass, with a canoe-load of fresh

fish and some dried. The celery was a treat indeed, and the scurvy

grass proved of incalculable benefit in restoring those of our men who

had shown symptoms of disease. In a very short time we had not a single

person on the sick-list. We had also plenty of other kinds of fresh

provision, among which may be mentioned a species of shellfish

resembling the muscle in shape, but with the taste of an oyster.

Shrimps, too, and prawns were abundant, and albatross and other birds’

eggs with dark shells. We took in, too, a plentiful stock of the flesh

of the hog which I have mentioned before. Most of the men found it a

palatable food, but I thought it fishy and otherwise disagreeable. In

return for these good things we presented the natives with blue beads,

brass trinkets, nails, knives, and pieces of red cloth, they being

fully delighted in the exchange. We established a regular market on

shore, just under the guns of the schooner, where our barterings were

carried on with every appearance of good faith, and a degree of order

which their conduct at the village of Klock-klock had not led us to

expect from the savages.

Matters went on thus very amicably for several days, during which

parties of the natives were frequently on board the schooner, and

parties of our men frequently on shore, making long excursions into the

interior, and receiving no molestation whatever. Finding the ease with

which the vessel might be loaded with biche de mer, owing to the

friendly disposition of the islanders, and the readiness with which

they would render us assistance in collecting it, Captain Guy resolved

to enter into negotiation with Too-wit for the erection of suitable

houses in which to cure the article, and for the services of himself

and tribe in gathering as much as possible, while he himself took

advantage of the fine weather to prosecute his voyage to the southward.

Upon mentioning this project to the chief he seemed very willing to

enter into an agreement. A bargain was accordingly struck, perfectly

satisfactory to both parties, by which it was arranged that, after

making the necessary preparations, such as laying off the proper

grounds, erecting a portion of the buildings, and doing some other work

in which the whole of our crew would be required, the schooner should

proceed on her route, leaving three of her men on the island to

superintend the fulfilment of the project, and instruct the natives in

drying the biche de mer. In regard to terms, these were made to

depend upon the exertions of the savages in our absence. They were to

receive a stipulated quantity of blue beads, knives, red cloth, and so

forth, for every certain number of piculs of the biche de mer which

should be ready on our return.

A description of the nature of this important article of commerce, and

the method of preparing it, may prove of some interest to my readers,

and I can find no more suitable place than this for introducing an

account of it. The following comprehensive notice of the substance is

taken from a modern history of a voyage to the South Seas.

“It is that mollusca from the Indian Seas which is known in commerce

by the French name bouche de mer (a nice morsel from the sea). If I

am not much mistaken, the celebrated Cuvier calls it _gasteropeda

pulmonifera_. It is abundantly gathered in the coasts of the Pacific

Islands, and gathered especially for the Chinese market, where it

commands a great price, perhaps as much as their much-talked of edible

bird’s nests, which are probably made up of the gelatinous matter

picked up by a species of swallow from the body of these molluscæ. They

have no shell, no legs, nor any prominent part, except an absorbing

and an excretory, opposite organs; but, by their elastic wings, like

caterpillars or worms, they creep in shallow waters, in which, when

low, they can be seen by a kind of swallow, the sharp bill of which,

inserted in the soft animal, draws a gummy and filamentous substance,

which, by drying, can be wrought into the solid walls of their nest.

Hence the name of gasteropeda pulmonifera.

“This mollusca is oblong, and of different sizes, from three to

eighteen inches in length; and I have seen a few that were not less

than two feet long. They are nearly round, a little flattish on one

side, which lies next the bottom of the sea; and they are from one to

eight inches thick. They crawl up into shallow water at particular

seasons of the year, probably for the purpose of gendering, as we often

find them in pairs. It is when the sun has the most power on the water,

rendering it tepid, that they approach the shore; and they often go up

into places so shallow, that, on the tide’s receding, they are left

dry, exposed to the heat of the sun. But they do not bring forth their

young in shallow water, as we never see any of their progeny, and the

full-grown ones are always observed coming in from deep water. They

feed principally on that class of zoophytes which produce the coral.

“The biche de mer is generally taken in three or four feet water;

after which they are brought on shore, and split at one end with a

knife, the incision being one inch or more, according to the size of

the mollusca. Through this opening the entrails are forced out by

pressure, and they are much like those of any other small tenant of the

deep. The article is then washed, and afterward boiled to a certain

degree, which must not be too much or too little. They are then buried

in the ground for four hours, then boiled again for a short time, after

which they are dried, either by the fire or the sun. Those cured by the

sun are worth the most; but where one picul (133-1/3 lbs.) can be cured

that way, I can cure thirty piculs by the fire. When once properly

cured, they can be kept in a dry place for two or three years without

any risk; but they should be examined once in every few months, say

four times a year, to see if any dampness is likely to affect them.

“The Chinese, as before stated, consider biche de mer a very great

luxury, believing that it wonderfully strengthens and nourishes the

system, and renews the exhausted system of the immoderate voluptuary.

The first quality commands a high price in Canton, being worth ninety

dollars a picul; the second quality seventy-five dollars; the third

fifty dollars; the fourth thirty dollars; the fifth twenty dollars; the

sixth twelve dollars; the seventh eight dollars; and the eighth four

dollars; small cargoes, however, will often bring more in Manilla,

Singapore, and Batavia.”

An agreement having been thus entered into, we proceeded immediately to

land everything necessary for preparing the buildings and clearing the

ground. A large flat space near the eastern shore of the bay was

selected, where there was plenty both of wood and water, and within a

convenient distance of the principal reefs on which the biche de mer

was to be procured. We now all set to work in good earnest, and soon,

to the great astonishment of the savages, had felled a sufficient

number of trees for our purpose, getting them quickly in order for the

framework of the houses, which in two or three days were so far under

way that we could safely trust the rest of the work to the three men

whom we intended to leave behind. These were John Carson, Alfred

Harris, and ---- Peterson (all natives of London, I believe), who

volunteered their services in this respect.

By the last of the month we had everything in readiness for departure.

We had agreed, however, to pay a formal visit of leavestaking to the

village, and Too-wit insisted so pertinaciously upon our keeping the

promise, that we did not think it advisable to run the risk of

offending him by a final refusal. I believe that not one of us had at

this time the slightest suspicion of the good faith of the savages.

They had uniformly behaved with the greatest decorum, aiding us with

alacrity in our work, offering us their commodities frequently without

price, and never, in any instance, pilfering a single article, although

the high value they set upon the goods we had with us was evident by

the extravagant demonstrations of joy always manifested upon our making

them a present. The women especially were most obliging in every

respect, and, upon the whole, we should have been the most suspicious

of human beings had we entertained a single thought of perfidy on the

part of a people who treated us so well. A very short while sufficed to

prove that this apparent kindness of disposition was only the result of

a deeply-laid plan for our destruction, and that the islanders for whom

we entertained such inordinate feelings of esteem were among the most

barbarous, subtle, and bloodthirsty wretches that ever contaminated the

face of the globe.

It was on the first of February that we went on shore for the purpose

of visiting the village. Although, as said before, we entertained not

the slightest suspicion, still no proper precaution was neglected. Six

men were left in the schooner with instructions to permit none of the

savages to approach the vessel during our absence, under any pretence

whatever, and to remain constantly on deck. The boarding-nettings were

up, the guns double-shotted with grape and canister, and the swivels

loaded with canisters of musket-balls. She lay, with her anchor apeak,

about a mile from the shore, and no canoe could approach her in any

direction without being distinctly seen and exposed to the full fire of

our swivels immediately.

The six men being left on board, our shore-party consisted of

thirty-two persons in all. We were armed to the teeth, having with us

muskets, pistols, and cutlasses, besides each a long kind of seaman’s

knife, somewhat resembling the Bowie knife now so much used throughout

our western and southern country. A hundred of the black skin warriors

met us at the landing for the purpose of accompanying us on our way. We

noticed, however, with some surprise, that they were now entirely

without arms; and, upon questioning Too-wit in relation to this

circumstance, he merely answered that Mattee non we pa pa si—meaning

that there was no need of arms where all were brothers. We took this in

good part, and proceeded.

