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diff --git a/old/63566-8.txt b/old/63566-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5d43e1d..0000000 --- a/old/63566-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10590 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Jack Manly, by James Grant - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Jack Manly - His Adventures by Sea and Land - -Author: James Grant - -Release Date: October 27, 2020 [EBook #63566] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JACK MANLY *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines - - - - - - - - - JACK MANLY. - - - - - BY JAMES GRANT - - Price 2s. each, Fancy Boards. - - THE ROMANCE OF WAR. - THE AIDE-DE-CAMP. - THE SCOTTISH CAVALIERS. - BOTHWELL. - JANE SETON; OR, THE KING'S ADVOCATE. - PHILIP ROLLO. - LEGENDS OF THE BLACK WATCH. - MARY OF LORRAINE. - OLIVER ELLIS; OR, THE FUSILIERS. - LUCY ARDEN; OR, HOLLYWOOD HALL. - FRANK HILTON; OR, THE QUEEN'S OWN. - THE YELLOW FRIGATE. - HARRY OGILVIE; OR, THE BLACK DRAGOONS. - ARTHUR BLANE. - LAURA EVERINGHAM; OR, THE HIGHLANDERS OF GLENORA. - THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD. - LETTY HYDE'S LOVERS. - THE CAVALIERS OF FORTUNE. - SECOND TO NONE. - THE CONSTABLE OF FRANCE. - THE PHANTOM REGIMENT. - THE GIRL HE MARRIED. - FIRST LOVE AND LAST LOVE. - DICK RODNEY. - THE WHITE COCKADE. - THE KING'S OWN BORDERERS. - LADY WEDDERBURN'S WISH. - ONLY AN ENSIGN. - JACK MANLY. - THE ADVENTURES OF ROB ROY. - THE QUEEN'S CADET. - - GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS. - THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE. - - - - - JACK MANLY; - - His Adventures by Sea and Land. - - - - by - - JAMES GRANT, - - AUTHOR OF - "THE ROMANCE OF WAR," "OLIVER ELLIS," - ETC. ETC. - - - - LONDON: - GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, - THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE. - NEW YORK: 416, BROOME STREET. - - - - - LONDON: - RAVILL, EDWARDS AND CO., PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET, - COVENT GARDEN. - - - - - CONTENTS. - - CHAP. - - I. WHY I WENT TO SEA - II. ADVENTURE IN A CASK - III. THE NARROWS OF ST. JOHN - IV. THE BRIG "LEDA" - V. KIDD THE PIRATE - VI. THE "BLACK SCHOONER" - VII. THE CHASE - VIII. OUR REVENGE SCHEMED - IX. OUR REVENGE EXECUTED - X. THE SEAL-FISHERS - XI. COMBAT WITH A SEA-HORSE - XII. ON AN ICEBEEG - XIII. ON THE ICEBERG--THE MASSACRE AT HIERRO - XIV. ESCAPE FROM THE ICEBERG - XV. UNDER WEIGH ONCE MORE - XVI. BESET WITHOUT HOPE - XVII. THE DEATH-SHIP - XVIII. LEAVES FROM THE LOG - XIX. THE GRAVES ON THE STARBOARD BOW - XX. ADRIFT ON THE DEAD FLOE - XXI. CAPE FAREWELL - XXII. THE MUSK-OX - XXIII. THE FOUR BEARS - XXIV. WOLMAR FYNBÖE - XXV. ADIEU TO THE REGION OF ICE - XXVI. A SHARK - XXVII. THE FATAL VOYAGE OF THE HEER VAN ESTELL - XXVIII. THE FATAL VOYAGE--HOW THEY CAST LOTS - XXIX. ADVENTURE WITH A WHALE - XXX. LOSS OF THE "LEDA" - XXXI. THE CRY - XXXII. THE TWELFTH DAY - XXXIII. WHAT FOLLOWED - XXXIV. THE SAILOR'S POST-OFFICE - XXXV. MS. LEGEND OF EL CABO DOS TORMENTOS - XXXVI. LEGEND CONTINUED--THE CATASTROPHE - XXXVII. LEGEND CONCLUDED--THE SEQUEL - XXXVIII. WE LAND IN AFRICA - XXXIX. THE KING OF THE SNAKE RIVER - XL. THE GABON CLIFF - XLI. HOW THE CAPTAIN PERISHED - XLII. AMOO - XLIII. THE RESCUE OF HIS CHILD - XLIV. THE GRATITUDE OF HIS WIFE - XLV. FLIGHT - XLVI. FLIGHT CONTINUED - XLVII. THE WOOD OF THE DEVIL - XLVIII. RETAKEN - XLIX. THE CARAVAN - L. WE REACH THE CAPITAL - LI. AN OLD FRIEND IN A NEW PLACE - LII. HARTLY'S STORY - LIII. THE FEMALE GUARDS - LIV. ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE AGAIN - LV. THE FORMOSA - LVI. A PERILOUS JOURNEY - LVII. PURSUIT AGAIN--CONCLUSION - - - - -JACK MANLY. - - - -CHAPTER I. - -WHY I WENT TO SEA. - -It was the evening of the sixteenth of March. - -Exactly six months had elapsed since I left my father's snug villa at -Peckham, with its walls shrouded by roses and honeysuckle; and now I -found myself two thousand three hundred miles distant from it, in his -agent's counting-room, in the dreary little town of St. John, in -Newfoundland, writing in a huge ledger, and blowing my fingers from -time to time, for snow more than ten feet deep covered all the -desolate country, and the shipping in the harbour was imbedded in ice -at least three feet in thickness; while the thermometer, at which I -glanced pretty often, informed me that the mercury had sunk twelve -degrees below the freezing point. - -While busily engrossing quintals of salted fish, by the thousand, -barrels of Hamburg meal and Irish pork, chests of bohea, bales of -shingles, kegs of gunpowder, caplin nets, anchors and cables, and -Indian corn from the United States, with all the heterogeneous mass -of everything which usually fill the stores of a wealthy merchant in -that terra nova, I thought of the noisy world of London, from which I -had been banished, or, as tutors and guardians phrased it, "sent to -learn something of my father's business--_i.e._, practically to begin -life as he had begun it;" and so I sighed impatiently over my -monotonous task, while melting the congealed ink, from time to time, -on the birchwood fire, and reverting to what March is in England, -where we may watch the bursting of the new buds and early flowers; -where the birds are heard in every sprouting hedge and tree, and as -we inhale the fresh breeze of the morning, a new and unknown delight -makes our pulses quicken and a glow of tenderness fill the heart--for -then we see and feel, as some one says, "what we have seen and felt -_only_ in _childhood and spring_." - -"Belay this scribbling business, Jack," said a hearty voice in my -ear; "come, ship on board my brig, and have a cruise with me in the -North Sea. I shall have all my hands aboard to-morrow." - -I looked up, threw away my pen, closed the gigantic ledger with a -significant bang, and shook the hand of the speaker, who was my old -friend and schoolfellow, Bob Hartly, whose face was as red as the -keen frost of an American winter evening could make it, albeit he was -buttoned to the throat in a thick, rough Flushing coat, and wore a -cap with fur ear-covers tied under his chin--a monk-like hood much -worn in these northern regions during the season of snow. - -"I don't think your cruise after seals and blubber will be a very -lively affair, Bob," said I, rubbing my hands at the stove, on which -he was knocking the ashes of his long Havannah. - -"Lively! if it is not more lively than this quill-driving work, may I -never see London Bridge again, or take, - - 'Instead of pistol or a dagger, a - Desperate leap down the falls of Niagara!'" - - -"I am sick of this Cimmerian region!" said I, stamping with vexation -at his jocular mood, when contrasted to my own surly one. - -"Cimmerian--ugh! that phrase reminds me of school-times, and how we -used to blunder through Homer together, for he drew all his images of -Pluto and Pandemonium from the dismal country of the Cimmerii. By -Jove! I could give you a stave yet from Virgil or Ovid, hand over -hand, on the same subject; but that would be paying Her Majesty's -colony a poor compliment." - -"Well, Bob, I am sick of this place, in which evil fate, or rather -bad luck, has buried me alive--this frozen little town of wood and -tar, without outlet by sea or land in winter, without amusement, and, -at this time, seemingly without life." - -"It forms a contrast to London, certainly," said Hartly, assisting -himself, uninvited, to the contents of a case-bottle of Hollands -which stood near; "but there is a mint of money to be made in it." - -"The first English folks who came here were reduced to such straits, -we are told, that they killed and ate each other; and those who -returned were such skeletons that their wives and mothers did not -know them." - -Hartly laughed loudly, and said-- - -"But that was in the time of King Henry VIII., and people don't eat -each other here now. But to resume what we were talking about----" - -"Old Uriah Skrew, my father's agent, and I are on the worst terms; he -keeps a constant watch over me. I go from my desk to bed, and from -bed to my desk--so passes my existence." - -"Why not slip your cable and run, then?" - -"Skrew being a partner in the firm," I continued, warming at the idea -of my own rights and fancied wrongs, "cares for nothing but making -money from the riches of the sea, and thinks only of cargoes of fish -to be bartered in Lent, at Cadiz, for fruit and wine, oil, seals, and -blubber; and really in this cold season----" - -"Ah, but summer is coming," interrupted Bob, drily. - -"Summer! How is the year divided here?" - -"Into nine months of winter and three of bad weather." - -"A pleasant prospect! If I were once again at Peckham----" - -"Well, Jack, I have a grudge at old Uriah Skrew, for, like a swab, he -played me a scurvy trick about a cargo I had consigned to your father -and him, from Cadiz, last year--a trick by which I lost all my profit -and tonnage. - -"Likely enough; this ledger is Uriah's bible--and his God----" - -"Is gold! So I care not a jot if, for the mere sake of provoking -him, I lend you a hand to give him the slip, for a few months at -least. Ship with me to-morrow--as a volunteer, passenger, or -whatever you please." - -"I shall," said I, throwing my pen resolutely into the fire. - -"Your hand on it! I like this. Get your warmest toggery sent on -board; you'll need it all, I can tell you! I can give you a long -gun, and bag for powder and slugs; and then, with a bowie-knife in -your belt, a seal-skin cap with long flaps, and a stout pea-jacket, -you will make as smart a seal fisher as ever sailed through the -Narrows! By this time to-morrow you may be forty miles from your -ledger, running through the North Sea with a flowing sheet. By Jove, -I know a jolly old Esquimau who lives at Cape Desolation under an old -whaleboat. He will be delighted to make your acquaintance, and give -you a feed of sea weed and blubber that will make your mouth water, -though we eat it when the mercury is frozen in the bulb." - -This cheerful prospect of Arctic hospitality might have persuaded me -to remain where I was, but soured by the treatment I experienced from -Mr. Skrew, who misrepresented my conduct and habits to my family at -home, and tired of the monotony of his counting-room, I looked -forward with eagerness to an anticipated escape. - -How little could I foresee the consequences of my impatience, folly, -and wayward desire for rambling! Ere a month was past, I had -repented in bitterness my boyish repugnance for steady application -and industrious habits. - -My friend, Robert Hartly, who was eight years my senior, was master -and owner of the _Leda_, a smart brig of two hundred and fifty tons -register--a craft in which he had invested all his savings. Last -year he had lost a wife and two children, whom he tenderly loved; he -had come to St. John from Cadiz, missed a freight and been frozen-in, -and now, with all a sailor's restlessness and dread of being idle, -even for a month or two, he had resolved to sail for the spring seal -fishery, as a change of scene, and a trip which he hoped would not -prove unprofitable, as his vessel was one of a class far superior to -those which usually venture into the region of ice, being well found, -well manned, coppered to the bends, and, in short, the perfection of -a British merchant brig. - -"By the bye," said he, "talking of powder and slugs, we may need -both, for other purposes than shooting seals." - -"How?" I asked. - -"I mean if we came athwart the _Black Schooner_ which has been -prowling and plundering about the coast for the last six weeks." - -"Are there more news of her?" - -"No; but here is a placard given to all shipmasters yesterday," said -he, unfolding a paper surmounted by the royal arms, and running in -the name of "His Excellency the Governor and Commander-in-Chief over -the Island of Newfoundland and its Dependencies," offering 500_1._ to -the crew of any ship that would capture "the vessel known as the -_Black Schooner_," &c. "She is a queer craft," continued Hartly, -"and said to be a slaver, bankrupt, and out of business; though Paul -Reeves, my mate, maintains that she is the _Adventure_ galley. which -sailed from London in the time of King William III., and that her -crew are the ghosts of Kidd and his pirates; but ghosts don't steal -beef and drink brandy." - -Hartly's father had been in the navy; thus he had received a good and -thorough nautical education, but early in life had been left to work -his way in the world; so he made the watery portion thereof his home -and means of livelihood. He was a handsome, hardy, and cheerful -young fellow, and the _beau idéal_ of a thorough British seaman. - -On the third finger of his left hand he wore a curious ring of base -metal, graven with runes of strange figures. This was the gift of an -old woman to whom he had rendered some service when in Iceland, and -who had promised, that while he wore it, he could _never be drowned_; -consequently Hartly was too much imbued with the superstition of his -profession to part with it for a moment. - -"But how am I to elude old Skrew, and get on board," said I, after we -had concluded all our arrangements, over a glass of hot brandy-punch, -in Bob's lodgings in Water-street. - -"True--the brig lies frozen-in at the end of his wharf, the hatches -are all locked, and the hands ashore." - -"If he sees me on board, there will be an end of our project, for I -have no wish to quarrel with him in an unseemly manner; but merely to -'levant' quietly, leaving a letter to announce where I am gone, and -when I may, perhaps, return." - -"All right--I have it! I'll send an empty cask to Skrew's store -to-morrow. Paul Reeves, the mate, and Hammer, the carpenter, will -head you up in it, and so you may be brought on board unknown to all -save them--ay, under the very nose of old Uriah. Will that suit you?" - -"Delightfully!" said I, clapping my hands. The whole affair had the -appearance of an adventure, and though there were a hundred ways by -which I might have joined the brig, when the _cutting-out_ of the -sealing fleet took place next day, like a young schoolboy--for in -some respects I was little more--I accepted the strange proposal of -going on board in a cask, and retired to bed, to dream of adventures -on the high seas; for being young, healthy, and active, I could -always have pleasant dreams without studying the art of procuring -them--an art on which Dr. Franklin wrote so learnedly in the last -century. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -ADVENTURE IN A CASK. - -On the next day (17th of March), when the fleet of adventurers -departs for the spring seal fishery, the little seaport town of St. -John's presents an unusual aspect of bustle and gaiety. On that -anniversary, at least one hundred vessels, having on board three -thousand seamen, batmen, and gunners, sail to seek their fortune in -the ice-fields; but on the day I am about to describe, the number of -craft and their crews far exceeded this. - -The day was clear and sunny, not a speck of cloud was in the sky, -whose immensity of blue made the eye almost ache, while the intense -brilliance of the snow, which covered the hills and the whole -scenery, made them seem to vibrate in the sunshine, and caused a -species of blindness, especially on entering any apartment, however -large or well-lighted; for after being out of doors in that season -and region for an hour or so, a house usually seems totally dark for -a time. - -For some days previous there had been that species of drizzle which -is termed locally "a silver thaw," thus, all the houses of the town, -the roofs, walls, and chimneys; the trees, the shipping in the frozen -harbour, every mast, yard, and inch of standing or running rigging, -were thickly coated with clear ice, which sparkled like prisms in the -sunshine, making them seem as if formed of transparent crystal. -Then, there was a glittering in the frosty atmosphere, as if it was -composed of minute particles, while the intensity of the cold made -one feel as if a coarse file were being roughly applied to one's nose -or cheekbones on facing the west, the point whence the wind came over -the vast and snow-covered tracts of untrodden and unexplored country -which stretch away for three hundred miles towards the Red Indian -Lake and the Bay of Exploits. - -The keepers of stores and shops--who in St. John are usually dressed -like seamen, in round jackets and glazed hats--with all idlers, were -pouring through every avenue and thoroughfare, and spreading over the -harbour. All the ships displayed their colours, and the sound of -music, as bands perambulated the ice, rang upon the clear and ambient -air, mingled with the musical jingle of the sleigh bells, as the more -wealthy folks, muffled and shawled to the nose, galloped their horses -with arrow-like speed from side to side of the harbour. - -The latter and the town (but especially the grog-shops) were crowded -by the seal fishermen, who had come in from all parts of the coast, -and bore bundles of clothing slung over their backs, each having his -carefully selected club wherewith to smite the young seals on the -head, and also to be used as a gaff or ice-hook. Many of these men -were also armed with long sealing-guns, which are twice the size and -weight of an ordinary musket, and resemble the huge, unwieldy gingals -of the East Indians, having flintlocks of a clumsy fashion. - -They are generally loaded with coarse-grained powder and pieces of -lead, termed _slugs_, to shoot the old seals, who frequently prove -refractory, and dangerous when defending their young. - -Those fishers who are thus armed as gunners rank before the mere -clubmen, and receive a small remuneration, or are remitted some of -the "berth money" which is usually paid to the storekeeper or -merchant who equips the vessel for the ice; "the outfitting," says -one who is well-informed on these matters, "being always defrayed by -the receipt of one-half the cargo of seals, the other half going to -adventurers, with these and other deductions for extra supplies." -But, as Captain Hartly fitted out his own vessel and shipped his own -crew, gunners, and batmen at stipulated salaries, he expected to reap -the whole profits of the expedition. - -In addition to the project I had in view, I was particularly anxious -to witness the gaiety of this the only and yearly colonial gala -day--the shipping of the crews, (who always proceed in procession -along the ice,) with the cutting-out and departure of the sealers; -but old Mr. Uriah Skrew, with his clean-shaven face and small cunning -eyes, was in the counting-room betimes, and piled work upon me thick -and fast, to anticipate any application for a day's leave. - -"May I not go out for an hour, sir, and see what is going on in the -harbour?" I asked, gently. - -"No, sir," he replied, sharply; "such nonsense only leads to -idleness--idleness to dissipation, and dissipation to ruin! That is -the sliding-scale, young man----" - -"Oh! my good sir, you are too severe." - -"Severe! Mr. Jack Manly!----" - -"Well, sir?" - -"I have always been kind and indulgent to you." - -"Kind--hum." - -"Yes; more kind and indulgent than your father, my worthy partner, -wishes--and more than he would be." - -"Query?" - -"What do you mean by 'query'?" he demanded in a bullying tone, for he -intensely disliked me, fearing that I should soon be admitted into -the firm. - -"Because I have my doubts on the subject, and your refusal to grant -me leave to-day confirms my opinion of you, Mr. Skrew." - -"Very well; enough of this, not a word more, or by the first ship for -Europe I will write what you'll wish had not been written. Not a -word more." - -"I am mute as a fish." - -"Engross these papers--but, first, go to the store on the wharf, and -tell the keeper to speak with me; and look sharp!" - -I put on my cap and left the counting-room, feeling assured that many -a day would elapse ere I stood within it again, as I caught a glimpse -of Paul Reeves, mate of the _Leda_, and two seamen, loitering -outside; but near the window, wherein stood my desk, under the leaf -of which I deposited a letter addressed to Mr. Skrew, informing him, -in the parlance of Bob Hartly, that "I had slipped my cable and gone -to sea." - -"Captain Hartly's friend, sir?" said the mate, touching his hat, and -winking knowingly. - -"Yes." - -"All right, sir! here is the cask, step in, and Tom Hammer, our -carpenter, and his mate, will head you up in it comfortably in less -than a minute." - -"No one is near?" said I, anxiously glancing round the courtyard. - -"Not a soul, sir: in you go, on with the head, Tom, and be quick, for -the ice channel is cutting fast to the fairway; the jib and -foretopsail are loose, and the lashings all but cast off." - -The counting-room of Messrs. Manly and Skrew stood within a -courtyard, which was entered by a gateway from Water-street; and from -this court--which was formed by four large wooden stores, all -pitched, tarred, and now coated with snow and ice--a path led down to -the wharf, at the end of which, as at the end of all the others that -jutted into the harbour, a mercantile flag was displayed from a mast. -In this court were piles of old barrels, hampers, boxes, an anchor, a -spare topmast or so, half buried under the usual white mantle, on -which a flock of poor little snowbirds were hopping and twittering -drearily. - -"Do you feel snug, sir?" inquired Paul Reeves, through the bunghole. - -"Yes; but please to lose no time in getting me through the crowd on -the wharf, and on board the _Leda_" I replied, in a somewhat -imploring tone of voice; for the cask, though a roomy one, was the -reverse of comfortable, and already I longed to stretch myself. - -"The _Leda_ lies just outside the Bristol clipper." - -"She that was overhauled and plundered, and had three of her crew -shot by the _Black Schooner_?" - -"Yes, sir," replied Reeves, as the two seamen hoisted up the cask; -and I soon became aware by the clamour around me that I was being -conveyed down to the wharf, where Mr. Skrew, in a full suit of -Petersham and sables, was walking to and fro till his sledge arrived. - -"Hallo, what have you fellows got in the cask?" he demanded as I was -borne past him. - -"Some of the captain's stores, sir," replied Reeves. - -"His grandmother's best featherbed," added the carpenter. - -"Very good," said Uriah, as I was deposited almost on his gouty toes. - -Men often stumbled against my cask, and swore at it or pushed it -aside. Once a fellow seated himself on it, and kicked with his heels -till I was nearly deranged, and the impulse to scare him by a shout -became almost irrepressible. For a time, I dreaded that it might be -tumbled off the wharf into the sludge and broken ice alongside! - -Ere long the wharf was cleared; I heard the clanking of the gates, as -the keeper, by order of Mr. Skrew, locked them, doubtless to exclude -me therefrom on this great gala day; and then followed the jangling -of bells, as he stepped into his sledge, and departed upon the ice. -Thus I was left to my own reflections on the solitary wharf. - -Before this, a great commotion had taken place at the extremity -thereof, as the Bristol clipper by some mismanagement ran foul of the -_Leda_, and the usual volleys of threats, oaths, and orders incident -to such collisions in harbour were exchanged from the decks and -rigging of both vessels, while, by using boat-hooks aloft and fenders -below, the crew strove to keep the rigging clear and the hulls apart. - -Amid this unexpected hurly-burly, I was _forgotten_ in my cask! - -The wharf stood near the western extremity of the town, which lies -along the basin of the harbour. The sounds in my vicinity seemed all -to die away, as the crowd along the shore and upon the ice followed -the ships, which in succession were warped along their ice-channels -into the fairway, and each was greeted by a tremendous cheer as the -sails fell, their head canvas filled, and they broke into blue water; -but hours seemed to elapse, without a person coming near the horrible -cask in which I was imprisoned, and the agonies I endured are beyond -description! - -The sense of oppression and of being cramped amounted to intense -bodily torture; thus a perspiration alternately burning hot and icy -cold burst over me. The interior of this now detested prison seemed -hot as a furnace; yet there was in my soul a deadly fear of perishing -by cold, as I should assuredly do, if left all night on the locked -wharf, in such a climate, with the thermometer at twelve degrees -below the freezing point! - -How fruitlessly I repented me of the silly project of thus escaping, -and alternately longed to be back again in Skrew's snug -counting-room, or on board the departing brig--of being anywhere, -instead of being thus "cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd," and forgotten. A -terror of being conveyed on board, and left, perhaps, in the -hold--left undiscovered till dead of suffocation, gave me wild -energy; madly I strove to kick or beat out the head of the cask; but -my legs were powerless, as if suffering from paralysis, for my aching -knees were wedged under my chin, and I might as well have attempted -to escape from a block of adamant. - -Faintness and delirium were fast coming over me! I screamed like a -madman; but my hoarse voice was lost in the hollow of the cask. -Though a perspiration bathed all my aching limbs, my tongue clove to -my palate, and soon became hot and dry. Starry lights seemed to -flash and dance before me in the darkness; my brain reeled; then I -gasped, as sense and pulsation ebbed together, and after enduring -three hours (as I afterwards learned) of such agony as those who were -confined in the stone chests of the Venetians, or in the iron cages -which Louis XI. placed in the Bastille, alone could have known--I -fainted. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE NARROWS OF ST. JOHN. - -On recovering, I found myself in the cabin of the _Leda_, with -Captain Hartly hanging over me, and chafing my hands and temples, in -anxiety and solicitude, with hartshorn and vinegar; for being a -kind-hearted fellow, he was seriously alarmed. - -In these friendly offices he was ably assisted by Cuffy Snowball, his -black cook, who burned several grey goose-quills under my nose, and -who brought me a rummer full of brandy-punch steaming hot from the -galley. On swallowing this, which they forced me to do at two -draughts, I became considerably revived and invigorated. - -"Why did you leave me there, Hartly--it might have been, to die?" I -asked, reproachfully. - -"I did not leave you, my dear boy, at least not a moment longer than -we could help," he replied. "It cost us no small trouble to get -clear of that lubberly barque. I wish the _Black Schooner_ had sunk -her, when athwart her hawse! We had to clap on all hands to warping -into the fairway, and once there, we had to keep constantly forging -a-head, as other craft were crowding into the channel astern of us." - -"Then I was pretty near being left till the wharf-keeper came next -morning. My heaven! I should have been stiff enough by that time!" - -"I sent Paul Reeves and Hans Peterkin to bring off the cask on a -sledge, and you may imagine the fright we were in on finding you -cramped up and lifeless as a pickled herring!" - -"Oh, Hartly," said I, "the torture I endured was frightful! I now -repent of my undertaking, and wish myself back again." - -"Repent--bah! It has been a stupidly managed job, but it is over -now, and there is an end of it. Take another sip of the hot -brandy-and-water, and come on deck; we are abreast of the Crow's Nest -now, and in ten minutes more will be in blue water; then hurrah for -the ice-fields!" - -I followed him on deck, and found that we were, as he said, abreast -of a high sugar-loaf shaped rock, crowned by a little battery named -the Crow's Nest, and that around us a very exciting scene was passing. - -The _Leda_ was now in the fairway, or main channel, which was formed -through the ice in the centre of the harbour, and into which there -were cut more than fifty canals, or connecting links, along which the -sealing ships were being warped from the various wharves at which -they had been fitted out. All were gaily decked with their owners' -private colours, and had their courses, or lower sails, cast loose, -and were accompanied by crowds, who were conversing, laughing, and -expressing their hopes of a successful fishery to the crews, whose -voices rang cheerily as they tripped round the capstan or wrenched at -the windlass, till they came abreast of the kedge anchor which was -wedged in the ice; and then it was torn up, and carried off a-head -towards the Narrows. when the cheering, warping, and tripping began -anew. - -Thousands of persons, many of them on skates, covered all the glassy -expanse of the frozen harbour, which from some points of view appears -land-locked, so closely do the mountains of rock converge at its -entrance; and hundreds of sledges (Mr. Uriah Skrew's among the -number), with round Russian bells at their horses' collars, or on the -circular iron rod above their ears, with the drivers muffled in furs, -swept to and fro; while bands of music playing the air invariable on -this occasion, "St. Patrick's Day," marched alongside of the -departing fleet. - -Flags of every fashion--square, triangular, and swallow-tailed--were -streaming everywhere; on the mastheads of the shipping, on the -black-tarred mercantile stores, and on the dwellings of their -owners--a passion for a display of bunting being one of the -peculiarities of this our most northern colony in America. - -The aspect of its capital, which covers the northern slope of the -harbour, is rather pretty, though the country beyond is nearly as -wild and as dreary as when, in the words of Hakluyt--"in the yeere of -our Lord 1497, John Cabot a Venetian, and his son Sebastian, with an -English fleet from Bristol, discovered that land which no man had -before attempted, on 24th June, about five of the clocke, early in -the morning. That island which lieth out before the land, he called -of _St. John_, as I think, because it was discovered upon the day of -John the Baptist." - -During the brief summer, this harbour, the entrance of which is so -narrow that two ships can scarcely pass in the dangerously deep -mid-channel, is smooth as a mill-pond, and presents a lively scene, -for there the smart Clyde-built clipper, the dark and battered -Sunderland collier brig, the smart Yankee liner, with her gaudy stars -and stripes, her snowy decks, and gear so taut; the Pomeranian, with -her grass-green hull and fur-capped crew; the Dutch galliot, all -brown varnish, and shaped like a half cheese, or like the old craft -that bore the Crusaders to Palestine; the huge ship of Blackwall, -redolent of guano, all blistered, rusted, and turned yellow by the -sun of the fiery south; the sharp Spanish brig, which had run her -cargo of slaves in South Carolina and escaped here, to go quietly -home, with her brass nines hidden in the hold, and with fish in Lent -for the pious at Cadiz or Oporto--during the brief season of summer, -I say, all these had been here; but now when a snowy mantle covered -the land, and black ice locked the harbour, its basin or bosom -presented a very different scene. - -Floundering through sludge and water, a thousand of those men who are -England's real pioneers in the Far West--Irish emigrants--in long -boots, were cutting the thick ice with ponderous saws, and pushing -the blocks under the solid mass on either side, to form a fairway or -clear channel for the shipping; and this channel, though at least -twenty feet broad, would certainly be frozen hard and fast ere -morning dawned. - -On this occasion there passed out with us, as I have elsewhere -stated, more than one hundred sail of sealing craft. There were -brigs, brigantines, and schooners, ranging from fifty to two hundred -and fifty tons, all following each other through the fairway, warping -ahead, till beyond the Chain Rock, where they got into open water. - -Many of the smaller craft are miserably adapted for the dangers they -have to encounter, and thus are frequently crushed or lost in the ice -by being swept off among the floes and fields to the far north, from -whence they never return. Some, I have observed, had only a box -lined with fire-brick placed on edge, lashed aft the foremast, for a -caboose, and an iron cauldron on three legs placed therein for -boiling the wretched mess of old salt pork and doughballs which form -the daily food of the crew, who, with such apparatus, would be unable -to cook anything in foul weather or a heavy sea. - -The wind was southerly for a time, but gradually veered a little to -the west as we neared the harbour mouth. After passing the Chain -Rock, where a cable of Cyclopean aspect, that now lies a mass of rust -thereon, was wont in times of war and alarm to be stretched across to -the Pancake Rock to secure the harbour at night, we found ourselves -in the deep water. With a loud cheer we brought the kedge anchor and -hawser on board. Paul Reeves took the wheel; we sheeted home the -foresail and gib, let fall the fore and main topsails, and brought -the starboard tacks on board when we were clear of the Signal Hill, -and the Dead Man's Bay--a dreary inlet of the sea--lay on our quarter. - -This hill is a stern and precipitous mountain of sandstone and -slate-rock, nearly six hundred feet in height, with batteries that -rise over each other in tiers, to the highest, which is named "The -Queen's." Opposite, towers an equally abrupt mountain of similar -height and aspect, having at its base a little promontory defended by -Fort Amherst. - -The slender gut between is named the Narrows of St. John. - -The breeze came more and more round upon our quarter as we ran past -Signal Hill, ploughing through a somewhat heavy surf; past the Sugar -Loaf, and a little creek where, in the clear summer sea, I have seen -the guns of an ancient and forgotten wreck lying like black dots on -the smooth white sand many fathoms below; for in these regions, when -a brilliant sun shines upon the ocean, its waters become transparent -to a wondrous depth; thus giant corals, dusky weeds, and the -snow-white bones of mighty fish, - - "With the rainbow hues of the sea-trees' bloom," - -may be seen distinctly at the depth of a hundred and fifty feet from -the surface. - -There, too, I have seen the bright yellow sea anemone, with its long -fibrous leaves, that close and shrink into the rocks from view when -touched. - -Cape St. Francis, one of the eastern promontories of Avalon, was soon -upon our beam; Cape Spear light had sunk into the waves astern, and -night was coming down upon the wintry sea, when we hauled up a point -or two to the north and west, and stood right away to the icy regions -of the North; and that night merrily at supper we sang in the cabin-- - - "'Twas in the year of 'sixty-one, - Of March the seventeenth day, - That our gallant ship her anchor weighed - And to the North seas bore away, - Brave boys," &c. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE BRIG "LEDA." - -We had twenty-four hands on board; twelve of these were landsmen, -being gunners and batmen, half agriculturists and half fishermen, -who, at times, in summer, left their families to till the scanty -soil, while they fished in open boats among the countless creeks and -bays which indent the peninsula of Avalon; and now in winter, when -all out-of-door operations were suspended, and the land was buried -under fourteen feet of frozen snow--and when the sea, even to the -distance of two hundred miles, would soon be bound with ice, they -became seal-fishers; and, like others, had shipped in the little -fleet which, on St. Patrick's Day, always departed from this -Iro-American isle for the stormy seas that lash the Labrador. - -All these men were Irish and oft at sea; I have heard the poor -fellows, when seated under the leech of the foresail, with the icy -spray flying over them to leeward, singing the sweet or merry songs -they had learned at their mothers' knee, in the brave old land they -were fated never to see again--for the story of our crew is a sad one! - -We had a negro, who was our cook (of course), Cuffy Snowball--I never -heard him named otherwise; and his adventures had been somewhat -singular. - -Cuffy had been a warrior of Congo, and dwelt in a hut on the banks of -the Zaire, where, by dint of "his spear and shaggy shield," he had -amassed a wealth of baskets, gourds, carved calibashes, and wooden -spoons from cowards who could not defend them. He could tell, with -great simplicity, innumerable stories of his combats with other -tribes, and with lions, leopards, buffaloes, crocodiles, and -hippopotami; and in evidence of his prowess, he wore on his left arm -a bracelet formed entirely of lions' teeth--which form a kind of -"Order of Valour" in Congo. He had been very happy in his wigwam, -till the daughter of a Chenoo or chief--a beautiful damsel, with her -teeth painted blue and the bone of a shark through her nose--espied -him one day, and desired to have him for her husband, as it is the -right of these ladies to do. - -The chosen, of whom she becomes absolute mistress and proprietress, -dare not refuse, so poor Cuffy was married to the Chenoo; there were -great rejoicings, and three prisoners of war were devoured at the -marriage-feast. - -But his sable fair one tired of him in a short time, and by certain -artful means decoyed him one evening to the mouth of the Zaire, and -there sold him into slavery. - -The slave-ship was wrecked; but Cuffy got ashore on the island of -Jamaica, where he was very much surprised to see some of his -countrymen, dressed and armed like white men, in coats of a red -colour, with light blue trousers; so he enlisted as a soldier in one -of her Majesty's West India Regiments. - -Ere long Cuffy was made a corporal; and though he ground his sharp -teeth now and then when thinking of his wigwam in Congo, and the -treacherous Chenoo his wife, he was very happy, for he had plenty of -rice, yams, and sangaree, and as a corporal, carried his black snub -nose very high indeed! - -From Jamaica his company was ordered to Trinidad, and the whole, a -hundred in number, were shipped on board of a Yankee barque which had -been freighted for the purpose. Her skipper, on seeing such a choice -lot of tall and handsome young negroes, proposed to their captain (a -reckless fellow, who was steeped to the lips in debt and all kinds of -West Indian dissipation) to bear away for the Southern States of the -Union, and there sell the whole as slaves. Singular as it may seem, -the captain, who owed more money in Trinidad than he could ever hope -to pay, accepted the proposal, and the soldiers of this company of -H.M. West India Regiment, instead of garrisoning the isle where the -"mother of the cocoa" blooms, were duly landed at Charleston in South -Carolina, where they were all sold to the highest bidders. The -skipper and captain put the money in their pockets, leaving the -astonished lieutenant and ensign to get back to headquarters in -Jamaica as they best could. - -Cuffy's new master proved a severe one, and under his lash he often -sighed for the rice, yams, and his quiet duty as sentinel under a -sunshade, or the high authority he could wield as corporal over -Scipio, Sambo, or Julius Cæsar, in the days when he was the white -man's comrade; but one day Cuffy lost his temper, and gave his master -a tap on the head with a sugar-hoe! - -Then, without waiting to see whether or not he had killed him, he -fled into the woods--crossed the Savannah river, and getting on board -a British vessel became a sailor, and within one year thereafter, was -shipped, as cook, on board the _Leda_. - -The rest of our crew were all steady and hardy men, and Paul Reeves, -the senior mate, was the model of an English sailor. - -The wind had changed during the night; thus, when next day dawned, we -were still in sight of Cape St. Francis--a snow-covered headland, -which shone white and drearily, as the sun came up from the blue sea. - -Hartly expressed some impatience at our progress as we trod to and -fro aft the mainmast in the clear, cold, bracing air of the morning, -while the odour of a hot breakfast, which Cuffy was preparing, came -in whiffs from the galley. - -"Never mind," said I; "the wind will soon change again--I can see by -the clouds there are contrary currents overhead; and when once among -the ice, we shall have great fun!" - -"Fun! I don't know much about that," said Hartly, who, like every -seaman, was put in a sulky mood by a foul wind. - -"We shall have perils to encounter!" - -"Perils may be fun to one so young as you, Jack," said Hartly, -pausing thoughtfully; "however, in our trade, I have ever found that -peril and profit go together. Think over all we have read of what -Parry, Ross, Scoresby, Franklin, and Kane underwent in those regions -of ice and snow; and I do not remember the word _fun_ occurring once -in their narratives." - -"Well," said I, abashed by his monitory tone, "we shall have -excitement, at all events." - -"Both excitement and danger, I grant you," said he, as we resumed the -usual quarter-deck step and trod to and fro again: "it is a -well-paying speculation, a sealing expedition; and, by Jove! it would -need to be so to compensate poor fellows for all they undergo in such -a rigorous season, and in such seas as those which sweep round the -frozen rocks and shores of Newfoundland and the drearier Labrador in -the blustering month of March. Some crews are frozen in, far at sea, -for months and months, till all perish of starvation; others are lost -in detached parties on the ice-fields, in fogs, and are never found -again. Some are swept out to sea on broken floes, or fall through -holes in the ice, and are never more seen. Then the strongest ships -are often crushed, as you would crush an egg upon an anvil, by the -ice-fields, masses of which, perhaps a hundred miles in extent, are -whirled, dashed, and split against each other by opposite currents, -with a sound so frightful, that one might well imagine the last day -was at hand, or that chaos had come again! Ah, we should have some -profit, after encountering all that!" - -"I should think so," said I while glancing at my watch, and -reflecting that Mr. Uriah Skrew would, about this time, find the -farewell letter I had left for him on my desk in the counting-room. - -"But I do not say all this, Jack Manly, to cast you down," said -Hartly, laughing; "for you will always be safe with me, as you know I -never can be drowned, while wearing _this_ ring." - -"Do you really believe in it?" I inquired. - -"Why, I don't know, Jack; but I should not like to lose it now: we -sailors have strange fancies at times, but, with all our alleged -superstition, are, I cannot help thinking, more religious than you -landsmen. One who finds his daily bread upon the waters, and is for -ever struggling with the wild elements by night and day, must at -times think solemnly of the mighty Hand and Will that fashioned them -out of thin air." - -"But your ring?" - -"She who gave it me was a strange old woman, whom we called Mother -Jensdochter--a kind of Norna of the Fitful Head, who lived, or for -aught I know, lives still, in a hut at the base of Mount Hecla, in -Iceland. I was wrecked there, when on a voyage in the _Princess_, of -Hull, bound for Archangel, five years ago. This witch occupied a -regular Icelandic hut. It was built of wreck and drift wood, caulked -with moss and earth, roofed with rafters of whale-ribs covered with -turf, and having in the centre a hole for a chimney. Her bed was a -mere box of seaweed, feathers, and down; but I seldom saw any house -of a better kind in Iceland." - -"Well?" - -"She used to sell fair winds or foul, blessings or maledictions, as -the matter might be, to the fishermen of the fiords. She would give, -as the simple folks believed, a fair wind that would carry a craft as -far as Cape Horn without lifting tack or sheet; or a curse that would -sink the _Royal Albert_ line-o'-battle ship, for a loaf of ground -codfish, or a bottle of hockettle oil for the iron cruse that hung -from her whalebone rafters; but she conceived a strong regard for me, -because I had saved her miserable life in a snowstorm one night, and -carried her in my arms--ugh! what a precious armful she was!--to her -wigwam. She used to assure me that whenever there was a battle being -fought anywhere in the world, the terrible mountain that overhung her -dwelling vomited black ashes and stones; and then, as she sat at her -door, with her long grey locks hanging over her fierce red eyes, she -could see troops of infernal spirits carrying the souls of the -damned, shrieking through the air, towards the flaming crater. The -noise of the ice-floes dashed against the shore, she alleged to be -the groans of others, who were doomed to endure excess of cold for -eternity, even as those in Hecla were to endure excess of heat; and -she had many other fancies wild enough to make a poor Jack Tar's hair -stand up on end! - -"Near her hut stood a conical knoll, covered with fine green grass, -and thence named the Groenbierg. There, she asserted, by putting an -ear to the ground, she could hear the large-headed gnomes and little -bandy-legged dwarfs, who dwelt in it, busy at work, fashioning -trinkets and curiously carved goblets--especially at Yule, where the -clink of their tiny hammers rang like chime-bells on little anvils; -and the puff of their bellows and forge could be heard, with the -jingle of gold and silver coins, and opening and shutting of -quaintly-carved and iron-bound treasure-chests, which they were -shoving to and fro, and hiding in the bowels of the mountain. She -fell asleep there one evening, and dreamed that the Grcenbierg -opened, and there came forth a little man in a red cloak and pair of -puffy breeches, with a white beard the entire length of his body -(that is, about two feet,) and he bestowed this ring upon her, with a -promise that whoever wore it was free from all danger hereafter. He -then vanished into a mole-track on the hill-side. Mother Jensdochter -awoke, and found the ring upon her finger, where it remained, until, -in a burst of gratitude, she bestowed it on me, with the comfortable -assurance (I give you the yarn, Jack, for what it is worth) that I -'could never be drowned while it remained on my finger.' Hans -Peterkin--forward there!" - -"Ay, ay, sir." - -"Brace those foreyards sharper up; set the fore and main staysails -and foretopmast staysail; and keep her a point or so further off the -land.--And now, Jack, come below, for Cuffy has gone down with the -bacon and coffee, piping hot, too." - -Leaving Hans, the second mate, in charge of the deck, with orders to -announce the slightest indication of a change of wind, we descended -to breakfast with the appetites of hawks. - -On this morning only two of our sealing companions were visible, and -these were at the far horizon to the eastward; so as we were forced -by change of wind to hug the land, we soon lost sight of them, and, -ere noonday, were alone upon the sea. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -KIDD THE PIRATE. - -We had scarcely lost sight of Cape St. Francis when the wind became -light and variable, and one of those dense fogs peculiar to that -region settled surely and slowly, densely and darkly, over land and -sea. We shortened sail, and sent ahead the jolly-boat with four -hands in her, to feel our way as it were; while Paul Reeves kept -sounding ever and anon, for in that ocean of strong currents, with a -slight wind from the eastward, and a shore of reefs and shoals upon -our lee, every precaution was necessary. - -The raw cold of a fog upon a wintry sea in that latitude of ice and -snow must be felt to be understood. The clear bracing frost, however -intense, may be endured; but this chill and murky dampness made one -intensely miserable. - -As we crept along, a strange sound reached us from time to time. - -"What is that?" I asked. - -"The voices of the penguins," replied Hartly--"the Baccalao birds. -We are off that island; and their cries are as good as fog-guns to -people situated as we are. See! the fog lights a bit; and now there -is the land about two miles off, on the lee bow!" - -As he spoke, the dense bank of vapour which shrouded sea, land, and -sky, parted for a few minutes; a gleam of brilliant sunshine fell -upon the rough and precipitous rocks of the wild and desert isle -named Baccalao, which, in summer and winter, are alike ever whitened -by a species of guano, deposited there by the auks or penguins, which -we could see hovering above them in countless myriads, uttering -shrill cries while they soared, wheeled, and flew hither and thither, -as if to warn us of our danger in being so near those treacherous -reefs, which are a source of terror to mariners. Their dangers are -only seen, however, by the daring egg-gatherers, who come from the -mainland in summer, and sling themselves by ropes from the summit of -the cliff, to rifle the nests; although these poor birds are -specially under the protection of Government, by a proclamation, -being sea-marks, or danger-signals (as we found them) in foul or -foggy weather. - -With some interest I surveyed the stern cliffs of Baccalao, as they -were the first land seen by Cabot, the Grand Pilot of England, after -ploughing the mighty Atlantic in his little caravel; and he named -them in his joy _La Prima Vista_, though a "vista" grim enough. - -"The shore is dark, dreary, and sterile," said I to Hartly. - -"Yes," said he, "but there are many strange stories of treasure being -buried there by the pirates in old times." - -"Do you see that deep chasm in the rocks in the north end of the -isle?" said Paul Reeves, lowering his voice impressively as he -pointed to the land. - -"Yes, it seems quite black among the snow." - -"That is _not_ snow, but the deposit of the Baccalao birds," said the -mate. "In the old buccaneering times, the pirates are said to have -buried their treasure there; and a cask branded with the King's broad -arrow, and the name _Adventure_, was once found in it. Now all the -world knows that the _Adventure_ was the ship of the famous Captain -Kidd, who cheated King William out of the finest craft in the English -navy." - -"How?" said I. - -"Let us hear," added Hartly. - -"At a time when all the seas about the coasts of North and South -America and the West India Islands were swarming with buccaneer -craft, manned by desperadoes of every country, who made war upon all -ships that sailed the ocean and were unable to resist them, the -Government of King William III. selected a mariner of doubtful -reputation, named Captain William Kidd, who volunteered to root out -those sea-hawks, who persecuted the thrifty traders of New Amsterdam." - -"King William acted on the principle of setting a thief to catch a -thief." - -"Exactly so, Jack," said Hartly, "for Kidd, though ostensibly a -merchant-mariner, was something of a smuggler, and had done a little -in the way of picarooning. He was always heard of in out-of-the-way -places, departing on voyages no one knew whither, and coming from -places never heard of before. Then he was always followed by a crew -of well-armed, black-muzzled, drinking, swearing, tearing fellows, -who were as flush of money as if they had been at the overhauling of -Havannah. But go a-head, Paul." - -"Well," resumed the mate, "in 1695 Kidd sailed down Channel in the -_Adventure_ galley, of forty-four guns, with a royal pennant flying, -duly commissioned by King William to fight all buccaneers, and his -crew were all selected by himself. But Master Kidd was barely off -the Lizard when he hauled down the King's pennant, hoisted the skull -and crossbones, and bore away for the East Indies. He burned two -towns in Madeira, and after plundering and sinking every craft he -could overmatch, reached the entrance of the Red Sea, where he -captured a Queda merchantman, the cargo of which lined the pockets of -himself and his followers to their complete satisfaction. - -"Queda is a town of Asia, situated on the western coast of the -peninsula of Malacca; and so Kidd was cunning enough to attempt -passing-off this capture as a crusade against the enemies of -Christianity; but, unfortunately for him, the ship was commanded by a -Scotchman, and people did not believe in crusaders under Orange -William. - -"A year or two after this, he was cruising off the American coast, -and in dread of the King's ships, which were all on the look-out for -him, he ran north as far as Newfoundland, and was alleged to have -buried on its coast all the treasure amassed on his long and rambling -voyage; but _where_, no one could exactly say, until the old barrel -head, marked _Adventure_, and bearing the King's broad arrow, found -in yonder cavern, seemed to indicate Baccalao as being the place. -Moreover, he is known to have run up Conception Bay in quest of the -gold and silver rocks which Frobisher and Sir Humphrey Gilbert -averred were to be seen there." - -"Rocks of gold and silver!" said I, incredulously. - -"They are only the fire-stones of the Red Indians, and emit sparks -when struck together," said Hartly.[*] - - -[*] They were the solid iron pyrites which deceived the early -navigators who visited these barren shores. In the "List of H.M. -Royal Navy for 1701," we find among the "fifth-rates, the -_Adventure_, 120 men, 44 guns." - - -"His treasure," continued the mate, "if he had any, was never found; -though _he_ was, for Richard Coote, Earl of Bellamont, and Governor -of New England, caught him one day in 1701, when swaggering about the -streets of Boston, and sent him home to King William, who lost no -time in hanging him. But he died as hard as he had lived, for the -rope broke with his weight in Execution Dock, so he was reeved up -again with a new one. - -"He was hung in chains on the banks of the Thames, but his body -disappeared in the night, and the sailors in London declared that he -could neither be hanged nor chained, as he had a _charmed_ life, -having sold his poor soul to the devil. Be that as it may, on the -_same night_, in 1701, my Lord Bellamont was found dead in his bed at -Boston, and many affirmed that this event had some connexion with -Kidd's mysterious disappearance from the gallows, as he was said to -have been seen by some of his old shipmates near the dead Governor's -house. - -"Fishermen when jigging or trawling off Baccalao in the clear -moonlight nights, often saw a solitary man sitting on the rocks at -the mouth of yonder cavern, but his figure always seemed to melt away -into the moonshine when any one approached; so a story went abroad -that the island was haunted by the ghost of a drowned man. However, -a stout fellow, named Tom Spiller, who was rather bolder than the -rest, and who lived alone at Breakheart Point, where he had a little -hut and stage for drying the fish he caught, went off to the island -one night, when there was little cloud and a bright moon. The sea -was calm, for there was but a puff of wind off the land from time to -time. - -"Tom Spiller was a brave and devil-may-care kind of fellow, whom I -knew well, for he was an old man when I went to sea with him first as -a boy, so I have often heard him tell the story without variation or -leeway, or shaking out a new reef by way of a change. - -"On approaching the island, he saw the solitary figure sitting on the -rocks at the mouth of the deep black chasm, motionless, with his head -resting, as it were, sorrowfully on the palm of his right hand, and -his eyes fixed apparently on the sea that rippled to his feet, though -it boiled and roared in white foam over the reefs that lay a few -fathoms off outside. - -"Tom steered his boat straight for the cave, and now, when the -towering rocks of the desert isle were over his head, covered with -thousands upon thousands of wild auks, screaming, whirling, and -flapping their wings, as if to scare him away; when the deep black -chasm in which the sea was gurgling and moaning yawned before him, -and everything seemed so weird and wan in the pale moonlight, he -_did_ feel queer, and more so when the solitary man, instead of -melting into thin air as usual, turned his white face towards him, -and arose, just as he let go the halyards, lowered the brown flapping -sail, and running his boat into the cave, adroitly noosed a rope over -a large stone to moor her, and stepped ashore. Tom's heart was -beating wildly and strangely, for he was determined to discover -whether this figure, which he had so often seen from the sea, and -which had so invariably eluded his brother fishermen, was man, ghost, -or devil. - -"He perceived that the stranger was clad in an old-fashioned dress, -his coat having large metal buttons, broad pocket-flaps, and deep -cuffs. He was ghastly pale, his glassy eyes glistened in the -moonlight, and dark crimson blood was flowing from what appeared to -be a pistol-shot in his left temple. - -"'What seek you here?' he asked, in a voice so hollow that the -terrified fisherman, who now repented sorely of his rashness, knew -not whether the sound came from the spectre's white lips, from the -depth of the dreary chasm, or from the sea. 