University of Virginia Library

9. 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.