We had passed the spring and rivulet of which I before spoke, and were

now entering upon a narrow gorge leading through the chain of soapstone

hills among which the village was situated. This gorge was very rocky

and uneven, so much so that it was with no little difficulty we

scrambled through it on our first visit to Klock-klock. The whole

length of the ravine might have been a mile and a half, or probably two

miles. It wound in every possible direction through the hills (having

apparently formed, at some remote period, the bed of a torrent), in no

instance proceeding more than twenty yards without an abrupt turn. The

sides of this dell would have averaged, I am sure, seventy or eighty

feet in perpendicular altitude throughout the whole of their extent,

and in some portions they arose to an astonishing height, overshadowing

the pass so completely that but little of the light of day could

penetrate. The general width was about forty feet, and occasionally it

diminished so as not to allow the passage of more than five or six

persons abreast. In short, there could be no place in the world better

adapted for the consummation of an ambuscade, and it was no more than

natural that we should look carefully to our arms as we entered upon

it. When I now think of our egregious folly, the chief subject of

astonishment seems to be, that we should have ever ventured, under any

circumstances, so completely into the power of unknown savages as to

permit them to march both before and behind us in our progress through

this ravine. Yet such was the order we blindly took up, trusting

foolishly to the force of our party, the unarmed condition of Too-wit

and his men, the certain efficacy of our fire-arms (whose effect was

yet a secret to the natives), and, more than all, to the long-sustained

pretension of friendship kept up by these infamous wretches. Five or

six of them went on before, as if to lead the way, ostentatiously

busying themselves in removing the larger stones and rubbish from the

path. Next came our own party. We walked closely together, taking care

only to prevent separation. Behind followed the main body of the

savages, observing unusual order and decorum.

Dirk Peters, a man named Wilson Allen, and myself were on the right of

our companions, examining, as we went along, the singular

stratification of the precipice which overhung us. A fissure in the

soft rock attracted our attention. It was about wide enough for one

person to enter without squeezing, and extended back into the hill some

eighteen or twenty feet in a straight course, sloping afterward to the

left. The height of the opening, as far as we could see into it from

the main gorge, was perhaps sixty or seventy feet. There were one or

two stunted shrubs growing from the crevices, bearing a species of

filbert, which I felt some curiosity to examine, and pushed in briskly

for that purpose, gathering five or six of the nuts at a grasp, and

then hastily retreating. As I turned, I found that Peters and Allen had

followed me. I desired them to go back, as there was not room for two

persons to pass, saying they should have some of my nuts. They

accordingly turned, and were scrambling back, Allen being close to the

mouth of the fissure, when I was suddenly aware of a concussion

resembling nothing I had ever before experienced, and which impressed

me with a vague conception, if indeed I then thought of anything, that

the whole foundations of the solid globe were suddenly rent asunder,

and that the day of universal dissolution was at hand.

CHAPTER XXI.

As soon as I could collect my scattered senses, I found myself nearly

suffocated, and grovelling in utter darkness among a quantity of loose

earth, which was also falling upon me heavily in every direction,

threatening to bury me entirely. Horribly alarmed at this idea, I

struggled to gain my feet, and at length succeeded. I then remained

motionless for some moments, endeavouring to conceive what had happened

to me, and where I was. Presently I heard a deep groan just at my ear,

and afterward the smothered voice of Peters calling to me for aid in

the name of God. I scrambled one or two paces forward, when I fell

directly over the head and shoulders of my companion, who, I soon

discovered, was buried in a loose mass of earth as far as his middle,

and struggling desperately to free himself from the pressure. I tore

the dirt from around him with all the energy I could command, and at

length succeeded in getting him out.

As soon as we sufficiently recovered from our fright and surprise to be

capable of conversing rationally, we both came to the conclusion that

the walls of the fissure in which we had ventured had, by some

convulsion of nature, or probably from their own weight, caved in

overhead, and that we were consequently lost for ever, being thus

entombed alive. For a long time we gave up supinely to the most intense

agony and despair, such as cannot be adequately imagined by those who

have never been in a similar situation. I firmly believe that no

incident ever occurring in the course of human events is more adapted

to inspire the supremeness of mental and bodily distress than a case

like our own, of living inhumation. The blackness of darkness which

envelops the victim, the terrific oppression of lungs, the stifling

fumes from the damp earth, unite with the ghastly considerations that

we are beyond the remotest confines of hope, and that such is the

allotted portion of the dead, to carry into the human heart a degree

of appalling awe and horror not to be tolerated—never to be conceived.

At length Peters proposed that we should endeavour to ascertain

precisely the extent of our calamity, and grope about our prison; it

being barely possible, he observed, that some opening might be yet left

us for escape. I caught eagerly at this hope, and, arousing myself to

exertion, attempted to force my way through the loose earth. Hardly had

I advanced a single step before a glimmer of light became perceptible,

enough to convince me that, at all events, we should not immediately

perish for want of air. We now took some degree of heart, and

encouraged each other to hope for the best. Having scrambled over a

bank of rubbish which impeded our farther progress in the direction of

the light, we found less difficulty in advancing, and also experienced

some relief from the excessive oppression of lungs which had tormented

us. Presently we were enabled to obtain a glimpse of the objects

around, and discovered that we were near the extremity of the straight

portion of the fissure, where it made a turn to the left. A few

struggles more, and we reached the bend, when, to our inexpressible

joy, there appeared a long seam or crack extending upward a vast

distance, generally at an angle of about forty-five degrees, although

sometimes much more precipitous. We could not see through the whole

extent of this opening; but, as a good deal of light came down it, we

had little doubt of finding at the top of it (if we could by any means

reach the top) a clear passage into the open air.

I now called to mind that three of us had entered the fissure from the

main gorge, and that our companion, Allen, was still missing; we

determined at once to retrace our steps and look for him. After a long

search, and much danger from the farther caving in of the earth above

us, Peters at length cried out to me that he had hold of our

companion’s foot, and that his whole body was deeply buried beneath the

rubbish, beyond a possibility of extricating him. I soon found that

what he said was too true, and that, of course, life had been long

extinct. With sorrowful hearts, therefore, we left the corpse to its

fate, and again made our way to the bend.

The breadth of the seam was barely sufficient to admit us, and, after

one or two ineffectual efforts at getting up, we began once more to

despair. I have before said that the chain of hills through which ran

the main gorge was composed of a species of soft rock resembling

soapstone. The sides of the cleft we were now attempting to ascend were

of the same material, and so excessively slippery, being wet, that we

could get but little foothold upon them even in their least precipitous

parts; in some places, where the ascent was nearly perpendicular, the

difficulty was, of course, much aggravated; and, indeed, for some time

we thought it insurmountable. We took courage, however, from despair;

and what, by dint of cutting steps in the soft stone with our Bowie

knives, and swinging, at the risk of our lives, to small projecting

points of a harder species of slaty rock which now and then protruded

from the general mass, we at length reached a natural platform, from

which was perceptible a patch of blue sky, at the extremity of a

thickly-wooded ravine. Looking back now, with somewhat more leisure, at

the passage through which we had thus far proceeded, we clearly saw,

from the appearance of its sides, that it was of late formation, and we

concluded that the concussion, whatever it was, which had so

unexpectedly overwhelmed us, had also, at the same moment, laid open

this path for escape. Being quite exhausted with exertion, and, indeed,

so weak that we were scarcely able to stand or articulate, Peters now

proposed that we should endeavour to bring our companions to the rescue

by firing the pistols which still remained in our girdles—the muskets

as well as cutlasses had been lost among the loose earth at the bottom

of the chasm. Subsequent events proved that, had we fired, we should

have sorely repented it; but, luckily, a half suspicion of foul play

had by this time arisen in my mind, and we forbore to let the savages

know of our whereabouts.

