 | CHAPTER XI. The sea lions, or, The lost sealers |  |
11. CHAPTER XI.
The darkening world, and tempest-troubled deep!”
Campbell.
While the bosom of Roswell was thus warming with
the new-born faith, of which the germ was just opening in
his heart, Stimson came out upon the terrace to see what
had become of his officer. It was much past the hour when
the men got beneath the coverings of their mattresses; and
the honest boat-steerer, who had performed the duty on
which he had been sent, was anxious about Roswell's remaining
so long in the open air, on this positively the severest
night of the whole-season.
“You stand the cold well, Captain Gar'ner,” said Stephen,
now, to get under cover.”
“I do not feel it cold, Stephen” — returned Roswell —
“on the contrary, I'm in a pleasant glow. My mind has
been busy, while my frame has kept in motion. When such
are the facts, the body seldom suffers. But, hearken—does
it not seem that some one is calling to us from the direction
of the wreck?”
The great distance to which sounds are conveyed in intensely
cold and clear weather, is a fact known to most
persons. Conversations in the ordinary tone had been
heard by the sealers when the speakers were nearly a mile
off; and, on several occasions, attempts had been made to
hold communications, by means of the voice, between the
wreck and the hut. Certain words had been understood;
but it was found impossible to hold anything that could be
termed conversation. Still, the voice had been often heard,
and a fancy had come over the mind of Roswell that he
heard a cry like a call for assistance, just as Stimson joined
him.
“It is so late, sir, that I should hardly think any of the
Vineyarders would be up,” observed the boat-steerer, after
listening some little time in the desire to catch the sound
mentioned. “Then it is so cold, that most men would like
to get beneath their blankets as soon as they could.”
“I do not find it so very cold, Stephen. Have you looked
at the thermometer lately?”
“I gave it a look in coming out, sir; and it tells a terrible
story to-night! The marcury is all down in the bali,
which is like givin' the matter up, I do suppose, Captain
Gar'ner.”
“'Tis strange! I do not feel it so very cold! The wind
seems to be getting round to north-east, too; give us enough
of that, and we shall have a thaw. Hark! there is the cry
again.”
This time there could be no mistake. A human voice
had certainly been raised amid the stillness of that almost
polar night, clearly appealing to human ears, for succour.
The only word heard or comprehended was that of “help;”
one well enough adapted to carry the sound far and distinctly.
There was a strain of agony in the cry, as if he
to flow back to his heart; never had he before felt so appalling
a sense of the dependence of man on a Divine Providence,
as at that moment.
“You heard it?” he said, inquiringly, to Stephen, after
an instant of silent attention, to make sure that no more
was to reach his ears just then.
“Sartain, sir—no man could mistake that. It was the
voice of the nigger, Joe; him that Captain Daggett has for
a cook.”
“Think you so, Stephen? The fellow has good lungs,
and they may have set him to call upon us in their distress.
What can be the nature of the assistance they ask?”
“I've been thinking of that, Captain Gar'ner; and a
difficult p'int it is to answer. Food they must have still;
and was they in want of their rations, hands would have
been sent across to get 'em. They may have let their fire
go out, and be without the means to re-light it. I can
think of nothing else that is likely to happen to men so
sarcumstanced.”
The last suggestion struck Roswell as possible. From
the instant he felt certain that he was called on for aid, he
had determined to proceed to the wreck, notwithstanding
the lateness of the hour, and the intense severity of the
weather. As he had intimated to Stephen, he was not at
all conscious how very cold it was; exercise and the active
workings of his mind having brought him to an excellent
condition to resist the sternness of the season. The appeal
had been so sudden and unexpected, however, that he was
at first somewhat at a loss how to proceed. This matter
was now discussed between him and Stimson, when the
following plan was adopted:—
The mates were to be called, and made acquainted with
what had occurred, and put on their guard as to what might
possibly be required of them. It was not thought necessary
to call any of the rest of the men. There was always one
hand on the watch in the house, whose duty it was to look
to the fires, for the double purpose of security against a
conflagration, and to prevent the warmth within from sinking
too near to the cold without. It had often occurred to
Roswell's mind that a conflagration would prove quick destruction
would be lost; and it was certain that, without a
covering and the means of keeping warm within it, the
men could not resist the climate eight-and-forty hours.