'Speak,' continued the -figure, with mournful earnestness; 'what seek you?' - -"'To discover who and what you are,' said Tom. - -"'May you never be what I was, or what I am,' replied the other, -sadly. - -"'But what are you?' - -"'A restless spirit.' - -"Tom's knees bent under him, for the pale eyes of that cold white -visage seemed to pierce his soul. - -"'A wretched spirit--left here by a fiend to guard his ill-gotten -spoil--so begone, I charge you.' - -"The fisherman shrank back on hearing these strange words, while the -gloomy terrors of the scene--the screaming of the Baccalao birds that -whirled in a cloud about him, the dashing of the waves upon the reef, -and the mournful gurgle of the backwash within the vast cavern, with -the weird glimpses of the moon as the white clouds sailed swiftly -past her face--all combined to make this interview a dreadful one. - -"Suddenly there was a sound of oars to seaward, the spirit seemed to -become excited, and clasped his thin white hands. - -"'See! see! he comes!' he exclaimed. 'Kidd the pirate! Kidd, my -murderer! But he comes, blessed be God! to release me after a -hundred years of restless watching and penance!' - -"For you must know that this occurred, as Tom Spiller told me, in -1801. - -"'Land ho!' cried a deep hoarse voice from the sea, while Spiller, -overcome by terror, shrank behind a fragment of rock. - -"'Hilloa!' answered the spirit, in nautical fashion. - -"'Clouds and thunder! why the devil don't you show a light?' cried -the strange voice, as a large barge full of men shot round a -promontory, against which the waves were dashing in foam. On it -came--on and on--at every stroke of the oars, till they were all -triced up in true man-o'-war fashion as she sheered into the creek, -and a man sprang on shore, uttering a tempest of oaths and -maledictions. - -"Tom Spiller now fancied that they were all dressed in the fashion of -a hundred years ago, with deep square-skirted coats, long flowing -perriwigs, and little three-cocked hats, and that all were pale, -silent, and spectral; in short, it was a boat manned by unquiet -spirits! Strangely enough, he felt less afraid of them _all_ than of -_one_, and continued to gaze at them like a person in a dream. - -"The man who sprang ashore was a short, squat fellow of ferocious -aspect; his battered visage was covered with cuts and patches of -black plaster; a hellish spark glittered in each of his eyes. He -wore a coarse perriwig with long curls, a three-cocked hat, an -old-fashioned blue coat, covered with tarnished lace, and brass -buttons; he had also a pair of brass-barrelled Spanish pistols, and a -hanger sustained by a broad belt. - -"_Two_ ropes were knotted round his neck, which was bare, and pieces -of rusty chain were dangling at his wrists and ankles. Then the -marrow froze in the bones of Tom Spiller, for he knew that he looked -upon William Kidd, the pirate, who had been _twice_ hanged a hundred -years before in Execution Dock. - -"'Now, you canting, cowardly lubber, why the henckers didn't you hang -out a light?' he bellowed in a hoarse voice. - -"'I have been in the dark these hundred years,' replied the spirit, -meekly. - -"'Likely enough; seas and thunder! you were the faintest-hearted -fellow in the _Adventure_.' - -"'I suffered sorely at your hands since you captured the ship of -Queda, of which I was captain, and made me a prisoner in yon galley.' - -"'Bah!' thundered Kidd. - -"'I have repented me of my sins in life,' said the spirit, mournfully. - -"''Sblood and plunder!' shouted the other, with a diabolical laugh; -'I shot you through the head, as a canting Scotsman, on this night -one hundred years ago, and buried you here--you know for what -purpose.' - -"'That my unquiet spirit might watch your buried treasure,' moaned -the other. - -"'Right,' chuckled the pirate; 'I shot you as I would have done my -lord the Earl of Bellamont, though he was Governor of New England and -Admiral of all the seas about it, for that long-snouted Dutch lubber, -William of Orange, who sent him to lord it over the Yankees.' - -"'I have waited and watched your treasure long, and now am anxious -for the repose of the grave.' - -"On hearing this, Kidd and his boat's crew laughed, and gnashed their -teeth; but a few there were who wept and wailed heavily, and the -sound of their lamentation was fearful as it mingled with the chafing -of the surge. - -"'I have some fine things stowed away here in Baccalao,' said Kidd; -'but I have some that are better still in the haunted Kaatskill -Mountain, and at Tapaan Zee, up the Hudson.' - -"The spirit-watcher groaned. - -"'Since I saw you last, brother, I have been twice hanged and strung -in chains on the banks of the Thames--ha! ha! at Gravesend Reach.' - -"'Hanged!' - -"'Yes, by all the devils in New Amsterdam!--HANGED! Hanged by order -of him of pious, glorious, and immortal memory--by Orange Billy, who -assassinated the De Witts in Holland, who murdered eighty men, women, -and children in cold blood in Scotland; who abandoned his soldiers at -Steinkirk; who boiled and burned women alive in London for coining a -few brass halfpence; and who departed this life amid the prayers of -canting hypocrites and lawn-sleeved parasites, on the 8th day of -March, 1701! He roasts now, for some of his pranks, I can tell you! -But heave a-head, brother! we must ship our cargo, and be off -to-night for Cape Cod at New Amsterdam (or New York, as the folks -call it now-a-days), ere the moon wanes or the tide falls. Where is -the plunder?' - -"The sad spirit-watcher pointed to a place which seemed to have -opened in the rocky cavern; and there Tom Spiller could see, by the -beams of the moon, heaps of gold and silver vessels, sparkling jewels -and trinkets, with veritable pyramids of gold and silver coins of -every nation and of every size, piled up in confusion. - -"Bewildered by this sight, he permitted rather too much of his figure -to be seen; for suddenly a yell of rage came from the spectre boat's -crew; and Kidd, drawing one of the long brass pistols from his broad -buff girdle, uttered a dreadful oath-- - -"'A spy!' he exclaimed; 'take _that_ and perish!' - -"He fired full at the head of Tom, who felt the ball pass through his -brain like a red-hot arrow, and he sank upon the rocks--where he -found himself lying stiff enough when he awoke next morning, and saw -the Baccalao birds wheeling about in the sunshine." - -"So the whole affair was only a dream!" said I. - -"I cannot say," replied Reeves; "for strangely enough, an old Spanish -pistol, with a strong smell of powder about it, and 'W. K.' on the -butt, was lying on the rocks by his side. Tom lost no time, you may -be assured, in jumping into his boat, and clapping on all sail to -leave the island astern; but after that night the spirit was seen no -more at the mouth of the cavern, for Kidd had come to release him, or -to take away his treasure." - -"And Tom Spiller?" - -"Forsook his hut at Breakheart Point, and went to sea for many years: -he felt unhappy, for the parsons say that folks always are so who -have conversed with ghosts; but his mind dwelt for ever on the -treasure in the cavern, and he never ceased to spin yarns about it, -and express hopes that some, if not all that he saw, might yet -remain. He returned to Breakheart Point about twenty years ago, an -old and white-haired man; and one night, accompanied by three men -armed with picks and shovels, sailed in search of the treasure; but -they never reached the island, for a tempest came on and drove their -boat to the northward. He tried to fetch Ragged Harbour, but was -blown right across Conception Bay for more than thirty miles, and was -drowned at La Cabo Bueno Vista, on a rock called, to this hour, -Spiller's Point. - -"As for Captain Kidd, he has never been seen since, though some folks -hereabout say he commands the _Black Schooner_, which has overhauled -so many of our merchantmen and escaped the Queen's cruisers. So that -is my yarn, Mr. Manly." - -"Steady, Paul, steady," said Hartly; "the fog has concealed your -haunted island again." - -"Steady it is, sir; but we had better take a pull at these larboard -tacks, otherwise we may not be able to clear the three rocks that lie -to the northward of Baccalao; and I think we can hear the breakers -already!" - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -THE BLACK SCHOONER. - -Long ere the mate's story was concluded, the dense fog--chilly, -white, and drenching--had shrouded the dreary isle of Baccalao, and -the voices of the penguins alone indicated its locality; but they -became fainter, until we lost the sound altogether as we ran further -to the north. - -Now a furious snow-storm came on; thick and fast the white flakes -fell ceaselessly aslant through a dark-grey sky upon the winter sea -(for in that region there is _no_ spring), covering the rigging, the -decks, and storm-jackets of the watch, who shrank to leeward, while -the wind, which blew keenly from the N.N.E., and thermometer, which -had sunk very low, made me begin to reflect that there were more -unpleasant places in the world than the counting-room of Mr. Uriah -Skrew. - -This snow-storm continued for three or four days, during which the -whole seamanship of Hartly, Reeves, and Hans Peterkin was required to -prevent the _Leda_ being driven upon a lee shore. By chart and -soundings they were constantly at work, to keep her off a land which -was veiled in obscurity, for the wind was dead and strong against us; -and frequently through the blinding snow, and grey hazy drift to -leeward, we could hear the sullen booming of breakers, as they rolled -in foam that froze upon the granite rocks and islets about Cape -Freels. - -This foul weather lasted for several days, and weary of beating -fruitlessly to windward, when the storm abated, and the sky became -again blue and serene, we found ourselves under easy sail, at the -rate of four knots an hour or so, passing the Twillingate Isles, -which lie between the Bay of Exploits and the vast Bay of Notre Dame. -They were covered with snow, and are desolate, bleak, and little -known, as on that part of the coast there are only about one hundred -and fifty inhabitants--poor people--who, after fishing for cod and -salmon in summer, quit their wigwams in winter to live in the -sheltered woods, or sail south towards St. John. And now we began to -get ready our boats and guns, and with telescopes to sweep the -snow-clad shore for seals, and the open sea for ice-floes. - -It was about the hour of six; the sun had just set, and the western -sky was all a-blaze with fiery-coloured light, which tinged with -roseate hues the waves that rolled upon the bleak and snow-clad -shore. Captain Hartly took the wheel, and Reeves stood anxiously -close by the binnacle, for we had to weather a long, sharp, and lofty -promontory which abutted like a wall of rock into the ocean, and -round which there eddied a swift and dangerous current. The wind, -though now off the land, was too light to enable us to make headway -against the stream. - -On the brig we had but little "way," and a general exclamation of -satisfaction rose from the hitherto silent crew, when the _Leda_ -_shaved_--as they phrased it--past the promontory, and we saw a deep -cove of blue water opening beyond it; but lo! - -There lay at anchor a schooner--a long, low, sharply prowed and -rakish-like craft--with her hull painted black as jet could be, and -with a number of rough-looking fellows crowding along her gunwale. -We were not three hundred yards apart. - -"Reeves, take the wheel," cried Hartly, in an excited voice. "The -glass, Cuffy, the spy-glass!" he added with sharp energy, snatching -from the hands of Snowball the telescope which usually hung on two -hooks in the companion; "a row of ugly dogs they are that man her. -By Heaven, she is the _Black Schooner_!" - -"The _Black Schooner_!" we all exclaimed with