After having reposed for about an hour, we pushed on slowly up the

ravine, and had gone no great way before we heard a succession of

tremendous yells. At length we reached what might be called the surface

of the ground; for our path hitherto, since leaving the platform, had

lain beneath an archway of high rock and foliage, at a vast distance

overhead. With great caution we stole to a narrow opening, through

which we had a clear sight of the surrounding country, when the whole

dreadful secret of the concussion broke upon us in one moment and at

one view.

The spot from which we looked was not far from the summit of the

highest peak in the range of the soapstone hills. The gorge in which

our party of thirty-two had entered ran within fifty feet to the left

of us. But, for at least one hundred yards, the channel or bed of this

gorge was entirely filled up with the chaotic ruins of more than a

million tons of earth and stone that had been artificially tumbled

within it. The means by which the vast mass had been precipitated were

not more simple than evident, for sure traces of the murderous work

were yet remaining. In several spots along the top of the eastern side

of the gorge (we were now on the western) might be seen stakes of wood

driven into the earth. In these spots the earth had not given way; but

throughout the whole extent of the face of the precipice from which the

mass had fallen, it was clear, from marks left in the soil resembling

those made by the drill of the rock-blaster, that stakes similar to

those we saw standing had been inserted, at not more than a yard apart,

for the length of perhaps three hundred feet, and ranging at about ten

feet back from the edge of the gulf. Strong cords of grape vine were

attached to the stakes still remaining on the hill, and it was evident

that such cords had also been attached to each of the other stakes. I

have already spoken of the singular stratification of these soapstone

hills; and the description just given of the narrow and deep fissure

through which we effected our escape from inhumation will afford a

further conception of its nature. This was such that almost every

natural convulsion would be sure to split the soil into perpendicular

layers or ridges running parallel with one another; and a very moderate

exertion of art would be sufficient for effecting the same purpose. Of

this stratification the savages had availed themselves to accomplish

their treacherous ends. There can be no doubt that, by the continuous

line of stakes, a partial rupture of the soil had been brought about,

probably to the depth of one or two feet, when, by means of a savage

pulling at the end of each of the cords (these cords being attached to

the tops of the stakes, and extending back from the edge of the cliff),

a vast leverage power was obtained, capable of hurling the whole face

of the hill, upon a given signal, into the bosom of the abyss below.

The fate of our poor companions was no longer a matter of uncertainty.

We alone had escaped from the tempest of that overwhelming destruction.

We were the only living white men upon the island.

CHAPTER XXII.

Our situation, as it now appeared, was scarcely less dreadful than when

we had conceived ourselves entombed for ever. We saw before us no

prospect but that of being put to death by the savages, or of dragging

out a miserable existence in captivity among them. We might, to be

sure, conceal ourselves for a time from their observation among the

fastnesses of the hills, and, as a final resort, in the chasm from

which we had just issued; but we must either perish in the long Polar

winter through cold and famine, or be ultimately discovered in our

efforts to obtain relief.

The whole country around us seemed to be swarming with savages, crowds

of whom, we now perceived, had come over from the islands to the

southward on flat rafts, doubtless with a view of lending their aid in

the capture and plunder of the Jane. The vessel still lay calmly at

anchor in the bay, those on board being apparently quite unconscious of

any danger awaiting them. How we longed at that moment to be with them!

either to aid in effecting their escape, or to perish with them in

attempting a defence. We saw no chance even of warning them of their

danger without bringing immediate destruction upon our own heads, with

but a remote hope of benefit to them. A pistol fired might suffice to

apprize them that something wrong had occurred; but the report could

not possibly inform them that their only prospect of safety lay in

getting out of the harbour forthwith—it could not tell them that no

principles of honour now bound them to remain, that their companions

were no longer among the living. Upon hearing the discharge they could

not be more thoroughly prepared to meet the foe, who were now getting

ready to attack, than they already were, and always had been. No good,

therefore, and infinite harm, would result from our firing, and, after

mature deliberation, we forbore.

Our next thought was to attempt a rush towards the vessel, to seize one

of the four canoes which lay at the head of the bay, and endeavour to

force a passage on board. But the utter impossibility of succeeding in

this desperate task soon became evident. The country, as I said before,

was literally swarming with the natives, skulking among the bushes and

recesses of the hills, so as not to be observed from the schooner. In

our immediate vicinity especially, and blockading the sole path by

which we could hope to attain the shore in the proper point, were

stationed the whole party of the black skin warriors, with Too-wit at

their head, and apparently only waiting for some re-enforcement to

commence his onset upon the Jane. The canoes, too, which lay at the

head of the bay were manned with savages, unarmed, it is true, but who

undoubtedly had arms within reach. We were forced, therefore, however

unwillingly, to remain in our place of concealment, mere spectators of

the conflict which presently ensued.

In about half an hour we saw some sixty or seventy rafts, or flatboats,

with outriggers, filled with savages, and coming round the southern

bight of the harbour. They appeared to have no arms except short clubs,

and stones which lay in the bottom of the rafts. Immediately afterward

another detachment, still larger, approached in an opposite direction,

and with similar weapons. The four canoes, too, were now quickly filled

with natives, starting up from the bushes at the head of the bay, and

put off swiftly to join the other parties. Thus, in less time than I

have taken to tell it, and as if by magic, the Jane saw herself

surrounded by an immense multitude of desperadoes evidently bent upon

capturing her at all hazards.

That they would succeed in so doing could not be doubted for an

instant. The six men left in the vessel, however resolutely they might

engage in her defence, were altogether unequal to the proper management

of the guns, or in any manner to sustain a contest at such odds. I

could hardly imagine that they would make resistance at all, but in

this was deceived; for presently I saw them get springs upon the cable,

and bring the vessel’s starboard broadside to bear upon the canoes,

which by this time were within pistol range, the rafts being nearly a

quarter of a mile to windward. Owing to some cause unknown, but most

probably to the agitation of our poor friends at seeing themselves in

so hopeless a situation, the discharge was an entire failure. Not a

canoe was hit or a single savage injured, the shots striking short and

ricochêting over their heads. The only effect produced upon them was

astonishment at the unexpected report and smoke, which was so excessive

that for some moments I almost thought they would abandon their design

entirely, and return to the shore. And this they would most likely have

done had our men followed up their broadside by a discharge of small

arms, in which, as the canoes were now so near at hand, they could not

have failed in doing some execution, sufficient, at least, to deter

this party from a farther advance, until they could have given the

rafts also a broadside. But, in place of this, they left the canoe

party to recover from their panic, and, by looking about them, to see

that no injury had been sustained, while they flew to the larboard to

get ready for the rafts.

The discharge to larboard produced the most terrible effect. The star

and double-headed shot of the large guns cut seven or eight of the

rafts completely asunder, and killed, perhaps, thirty or forty of the

savages outright, while a hundred of them, at least, were thrown into

the water, the most of them dreadfully wounded. The remainder,

frightened out of their senses, commenced at once a precipitate

retreat, not even waiting to pick up their maimed companions, who were

swimming about in every direction, screaming and yelling for aid. This

great success, however, came too late for the salvation of our devoted

people. The canoe party were already on board the schooner to the

number of more than a hundred and fifty, the most of them having

succeeded in scrambling up the chains and over the boarding nettings

even before the matches had been applied to the larboard guns. Nothing

could now withstand their brute rage. Our men were borne down at once,

overwhelmed, trodden under foot, and absolutely torn to pieces in an

instant.

Seeing this, the savages on the rafts got the better of their fears,

and came up in shoals to the plunder. In five minutes the Jane was a

pitiable scene indeed of havoc and tumultuous outrage. The decks were

split open and ripped up; the cordage, sails, and everything moveable

on deck demolished as if by magic; while, by dint of pushing at the

stern, towing with the canoes, and hauling at the sides, as they swam

in thousands around the vessel, the wretches finally forced her on

shore (the cable having been slipped), and delivered her over to the

good offices of Too-wit, who, during the whole of the engagement, had

maintained, like a skilful general, his post of security and

reconnoissance among the hills, but, now that the victory was completed

to his satisfaction, condescended to scamper down with his warriors of

the black skin, and become a partaker in the spoils.

