Authors: James Fenimore Cooper
The eddy proved a true friend, but it did not carry us up much higher
than the place where we had anchored, when it became necessary to
tack. This was done in season, on account of our ignorance of all the
soundings, and we had soon got the John's head off-shore
again. Drawing a short distance ahead, the main-top-sail was thrown
aback, and the ship allowed to drift. In proper time, it was filled,
and we got round once more, looking into the bight. The manoeuvre was
repeated, and this brought us up fairly under the lee of the reef, and
just in the position we desired to be. It was a nervous instant, I
make no doubt, when Captain Robbins determined to trust the ship in
the true current, and run the gauntlet of the rocks. The passage
across which we had to steer, before we could possibly weather the
nearest reef was about a cable's length in width, and the wind would
barely let us lay high enough to take it at right-angles. Then the air
was so light, that I almost despaired of our doing anything.
Captain Robbins put the ship into the current with great judgment. She
was kept a rap-full until near the edge of the eddy, and then her helm
was put nearly down, all at once. But for the current's acting, in one
direction, on her starboard bow, and the eddy's pressing, in the
other, on the larboard quarter, the vessel would have been taken
aback; but these counteracting forces brought her handsomely on her
course again, and that in a way to prevent her falling an inch to
leeward.
Now came the trial. The ship was kept a rap-full, and she went
steadily across the passage, favoured, perhaps, by a little more
breeze than had blown most of the morning. Still, our leeward set was
fearful, and, as we approached the reef, I gave all up. Marble screwed
his lips together, and his eyes never turned from the weather-leeches
of the sails. Everybody appeared to me to be holding his breath, as
the ship rose on the long ground-swells, sending slowly ahead the
whole time. We passed the nearest point of the rocks on one of the
rounded risings of the water, just touching lightly as we glided by
the visible danger. The blow was light, and gave little cause for
alarm. Captain Robbins now caught Mr. Marble by the hand, and was in
the very act of heartily shaking it, when the ship came down very much
in the manner that a man unexpectedly lights on a stone, when he has
no idea of having anything within two or three yards of his feet. The
blow was tremendous, throwing half the crew down; at the same instant,
all three of the topmasts went to leeward.
One has some difficulty in giving a reader accurate notions of the
confusion of so awful a scene. The motion of the vessel was arrested
suddenly, as it might be by a wall, and the whole fabric seemed to be
shaken to dissolution. The very next roller that came in, which would
have undulated in towards the land but for us, meeting with so large a
body in its way, piled up and broke upon our decks, covering
everything with water. At the same time, the hull lifted, and, aided
by wind, sea and current, it set still further on the reef, thumping
in a way to break strong iron bolts, like so many sticks of
sealing-wax, and cracking the solid live-oak of the floor-timbers as
if they were made of willow. The captain stood aghast! For one moment
despair was painfully depicted in his countenance; then he recovered
his self-possession and seamanship. He gave the order to stand by to
carry out to windward the stream-anchor in the launch, and to send a
kedge to haul out by, in the jolly-boat. Marble answered with the
usual "ay, ay, sir!" but before he sent us into the boats, he ventured
to suggest that the ship had bilged already. He had heard timbers
crack, about which he thought there could be no mistake. The pumps
were sounded, and the ship had seven feet water in her hold. This had
made in about ten minutes. Still the captain would not give up. He
ordered us to commence throwing the teas overboard, in order to
ascertain, if possible, the extent of the injury. A place was broken
out in the wake of the main-hatch, and a passage was opened down into
the lower-hold, where we met the water. In the mean time, a South-Sea
man we had picked up at Canton, dove down under the lee of the bilge
of the ship. He soon came back and reported that a piece of sharp rock
had gone quite through the planks. Everything tending to corroborate
this, the captain called a council of all hands on the quarter-deck,
to consult as to further measures.
A merchantman has no claim on the services of her crew after she is
hopelessly wrecked. The last have a lien in law, on the ship and
cargo, for their wages; and it is justly determined that when this
security fails, the claim for services ends. It followed, of course,
that as soon as the John was given over, we were all our own masters;
and hence the necessity for bringing even Neb into the consultation.