The burning of the hut would be certain death.
Roswell took no one with him but Stimson. Two were
as good as a hundred, if all that was asked were merely
the means to re-light the fire. These means were provided,
and a loaded pistol was taken also, to enable a signal-shot
to be fired, should circumstances seem to require further
aid. One or two modes of communicating leading facts
were concerted, when our hero and his companion set forth
on their momentous journey.
Taking the hour, the weather, and the object before him
into the account, Roswell Gardiner felt that he was now
enlisted in the most important undertaking of his whole
life, as he and Stephen shook hands with the two mates,
and left the point. The drifts rendered a somewhat circuitous
path necessary at first; but the moon and stars shed
so much of their radiance on the frozen covering of the
earth, that the night was quite as light as many a London
day. Excitement and motion kept the blood of our two
adventurers in a brisk circulation, and prevented their becoming
immediately conscious of the chill intensity of the
cold to which they were exposed.
“It is good to think of Almighty God, and of his many
marcies,” said Stephen, when a short distance from the
house, “as a body goes forth on an expedition as serious
as this. We may not live to reach the wrack, for it seems
to me to grow colder and colder!”
“I wonder we hear no more of the cries,” remarked
Roswell, who was thinking of the distress he was bent on
relieving. “One would think that a man who could call
so stoutly would give us another cry.”
“A body can never calcilate on a nigger,” answered
Stephen, who had the popular American prejudice against
the caste that has so long been held in servitude in the
land. “They call out easily, and shut up oncommon quick,
if there's nothin' gained by yelling. Black blood won't
stand cold like white blood, Captain Gar'ner, any more
than white blood will stand heat like black blood.”
“I have heard this before, Stephen; and it has surprised
me that Captain Daggett's cook should be the only one of
that party who seems to have had any voice to-night.”
Stimson had a good deal to say now, as the two picked
their way across the field of snow, always walking on the
crust, which in most places would have upheld a loaded
vehicle; the subject of his remarks being the difference
between the two races as respects their ability to endure
hardships. The worthy boat-steerer had several tales to
relate of cases in which he had known negroes freeze
when whites have escaped. As the fact is one pretty well
established, Roswell listened complacently enough, being
much too earnest in pressing forward toward his object, to
debate any of his companion's theories just then. It was
while thus employed that Roswell fancied he heard one
more cry, resembling those which had brought him on this
dangerous undertaking, on a night so fearful. This time,
however, the cry was quite faint; and what was not so
easily explained, it did not appear to come from the precise
direction in which the wreck was known to lie, but from
one that diverged considerably from that particular quarter.
Of course, the officer mentioned this circumstance to the
boat-steerer; and the extraordinary part of the information
caused some particular discussion between them.
“To me that last call seemed to come from up yonder,
nearer to the cliffs than the place where we are, and not at
all from down there, near to the sea, where the wrack is,”
said Stimson, in the course of his remarks. “So sartain
am I of this, that I feel anxious to change our course a
little, to see if it be not possible that one of the Vineyarders
has got into some difficulty in trying to come across to us.”
Roswell had the same desire, for he had made the same
conjecture; though he did not believe the black would be
the person chosen to be the messenger on such an occasion.
“I think Captain Daggett would have come himself, or
have sent one of his best men,” he observed, “in preference
to trusting a negro with a duty so important.”
“We do not know, sir, that it was the nigger we heard.
Misery makes much the same cries, whether it comes from
the throat of white or black. Let us work upward, nearer
as it might be on our larboard bow.”
Roswell caught a glimpse of the same object, and thither
our adventurers now bent their steps, walking on the crust
without any difficulty, so long as they kept out of the drifts.
One does not find it as easy to make any physical effort in
an intensely cold atmosphere, as he does when the weather
is more moderate. This prevented Roswell and his companion
from moving as fast as they otherwise might have
done; but they got along with sufficient rapidity to reach
the dark spot on the snow in less than five minutes after
they had changed their course.
“You are right, Stephen,” said Gardiner, as he came
up to this speck, amid the immensity of the white mantle
that covered both sea and land, far as the eye could reach;
“it is the cook! The poor fellow has given out here, about
half-way between the two stations.”