Too-wit’s descent left us at liberty to quit our hiding-place and

reconnoitre the hill in the vicinity of the chasm. At about fifty yards

from the mouth of it we saw a small spring of water, at which we slaked

the burning thirst that now consumed us. Not far from the spring we

discovered several of the filbert-bushes which I mentioned before. Upon

tasting the nuts we found them palatable, and very nearly resembling in

flavour the common English filbert. We collected our hats full

immediately, deposited them within the ravine, and returned for more.

While we were busily employed in gathering these, a rustling in the

bushes alarmed us, and we were upon the point of stealing back to our

covert, when a large black bird of the bittern species strugglingly and

slowly arose above the shrubs. I was so much startled that I could do

nothing, but Peters had sufficient presence of mind to run up to it

before it could make its escape, and seize it by the neck. Its

struggles and screams were tremendous, and we had thoughts of letting

it go, lest the noise should alarm some of the savages who might be

still lurking in the neighbourhood. A stab with a Bowie knife, however,

at length brought it to the ground, and we dragged it into the ravine,

congratulating ourselves that, at all events, we had thus obtained a

supply of food enough to last us for a week.

We now went out again to look about us, and ventured a considerable

distance down the southern declivity of the hill, but met with nothing

else which could serve us for food. We therefore collected a quantity

of dry wood and returned, seeing one or two large parties of the

natives on their way to the village, laden with the plunder of the

vessel, and who, we were apprehensive, might discover us in passing

beneath the hill.

Our next care was to render our place of concealment as secure as

possible, and, with this object, we arranged some brushwood over the

aperture which I have before spoken of as the one through which we saw

the patch of blue sky, on reaching the platform from the interior of

the chasm. We left only a very small opening, just wide enough to admit

of our seeing the bay, without the risk of being discovered from below.

Having done this, we congratulated ourselves upon the security of the

position; for we were now completely excluded from observation, as long

as we chose to remain within the ravine itself, and not venture out

upon the hill. We could perceive no traces of the savages having ever

been within this hollow; but, indeed, when we came to reflect upon the

probability that the fissure through which we attained it had been only

just now created by the fall of the cliff opposite, and that no other

way of attaining it could be perceived, we were not so much rejoiced at

the thought of being secure from molestation as fearful lest there

should be absolutely no means left us for descent. We resolved to

explore the summit of the hill thoroughly, when a good opportunity

should offer. In the mean time we watched the motions of the savages

through our loophole.

They had already made a complete wreck of the vessel, and were now

preparing to set her on fire. In a little while we saw the smoke

ascending in huge volumes from her main-hatchway, and, shortly

afterward, a dense mass of flame burst up from the forecastle. The

rigging, masts, and what remained of the sails caught immediately, and

the fire spread rapidly along the decks. Still a great many of the

savages retained their stations about her, hammering with large stones,

axes, and cannon balls at the bolts and other copper and iron work. On

the beach, and in canoes and rafts, there were not less, altogether, in

the immediate vicinity of the schooner, than ten thousand natives,

besides the shoals of them who, laden with booty, were making their way

inland and over to the neighbouring islands. We now anticipated a

catastrophe, and were not disappointed. First of all there came a smart

shock (which we felt distinctly where we were as if we had been

slightly galvanized), but unattended with any visible signs of an

explosion. The savages were evidently startled, and paused for an

instant from their labours and yellings. They were upon the point of

recommencing, when suddenly a mass of smoke puffed up from the decks,

resembling a black and heavy thunder-cloud—then, as if from its

bowels, arose a tall stream of vivid fire to the height, apparently, of

a quarter of a mile—then there came a sudden circular expansion of the

flame—then the whole atmosphere was magically crowded, in a single

instant, with a wild chaos of wood, and metal, and human limbs—and,

lastly, came the concussion in its fullest fury, which hurled us

impetuously from our feet, while the hills echoed and re-echoed the

tumult, and a dense shower of the minutest fragments of the ruins

tumbled headlong in every direction around us.

The havoc among the savages far exceeded our utmost expectation, and

they had now, indeed, reaped the full and perfect fruits of their

treachery. Perhaps a thousand perished by the explosion, while at least

an equal number were desperately mangled. The whole surface of the bay

was literally strewn with the struggling and drowning wretches, and on

shore matters were even worse. They seemed utterly appalled by the

suddenness and completeness of their discomfiture, and made no efforts

at assisting one another. At length we observed a total change in their

demeanour. From absolute stupor they appeared to be, all at once,

aroused to the highest pitch of excitement, and rushed wildly about,

going to and from a certain point on the beach, with the strangest

expressions of mingled horror, rage, and intense curiosity depicted on

their countenances, and shouting, at the top of their voices,

Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

Presently we saw a large body go off into the hills, whence they

returned in a short time, carrying stakes of wood. These they brought

to the station where the crowd was the thickest, which now separated so

as to afford us a view of the object of all this excitement. We

perceived something white lying on the ground, but could not

immediately make out what it was. At length we saw that it was the

carcass of the strange animal with the scarlet teeth and claws which

the schooner had picked up at sea on the eighteenth of January. Captain

Guy had had the body preserved for the purpose of stuffing the skin and

taking it to England. I remember he had given some directions about it

just before our making the island, and it had been brought into the

cabin and stowed away in one of the lockers. It had now been thrown on

shore by the explosion; but why it had occasioned so much concern among

the savages was more than we could comprehend. Although they crowded

around the carcass at a little distance, none of them seemed willing to

approach it closely. By-and-by the men with the stakes drove them in a

circle around it, and, no sooner was this arrangement completed, than

the whole of the vast assembly rushed into the interior of the island,

with loud screams of Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

CHAPTER XXIII.

During the six or seven days immediately following we remained in our

hiding-place upon the hill, going out only occasionally, and then with

the greatest precaution, for water and filberts. We had made a kind of

pent-house on the platform, furnishing it with a bed of dry leaves, and

placing in it three large flat stones, which served us for both

fireplace and table. We kindled a fire without difficulty by rubbing

two pieces of dry wood together, the one soft, the other hard. The bird

we had taken in such good season proved excellent eating, although

somewhat tough. It was not an oceanic fowl, but a species of bittern,

with jet black and grizzly plumage, and diminutive wings in proportion

to its bulk. We afterward saw three of the same kind in the vicinity of

the ravine, apparently seeking for the one we had captured; but, as

they never alighted, we had no opportunity of catching them.

As long as this fowl lasted we suffered nothing from our situation; but

it was now entirely consumed, and it became absolutely necessary that

we should look out for provision. The filberts would not satisfy the

cravings of hunger, afflicting us, too, with severe gripings of the

bowels, and, if freely indulged in, with violent headache. We had seen

several large tortoises near the seashore to the eastward of the hill,

and perceived they might be easily taken, if we could get at them

without the observation of the natives. It was resolved, therefore, to

make an attempt at descending.

We commenced by going down the southern declivity, which seemed to

offer the fewest difficulties, but had not proceeded a hundred yards

before (as we had anticipated from appearances on the hill-top) our

progress was entirely arrested by a branch of the gorge in which our

companions had perished. We now passed along the edge of this for about

a quarter of a mile, when we were again stopped by a precipice of

immense depth, and, not being able to make our way along the brink of

it, we were forced to retrace our steps by the main ravine.

We now pushed over to the eastward, but with precisely similar fortune.

After an hour’s scramble, at the risk of breaking our necks, we

discovered that we had merely descended into a vast pit of black

granite, with fine dust at the bottom, and whence the only egress was

by the rugged path in which we had come down. Toiling again up this

path, we now tried the northern edge of the hill. Here we were obliged

to use the greatest possible caution in our manoeuvres, as the least

indiscretion would expose us to the full view of the savages in the

village. We crawled along, therefore, on our hands and knees, and,

occasionally, were even forced to throw ourselves at full length,

dragging our bodies along by means of the shrubbery. In this careful

manner we had proceeded but a little way, when we arrived at a chasm

far deeper than any we had yet seen, and leading directly into the main

gorge. Thus our fears were fully confirmed, and we found ourselves cut

off entirely from access to the world below. Thoroughly exhausted by

our exertions, we made the best of our way back to the platform, and,

throwing ourselves upon the bed of leaves, slept sweetly and soundly

for some hours.