With a vessel of war it would have been different. In such a case, the
United States pays for the service, ship or no ship, wreck or no
wreck; and the seaman serves out his term of enlistment, be this
longer or shorter. Military discipline continues under all
circumstances.
Captain Robbins could hardly speak when we gathered round him on the
forecastle, the seas breaking over the quarter-deck in a way to render
that sanctuary a very uncomfortable berth. As soon as he could command
himself, he told us that the ship was hopelessly lost. How it had
happened, he could not very well explain himself, though he ascribed
it to the fact that the currents did not run in the direction in
which, according to all sound reasoning, they ought to run. This part
of the speech was not perfectly lucid, though, as I understood our
unfortunate captain, the laws of nature, owing to some inexplicable
influence, had departed, in some way or other, from their ordinary
workings, expressly to wreck the John. If this were not the meaning of
what he said, I did not understand this part of the address.
The captain was much more explicit after he got out of the current. He
told us that the island of Bourbon was only about four hundred miles
from where we then were, and he thought it possible to go that
distance, find some small craft, and come back, and still save part of
the cargo, the sails, anchors, &c. &c. We might make such a trip of it
as would give us all a lift, in the way of salvage, that might prove
some compensation for our other losses. This sounded well, and it had
at least the effect to give us some present object for our exertions;
it also made the danger we all ran of losing our lives, less
apparent. To land on the island of Madagascar, in that day, was out of
the question. The people were then believed to be far less civilized
than in truth they were, and had a particularly bad character among
mariners. Nothing remained, therefore, but to rig the boats, and make
immediate dispositions for our departure.
Now it was that we found the advantage of the preparations already
made. Little remained to be done, and that which was done, was much
better done than if we had waited until the wreck was half full of
water, and the seas were combing in upon her. The captain took charge
of the launch, putting Mr. Marble, Rupert, Neb, myself and the cook,
into the jolly-boat, with orders to keep as close as possible to
himself. Both boats had sails, and both were so arranged as to row in
calms, or head-winds. We took in rather more than our share of
provisions and water, having two skillful caterers in the chief-mate
and cook; and, having obtained a compass, quadrant, and a chart, for
our portion of the indispensables, all hands were ready for a start,
in about two hours after the ship had struck.
It was just noon when we cast off from the wreck, and stood directly
off the land. According to our calculations, the wind enabled us to
run, with a clean full, on our true course. As the boats drew out into
the ocean, we had abundant opportunities of discovering how many
dangers we had escaped; and, for my own part, I felt deeply grateful,
even then, as I was going out upon the wide Atlantic in a mere shell
of a boat, at the mercy we had experienced. No sooner were we fairly
in deep water, than the captain and mate had a dialogue on the subject
of the currents again. Notwithstanding all the difficulties his old
theory had brought him into, the former remained of opinion that the
true current set to windward, and that we should so find it as soon as
we got a little into the offing; while the mate was frank enough to
say he had been of opinion, all along, that it ran the other way. The
latter added that Bourbon was rather a small spot to steer for, and it
might be better to get into its longitude, and then find it by
meridian observations, than to make any more speculations about
matters of which we knew nothing.
The captain and Mr. Marble saw things differently, and we kept away
accordingly, when we ought to have luffed all we could. Fortunately
the weather continued moderate, or our little boat would have had a
bad time of it. We outsailed the launch with ease, and were forced to
reef in order not to part company. When the sun set, we were more than
twenty miles from the land, seeing no more of the coast, though the
mountains inland were still looming up grandly in the distance. I
confess, when night shut in upon us, and I found myself on the wide
ocean, in a boat much smaller than that with which I used to navigate
the Hudson, running every minute farther and farther into the watery
waste, I began to think of Clawbonny, and its security, and quiet
nights, and well-spread board, and comfortable beds in a way I had
never thought of either before. As for food, however, we were not
stinted; Mr. Marble setting us an example of using our teeth on the
half boiled pork, that did credit to his philosophy. To do this man
justice, he seemed to think a run of four hundred miles in a
jolly-boat no great matter, but took everything as regularly as if
still on the deck of the John. Each of us got as good a nap as our
cramped situations would allow.
