Authors: James Fenimore Cooper
All this was true enough; and we watched the effect of our change of
course with the greatest anxiety. All hands were called, and the men
were stationed, in readiness to work the ship. But, a few minutes
satisfied us, the hope of clawing off, in so light an air, was to the
last degree vain. The vessel set in fast towards the reef, the
breakers on which now became apparent, even by the light of the moon;
the certain sign they were fearfully near.
This was one of those moments in which Marble could show himself to be
a true man. He was perfectly calm and self-possessed; and stood on the
taffrail, giving his orders, with a distinctness and precision I had
never seen surpassed. I was kept in the chains, myself, to watch the
casts of the lead. No bottom, however, was the never-failing report;
nor was any bottom expected; it being known that these reefs were
quite perpendicular on their seaward side. The captain called out to
me, from time to time, to be active and vigilant, as our set inshore
was uncontrollable, and the boats, if in the water, as the launch
could not be for twenty minutes, would be altogether useless. I
proposed to lower the yawl, and to pull to leeward, to try the
soundings, in order to ascertain if it were not possible to find
bottom at some point short of the reef, on which we should hopelessly
be set, unless checked by some such means, in the course of the next
fifteen or twenty minutes.
"Do it at once, sir," cried Marble. "The thought is a good one, and
does you credit, Mr. Wallingford."
I left the ship in less than five minutes, and pulled off, under the
ship's lee-bow, knowing that tacking or waring would be out of the
question, under the circumstances. I stood up in the stern-sheets, and
made constant casts with the hand-lead, with a short line, however, as
the boat went foaming through the water. The reef was now plainly in
sight, and I could see, as well as hear, the long, formidable
ground-swells of the Pacific, while fetching up against these solid
barriers, they rolled over, broke, and went beyond the rocks in angry
froth. At this perilous instant, when I would not have given the
poorest acre of Clawbonny to have been the owner of the Crisis, I saw
a spot to leeward that was comparatively still, or in which the water
did not break. It was not fifty fathoms from me when first discovered;
and towards it I steered, animating the men to redoubled exertions. We
were in this narrow belt of smooth water, as it might be in an
instant, and the current sucked the boat through it so fast, as to
allow time to make but a single cast of the lead. I got bottom; but it
was in six fathoms!
The boat was turned, and headed out again, as if life and death
depended on the result. The ship was fortunately within sound of the
voice, steering still by the wind, though setting three feet towards
the reef, for one made in the desired direction; and I hailed.
"What now, Mr. Wallingford?" demanded Marble, as calmly as if anchored
near a wharf at home.
"Do you see the boat, sir?"
"Quite plainly;—God knows you are near enough to be seen."
"Has the ship steerage-way on her, Captain Marble?"
"Just that, and nothing more to boast of."
"Then ask no questions; but try to follow the boat. It is the only
hope; and it may succeed."
I got no answer; but I heard the deep, authoritative voice of Marble,
ordering the "helm up," and the men "to man the weather-braces." I
could scarcely breathe, while I stood looking at the ship's bows, as
they fell off, and noted her slow progress ahead. Her speed increased
sensibly, however, and I kept the boat far enough to windward to give
the vessel room fairly to enter the pass. At the proper moment, we
moved towards the inlet, the Crisis keeping more and more away, in
order to follow. I was soon in the pass itself, the water breaking
within ten fathoms on each side of me, sending portions of its foam,
to the very blades of our oars; but the lead still gave me six
fathoms. At the next cast, I got ten; and then the shin was at the
point where I had just before found six. Two breakers were roaring
behind me, and I pulled round, and waited for the ship, steering to
the southward, sounding as I went. I could see that the ship hauled
up, and that I was already behind the reef. Straining my voice, I now
called out—
"Anchor, sir—bear a hand and anchor, as soon as possible."
Not a word came back; but up went the courses, followed by the
top-gallant-sails, after which down went the jib. I heard the fore
and main-top-sail-halyards overhauling themselves, spite of the roar
of the breakers, and then the ship luffed into the wind. Glad enough
was I to hear the heavy plunge of one of the bowers, as it fell from
the cathead into the water. Even then I remained stationary, to note
the result. The ship took her scope of cable freely, after which I
observed that she was brought up. The next moment I was on board her.