For several days after this fruitless search we were occupied in

exploring every part of the summit of the hill, in order to inform

ourselves of its actual resources. We found that it would afford us no

food, with the exception of the unwholesome filberts, and a rank

species of scurvy grass which grew in a little patch of not more than

four rods square, and would be soon exhausted. On the fifteenth of

February, as near as I can remember, there was not a blade of this

left, and the nuts were growing scarce; our situation, therefore, could

hardly be more lamentable.[5] On the sixteenth we again went round the

walls of our prison, in hope of finding some avenue of escape, but to

no purpose. We also descended the chasm in which we had been

overwhelmed, with the faint expectation of discovering, through this

channel, some opening to the main ravine. Here, too, we were

disappointed, although we found and brought up with us a musket.

[Footnote 5: This day was rendered remarkable by our observing in the

south several huge wreaths of the grayish vapour I have before spoken

of.]

On the seventeenth we set out with the determination of examining more

thoroughly the chasm of black granite into which we had made our way in

the first search. We remembered that one of the fissures in the sides

of this pit had been but partially looked into, and we were anxious to

explore it, although with no expectation of discovering here any

opening.

We found no great difficulty in reaching the bottom of the hollow as

before, and were now sufficiently calm to survey it with some

attention. It was, indeed, one of the most singular-looking places

imaginable, and we could scarcely bring ourselves to believe it

altogether the work of nature. The pit, from its eastern to its western

extremity, was about five hundred yards in length, when all its

windings were threaded; the distance from east to west in a straight

line not being more (I should suppose, having no means of accurate

examination) than forty or fifty yards. Upon first descending into the

chasm, that is to say, for a hundred feet downward from the summit of

the hill, the sides of the abyss bore little resemblance to each other,

and, apparently, had at no time been connected, the one surface being

of the soapstone and the other of marl, granulated with some metallic

matter. The average breadth, or interval between the two cliffs, was

probably here sixty feet, but there seemed to be no regularity of

formation. Passing down, however, beyond the limit spoken of, the

interval rapidly contracted, and the sides began to run parallel,

although, for some distance farther, they were still dissimilar in

their material and form of surface. Upon arriving within fifty feet of

the bottom, a perfect regularity commenced. The sides were now entirely

uniform in substance, in colour, and in lateral direction, the material

being a very black and shining granite, and the distance between the

two sides, at all points facing each other, exactly twenty yards. The

precise formation of the chasm will be best understood by means of a

delineation taken upon the spot; for I had luckily with me a pocketbook

and pencil, which I preserved with great care through a long series of

subsequent adventure, and to which I am indebted for memoranda of many

subjects which would otherwise have been crowded from my remembrance.

[Illustration: Figure 1.]

This figure (see figure 1) gives the general outlines of the chasm,

without the minor cavities in the sides, of which there were several,

each cavity having a corresponding protuberance opposite. The bottom of

the gulf was covered to the depth of three or four inches with a powder

almost impalpable, beneath which we found a continuation of the black

granite. To the right, at the lower extremity, will be noticed the

appearance of a small opening; this is the fissure alluded to above,

and to examine which more minutely than before was the object of our

second visit. We now pushed into it with vigour, cutting away a

quantity of brambles which impeded us, and removing a vast heap of

sharp flints somewhat resembling arrowheads in shape. We were

encouraged to persevere, however, by perceiving some little light

proceeding from the farther end. We at length squeezed our way for

about thirty feet, and found that the aperture was a low and

regularly-formed arch, having a bottom of the same impalpable powder as

that in the main chasm. A strong light now broke upon us, and, turning

a short bend, we found ourselves in another lofty chamber, similar to

the one we had left in every respect but longitudinal form. Its general

figure is here given. (See figure 2.)

[Illustration: Figure 2.]

The total length of this chasm, commencing at the opening a and

proceeding round the curve b to the extremity d, is five hundred

and fifty yards. At c we discovered a small aperture similar to the

one through which we had issued from the other chasm, and this was

choked up in the same manner with brambles and a quantity of the white

arrowhead flints. We forced our way through it, finding it about forty

feet long, and emerged into a third chasm. This, too, was precisely

like the first, except in its longitudinal shape, which was thus. (See

figure 3.)

[Illustration: Figure 3.]

[Illustration: Figure 5.]

We found the entire length of the third chasm three hundred and twenty

yards. At the point a was an opening about six feet wide, and

extending fifteen feet into the rock, where it terminated in a bed of

marl, there being no other chasm beyond, as we had expected. We were

about leaving this fissure, into which very little light was admitted,

when Peters called my attention to a range of singular-looking

indentures in the surface of the marl forming the termination of the

cul-de-sac. With a very slight exertion of the imagination, the left,

or most northerly of these indentures might have been taken for the

intentional, although rude, representation of a human figure standing

erect, with outstretched arm. The rest of them bore also some little

resemblance to alphabetical characters, and Peters was willing, at all

events, to adopt the idle opinion that they were really such. I

convinced him of his error, finally, by directing his attention to the

floor of the fissure, where, among the powder, we picked up, piece by

piece, several large flakes of the marl, which had evidently been

broken off by some convulsion from the surface where the indentures

were found, and which had projecting points exactly fitting the

indentures; thus proving them to have been the work of nature. Figure

4. presents an accurate copy of the whole.

[Illustration: Figure 4.]

After satisfying ourselves that these singular caverns afforded us no

means of escape from our prison, we made our way back, dejected and

dispirited, to the summit of the hill. Nothing worth mentioning

occurred during the next twenty-four hours, except that, in examining

the ground to the eastward of the third chasm, we found two triangular

holes of great depth, and also with black granite sides. Into these

holes we did not think it worth while to attempt descending, as they

had the appearance of mere natural wells, without outlet. They were

each about twenty yards in circumference, and their shape, as well as

relative position in regard to the third chasm, is shown in figure 5,

preceding page.

CHAPTER XXIV.

On the twentieth of the month, finding it altogether impossible to

subsist any longer upon the filberts, the use of which occasioned us

the most excruciating torment, we resolved to make a desperate attempt

at descending the southern declivity of the hill. The face of the

precipice was here of the softest species of soapstone, although nearly

perpendicular throughout its whole extent (a depth of a hundred and

fifty feet at the least), and in many places even overarching. After

long search we discovered a narrow ledge about twenty feet below the

brink of the gulf; upon this Peters contrived to leap, with what

assistance I could render him by means of our pocket-handkerchiefs tied

together. With somewhat more difficulty I also got down; and we then

saw the possibility of descending the whole way by the process in which

we had clambered up from the chasm when we had been buried by the fall

of the hill—that is, by cutting steps in the face of the soapstone

with our knives. The extreme hazard of the attempt can scarcely be

conceived; but, as there was no other resource, we determined to

undertake it.

Upon the ledge where we stood there grew some filbert-bushes; and to

one of these we made fast an end of our rope of handkerchiefs. The

other end being tied round Peters’s waist, I lowered him down over the

edge of the precipice until the handkerchiefs were stretched tight. He

now proceeded to dig a deep hole in the soapstone (as far in as eight

or ten inches), sloping away the rock above to the height of a foot, or

thereabout, so as to allow of his driving, with the butt of a pistol, a

tolerably strong peg into the levelled surface. I then drew him up for

about four feet, when he made a hole similar to the one below, driving

in a peg as before, and having thus a resting-place for both feet and

hands. I now unfastened the handkerchiefs from the bush, throwing him

the end, which he tied to the peg in the uppermost hole, letting

himself down gently to a station about three feet lower than he had yet

been, that is, to the full extent of the handkerchiefs. Here he dug

another hole, and drove another peg. He then drew himself up, so as to

rest his feet in the hole just cut, taking hold with his hands upon the

peg in the one above. It was now necessary to untie the handkerchiefs

from the topmost peg, with the view of fastening them to the second;

and here he found that an error had been committed in cutting the holes

at so great a distance apart. However, after one or two unsuccessful

and dangerous attempts at reaching the knot (having to hold on with his

left hand while he laboured to undo the fastening with his right), he

at length cut the string, leaving six inches of it affixed to the peg.