The wind freshened in the morning, and the sea began to break. This
made it necessary to keep still more away, to prevent filling at
times, or to haul close up, which might have done equally well. But
the captain preferred the latter course, on account of the current. We
had ticklish work of it, in the jolly-boat, more than once that day,
and were compelled to carry a whole sail in order to keep up with the
launch, which beat us, now the wind had increased. Marble was a
terrible fellow to carry on everything, ship or boat, and we kept our
station admirably, the two boats never getting a cable's length
asunder, and running most of the time within hail of each other. As
night approached, however, a consultation was held on the subject of
keeping in company. We had now been out thirty hours, and had made
near a hundred and fifty miles, by our calculation. Luckily the wind
had got to be nearly west, and we were running ahead famously, though
it was as much as we could do to keep the jolly-boat from filling. One
hand was kept bailing most of the time, and sometimes all four of us
were busy. These matters were talked over, and the captain proposed
abandoning the jolly-boat altogether, and to take us into the launch,
though there was not much vacant space to receive us. But the mate
resisted this, answering that he thought he could take care of our
boat a while longer, at least. Accordingly, the old arrangement was
maintained, the party endeavouring to keep as near together as
possible.
About midnight it began to blow in squalls, and two or three times we
found it necessary to take in our sails, our oars, and pull the boat
head to sea, in order to prevent her swamping. The consequence was,
that we lost sight of the launch, and, though we always kept away to
our course as soon as the puffs would allow, when the sun rose we saw
nothing of our late companions. I have sometimes thought Mr. Marble
parted company on purpose, though he seemed much concerned next
morning when he had ascertained the launch was nowhere to be
seen. After looking about for an hour, and the wind moderating, we
made sail close on the wind; a direction that would soon have taken us
away from the launch, had the latter been close alongside when we
first took it. We made good progress all this day, and at evening,
having now been out fifty-four hours, we supposed ourselves to be
rather more than half-way on the road to our haven. It fell calm in
the night, and the next morning we got the wind right aft. This gave
us a famous shove, for we sometimes made six and seven knots in the
hour. The fair wind lasted thirty hours, during which time we must
have made more than a hundred and fifty miles, it falling nearly calm
about an hour before dawn, on the morning of the fourth day
out. Everybody was anxious to see the horizon that morning, and every
eye was turned to the east, with intense expectation, as the sun
rose. It was in vain; there was not the least sign of land
visible. Marble looked sadly disappointed, but he endeavoured to cheer
us up with the hope of seeing the island shortly. We were then heading
due east, with a very light breeze from the north-west. I happened to
stand up in the boat, on a thwart, and, turning my face to the
southward, I caught a glimpse of something that seemed like a hummock
of land in that quarter. I saw it but for an instant; but, whatever it
was, I saw it plain enough. Mr. Marble now got on the thwart, and
looked in vain to catch the same object. He said there was no land in
that quarter—could be none—and resumed his seat to steer to the
eastward, a little north. I could not be easy, however, but remained
on the thwart until the boat lifted on a swell higher than common, and
then I saw the brown, hazy-looking spot on the margin of the ocean
again. My protestations now became so earnest, that Marble consented
to stand for an hour in the direction I pointed out to him. "One hour,
boy, I will grant you, to shut your mouth," the mate said, taking out
his watch, "and that you need lay nothing to my door hereafter." To
make the most of this hour, I got my companions at the oars, and we
all pulled with hearty good-will. So much importance did I attach to
every fathom of distance made, that we did not rise from our seats
until the mate told us to stop rowing, for the hour was up. As for
himself, he had not risen either, but kept looking behind him to the
eastward, still hoping to see land somewhere in that quarter.