V
The Great Storm
Now, as I have said, we came at last in safety to the open sea, andso for a time had some degree of peace; though it was long ere wethrew off all of the terror which the Land of Lonesomeness had castover our hearts.
And one more matter there is regarding that land, which my memoryrecalls. It will be remembered that George found certain wrappers uponwhich there was writing. Now, in the haste of our leaving, he had givenno thought to take them with him; yet a portion of one he found withinthe side pocket of his jacket, and it ran somewhat thus:--
"But I hear my lover's voice wailing in the night, and I go to find him;for my loneliness is not to be borne. May God have mercy upon me!"
And that was all.
For a day and a night we stood out from the land towards the North,having a steady breeze to which we set our lug sails, and so made verygood way, the sea being quiet, though with a slow, lumbering swell fromthe Southward.
It was on the morning of the second day of our escape that we met withthe beginnings of our adventure into the Silent Sea, the which I am aboutto make as clear as I am able.
The night had been quiet, and the breeze steady until near on to thedawn, when the wind slacked away to nothing, and we lay there waiting,perchance the sun should bring the breeze with it. And this it did; butno such wind as we did desire; for when the morning came upon us, wediscovered all that part of the sky to be full of a fiery redness, whichpresently spread away down to the South, so that an entire quarter of theheavens was, as it seemed to us, a mighty arc of blood-colored fire.
Now, at the sight of these omens, the bo'sun gave orders to prepare theboats for the storm which we had reason to expect, looking for it in theSouth, for it was from that direction that the swell came rolling uponus. With this intent, we roused out so much heavy canvas as the boatscontained, for we had gotten a bolt and a half from the hulk in thecreek; also the boat covers which we could lash down to the brass studsunder the gunnels of the boats. Then, in each boat, we mounted thewhaleback--which had been stowed along the tops of the thwarts--also itssupports, lashing the same to the thwarts below the knees. Then we laidtwo lengths of the stout canvas the full length of the boat over thewhaleback, overlapping and nailing them to the same, so that they slopedaway down over the gunnels upon each side as though they had formed aroof to us. Here, whilst some stretched the canvas, nailing its loweredges to the gunnels, others were employed in lashing together the oarsand the mast, and to this bundle they secured a considerable length ofnew three-and-a-half-inch hemp rope, which we had brought away from thehulk along with the canvas. This rope was then passed over the bows andin through the painter ring, and thence to the forrard thwarts, where itwas made fast, and we gave attention to parcel it with odd strips ofcanvas against danger of chafe. And the same was done in both of theboats, for we could not put our trust in the painters, besides which theyhad not sufficient length to secure safe and easy riding.
Now by this time we had the canvas nailed down to the gunnels around ourboat, after which we spread the boat-cover over it, lacing it down to thebrass studs beneath the gunnel. And so we had all the boat covered in,save a place in the stern where a man might stand to wield the steeringoar, for the boats were double bowed. And in each boat we made the samepreparation, lashing all movable articles, and preparing to meet so greata storm as might well fill the heart with terror; for the sky cried outto us that it would be no light wind, and further, the great swell fromthe South grew more huge with every hour that passed; though as yet itwas without virulence, being slow and oily and black against the rednessof the sky.
Presently we were ready, and had cast over the bundle of oars and themast, which was to serve as our sea anchor, and so we lay waiting. It wasat this time that the bo'sun called over to Josh certain advice withregard to that which lay before us. And after that the two of themsculled the boats a little apart; for there might be a danger of theirbeing dashed together by the first violence of the storm.
And so came a time of waiting, with Josh and the bo'sun each of them atthe steering oars, and the rest of us stowed away under the coverings.From where I crouched near the bo'sun, I had sight of Josh away upon ourport side: he was standing up black as a shape of night against themighty redness, when the boat came to the foamless crowns of the swells,and then gone from sight in the hollows between.
Now midday had come and gone, and we had made shift to eat so good ameal as our appetites would allow; for we had no knowledge how long itmight be ere we should have chance of another, if, indeed, we had everneed to think more of such. And then, in the middle part of theafternoon, we heard the first cryings of the storm--a far-distantmoaning, rising and falling most solemnly.
