CHAPTER XXVII.
"BLOWN TO BITS."
The sight that met their eyes was well calculated to shock and saddenmen of much less tender feeling than Van der Kemp and Captain Roy.
The water had assumed an appearance of inky blackness, and large massesof pumice were floating past, among which were numerous dead bodies ofmen, women, and children, intermingled with riven trees, fences, andother wreckage from the land, showing that the two great waves which hadalready passed under the vessel had caused terrible devastation on someparts of the shore. To add to the horror of the scene large sea-snakeswere seen swimming wildly about, as if seeking to escape from the noveldangers that surrounded them.
The sailors looked on in awe-stricken silence for some time.
"P'raps some of 'em may be alive yet!" whispered one. "Couldn't we lowera boat?"
"Impossible in such a sea," said the captain, who overheard the remark."Besides, no life could exist there."
"Captain Roy," said Van der Kemp earnestly, "let me advise you to getyour foresail ready to hoist at a moment's notice, and let them stand byto cut the cable."
"Why so? There seems no need at present for such strong measures."
"You don't understand volcanoes as I do," returned the hermit. "Thislull will only last until the imprisoned fires overcome the block in thecrater, and the longer it lasts the worse will be the explosion. From myknowledge of the coast I feel sure that we are close to the town ofAnjer. If another wave like the last comes while we are here, it willnot slip under your brig like the last one. It will tear her from heranchor and hurl us all to destruction. You have but one chance; that is,to cut the cable and run in on the top of it--a poor chance at the best,but if God wills, we shall escape."
"If we are indeed as near shore as you think," said the captain, "I knowwhat you say must be true, for in shoal water such a wave will surelycarry all before it. But are you certain there will be anotherexplosion?"
"No man can be sure of that. If the last explosion emptied the craterthere will be no more. If it did not, another explosion is certain. AllI advise is that you should be ready for whatever is coming, and readyto take your only chance."
"Right you are, sir. Send men to be ready to cut the cable, Mr. Moor.And stand by the topsail halyards."
"Ay, ay, sir."
During the anxious minutes that followed, the hermit rejoined Winnie andNigel on the quarter-deck, and conversed with the latter in a low voice,while he drew the former to his side with his strong arm. Captain Royhimself grasped the wheel and the men stood at their various stationsready for action.
"Let no man act without orders, whatever happens," said the captain in adeep powerful voice which was heard over the whole ship, for the lullthat we have mentioned extended in some degree to the gale as well as tothe volcano. Every one felt that some catastrophe was pending.
"Winnie, darling," said the hermit tenderly, as he bent down to see thesweet face that had been restored to him. "I greatly fear that there issure to be another explosion, and it may be His will that we shallperish, but comfort yourself with the certainty that no hair of yourdear head can fall without His permission--and in any event He will notfail us."
"I know it, father. I have no fear--at least, only a little!"
"Nigel," said the hermit, "stick close to us if you can. It may bethat, if anything should befall me, your strong arm may succour Winnie;mine has lost somewhat of its vigour," he whispered.
"Trust me--nothing but death shall sunder us," said the anxious youth ina burst of enthusiasm.
It seemed as if death were indeed to be the immediate portion of all onboard the _Sunshine_, for a few minutes later there came a crash,followed by a spout of smoke, fire, steam, and molten lava, compared towhich all that had gone before seemed insignificant!
The crash was indescribable! As we have said elsewhere, the sound of itwas heard many hundreds of miles from the seat of the volcano, and itseffects were seen and felt right round the world.
The numerous vents which had previously been noticed on Krakatoa must atthat moment have been blown into one, and the original crater of the oldvolcano--said to have been about six miles in diameter--must haveresumed its destructive work. All the eye-witnesses who were near thespot at the time, and sufficiently calm to take note of the terrificevents of that morning, are agreed as to the splendour of the electricalphenomena displayed during this paroxysmal outburst. One who, at thetime, was forty miles distant speaks of the great vapour-cloud looking"like an immense wall or blood-red curtain with edges of all shades ofyellow, and bursts of forked lightning at times rushing like largeserpents through the air." Another says that "Krakatoa appeared to bealight with flickering flames rising behind a dense black cloud." Athird recorded that "the lightning struck the mainmast conductor five orsix times," and that "the mud-rain which covered the decks wasphosphorescent, while the rigging presented the appearance of St. Elmo'sfire."
It may be remarked here, in passing, that giant steam-jets rushingthrough the orifices of the earth's crust constitute an enormoushydro-electric engine; and the friction of ejected materials strikingagainst each other in ascending and descending also generateselectricity, which accounts to some extent for the electrical conditionof the atmosphere.
In these final and stupendous outbursts the volcano was expending itsremaining force in breaking up and ejecting the solid lava whichconstituted its framework, and not in merely vomiting forth thelava-froth, or pumice, which had characterised the earlier stages of theeruption. In point of fact--as was afterwards clearly ascertained bycareful soundings and estimates, taking the average height of themissing portion at 700 feet above water, and the depth at 300 feet belowit--two-thirds of the island were blown entirely off the face of theearth. The mass had covered an area of nearly six miles, and isestimated as being equal to 1-1/8 cubic miles of solid matter which, asMoses expressed it, was blown to bits!
If this had been all, it would have been enough to claim the attentionand excite the wonder of the intelligent world--but this was not nearlyall, as we shall see, for saddest of all the incidents connected withthe eruption is the fact that upwards of thirty-six thousand humanbeings lost their lives. The manner in which that terrible loss occurredshall be shown by the future adventures of the _Sunshine_.