“There must be life in him yet, sir — nigger as he is.
It's not yet twenty minutes since he gave that last cry.
Help me to turn him over, Captain Gar'ner, and we will
rub him, and give him a swallow of brandy. A little hot
coffee, now, might bring the life back to his heart.”
Roswell complied, first firing his pistol as a signal to
those left behind. The negro was not dead, but so near it,
that a very few more minutes would have sealed his fate.
The applications and frictions used by Gardiner and the
boat-steerer had an effect. A swallow of the brandy probably
saved the poor fellow's life. While working on his
patient, Captain Gardiner found a piece of frozen pork,
which, on examination, he ascertained had never been
cooked. It at once explained the nature of the calamity
that had befallen the crew of the wreck.
So intent were the two on their benevolent duty, that a
party arrived from the house in obedience to the signal, in
much less time than they could have hoped for. It was led
by the mate, and came provided with a lamp burning beneath
a tin vessel filled with sweetened coffee. This hot
drink answered an excellent purpose with both well and
sick. After a swallow or two, aided by a vigorous friction,
and closely surrounded by so many human bodies, the black
began to revive; and the sort of drowsy stupor which is
having been in a degree shaken off, he was enabled to
stand alone, and by means of assistance to walk. The hot
coffee was of the greatest service, every swallow that he
got down appearing to set the engine of life into new motion.
The compelled exercise contributed its part; and by
the time the mate, to use his own expression, “had run the
nigger into dock,” which meant when he had got him safe
within the hut, his senses and faculties had so far revived
as to enable him to think and to speak. As Gardiner and
Stimson returned with him, everybody was up and listening,
when the black told his story.
It would seem that, during the terrible month which had
just passed, Daggett had compelled his crew to use more
exercise than had been their practice of late. Some new
apprehension had come over him on the subject of fuel, and
his orders to be saving in that article were most stringent,
and very rigidly enforced. The consequence was, that the
camboose was not as well attended to as it had been previously,
and as circumstances required, indeed, that it
should be. At night, the men were told to keep themselves
warm with bed-clothes, and by huddling together; and the
cabin being small, so many persons crowded together in it,
did not fail to produce an impression on its atmosphere.
Such was the state of things, when, on going to his camboose,
in order to cook the breakfast, this very black found
the fire totally extinguished! Not a spark could he discover,
even among the ashes; and, what was even worse,
the tinder-box had disappeared. As respects the last, it
may be well to state here, that it was afterwards discovered
carefully bestowed between two of the timbers of the wreck,
with a view to a particular safe-keeping; the person who
had made this disposition of it, forgetting what he had done.
The loss of the tinder-box, under the circumstances, was
almost as great a calamity as could have befallen men, in
the situation of the Vineyarders. As against the cold, by
means of bed-clothes, exercise, and other precautions, it
might have been possible to exist for some time, provided
warm food could be obtained; but the frost penetrated the
cabin, and every one soon became sensitively alive to the
awkwardness, not to say danger, of their condition. A
by various processes. Friction did not succeed; it probably
never does with the thermometer at zero. Sparks
could be obtained, but by this time everything was stiff
with the frost. The food already cooked was soon as hard
as bullets, and it was found that, on the second night,
brandy that was exposed was converted into a lump of ice.
Not only did the intensity of the cold increase, but everything,
even to the human system, seemed to be gradually
congealing, and preparing to become converted into receptacles
for frost. Several of the men began to suffer in their
ears, noses, feet and other extremities, and the bunks were
soon the only places in which it was found possible to exist
in anything like comfort. No less than three men had
been sent, at intervals of a few hours, across to the house,
with a view to obtain fire, or the means of lighting one,
along with other articles that were considered necessary to
the safety of the people. The cook had been the third
and last of these messengers. He had passed his two shipmates,
each lying dead on the snow, — or, as he supposed,
lifeless; for neither gave the smallest sign of vitality, on
an examination. It was in the agony of alarm produced
by these appalling spectacles, that the negro had cried
aloud for help, sending the sounds far enough to reach the
ears of Roswell. Still he had persevered; until chilled, as
much with terror, as with the cold and the want of warm
nourishment, the cook had sunk into what would have soon
proved to be his last long sleep, when the timely succour
arrived.