Tying the handkerchiefs now to the second peg, he descended to a

station below the third, taking care not to go too far down. By these

means (means which I should never have conceived of myself, and for

which we were indebted altogether to Peters’s ingenuity and resolution)

my companion finally succeeded, with the occasional aid of projections

in the cliff, in reaching the bottom without accident.

It was some time before I could summon sufficient resolution to follow

him; but I did at length attempt it. Peters had taken off his shirt

before descending, and this, with my own, formed the rope necessary for

the adventure. After throwing down the musket found in the chasm, I

fastened this rope to the bushes, and let myself down rapidly,

striving, by the vigour of my movements, to banish the trepidation

which I could overcome in no other manner. This answered sufficiently

well for the first four or five steps; but presently I found my

imagination growing terribly excited by thoughts of the vast depth yet

to be descended, and the precarious nature of the pegs and soapstone

holes which were my only support. It was in vain I endeavoured to

banish these reflections, and to keep my eyes steadily bent upon the

flat surface of the cliff before me. The more earnestly I struggled

not to think, the more intensely vivid became my conceptions, and the

more horribly distinct. At length arrived that crisis of fancy, so

fearful in all similar cases, the crisis in which we begin to

anticipate the feelings with which we shall fall—to picture to

ourselves the sickness, and dizziness, and the last struggle, and the

half swoon, and the final bitterness of the rushing and headlong

descent. And now I found these fancies creating their own realities,

and all imagined horrors crowding upon me in fact. I felt my knees

strike violently together, while my fingers were gradually yet

certainly relaxing their grasp. There was a ringing in my ears, and I

said, “This is my knell of death!” And now I was consumed with the

irrepressible desire of looking below. I could not, I would not,

confine my glances to the cliff; and, with a wild, indefinable emotion

half of horror, half of a relieved oppression, I threw my vision far

down into the abyss. For one moment my fingers clutched convulsively

upon their hold, while, with the movement, the faintest possible idea

of ultimate escape wandered, like a shadow, through my mind—in the

next my whole soul was pervaded with a longing to fall; a desire, a

yearning, a passion utterly uncontrollable. I let go at once my grasp

upon the peg, and, turning half round from the precipice, remained

tottering for an instant against its naked face. But now there came a

spinning of the brain; a shrill-sounding and phantom voice screamed

within my ears; a dusky, fiendish, and filmy figure stood immediately

beneath me; and, sighing, I sunk down with a bursting heart, and

plunged within its arms.

I had swooned, and Peters had caught me as I fell. He had observed my

proceedings from his station at the bottom of the cliff; and,

perceiving my imminent danger, had endeavoured to inspire me with

courage by every suggestion he could devise; although my confusion of

mind had been so great as to prevent my hearing what he said, or being

conscious that he had even spoken to me at all. At length, seeing me

totter, he hastened to ascend to my rescue, and arrived just in time

for my preservation. Had I fallen with my full weight, the rope of

linen would inevitably have snapped, and I should have been

precipitated into the abyss; as it was, he contrived to let me down

gently, so as to remain suspended without danger until animation

returned. This was in about fifteen minutes. On recovery, my

trepidation had entirely vanished; I felt a new being, and, with some

little further aid from my companion, reached the bottom also in

safety.

We now found ourselves not far from the ravine which had proved the

tomb of our friends, and to the southward of the spot where the hill

had fallen. The place was one of singular wildness, and its aspect

brought to my mind the descriptions given by travellers of those dreary

regions marking the site of degraded Babylon. Not to speak of the ruins

of the disruptured cliff, which formed a chaotic barrier in the vista

to the northward, the surface of the ground in every other direction

was strewn with huge tumuli, apparently the wreck of some gigantic

structures of art; although, in detail, no semblance of art could be

detected. Scoria were abundant, and large shapeless blocks of the black

granite, intermingled with others of marl,[6] and both granulated with

metal. Of vegetation there were no traces whatsoever throughout the

whole of the desolate area within sight. Several immense scorpions were

seen, and various reptiles not elsewhere to be found in the high

latitudes.

[Footnote 6: The marl was also black; indeed, we noticed no

light-coloured substances of any kind upon the island.]

As food was our most immediate object, we resolved to make our way to

the seacoast, distant not more than half a mile, with a view of

catching turtle, several of which we had observed from our place of

concealment on the hill. We had proceeded some hundred yards, threading

our route cautiously between the huge rocks and tumuli, when, upon

turning a corner, five savages sprung upon us from a small cavern,

felling Peters to the ground with a blow from a club. As he fell the

whole party rushed upon him to secure their victim, leaving me time to

recover from my astonishment. I still had the musket, but the barrel

had received so much injury in being thrown from the precipice that I

cast it aside as useless, preferring to trust my pistols, which had

been carefully preserved in order. With these I advanced upon the

assailants, firing one after the other in quick succession. Two savages

fell, and one, who was in the act of thrusting a spear into Peters,

sprung to his feet without accomplishing his purpose. My companion

being thus released, we had no further difficulty. He had his pistols

also, but prudently declined using them, confiding in his great

personal strength, which far exceeded that of any person I have ever

known. Seizing a club from one of the savages who had fallen, he dashed

out the brains of the three who remained, killing each instantaneously

with a single blow of the weapon, and leaving us completely masters of

the field.

So rapidly had these events passed, that we could scarcely believe in

their reality, and were standing over the bodies of the dead in a

species of stupid contemplation, when we were brought to recollection

by the sound of shouts in the distance. It was clear that the savages

had been alarmed by the firing, and that we had little chance of

avoiding discovery. To regain the cliff, it would be necessary to

proceed in the direction of the shouts; and even should we succeed in

arriving at its base, we should never be able to ascend it without

being seen. Our situation was one of the greatest peril, and we were

hesitating in which path to commence a flight, when one of the savages

whom I had shot, and supposed dead, sprang briskly to his feet, and

attempted to make his escape. We overtook him, however, before he had

advanced many paces, and were about to put him to death, when Peters

suggested that we might derive some benefit from forcing him to

accompany us in our attempt at escape. We therefore dragged him with

us, making him understand that we would shoot him if he offered

resistance. In a few minutes he was perfectly submissive, and ran by

our sides as we pushed in among the rocks, making for the seashore.

So far, the irregularities of the ground we had been traversing hid the

sea, except at intervals, from our sight, and, when we first had it

fairly in view, it was, perhaps, two hundred yards distant. As we

emerged into the open beach we saw, to our great dismay, an immense

crowd of the natives pouring from the village, and from all visible

quarters of the island, making towards us with gesticulations of

extreme fury, and howling like wild beasts. We were upon the point of

turning upon our steps, and trying to secure a retreat among the

fastnesses of the rougher ground, when I discovered the bows of two

canoes projecting from behind a large rock which ran out into the

water. Towards these we now ran with all speed, and, reaching them,

found them unguarded, and without any other freight than three of the

large Gallipago turtles and the usual supply of paddles for sixty

rowers. We instantly took possession of one of them, and, forcing our

captive on board, pushed out to sea with all the strength we could

command.

We had not made, however, more than fifty yards from the shore before

we became sufficiently calm to perceive the great oversight of which we

had been guilty in leaving the other canoe in the power of the savages,

who, by this time, were not more than twice as far from the beach as

ourselves, and were rapidly advancing to the pursuit. No time was now

to be lost. Our hope was, at best, a forlorn one, but we had none

other. It was very doubtful whether, with the utmost exertion, we could

get back in time to anticipate them in taking possession of the canoe;

but yet there was a chance that we could. We might save ourselves if we

succeeded, while not to make the attempt was to resign ourselves to

inevitable butchery.