"A close shave, Mr. Wallingford," said Marble, giving me a squeeze of
the hand, that said more for his feelings than any words such a being
could utter; "and many thanks for your piloting. Is not that land I
see, away here to leeward—more to the westward, boy?"
"It is, sir, beyond a doubt. It must be one of the coral islands; and
this is the reef that usually lies to seaward from them. There is the
appearance of trees ashore!"
"It's a discovery, youngster, and will make us all great names!
Remember, this passage I call 'Miles's Inlet;' and to the reef, I give
the name of 'Yawl Reef.'"
I could not smile at this touch of Marble's vanity, for concern left
me no thoughts but for the ship. The weather was now mild and the bay
smooth; the night was fine, and it might be of the last importance to
us to know something more of our situation. The cable might chafe off,
probably
would
, so near a coral reef; and I offered to pull in
towards the land, sounding as I went, and otherwise gaining the
knowledge that might be necessary to our security. After a little
reflection, the captain consented, ordering me to take provisions and
water in the boat, as the duty might detain me until morning.
I found the bay between the reef and the island about a league in
breadth
, and across its entire
width
, the soundings did
not vary much from ten fathoms. The outer barrier of rock, on which
the sea broke, appeared to be an advanced wall, that the indefatigable
little insects had erected, as it might be, in defence of their
island, which had probably been raised from the depths of the ocean, a
century or two ago, by some of their own ancestors. The gigantic works
completed by these little aquatic animals, are well known to
navigators, and give us some tolerably accurate notions of the manner
in which the face of the globe has been made to undergo some of its
alterations. I found the land easy of access, low, wooded, and without
any sign of habitation. The night was so fine that I ventured inland,
and after walking more than a mile, most of the distance in a grove of
cocoa and bananas, I came to the basin of water that is usually found
in the islands of this particular formation. The inlet from the sea
was at no great distance, and I sent one of the men back to the yawl,
with orders for the boat to proceed thither. I next sounded the inlet
and the bay, and found everywhere a sandy bottom, and about ten
fathoms of water. As I expected, the shoalest spot was the inlet; but
in this, which I sounded thoroughly, there was nowhere less than
five. It was now midnight; and I should have remained on the island
until morning, to make further surveys by daylight, had we not seen
the ship, under her canvass, and so much nearer to us than we had
supposed possible, as to satisfy me she was drifting in fast towards
the land. Of course I did not hesitate, but pulled on board.
It was as I suspected. The rocks so near the reef had chafed off the
cable; the ship struck adrift, and Marble was under his canvass
waiting my return, in order to ascertain where he might anchor anew. I
told him of the lagoon in the centre of the island, and gave him every
assurance of there being water enough to carry in any craft that
floats. My reputation was up, in consequence of the manner the ship
had been taken through the first inlet, and I was ordered to conn her
into this new haven.
The task was not difficult. The lightness of the wind, and uncertainty
about the currents proving the only source of embarrassment, I
succeeded in finding the passage, after a short trial; and sending the
boat ahead, under Talcott, as an additional precaution, soon had the
Crisis floating in the very centre of this natural dock. Sail was
shortened as we came in, and the ship made a flying moor; after which
we lay as securely, at if actually in some basin wrought by art. It is
my opinion, the vessel would have ridden out the hardest gale, or
anything short of a hurricane, at single anchor, in that place. The
sense of security was now so strong upon us, that we rolled up our
canvass, set an anchor watch of only one man, and turned in.
I never laid my head down, on board ship, with greater satisfaction,
than I did that night. Let the truth be frankly stated. I was
perfectly satisfied with myself. It was owing to my decision and
vigilance that the ship was saved, when outside the reef, out of all
question; and I think she would have been lost after she struck
adrift, had I not discovered her present berth. There she was,
however, with land virtually all round her, a good bottom, plenty of
water, and well moored. As I have said already, she could not be
better secured in an artificial dock. In the midst of the Pacific,
away from all custom-house officers, in a recently discovered and
uninhabited island, there was nothing to fear. Men sleep soundly in
such circumstances, and I should have been in a deep slumber in a
minute after I was in my berth, had not Marble's conversation kept me
awake, quite unwillingly on my part, for five minutes. His state-room
door was open, and, through it, the following discourse was held.