It was some two hours after the black had been got into
the hut, and was strengthened with a good hot supper, ere
he had communicated all the facts just related. Roswell
succeeded, however, in getting a little at a time from him;
and when no more remained to be related, the plan was
already arranged for future proceedings. It was quite clear
no unnecessary delay should be permitted to take place.
The cold continued to increase in intensity, notwithstanding
it was the opinion of the most experienced among the
men that a thaw, and a great spring thaw, was approaching.
It often happens, in climates of an exaggerated character,
said to meet in man.
Roswell left the house, for the second time that eventful
night, just at the hour of twelve. He now went accompanied
by the second mate and a foremast-hand, as well as
by his old companion, the boat-steerer. Each individual
drank a bowl of hot coffee before he set out, and a good
warm supper had also been taken in the interval between
the return and this new sortie. Experience shows that
there is no such protector against the effect of cold as a
full stomach, more especially if the food be warm and nourishing.
This was understood by Roswell; and not only
did he cause the whole party that set forth with him at that
late and menacing hour to receive this sustenance, but he
ordered the kettle of boiling coffee to be carried with them,
and kept two lamps burning, for the double purpose of
maintaining the heat, and of having a fire ready on reaching
the wreck. The oil of the sea-elephant, together with
pieces of canvass prepared for the purpose, supplied the
necessary materials.
So intensely severe was the weather, that Roswell had
serious thoughts of returning when he reached the spot
where the black had been found. But the picture of Daggett's
situation that occurred to his mind, urged him on,
and he proceeded. Every precaution had been taken to
exclude the cold, as it is usually termed, which, as it respects
the body, means little else than keeping the vital
heat in, and very useful were these provisions found to be.
Skins formed the principal defence, though the men had
long adopted the very simple but excellent expedient of
wearing two shirts. Owing to this, and to the other measures
taken, neither of the four was struck with a chill, and
they all continued on.
At the place mentioned by the black, the body of one of
Daggett's best men, a boat-steerer, was found. The man
was dead, of course, and the corpse was as rigid as a billet
of wood. Every particle of moisture in it had congealed,
until the whole of what had been a very fine and manly
frame, lay little more than a senseless lump of ice. A few
degrees to the southward of the spot where it was now seen,
it is probable that this relic of humanity would have retained
summon it to meet its former tenant, the spirit, in judgment.
No time was lost in useless lamentations over the body
of this man, who was much of a favourite among the
Oyster Ponders. Twenty minutes later, the second corpse
was found; both the bodies lying in what was the customary
track between the house and the wreck. It was the last
that had died; but, like that of the unfortunate man just
described, it was in a state to be preserved ten thousand
years, without the occurrence of a thaw. Merely glancing
at the rigid features of the face, in order to identify the
person, Roswell passed on, the chill feelings of every individual
of his party now admonishing them all of the necessity
of getting as soon as possible to some place where
they could feel the influence of a fire. In ten minutes
more, the whole were in the caverns of the ice, and, presently,
the cabin of the wreck was entered. Without turning
to the right hand or to the left, without looking for one
of the inmates of the place, every man among the new-comers
turned his attention instantly to getting the fire
lighted. The camboose had been filled with wood, and it
was evident that many efforts had been made to produce a
blaze, by those who had put it there. Splinters of pine
had been inserted among the oak of the vessel, and nothing
was wanting but the means of kindling. These, most
fortunately for themselves, the party of Roswell had, and
eagerly did they now have recourse to their use.
There was not a man among the Oyster Ponders who did
not, just at that moment, feel his whole being concentrated
in that one desire to obtain warmth. The cold had slowly,
but surely, insinuated itself among their garments, and
slight chills were now felt even by Roswell, whose frame
had been most wonderfully sustained that night, through
the force of moral feeling. Stimson was the individual
who was put forward at the camboose, others holding the
lamps, canvass saturated with oil, and some prepared
paper. It was found to be perceptibly warmer within the
cabin, with its doors closed, and the external coverings of
sails, &c., that had been made to exclude the air, than
without; nevertheless, when Roswell glanced at a thermometer
that all the mercury was still in the ball!