The canoe was modelled with the bow and stern alike, and, in place of

turning it round, we merely changed our position in paddling. As soon

as the savages perceived this they redoubled their yells, as well as

their speed, and approached with inconceivable rapidity. We pulled,

however, with all the energy of desperation, and arrived at the

contested point before more than one of the natives had attained it.

This man paid dearly for his superior agility, Peters shooting him

through the head with a pistol as he approached the shore. The foremost

among the rest of his party were probably some twenty or thirty paces

distant as we seized upon the canoe. We at first endeavoured to pull

her into the deep water, beyond the reach of the savages, but, finding

her too firmly aground, and there being no time to spare, Peters, with

one or two heavy strokes from the butt of the musket, succeeded in

dashing out a large portion of the bow and of one side. We then pushed

off. Two of the natives by this time had got hold of our boat,

obstinately refusing to let go, until we were forced to despatch them

with our knives. We were now clear off, and making great way out to

sea. The main body of the savages, upon reaching the broken canoe, set

up the most tremendous yell of rage and disappointment conceivable. In

truth, from everything I could see of these wretches, they appeared to

be the most wicked, hypocritical, vindictive, bloodthirsty, and

altogether fiendish race of men upon the face of the globe. It is clear

we should have had no mercy had we fallen into their hands. They made a

mad attempt at following us in the fractured canoe, but, finding it

useless, again vented their rage in a series of hideous vociferations,

and rushed up into the hills.

We were thus relieved from immediate danger, but our situation was

still sufficiently gloomy. We knew that four canoes of the kind we had

were at one time in the possession of the savages, and were not aware

of the fact (afterward ascertained from our captive) that two of these

had been blown to pieces in the explosion of the Jane Guy. We

calculated, therefore, upon being yet pursued, as soon as our enemies

could get round to the bay (distant about three miles) where the boats

were usually laid up. Fearing this, we made every exertion to leave the

island behind us, and went rapidly through the water, forcing the

prisoner to take a paddle. In about half an hour, when we had gained,

probably, five or six miles to the southward, a large fleet of the

flat-bottomed canoes or rafts was seen to emerge from the bay,

evidently with the design of pursuit. Presently they put back,

despairing to overtake us.

CHAPTER XXV.

We now found ourselves in the wide and desolate Antarctic Ocean, in a

latitude exceeding eighty-four degrees, in a frail canoe, and with no

provision but the three turtles. The long Polar winter, too, could not

be considered as far distant, and it became necessary that we should

deliberate well upon the course to be pursued. There were six or seven

islands in sight belonging to the same group, and distant from each

other about five or six leagues; but upon neither of these had we any

intention to venture. In coming from the northward in the Jane Guy we

had been gradually leaving behind us the severest regions of ice—this,

however little it may be in accordance with the generally-received

notions respecting the Antarctic, was a fact experience would not

permit us to deny. To attempt, therefore, getting back, would be

folly—especially at so late a period of the season. Only one course

seemed to be left open for hope. We resolved to steer boldly to the

southward, where there was at least a probability of discovering other

lands, and more than a probability of finding a still milder climate.

So far we had found the Antarctic, like the Arctic Ocean, peculiarly

free from violent storms or immoderately rough water; but our canoe

was, at best, of frail structure, although large, and we set busily to

work with a view of rendering her as safe as the limited means in our

possession would admit. The body of the boat was of no better material

than bark—the bark of a tree unknown. The ribs were of a tough osier,

well adapted to the purpose for which it was used. We had fifty feet

room from stem to stern, from four to six in breadth, and in depth

throughout four feet and a half—the boats thus differing vastly in

shape from those of any other inhabitants of the Southern Ocean with

whom civilized nations are acquainted. We never did believe them the

workmanship of the ignorant islanders who owned them; and some days

after this period discovered, by questioning our captive, that they

were in fact made by the natives of a group to the southwest of the

country where we found them, having fallen accidentally into the hands

of our barbarians. What we could do for the security of our boat was

very little indeed. Several wide rents were discovered near both ends,

and these we contrived to patch up with pieces of woollen jacket. With

the help of the superfluous paddles, of which there were a great many,

we erected a kind of framework about the bow, so as to break the force

of any seas which might threaten to fill us in that quarter. We also

set up two paddle-blades for masts, placing them opposite each other,

one by each gunwale, thus saving the necessity of a yard. To these

masts we attached a sail made of our shirts—doing this with some

difficulty, as here we could get no assistance from our prisoner

whatever, although he had been willing enough to labour in all the

other operations. The sight of the linen seemed to affect him in a very

singular manner. He could not be prevailed upon to touch it or go near

it, shuddering when we attempted to force him, and shrieking out

Tekeli-li!

Having completed our arrangements in regard to the security of the

canoe, we now set sail to the south southeast for the present, with the

view of weathering the most southerly of the group in sight. This being

done, we turned the bow full to the southward. The weather could by no

means be considered disagreeable. We had a prevailing and very gentle

wind from the northward, a smooth sea, and continual daylight. No ice

whatever was to be seen; _nor did I ever see one particle of this after

leaving the parallel of Bennet’s Islet_. Indeed, the temperature of the

water was here far too warm for its existence in any quantity. Having

killed the largest of our tortoises, and obtained from him not only

food, but a copious supply of water, we continued on our course,

without any incident of moment, for perhaps seven or eight days, during

which period we must have proceeded a vast distance to the southward,

as the wind blew constantly with us, and a very strong current set

continually in the direction we were pursuing.

March 1.[7] Many unusual phenomena now indicated that we were

entering upon a region of novelty and wonder. A high range of light

gray vapour appeared constantly in the southern horizon, flaring up

occasionally in lofty streaks, now darting from east to west, now from

west to east, and again presenting a level and uniform summit—in

short, having all the wild variations of the Aurora Borealis. The

average height of this vapour, as apparent from our station, was about

twenty-five degrees. The temperature of the sea seemed to be increasing

momentarily, and there was a very perceptible alteration in its colour.

[Footnote 7: For obvious reasons I cannot pretend to strict accuracy in

these dates. They are given principally with a view to perspicuity of

narration, and as set down in my pencil memoranda.]

March 2. To-day, by repeated questioning of our captive, we came to

the knowledge of many particulars in regard to the island of the

massacre, its inhabitants, and customs—but with these how can I now

detain the reader? I may say, however, that we learned there were eight

islands in the group—that they were governed by a common king, named

Tsalemon or Psalemoun, who resided in one of the smallest of the

islands—that the black skins forming the dress of the warriors came

from an animal of huge size to be found only in a valley near the court

of the king—that the inhabitants of the group fabricated no other

boats than the flat-bottomed rafts; the four canoes being all of the

kind in their possession, and these having been obtained, by mere

accident, from some large island to the southwest—that his own name

was Nu-Nu—that he had no knowledge of Bennet’s Islet—and that the

appellation of the island we had left was Tsalal. The commencement of

the words Tsalemon and Tsalal was given with a prolonged hissing

sound, which we found it impossible to imitate, even after repeated

endeavours, and which was precisely the same with the note of the black

bittern we had eaten upon the summit of the hill.

March 3. The heat of the water was now truly remarkable, and its

colour was undergoing a rapid change, being no longer transparent, but

of a milky consistency and hue. In our immediate vicinity it was

usually smooth, never so rough as to endanger the canoe—but we were

frequently surprised at perceiving, to our right and left, at different

distances, sudden and extensive agitations of the surface—these, we at

length noticed, were always preceded by wild flickerings in the region

of vapour to the southward.

March 4. To-day, with the view of widening our sail, the breeze from

the northward dying away perceptibly, I took from my coat-pocket a

white handkerchief. Nu-Nu was seated at my elbow, and the linen

accidentally flaring in his face, he became violently affected with

convulsions. These were succeeded by drowsiness and stupor, and low

murmurings of Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

March 5. The wind had entirely ceased, but it was evident that we

were still hurrying on to the southward, under the influence of a

powerful current. And now, indeed, it would seem reasonable that we

should experience some alarm at the turn events were taking—but we

felt none. The countenance of Peters indicated nothing of this nature,

although it wore at times an expression I could not fathom. The Polar

winter appeared to be coming on—but coming without its terrors. I felt

a numbness of body and mind—a dreaminess of sensation—but this was

all.