Presently, all the Southern part of the horizon so high up, maybe, assome seven to ten degrees, was blotted out by a great black wall ofcloud, over which the red glare came down upon the great swells as thoughfrom the light of some vast and unseen fire. It was about this time, Iobserved that the sun had the appearance of a great full moon, being paleand clearly defined, and seeming to have no warmth nor brilliancy; andthis, as may be imagined, seemed most strange to us, the more so becauseof the redness in the South and East.
And all this while the swells increased most prodigiously; though withoutmaking broken water: yet they informed us that we had done well to takeso much precaution; for surely they were raised by a very great storm. Alittle before evening, the moaning came again, and then a space ofsilence; after which there rose a very sudden bellowing, as of wildbeasts, and then once more the silence.
About this time, the bo'sun making no objection, I raised my head abovethe cover until I was in a standing position; for, until now, I had takenno more than occasional peeps; and I was very glad of the chance tostretch my limbs; for I had grown mightily cramped. Having stirred thesluggishness of my blood, I sat me down again; but in such position thatI could see every part of the horizon without difficulty. Ahead of us,that is to the South, I saw now that the great wall of cloud had risensome further degrees, and there was something less of the redness;though, indeed, what there was left of it was sufficiently terrifying;for it appeared to crest the black cloud like red foam, seeming, it mightbe, as though a mighty sea made ready to break over the world.
Towards the West, the sun was sinking behind a curious red-tinted haze,which gave it the appearance of a dull red disk. To the North, seemingvery high in the sky, were some flecks of cloud lying motionless, and ofa very pretty rose color. And here I may remark that all the sea to theNorth of us appeared as a very ocean of dull red fire; though, as mightbe expected, the swells, coming up from the South, against the light wereso many exceeding great hills of blackness.
It was just after I had made these observations that we heard again thedistant roaring of the storm, and I know not how to convey the exceedingterror of that sound. It was as though some mighty beast growled far downtowards the South; and it seemed to make very clear to me that we werebut two small craft in a very lonesome place. Then, even while theroaring lasted, I saw a sudden light flare up, as it were from the edgeof the Southern horizon. It had somewhat the appearance of lightning; yetvanished not immediately, as is the wont of lightning; and more, it hadnot been my experience to witness such spring up from out of the sea,but, rather, down from the heavens. Yet I have little doubt but that itwas a form of lightning; for it came many times after this, so that I hadchance to observe it minutely. And frequently, as I watched, the stormwould shout at us in a most fearsome manner.
Then, when the sun was low upon the horizon, there came to our ears avery shrill, screaming noise, most penetrating and distressing, and,immediately afterwards the bo'sun shouted out something in a hoarsevoice, and commenced to sway furiously upon the steering oar. I saw hisstare fixed upon a point a little on our larboard bow, and perceived thatin that direction the sea was all blown up into vast clouds of dust-likefroth, and I knew that the storm was upon us. Immediately afterwards acold blast struck us; b
ut we suffered no harm, for the bo'sun had gottenthe boat bows-on by this. The wind passed us, and there was an instant ofcalm. And now all the air above us was full of a continuous roaring, sovery loud and intense that I was like to be deafened. To windward, Iperceived an enormous wall of spray bearing down upon us, and I heardagain the shrill screaming, pierce through the roaring. Then, the bo'sunwhipped in his oar under the cover, and, reaching forward, drew thecanvas aft, so that it covered the entire boat, and he held it downagainst the gunnel upon the starboard side, shouting in my ear to dolikewise upon the larboard. Now had it not been for this forethought onthe part of the bo'sun we had been all dead men; and this may be thebetter believed when I explain that we felt the water falling upon thestout canvas overhead, tons and tons, though so beaten to froth as tolack solidity to sink or crush us. I have said "felt"; for I would makeit so clear as may be, here once and for all, that so intense was theroaring and screaming of the elements, there could no sound havepenetrated to us, no! not the pealing of mighty thunders. And so for thespace of maybe a full minute the boat quivered and shook most vilely, sothat she seemed like to have been shaken in pieces, and from a dozenplaces between the gunnel and the covering canvas, the water spurted inupon us. And here one other thing I would make mention of: During thatminute, the boat had ceased to rise and fall upon the great swell, andwhether this was because the sea was flattened by the first rush of thewind, or that the excess of the storm held her steady, I am unable totell; and can put down only that which we felt.