The interest with which our party now watched the proceedings
of Stephen, had much of that intensity that is
known to attend any exhibition of vital importance. Life
and death were, however, to be dependent on the issue;
and the manner in which every eye was turned on the
wood, and Stephen's mode of dealing with it, denoted how
completely the dread of freezing had got possession of the
minds of even these robust and generous men. Roswell
alone ventured, for a single moment, to look around the
cabin. Three of the Vineyarders only were visible in it;
though it struck him that others lay in the berths, under
piles of clothes. Of the three who were up, one was so
near the lamp he held in his hand, that its light illumined
his face, and all that could be seen of a form enveloped in
skins. This man sat leaning against a transom. His eyes
were open, and glared on the party around the camboose;
the lips were slightly parted, and, at first, Roswell expected
to hear him speak. The immovable features, rigid muscles,
and wild expression of the eyeballs, however, soon
told him the melancholy truth. The man was dead. The
current of life had actually frozen at his heart. Shuddering,
as much with horror as with a sharp chill that just
then passed through his own stout frame, our young master
turned anxiously to note the success of Stimson, in getting
the wood of the camboose in a blaze.
Every one, in the least accustomed to a very severe
climate, must have had frequent occasions to observe the
reluctance with which all sorts of fuel burn, in exceedingly
cold weather. The billet of wood that shall blaze merrily,
on a mild day, moulders and simmers, and seems indisposed
to give out any heat at all, with the thermometer at
zero. In a word, all inanimate substances that contain the
elements of caloric appear to sympathize with the prevailing
state of the atmosphere, and to contribute to render
that which is already too cold for comfort, even colder.
So it was now; notwithstanding the preparations that had
been made. Baffled twice in his expectations of procuring
a blaze, Stephen stopped and took a drink of the hot coffee.
fast losing its warmth.
A considerable collection of canvass, saturated with oil,
was now put beneath the pile, in the midst of splinters of
pine, and one of the lamps was forced into the centre of
the combustibles. This expedient succeeded; the frosts
were slowly chased out of the kindling materials; a sickly
but gradually increasing flame strove through the kindling
stuff and soon began to play among the billets of the oak,
the only fuel that could be relied on for available heat.
Still there was great danger that the lighter wood would
all be consumed ere this main dependence could be aroused
from its dull inactivity. Frost appeared to be in possession
of the whole pile; and it was expelled so slowly, clung to
its dominion with so much power, as really to render the
result doubtful, for a moment or two. Fortunately, there
was found a pair of bellows; and by means of a judicious
use of this very useful implement, the oak wood was got
into a bright blaze, and warmth began to be given out
from the fire. Then came the shiverings and chills, with
which intense cold consents even to abandon the human
frame; and, by their number and force, Roswell was made
to understand how near he and his companions had been
to death. As the young man saw the fire slowly kindle to
a cheerful blaze, a glow of gratitude flowed towards his
heart, and mentally he returned thanks to God. The
cabin was so small, had been made so tight by artificial
means, and the camboose was so large, that a sensible
influence was produced on the temperature, as soon as the
wood began to burn a little freely. As none of the heat
was lost, the effect was not only apparent, but most grateful.
Roswell had looked into the vessels of the camboose while
the fire was gathering head. One, the largest, was filled,
or nearly so, with coffee frozen to a solid mass! In the
other, beef and pork had been set over to boil, and there
the pieces now were, embedded in ice, and frozen to
blocks. It was when these two distinct masses of ice
began to melt, that it was known the fire was beginning to
prevail, and hope revived in the bosoms of the Oyster
Ponders. On taking another look at the thermometer, it
was found that the mercury had so far expanded as to be
only forty degrees below zero!
Every thing, even to life, depending on maintaining and
increasing the power of the fire, the men now looked about
them for more fuel. There was an ample stock in the
cabin, however, the fire having become extinguished, not
for want of wood, but in the usual way. It were needless
to describe the manner in which those who stood around
the stove watched the flames, or how profound was their
satisfaction when they saw that Stimson had finally succeeded.