"I think, on the whole," commenced the captain, "it will be better to
generalize
a little more,"—this was a favourite expression of
the ex-mate's, and one he often used without exactly knowing its
application himself.—"Yes, to generalize a little more; it shall be
Marble Land, Wallingford Bay, Yawl, Reef,
Talcott
Inlet,
Miles's Anchorage—and a d—d bad anchorage it was, Miles; but,
never mind, we must take the good with the bad, in this wicked world."
"Very true, sir; but as for taking that anchorage, you must excuse me,
as I shall never take it again."
"Perhaps not. Well, this is what I call comfort—ha! Talcott?—Is
Talcott asleep, Miles?"
"He and the second-mate are hard at it, sir—full and by, and going
ten knots," I muttered, wishing my tormentor in Japan, at the moment.
"Ay; they are rackers at a sleep! I say, Miles, such a discovery as
this will make a man's fortune! The world generalizes in discoveries,
altogether, making no great matter of distinction between your
Columbuses, Cooks, or Marbles. An island is an island and he who
first discovers it, has the credit. Poor Captain Williams! He would
have sailed this ship for a whole generation, and never found anything
in the way of novelty."
"Except the Straits—" I muttered very indistinctly, breathing deep
and hard.
"Ay, that
was
an affair! Hadn't you and I been aboard, the ship
never would have done that. We are the very offspring of luck! There
was the affair of the wreck off Madagascar—there are bloody currents
in the Pacific, too, I find, Miles."
"Yes, sir—hard-a-weather—"
"The fellow's dreaming. One word, boy, before you cut loose from all
reason and reflection. Don't you think it would be a capital idea to
poke in a little patriotism among the names; patriotism goes so far in
our part of the world. Congress Rocks would be a good title for the
highest part of the reef, and Washington Sands would do for the
landing you told me of. Washington should have a finger in the pie."
"Crust isn't down, sir."
"The fellow's off, and I may as well follow, though it is not easy to
sleep on the honour of a discovery like this. Good night, Miles!"
"Ay, ay! sir."
Such was the account Marble afterwards gave me of the termination of
the dialogue. Sleep, sleep, sleep! Never did men enjoy their rest more
than we did for the next five hours, the ship being as silent as a
church on a week-day, during the whole time. For myself, I can safely
say I heard nothing, or knew nothing, until I was awakened by a
violent shake of the shoulder. Supposing myself to have been aroused
for an ordinary watch at sea, I was erect in an instant, and found the
sun's rays streaming into my face, through the cabin-windows. This
prevented me, for a moment, from seeing that I had been disturbed by
Captain Marble himself. The latter waited until he perceived I could
understand him, and then he said, in a grave, meaning manner—
"Miles, there is a mutiny in the ship! Do you understand me,
Mr. Wallingford?—a bloody mutiny!"
"A mutiny, Captain Marble! You confound me, sir—I had thought our
people perfectly satisfied."
"Umph! One never knows whether the copper will come up head or tail. I
thought, when I turned in last night, it was to take the surest nap I
ever tasted afloat; and here I awake and find a mutiny!"
I was on my feet and dressing in an instant, as a matter of course,
having first gone to the berths of the two other mates, and given each
a call.
"But how do you know this, Captain Marble?" I resumed, as soon as
there was a chance. "I hear no disturbance, and the ship is just where
we left her," glancing through the cabin-windows; "I think you must be
mistaken, sir."
"Not I. I turned out, ten minutes since, and was about to go on deck
to get a look at your basin, and breathe the fresh air, when I found
the companion-doors fastened, precisely Smudge-fashion. I suppose you
will allow that no regular ship's company would dare to fasten the
officers below, unless they intended to seize the craft."