March 6. The gray vapour had now arisen many more degrees above the

horizon, and was gradually losing its grayness of tint. The heat of the

water was extreme, even unpleasant to the touch, and its milky hue was

more evident than ever. To-day a violent agitation of the water

occurred very close to the canoe. It was attended, as usual, with a

wild flaring up of the vapour at its summit, and a momentary division

at its base. A fine white powder, resembling ashes—but certainly not

such—fell over the canoe and over a large surface of the water, as the

flickering died away among the vapour and the commotion subsided in the

sea. Nu-Nu now threw himself on his face in the bottom of the boat, and

no persuasions could induce him to arise.

March 7. This day we questioned Nu-Nu concerning the motives of his

countrymen in destroying our companions; but he appeared to be too

utterly overcome by terror to afford us any rational reply. He still

obstinately lay in the bottom of the boat; and, upon our reiterating

the questions as to the motive, made use only of idiotic

gesticulations, such as raising with his forefinger the upper lip, and

displaying the teeth which lay beneath it. These were black. We had

never before seen the teeth of an inhabitant of Tsalal.

March 8. To-day there floated by us one of the white animals whose

appearance upon the beach at Tsalal had occasioned so wild a commotion

among the savages. I would have picked it up, but there came over me a

sudden listlessness, and I forbore. The heat of the water still

increased, and the hand could no longer be endured within it. Peters

spoke little, and I knew not what to think of his apathy. Nu-Nu

breathed, and no more.

March 9. The white ashy material fell now continually around us, and

in vast quantities. The range of vapour to the southward had arisen

prodigiously in the horizon, and began to assume more distinctness of

form. I can liken it to nothing but a limitless cataract, rolling

silently into the sea from some immense and far-distant rampart in the

heaven. The gigantic curtain ranged along the whole extent of the

southern horizon. It emitted no sound.

March 21. A sullen darkness now hovered above us—but from out the

milky depths of the ocean a luminous glare arose, and stole up along

the bulwarks of the boat. We were nearly overwhelmed by the white ashy

shower which settled upon us and upon the canoe, but melted into the

water as it fell. The summit of the cataract was utterly lost in the

dimness and the distance. Yet we were evidently approaching it with a

hideous velocity. At intervals there were visible in it wide, yawning,

but momentary rents, and from out these rents, within which was a chaos

of flitting and indistinct images, there came rushing and mighty, but

soundless winds, tearing up the enkindled ocean in their course.

March 22. The darkness had materially increased, relieved only by the

glare of the water thrown back from the white curtain before us. Many

gigantic and pallidly white birds flew continuously now from beyond the

veil, and their scream was the eternal Tekeli-li! as they retreated

from our vision. Hereupon Nu-Nu stirred in the bottom of the boat; but,

upon touching him, we found his spirit departed. And now we rushed into

the embraces of the cataract, where a chasm threw itself open to

receive us. But there arose in our pathway a shrouded human figure,

very far larger in its proportions than any dweller among men. And the

hue of the skin of the figure was of the perfect whiteness of the snow.

NOTE.

The circumstances connected with the late sudden and distressing death

of Mr. Pym are already well known to the public through the medium of

the daily press. It is feared that the few remaining chapters which

were to have completed his narrative, and which were retained by him,

while the above were in type, for the purpose of revision, have been

irrecoverably lost through the accident by which he perished himself.

This, however, may prove not to be the case, and the papers, if

ultimately found, will be given to the public.

No means have been left untried to remedy the deficiency. The gentleman

whose name is mentioned in the preface, and who, from the statement

there made, might be supposed able to fill the vacuum, has declined the

task—this for satisfactory reasons connected with the general

inaccuracy of the details afforded him, and his disbelief in the entire

truth of the latter portions of the narration. Peters, from whom some

information might be expected, is still alive, and a resident of

Illinois, but cannot be met with at present. He may hereafter be found,

and will, no doubt, afford material for a conclusion of Mr. Pym’s

account.

The loss of the two or three final chapters (for there were but two or

three) is the more deeply to be regretted, as, it cannot be doubted,

they contained matter relative to the Pole itself, or at least to

regions in its very near proximity; and as, too, the statements of the

author in relation to these regions may shortly be verified or

contradicted by means of the governmental expedition now preparing for

the Southern Ocean.

On one point in the Narrative some remarks may be well offered; and it

would afford the writer of this appendix much pleasure if what he may

here observe should have a tendency to throw credit, in any degree,

upon the very singular pages now published. We allude to the chasms

found in the island of Tsalal, and to the whole of the figures in the

latter portion of Chapter XXIII.

Mr. Pym has given the figures of the chasms without comment, and speaks

decidedly of the indentures found at the extremity of the most

easterly of these chasms as having but a fanciful resemblance to

alphabetical characters, and, in short, as being positively not such.

This assertion is made in a manner so simple, and sustained by a

species of demonstration so conclusive (viz., the fitting of the

projections of the fragments found among the dust into the indentures

upon the wall), that we are forced to believe the writer in earnest;

and no reasonable reader should suppose otherwise. But as the facts in

relation to all the figures are most singular (especially when taken

in connexion with statements made in the body of the narrative), it may

be as well to say a word or two concerning them all—this, too, the

more especially as the facts in question have, beyond doubt, escaped

the attention of Mr. Poe.

Figure 1, then, figure 2, figure 3, and figure 5, when conjoined with

one another in the precise order which the chasms themselves presented,

and when deprived of the small lateral branches or arches (which, it

will be remembered, served only as means of communication between the

main chambers, and were of totally distinct character), constitute an

Ethiopian verbal root—the root [Illustration] “To be shady”—whence

all the inflections of shadow or darkness.

In regard to the “left or most northwardly” of the indentures in figure

4, it is more than probable that the opinion of Peters was correct, and

that the hieroglyphical appearance was really the work of art, and

intended as the representation of a human form. The delineation is

before the reader, and he may, or may not, perceive the resemblance

suggested; but the rest of the indentures afford strong confirmation of

Peters’s idea. The upper range is evidently the Arabic verbal root

[Illustration] “To be white,” whence all the inflections of brilliancy

and whiteness. The lower range is not so immediately perspicuous. The

characters are somewhat broken and disjointed; nevertheless, it cannot

be doubted that, in their perfect state, they formed the full Egyptian

word [Illustration] “The region of the south.” It should be observed

that these interpretations confirm the opinion of Peters in regard to

the “most northwardly” of the figures. The arm is outstretched towards

the south.

Conclusions such as these open a wide field for speculation and

exciting conjecture. They should be regarded, perhaps, in connexion

with some of the most faintly-detailed incidents of the narrative;

although in no visible manner is this chain of connexion complete.

Tekeli-li! was the cry of the affrighted natives of Tsalal upon

discovering the carcass of the white animal picked up at sea. This

also was the shuddering exclamation of the captive Tsalalian upon

encountering the white materials in possession of Mr. Pym. This also

was the shriek of the swift-flying, white, and gigantic birds which

issued from the vapoury white curtain of the South. Nothing white

was to be found at Tsalal, and nothing otherwise in the subsequent

voyage to the region beyond. It is not impossible that “Tsalal,” the

appellation of the island of the chasms, may be found, upon minute

philological scrutiny, to betray either some alliance with the chasms

themselves, or some reference to the Ethiopian characters so

mysteriously written in their windings.

_“I have graven it within the hills, and my vengeance upon the dust

within the rock.”_

THE END.

[Transcriber’s Note: The last two chapters, Chapters XXIV and XXV were

named, respectively, XXIII and XXIV in the original publication, with,

therefore, two chapters XXIII. This has been corrected in this

transcription.]