Now, in a little, the first fury of the blast being spent, the boatbegan to sway from side to side, as though the wind blew now upon the onebeam, and now upon the other; and several times we were stricken heavilywith the blows of solid water. But presently this ceased, and we returnedonce again to the rise and fall of the swell, only that now we received acruel jerk every time that the boat came upon the top of a sea. And so awhile passed.
Towards midnight, as I should judge, there came some mighty flames oflightning, so bright that they lit up the boat through the doublecovering of canvas; yet no man of us heard aught of the thunder; for theroaring of the storm made all else a silence.
And so to the dawn, after which, finding that we were still, by the mercyof God, possessed of our lives, we made shift to eat and drink; afterwhich we slept.
Now, being extremely wearied by the stress of the past night, I slumberedthrough many hours of the storm, waking at some time between noon andevening. Overhead, as I lay looking upwards, the canvas showed of a dullleadenish color, blackened completely at whiles by the dash of spray andwater. And so, presently, having eaten again, and feeling that all thingslay in the hands of the Almighty, I came once more upon sleep.
Twice through the following night was I wakened by the boat being hurledupon her beam-ends by the blows of the seas; but she righted easily, andtook scarce any water, the canvas proving a very roof of safety. And sothe morning came again.
Being now rested, I crawled after to where the bo'sun lay, and, the noiseof the storm lulling odd instants, shouted in his ear to know whether thewind was easing at whiles. To this he nodded, whereat I felt a mostjoyful sense of hope pulse through me, and ate such food as could begotten, with a very good relish.
In the afternoon, the sun broke out suddenly, lighting up the boat mostgloomily through the wet canvas; yet a very welcome light it was, andbred in us a hope that the storm was near to breaking. In a little, thesun disappeared; but, presently, it coming again, the bo'sun beckoned tome to assist him, and we removed such temporary nails as we had used tofasten down the after part of the canvas, and pushed back the covering aspace sufficient to allow our heads to go through into the daylight. Onlooking out, I discovered the air to be full of spray, beaten as fine asdust, and then, before I could note aught else, a little gout of watertook me in the face with such force as to deprive me of breath; so that Ihad to descend beneath the canvas for a little while.
So soon as I was recovered, I thrust forth my head again, and now I hadsome sight of the terrors around us. As each huge sea came towards us,the boat shot up to meet it, right up to its very crest, and there, forthe space of some instants, we would seem to be swamped in a very oceanof foam, boiling up on each side of the boat to the height of many feet.Then, the sea passing from under us, we would go swooping dizzily downthe great, black, froth-splotched back of the wave, until the oncomingsea caught us up most mightily. Odd whiles, the crest of a sea would hurlforward before we had reached the top, and though the boat shot upwardlike a veritable feather, yet the water would swirl right over us, and wewould have to draw in our heads most suddenly; in such cases the windflapping the cover down so soon as our hands were removed. And, apartfrom the way in which the boat met the seas, there was a very sense ofterror in the air; the continuous roaring and howling of the storm; the_screaming_ of the foam, as the frothy summits of the briny mountainshurled past us, and the wind that tore the breath out of our weak humanthroats, are things scarce to be conceived.
Presently, we drew in our heads, the sun having vanished again, andnailed down the canvas once more, and so prepared for the night.
From here on until the morning, I have very little knowledge of anyhappenings; for I slept much of the time, and, for the rest, there waslittle to know, cooped up beneath the cover. Nothing save theinterminable, thundering swoop of the boat downwards, and then the haltand upward hurl, and the occasional plunges and surges to larboard orstarboard, occasioned, I can only suppose, by the indiscriminate mightof the seas.
I would make mention here, how that I had little thought all this whilefor the peril of the other boat, and, indeed, I was so very full of ourown that it is no matter at which to wonder. However, as it proved, andas this is a most suitable place in which to tell it, the boat that heldJosh and the rest of the crew came through the storm with safety; thoughit was not until many years afterwards that I had the good fortune tohear from Josh himself how that, after the storm, they were picked up bya homeward-bound vessel, and landed in the Port of London.
And now, to our own happenings.