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[page 84, continued:]
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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 [page 85:] 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 the 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, [page 86:] 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 [page 87:] 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, [page 88:]
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 the 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 [page
89:] 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 [page
90:] 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 [page
91:]
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 ankles, Peters now made his fourth
descent into the [page 92:] 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. |
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