“God be praised for this and for all his mercies!” exclaimed
Stephen, laying aside the bellows, at last. “I can
feel warmth from the fire, and that will save such of us as
have not yet been taken away.” He then lifted the lids,
and looked into the different vessels that were on. The
ice was melting fast, and the steams of coffee became apparent
to the senses. It was at this instant that a feeble
voice was heard issuing from beneath the coverings of a
berth.
“Gar'ner,” it said, imploringly, “if you have any feelin'
for a fellow-creatur' in distress, warm me up with one
swallow of that coffee! Oh! how pleasantly it smells, and
how good it must be for the stomach! For three days
have I tasted nothing—not even water.”
This was Daggett, the long-tried sealer; the man of iron
nerves and golden longings; he who had so lately concentrated
within himself all that was necessary to form a pertinacious,
resolute, and grasping seeker after gain. How
changed, now, in all this! He asked for the means of
preserving life, and thought no more of skins, and oils, and
treasures on desert keys.
Roswell was no sooner apprised of the situation of his
brother-master, than he bestowed the necessary care on his
wants. Fortunately, the coffee brought by the Oyster
Ponders, and which retained some of its original warmth,
had been set before the fire, and was now as hot as the
human stomach could bear it. Two or three swallows of
this grateful fluid were given to Daggett, and his voice
almost instantaneously showed the effect they produced.
“I'm in a bad way, Gar'ner,” resumed the vineyard-master;
held out ag'in the cold as long as human natur' could bear
it, but was forced to give in at last.”
“How many of your people still remain, Daggett? tell
us, that we may look for them, and attend to their wants.”
“I'm afraid, Gar'ner, they'll never want anything more
in this life! The second mate and two of the hands were
sitting in the cabin when I got into this berth, and I fear
't will be found that they're dead. I urged them to turn
in, too, as the berths were the only place where anything
like warmth was to be found; but drowsiness had come on
'em, and, when that is the case, freezin' soon follows.”
“The three men in the cabin are past our assistance,
being actually frozen into logs; but there must be several
more of you. I see the signs of two others in the berths—
ah! what do you say to that poor fellow, Stephen?”
“The spirit is still in the body, sir, but about to depart.
If we can get him to swallow a little of the coffee, the
angel of death may yet loosen his hold on him.”
The coffee was got down this man's throat, and he instantly
revived. He was a young man named Lee, and
was one of the finest physical specimens of strength and
youth in the whole crew. On examining his limbs, none
were found absolutely frozen, though the circulation of the
blood was so near being checked that another hour of the
great cold which had reigned in the cabin, and which was
slowly increasing in intensity, must have destroyed him.
On applying a similar process to Daggett, Roswell was
startled at the discovery he made. The feet, legs, and
forearms of the unfortunate Vineyarder were all as stiff and
rigid as icicles. In these particulars there could be no
mistake, and men were immediately sent for snow, in order
to extract the frost by the only safe process known to the
sealers. The dead bodies were carried from the cabin,
and laid decently on the ice, outside, the increasing warmth
within rendering the removal advisable. On glancing
again at the thermometer, now suspended in a remote part
of the cabin, the mercury was found risen to two above
zero. This was a very tolerable degree of cold, and the
men began to lay aside some of their extra defences against
them when exposed outside.
The crew of the Vineyard Lion had consisted of fifteen
souls, one less than that of her consort. Of these men,
four had lost their lives between the wreck and the house;
two on a former, and two on the present occasion. Three
bodies were found sitting in the cabin, and two more were
taken out of the berths, dead. The captain, the cook and
Lee, added to these, made a dozen, leaving but three of
the crew to be accounted for. When questioned on the
subject, Lee said that one of those three had frozen to
death in the caverns, several days before, and the other two
had set out for the hut in the last snow-storm, unable to
endure the cold at the wreck any longer. As these two
men had not arrived at the house when Gardiner and his
companions left it, they had perished, out of all doubt.
Thus, of the fifteen human beings who had sailed together
from Martha's Vineyard, ready to encounter every hazard
in order to secure wealth, or what in their estimation was
wealth, but three remained; and of these, two might be
considered in a critical condition. Lee was the only man
of the entire crew who was sound and fit for service.
| CHAPTER XI. The sea lions, or, The lost sealers | |