something of dismay in -our varying tones; and I felt, that with Paul Reeves's grim legend -about Captain Kidd fresh in our memory, we had some cause for alarm -in meeting with this robber ship upon those solitary seas. - -"Are you sure, Hartly?" I asked. - -"Not a doubt of it! see, Reeves--she is a two-topsail schooner!" - -"What does that mean?" said I. - -"A brig without tops, in fact." - -A kind of growling cheer, mingled with wild and insolent halloing, -rose from her crew on beholding us suddenly come round the abrupt -promontory, from the brow of which a fringe of gigantic icicles -overhung the sea. A commotion was instantly observable on deck; a -man in authority sprang up the companion-ladder, and we heard him in -a loud and clear voice ordering sail to be instantly made on the -schooner as we altered our course. - -"Man the windlass-bars--up anchor--rouse it to the catheads with a -will, my boys! Shake out everything fore and aft--every stitch that -will draw. Stand by the jib and flying-jib halliards," he shouted. - -After a pause, during which we heard the clanking of the windlass -pauls, as her anchor was started, and would soon be a-cockbill, and -dangling by its ring, we heard his voice again. - -"Up with the jib and flying-jib now--sheets to starboard! Heave and -away--presto! my Jack Spaniards. Stand by topgallant and topsail -sheets and halliards. Bear a hand, you French devils! Well done, my -Kentucky rowdies!" - -In less than three minutes the swelling of the jib and other -head-sails, as well as the motion of the schooner when her bows fell -round, proved that she was under weigh. These orders, which were -obeyed with skilful alacrity, seemed to indicate alike the mixed -character of her crew and the hostility of their intentions. - -"Ready a gun there forward! sheet home and hoist away, topsails and -topgallant sails!" - -This alarming order, uttered in a loud voice, rang distinctly upon -the clear frosty air, and, on the other hand, Captain Hartly was not -slow in his preparations to avoid her. - -"By Jove!" he exclaimed, "this is the very craft we have heard so -much about, and for the capture of which the Governor offers 500_l_. -I have no wish to be caught by these fellows--see, they are shaking -out a couple of reefs in her fore and aft mainsail already! Hands -make all sail--Reeves, set everything that will draw--square away the -after yards." - -"Ay, ay, sir," said Reeves, jumping about and setting all the men to -the yards, braces, and halliards; "port the smallest bit--keep her -full--so--steady!" - -"Maldito los Inglesos renegades!" ("Curse the English runaways!") -cried a Spaniard, shaking his clenched hands at us over her starboard -bow. - -"Caramba!" cried another. - -"Sangbleu!" added a Frenchman, "stop hare--lie to--or it vill be ze -vorser for you." - -"Will it, you rascally thief!" shouted Hartly, as his eyes flashed -and his cheek glowed with excitement: "Manly, look alive, my lad! -load all the double-barrelled rifles in the cabin. Snowball, get up -the kegs of powder and slugs. We shall not be overhauled by a pirate -without having a skirmish first." - -"Luckily for us the wind is off the land, and it freshens too," said -Reeves: "we shall beat her when running before the wind; but she -would come up with us hand over hand on a taut bowline. It was on a -wind she overtook the Bristol clipper." - -In the red glow of the winter sunset, we saw the foam flying on each -side of her sharp bows as the breeze freshened, and she rolled -heavily from side to side; while the _Leda_, being square-rigged, had -a greater spread of canvas, and caught more of the wind: thus, -notwithstanding that our dangerous pursuer was built for sailing -fast, as Paul Reeves foretold, she was no match for us, when running -right before the wind. - -Our crew, half of whom were only poor seal-fishers, became very much -excited; but inspired by the example of Hartly, Reeves, and myself, -they proceeded to load all the sealing guns and muskets, lest the -schooner might lower her boats to overtake us and attempt to board. - -The stern and confident order to get "ready a gun," was repeated more -than once before we got beyond hearing; but as no gun was ever fired, -we believed this to be a mere bravado to frighten us into shortening -sail, till she might run alongside and board us, when a ruinous scene -of plunder, if not of bloodshed, would be sure to ensue. - -"She sails with the speed of an arrow," said I, while carefully -loading and capping my rifle. - -"This _Black Schooner_ was one of the craft employed in protecting -the French fishery of Miquelon, on the south side of the island," -said Hartly; "but her crew mutinied, shipped some runaways of all -countries and colours, and turned slavers. These rascals have -committed several outrages hereabouts by sea and land, but have -always escaped our cruisers, as she alternately shows a British, -French, and Yankee ensign, and runs all kinds of paint-strokes along -her bends." - -On, on, we bore; and on, on, she came after us, with the still -freshening breeze, the foam flying before her bows and ours; but ere -long we were evidently half a mile apart. - -She was a handsome clipper-like craft of about two hundred tons' -burthen, coppered to the bends; her lower masts were long and heavy, -so as to carry fore and aft sails of immense spread upon a wind, with -a square sail, top and topgallant sail aloft. - -"Massa Hartly--Massa Captain--look out!" exclaimed Cuffy Snowball, -who had armed himself with a musket, and stood in soldier-fashion at -"the ready," grinning over the taffrail at the rolling schooner. - -"Look out for what?" said Hans Peterkin. - -"Something make you all look white as de debbil." - -"What do you mean by _white_," asked the carpenter, "when we all know -the devil is black?" - -"In my country him white, sare," replied Cuffy, angrily. - -"Then," said Hartly, to keep up the spirits of his crew by jesting, -"what colour do you think he is, Cuffy?" - -"I tink him _blue_," replied the prudent negro; and then he added -with a yell, "dere come something will make you look blue too, Massa!" - -As he spoke, a puff of white smoke rose from the bow of the _Black -Schooner_; the report of a musket rang in the air, and a conical -rifle-ball whistled past the ear of Hartly, and sank with a heavy -_thud_ into the mainmast. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE CHASE. - -Cuffy Snowball fired his musket at our pursuer, whether with or -without effect we know not; but, in reply, a confused discharge of -firearms followed, and the balls pattered among the rigging, and -knocked little splinters from our spars and gunwale. - -"Now, my lads," said Hartly, "let fly at her with everything you -have--sealing-guns and rifles!" - -This order was executed with alacrity. We had four good rifles and -ten long-barrelled and wide-muzzled sealing-guns, each of which sent -ten or twelve slugs of lead _whirring_ through the air at every -discharge, and we blazed away right valiantly at the crowd of rascals -in the schooner's bows; but so great was the distance between us, -that I am certain our fire fell harmlessly into the sea--the rifle -shots alone could have told with effect. - -On first deliberately levelling my rifle (a fine Enfield, presented -to me by my father on leaving Peckham) at a man in the starboard bow -of the pirate, a strange sensation came over me! - -I lowered my weapon and paused; but a shot that struck one of the -davits at which the stern-boat hung, removed my momentary, and at -that unpleasant crisis most unnecessary scruple. - -I levelled again--fired and reloaded, and without considering whether -or not I had killed a man, continued to pepper away with all the -coolness and precision of Cuffy Snowball, the ex-corporal of H.M. -West India Regiment. - -"Run up our ensign, and let her rascally crew see it while there is -light," said Hartly. "Paul Reeves, rig out the lower studding-sail -booms forward, and bring aft those two carronades and the small -anchor, to trim her more by the stern. Tom Hammer, see to this!" - -"Ay, ay, sir," was the ready response. - -The orders were promptly obeyed. The small anchor and two little -guns, for which we unfortunately had only powder for signals, were -brought aft; the sharp bows of the _Leda_ thus rode more easily over -the water. The lower studding-sails were rapidly spread and hoisted -up; and then we flew through the darkening sea till its water seemed -to smoke alongside, and bubbled in snowy froth under the counter, -leaving a long white wake, like that of a steamer, astern. - -Closely in this long wake followed our pursuer, with deadly -pertinacity. - -It is impossible to convey in words any idea of the excitement of -this chase--this flight and pursuit--this race of rivalry, of life -and death! The daring ruffians who manned the schooner had committed -several murders and robberies on sea and land. They had overhauled -and rifled several merchant ships, carrying off compasses, charts, -provisions, watches, money, and everything of value: thus, to have -undergone such a ransacking at their hands--even if our lives were -spared--would effectually have marred our expedition for that year. - -They were evidently well armed, for their rifle-balls flew thick and -fast about us. The cracking report, and the _pingeing_ sound of the -conical shot that followed every red flash which broke over the sharp -bows of the schooner, added considerably to our anxiety to escape, -and to our exasperation at being thus molested on the high seas, and -within two hundred miles of where we had left one of her Majesty's -sloops of war in the harbour of St. John, but frozen in, -unfortunately. - -Though these missiles struck the brig's stern and rigging -incessantly, we had only one man hit--an Irish seal-fisher, who had -left a wife and family at Dead Man's Bay, to try his fortune with us -in the North. A ball pierced his shoulder, smashing the collar-bone; -and the poor fellow sank on the deck with a shrill cry of agony. A -lad named Ridly had his cheek grazed by another shot. - -The dusk was fast increasing; but the red flush of the winter sunset -yet lingered in the western sky; the snow-clad islets that stud the -Bay of Exploits had assumed a dark purple hue, and the sea through -which we were careering, northwest, towards the Bay of Notre Dame, -wore a deep and sombre blue. - -Clearly defined against the dusky and ruddy sky, we could see the -pursuing schooner, her tall slender spars swaying from side to side, -with every stitch of snow-white canvas spread upon them; and she tore -through the waves like a giant bird, swimming in the wake of dead -water that ran like a long path astern of us. - -We had everything set aloft and alow; to her very trucks the _Leda_ -was covered with swelling canvas, and she was a beautiful sight! The -keen and anxious eyes of Hartly, who was at the wheel, scanned ever -and anon the taut cordage, the bending masts, and then he would cast -a fierce glance astern. - -"We are leaving her fast, sir," said Paul Reeves, confidently; "in -another hour we shall be far enough apart to feel comfortable." - -"Bravo, my little _Leda_!" responded my friend; "she is trimmed and -masted to perfection! You see, Jack, how a square-rigged craft has -the advantage over even a sharp little serpent with a floating sheet, -like that rascally schooner!" - -Her crew still continued to blaze at us with their rifles; but ere -long the bullets fell far short, for we were now more than a thousand -yards apart, and with cheers of derision we continued to surge -through the darkening ocean. - -"If we had only possessed a few round-shot, we might have knocked -some of their sticks away with these two useless carronades," said -Hartly, as he now relinquished the wheel to Hans Peterkin, his second -mate, and ordered glasses of grog to be served all round. "Corporal -Cuffy, do you think you could have knocked her mainboom away, when -the sea is so smooth?" - -"Like to knock all him brains out!" replied the Congo-man with a -savage grin; for, inspired by some of his old African instincts, -Snowball was the only person on board who regretted that we had not -enjoyed a hand-to-hand conflict with these outlaws. - -But now the darkness of the descending night, together with the -gathering clouds and haze, concealed the schooner from us. - -We extinguished all lights on board, and ere long when a red spark -about seven miles astern indicated that she was still tracking us, -Hartly took in his studding-sails, reduced the canvas on the brig, -brought his larboard tacks on board, and bore up for Cape St. John, -the boundary of the French shore, to land our wounded man, who was -suffering great agony from his compound fracture, and with whom, as -we had no medical officer, it would have been impossible to pursue -our voyage. - -This rencontre, chase, and escape, formed a staple topic for -conversation to all on board, and till the night was far advanced no -one thought of turning in. - -When day broke we found ourselves close in shore, on the northern -side of the great Bay of Notre Dame, with Cape St. John bearing about -three miles off on our lee bow. We swept the sea with our glasses, -but not a sail was visible in the offing, nor all along the snow-clad -coast. Save Cuffy Snowball, all expressed their satisfaction at -this; but we were not yet entirely done with our sable acquaintance, -the _Black Schooner_. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -OUR REVENGE SCHEMED. - -We came to anchor, handed our topsails, but merely hauled up our -courses, so as to be ready for sea at a moment's notice. We were in -a little sheltered cove, abreast of a small village of wooden huts, -surrounded by fences that were buried deep in the frozen snow. - -These huts, like all others in this wild terra nova, were built of -fir-poles with the bark on, braced or pegged closely together, and -having chimneys of rough stone built without mortar. Bark and sods -formed the roofs, and all the crevices were carefully caulked with -moss and mud. - -There, in a wretched and dreary region, dwelt--and, I presume, still -dwell--a little Irish colony of fifty or sixty poor souls, who fished -for cod in summer and seals in winter, each family herding together -for warmth in the same apartment with their pigs, fowls, and the -shaggy dogs which dragged in harness the stunted trees that formed -their fuel, and which were cut in the adjacent bush--the desolate -place which once formed the summer hunting-grounds of the extinct Red -men of the island. - -Our anchoring in the cove was a great event--the entire population -came forth to gaze and their dogs to bark at us. - -Though Newfoundland is larger than England and Wales together, it is -indented by broad bays of deep water, which run for forty or fifty -miles into the interior, and are but little known. On some of these -solitary shores are little stations of Europeans, such as this we -visited, so remote from all intercourse, and so secluded, that their -reckoning of time has become confused as to days, months, and even -years; thus Sunday is frequently held by them in the _middle_ of a -week. - -To the care of these pioneers, or squatters, we consigned our wounded -man. By the intensity of the frost mortification had commenced, so -the poor fellow died a few days after being landed. - -We had scarcely conveyed him ashore, when a man arrived from the bush -with a large tree, which he had cut down, and which his dogs had -dragged easily over the snow (after it was denuded of its bark and -branches) in the usual manner, by having their traces secured to his -hatchet, which was wedged in the broad end of the log. He informed -us that a schooner--by his description, our identical _Black -Schooner_--was then at anchor under the lee of the Gull Island, about -five miles distant; and added that the poor French people at La Scie -complained bitterly of the rifling they had undergone at the hands of -her crew, which consisted of forty well-armed desperadoes, of all -nations, but principally English and Frenchmen. - -Here was startling intelligence! - -"Only five miles distant, say you?" reiterated Hartly. - -"Yes, sir; and you may see Gull Island from the mouth of our cove -here." - -"You are sure she is a schooner?" - -"Yes, with masts raking well aft." - -"All black in the hull, with slender spars and double topsails?" - -"Sure as I now spake to yer honour," replied our informant, who was -an Irish fisherman and squatter; "her crew have let go both anchors -to make all snug, and gone in a gang to enjoy themselves, or -rob--which you plaze--I suppose it's all one to them, at La Scie; bad -luck to them, and may the devil fly away with them all!" - -"Are they all gone?" - -"All except six rapparees, whom I could count from the bush where I -was hiding." - -"Six--left as a deck-watch, I suppose?" - -"Just so; yer honour's right again." - -"How long have you lived here?" I inquired, for his brogue was as -strong as if he had only left his native Kerry yesterday. - -"I have lived here, plaze yer honor, five-and-forty years this last -St. Patrick's Day, and have niver had an hour's illness, glory be to -God!" - -"Five-and-forty years!" I reiterated, with a shudder, while surveying -the snow-clad wilderness amid which the wigwams stood. - -"How far is La Scie from the Gull Island?" said Hartly, after a pause. - -"Six miles, capthin." - -"Then by Heaven I'll burn her to the water-edge, or sink her at her -anchors!" exclaimed Hartly, who, with all the rapidity of his nature, -at once conceived and prepared to execute a very daring scheme. - -While the quarter-boat was got ready, and four oars, with as many -rifles loaded and capped, and a case of ammunition, were put into -her, Hartly, with Paul Reeves, proceeded in the most simple and -methodical manner to prepare their apparatus for burning the -piratical schooner. - -He took a common ship-bucket, and secured an iron ring to the iron -handle, for a purpose to be afterwards explained. He filled this -bucket with pieces of rope and spun-yarn, well steeped in tar and -grease, mixing them with rosin and gunpowder. They were nearly three -hours in getting these combustibles prepared to their complete -satisfaction; and so impatient were they to put their scheme in -execution, that they would scarcely wait until dusk to make the -attempt. But the moment the sun set, Hartly issued orders to Paul -Reeves and Hans Peterkin to heave short on the anchor to get it -apeak, to cast loose the topsails, and prepare the jib for hoisting; -and while he started along the coast in the quarter-boat, to follow -him under easy sail, keeping pretty well to windward of Gull Island, -and out of sight of the schooner. If the night became obscure, on -hearing the report of a rifle a blue light was to be burned on board -the _Leda_, to indicate her whereabouts. - -While Paul Reeves got the brig under weigh, and, favoured by a very -light breeze, crept slowly out of the cove, Bob Hartly, with Hammer -the carpenter, Cuffy Snowball, and I, started in the sharp little -quarter-boat, and aided by a current which there runs north to Cape -St. John, pulled swiftly along the shore towards Gull Island, which -lies beyond the extremity of the headland. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -OUR REVENGE EXECUTED. - -The evening, as it deepened into night, was calm and beautiful: as -yet the moon had not risen, but the sky was clear, with an intensity -and purity of blue that can only be found in the icy north, and -studded by ten thousand sparkling stars. Some of these were so -bright as almost to cast our shadows on the smooth water as we -stretched to our oars, and swept along the snow-white coast. - -The latter being nearly destitute of inhabitants, after we left the -cove was voiceless, silent, and desolate. Not a light was visible, -and no sounds broke the stillness save the booming of the surf on the -rocks of Cape St. John, our own hard breathing, and the clatter of -the oars in the rowlocks. Then (as that is a species of noise which -the water conveys to a vast distance) we proceeded to muffle them by -our handkerchiefs, and once more we stretched out vigorously. - -Notwithstanding the intensity of the cold, so invigorating was the -exercise of rowing, and so full were our minds of excitement and of -our project for destroying the pirate schooner, that we all felt in a -glow of heat, and almost uttered a shout when, after pulling about -three miles, on clearing the bluff Cape of St. John, on the flinty -brow of which the spray was frozen white as it was dashed up by the -sea, we saw the steep rocks of Gull Island; and at anchor, half a -mile to leeward of it, the dark hull and tall spars of the _Black -Schooner_! - -The increasing light at one part of the horizon showed that the moon -would shortly be up, so we pulled with might and main to get close -under the lee of the island, and out of the long brilliant track the -Queen of Night would shortly send across the rippling ocean. - -"I might have brought an auger and bored a hole or two in her -sheathing under water, and so have scuttled her quietly at her -anchors," said the carpenter. - -"But that boring would have kept us alongside too long," said Hartly; -"and the rascals might have got some of their plunder out before she -went down; moreover, your auger would have made too much noise. But, -hush! we are seen--two fellows are looking over her side!" - -"All her boats are gone," said I. - -"Yes, to La Scie, except one at the stern." - -"They are hailing us, sir," said Hammer. - -"Hush! I'll weather the ruffians yet," said Hartly. - -We spoke in whispers, while our hearts beat like lightning, as we -knew not the issue of our attempt, or the moment we might be fired on -from her deck. The schooner rode with both her anchors out, to make -sure of her holding-ground in case a squall came suddenly on. Her -canvas was neatly handed, her fore and aft foresail and boom mainsail -were tightly brailed up, and her topgallant yards sent down. - -Though black and sombre, with nothing light about her save her -copper, which shone brightly as burnished gold in the clear and -starlit sea, she was a beautiful little vessel; and Hartly almost -sighed on thinking that he was about to destroy instead of capturing -her. - -"She is a lovely craft!" said he, "sharp at the bows as a needle -below the water-line, clear at the counter, and coppered to the -bends. What a glorious yacht she would make!" - -"In sheering alongside, take care, sir, they don't scuttle us--by a -cold shot, or a large stone," said Hammer. - -"Well," replied Hartly, "my friend the Greenland witch said I should -never drown; but that does not prevent me from being shot, or hung -from the schooner's topsail yard." - -As we pulled round across her bows to starboard, keeping pretty well -off, we were hailed again. - -"Boat--boat ahoy! what are you?" - -"Fishermen," replied Hartly. - -"From where?" - -"La Scie, where all your fellows are enjoying themselves." - -"Got any feesh?" asked a Frenchman. - -"No--not at this season." - -"Any zeels?" - -"Seals--no." - -"Then prenez-garde, messieurs." - -"Which means, in plain English, sheer off, d--n your eyes!" growled -the first speaker; but by this time we were close under her starboard -counter. - -"Sheer off, or it may be the worse for you!" - -"What the devil are you lubbers about under the counter?" exclaimed -another; "Baptiste, hand me a musket----" - -"We have dropped an oar, and our boat has run foul of yours," replied -Hartly; adding, in a whisper, "The gimlet, carpenter--quick, the -gimlet!" - -In less time than I have taken to write these last half-dozen lines, -Hartly had screwed the long gimlet into the vessel's side, under her -counter, and hooked on the bucket, through the iron ring which he had -secured to its handle, and there it hung close to the rudder and -stern-post. By the swift application of a single lucifer-match he -fired the touch-paper that was to light the carefully-prepared -combustibles, the gathering flame of which shot upward from the -bucket, and began at once to lick and flicker on the newly-painted -planking of the schooner. - -"Shove off, and give way--for your lives, give way!" said Hartly, in -a hoarse whisper. - -"Cut away stern-boat--let hims all burn--agh! agh!" grinned Cuffy, -who, by a slash of the knife which hung at his neck, cut adrift the -boat which was moored astern. We had not intended thus to destroy -the retreat of the wretches on board, but the African was merciless -to his enemies, and we had no time to repair his severity. - -"Give way," shouted Hartly, as soon as we were clear of her; "clap on -dry nippers! By Jove! those lads of the knife and pistol will never -come athwart the hawse of the _Leda_ again!" - -We had not pulled ten strokes from her, ere a flame seemed to play on -the water beneath her counter! - -It spread rapidly between the rudder and sternpost, burning through -outer and inner sheathing; penetrating the rudder-case, and reaching -the cabin, which was unoccupied, as all the crew were ashore save the -six already mentioned, whom we saw loitering amidships. One was -provided with a musket, which no doubt he would have discharged at -us, had we lingered another moment alongside. - -Suddenly they raised a shout; then we saw them rush aft, when they -immediately discovered the vessel to be on fire, and that their only -boat was adrift! - -He with the musket took a long aim at us, and fired; but as we were -now three hundred yards from the schooner, and our boat was -alternately rising and falling on the long rolling swell that heaved -between Gull Island and Cape St. John, his shot fell far from us. - -By this time the schooner was hopelessly on fire; her whole -quarter-deck, stern, and cabin, forward to the mainmast, were sheeted -with red and roaring flame. It spread along the deck; it leaped up -the well-greased masts like a fiery corkscrew, round the tarred -rigging and over the handed canvas, till everything was in a blaze; -the great fore and aft sails fell from their brails like fiery -curtains; then we saw her two tall, slender spars, the long boom of -her mainsail, her towering gaffs and topsail yards, all swaying -to-and-fro, as the decks fell in and the shrouds sank smouldering -into the sea. Then everything went to cinders fore and aft--aloft -and alow! - -A lurid glare that outshone the light of the rising moon, overspread -the calm blue sea, casting a ruddy glow upon our faces as we paused -upon our oars, close to the island, where the weird illumination -scared all the sea-birds; thus we heard the shrill scream of the -wagel or great grey gull, as he rose with booming wings and flew to -seek the darker waters of the offing or the frozen bluffs of Cape St. -John, on which the thundering breakers as they reared their heads, -gleamed in the double light of red and silver, like showers of -diamonds and rubies. - -"Jack--see how she burns!" said Hartly: "there goes her mainmast -crash into the sea--and now the foremast, a mass of whizzing sparks, -with all its top-hamper! Pull for the island, till the brig comes -abreast of it;" and then cheerily he sang-- - - "Haul away, pull away, pull, jolly boys! - At the mercy of fortune we go, - _We're in for it now_, and 'tis all folly, boys, - To be faint or downhearted, yeho!" - - -By this time the schooner was a mass of fire, and burnt down nearly -to her bends. Through the flames we could see the blackened stumps -of her timber-heads, standing in a row from stem to stern. Suddenly -there was an explosion, and a mighty column of red and blue sparks -and burning brands shot into mid air, arching over in every direction -as they fell hissing into the sea. - -A quantity of powder had exploded on board! - -Just at that moment we beached our boat upon Gull Island, and -ascended the rocks in haste to view the result of our handiwork. - -A great cloud of smoke was now settling over her, as the flames -approached the water; and beyond this cloud we could see a little -boat with some men in it, pulling in the direction of Cape St. John. -Hartly was pleased on seeing this; for although he had resolved to -destroy the schooner, his heart reproached him for leaving six of the -pirates to perish in her. One, no doubt, had swum after their -drifting boat, and brought her alongside in time to save his five -shipmates; and then we laughed on thinking how cold his swim would be -in the wintry waves, and of the baffled rage of the ruffians at La -Scie, left there without a vessel or any means of escape from a -desolate fishing-station, which in a week or two more would have, -perhaps, three hundred miles of field-ice between it and the sea. - -A faint hurrah now came from seaward. We turned, and saw the smart -and saucy _Leda_ with her foresail backed flat to the mast, and her -maintopsail full and swelling--her straight sharp hull, and her taut -rigging, in all its details, clearly and distinctly defined against -the vast silver disc of the moon, which seemed to linger as it rose -from the flat horizon of the distant offing. There was no need of -showing lights on board the brig, as we could see each other -distinctly, and also the burning pirate. No flame rose from her now; -but a vast black pall of smoke enveloped all her hull. - -From the centre of this, there came a sound like a deep sob, as she -filled and went down. Then when the smoky pall arose and melted into -thin air, not a vestige could be seen of the _Black Schooner_! - -"And now, my lads, away for the brig," said Captain Hartly, as we -descended from the highest part of the island to reach our boat, -passing through deep snow, among thickets of dwarf firs and great -juniper trees--over rocks covered with savin and frozen furze, where, -in the short season of summer, the wild Indian tea called -_wisha-capucoa_ grew plentifully, and where the beaver and the -musk-rat had their holes. - -As we floundered down to the creek, a yell from Cuffy Snowball, who -was behind, startled us all. A wild cariboo deer had rushed past -him. How it came on the island puzzled us, for usually in winter -these animals seek the forests of the interior, till the sun of the -brief summer melts the snow, and enables them to browse on the scanty -herbage of _the barrens_, as the cleared patches of moorland are -named by the squatters. - -"If the Governor adheres to his proclamation, this night's work adds -five hundred pounds to our profits," said Hartly, as the crew -received us with hearty cheers; the headsails were filled, and we at -once stood off the shore. - -Next morning, when day broke, we could see by our glasses a band of -men assembled on the snow-covered summit of Cape St. John. - -These were evidently the outwitted crew of the schooner; so, hoisting -the ensign at our gaff-peak, Paul Reeves dipped it to them thrice, -ironically bidding them farewell, as we stood away to the eastward to -make up for the time we had lost in being driven, by their attack and -pursuit, so far out of the course our captain first intended to steer. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -THE SEAL-FISHERS. - -Some days after this event, we saw the dark blue of the sea flecked -at the horizon by white spots. These increased in size as we -approached, and proved to be the floes, or detached portions of a -vast field of ice, coming down from Davis' Straits, and with them -came masses of strange sea-weed, uprooted from the bottom of the -ocean, as some writers aver, by the mighty tusk of the male narwhal -when searching for food. - -We were soon amid the floes, and after passing through them, Paul -Reeves from the fore-crosstrees announced that he could discern the -field of ice, extending along the whole line of the horizon; and we -soon became sensible of its vicinity by a very perceptible increase -of the cold, which ere long became almost unbearable. But our -seal-fishers prepared with alacrity for the great work of our little -expedition, by getting up their wooden clubs, their long -sealing-guns, and shot-pouches; their knives, sledges, and -rue-raddies or collar-ropes, by which to drag the loads of skins to -the brig, as they might have to pursue and slaughter the seals for -some miles from where she would anchor by the outer edge of the ice. -The inner, Hartly knew by his observations, partly rested on Wolf -Island, off the coast of Labrador. - -On the detached floes, we saw a few seals like black dots; but on the -ice nearing the brig they always disappeared. - -"There they go, souse into the water, tail up for old Greenland!" -said Hans Peterkin. "Now, Cuffy, get your fiddle in order." - -"A fiddle!" said I; "for what?" - -"That you shall soon see, Jack," said Hartly. "Paul Reeves, get -ready a gang with the ice-anchor and cable!" - -As we neared the scene of our operations, we passed ten or twelve -gigantic icebergs, the bases of which were merged deep in the icy -sea. Solemnly still, and intensely cold and pure they seem, to those -who first behold these voiceless floating mountains, so terrible in -their form and whiteness, the shades of which are blue. - -By a telescope, I perceived that some of them bore masses of gravel, -frozen mud, and even enormous boulder-stones, torn from the -shore--but from what shore? - -From unknown and untrodden lands beyond the Arctic Circle--shores -where, perhaps, the last of Franklin's fated crew are lying unburied -save by the eternal snow; and while I gazed on these floating -islands, so awful in their aspect and solitude and so mysterious in -their formation, there came to memory the oft-quoted words of the -Psalmist, how "they who go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their -business in great waters, see the works of the Lord, and His wonders -in the deep." - -No small care, skill, and seamanship were requisite to avoid those -perilous "wonders;" but erelong we were close to the mighty field of -ice which covered all the ocean to the far horizon--a white and -desolate expanse, like a snow-covered moorland--varied only by the -incessant hummocks, as those ridges of broken ice formed by the -collision of ice-fields, are named; or by the wavy outline or sharp -spiral pinnacles of bergs which were wedged in the floating mass, and -seemed to form the crags and mountains of this white and desolate -world of ice and snow. - -We considered it singular, that up to this time we had not seen a -single ship bent on the same errand, either of those which sailed -with us on St. Patrick's Day through the Narrows of St. John, or any -of the steam sealers which leave the northern ports of Scotland about -the same season of the year. - -Now the quarter-boat was lowered, and Paul Reeves with her crew took -off the cable and ice-anchor, which is formed like a pick-axe; the -courses were hauled up, the fore and aft mainsail brailed, the -topsails and topgallant sails handed, and we warped close to the -ice-field, fairly coming to anchor alongside its edge, just as we -might have warped close to a quay or wharf. - -This was about ten in the morning of the 25th of March, and after -receiving a glass of stiff rum-grog per man, the whole of our -seal-fishers "landed," as they phrased it, on the ice, with all their -apparatus, including Cuffy with his violin; and, after, three hearty -hurrahs for Captain Hartly, proceeded in quest of their prey, scores -of which were seen dotting the white ice-scape (if I may so term it) -within the distance of a mile from the brig. - -Seals of every species live or consort in droves along those desolate -shores where the bergs and ice-fields float; and they are often found -basking in the rays of the sun. Thus, when falling asleep they -easily become a prey, though, when reposing, the seal is cunning -enough to open its large black eyes from time to time, to see whether -all is quiet around it. The female produces two or three at a -litter, and feeds them for a fortnight or so on the shore where she -has brought them forth, suckling them in a position nearly upright, -till the fattened cubs depart to see the Arctic world upon the -ice-floes, and are old enough to search the waves for food. - -Armed with my double-barrelled rifle and a sheathed knife that -dangled at my shot-belt, and well prepared to encounter the cold by a -suit of the warmest clothing (Flushing lined with English blanket), I -set out alone in quest of adventures, feeling a strange emotion of -mingled alarm and delight on finding myself afoot upon that frozen -sea. The intense purity and rarity of the atmosphere carried the -voices of our scattered men to a vast distance. I could hear Cuffy -vigorously scraping a hornpipe on his violin half a mile off; and -thus won by the lyre of our sable Orpheus, the seals with their hairy -paws (usually known as flippers), their round black heads, soft -gleaming eyes, and spotted skins, from which the brine was dripping, -began to appear in herds from subtle holes in the ice--holes through -which I was frequently in terror of vanishing from mortal ken; and as -these strange amphibious animals rolled upon the field, turning up -their full round bellies, which reminded me of those of gorged swine, -I could see their bodies steaming in the frosty sunshine, for being -warm-blooded they emit at times a vapour. - -Seated on a sledge, under the lee of a hummock, Cuffy played -vigorously; but how his black fingers could handle his instrument in -such an atmosphere was beyond my comprehension, for though the glare -of the noonday sun, as he shone through a cloudless sky, was almost -blinding, the degree of cold was indescribable. Ere long Snowball -had a numerous auditory, for music allures and fascinates these -animals, as it does many others; we are told how - - "Rude Heiskar's seal through surges dark, - Will long pursue the minstrel's bark;" - -but the moment our treacherous musician replaced his violin in its -canvas bag, an appalling scene of butchery began. - -The batmen rushed about as if a frenzy had seized them, striking the -seals on their round bullet-like heads, knocking them over, stunned -and motionless. Others followed, with long sharp knives, by _five_ -slashes of which the expert hunter will denude the largest cub of his -smooth glossy skin, to which the thick white fat adheres, and after -being thus denuded, on more than one occasion I have seen the -miserable animal, bared to its slender ribs, when stung, as it were, -by the intense frost reaching its vitals, revive for a minute, and -make efforts to crawl along the ice, or drop into the sea! - -The whole ice-field, which a moment before had been so white in its -spotless and untrodden purity, now, within the radius of a mile, -presented the aspect of a battle-field, strewn with gashed carcases -and heaps of bloody skins that were steaming in the sunshine. Cuffy -seemed in his element--in his glory! Flourishing his long knife, he -uttered yells as if every seal he stripped had been the Chenoo wife -who sold him into slavery, or the Yankee taskmaster whose whip had -skinned _him_ more than once. - -This wholesale butchery sickened me. - -The attachment of the mother-seal to her offspring is very great; and -here I saw a great hooded one carrying off a little wounded cub in -her mouth toward the edge of the ice-field, where they dropped into -the sea, escaping Cuffy, who pursued them. There are times when the -mother turns fiercely with tusks and claws upon the destroyers of her -young, and then the long gun with its charge of slugs is brought into -action; for on the _old_ seals (Buffon avers that some of them live -for more than a hundred years) the sturdiest batman's arm would swing -the knotted club in vain. The membrane of the hooded seal can be -drawn over the nose, and inflated, so as to protect the head like a -helmet of gutta-percha. - -Leaving our people engaged in the work of slaughter, halloing, -shouting, and encouraging each other, as they threw their bloody and -greasy spoil upon little sledges, to be dragged by ropes alongside -the brig, I proceeded over the hummocks in search of--I scarcely knew -what. - -Our men seldom fired their guns, as shot destroys the skin, which, -after the cargo is brought into port, has the fat or blubber -carefully removed and placed in the great wooden tanks or vats of the -oil-merchant; while the pelts are cleaned, spread, and, after having -layers of coarse salt placed between them, are packed in bales for -transport to other countries. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -COMBAT WITH A SEA-HORSE. - -We continued to fish, or rather to hunt, the seals here with -considerable success, warping the brig from day to day along the -outer edge of the ice, between which and her side we placed strong -and soft fenders; and the satisfaction of Hartly and his crew -increased in proportion as the piles of pelt and blubber replaced in -the hold the stone ballast which we had brought from the island of -Newfoundland. - -I had shot a few refractory seals, but one evening, when the -atmosphere was singularly clear, I rambled far along the ice-field, -floundering and scrambling among the hummocks, in the hope of finding -worthier game. I was accompanied by one of the crew, a smart and -intelligent lad from North Shields, named Ridly, who was armed only -with an ice-gaff. - -One who has been among the countless waves and ridges of a frozen sea -can alone have an idea of the toil of travelling, even for a mile, on -an ice-field. - -But on this vast floating waste we failed to discern anything worth -powder and shot, and so, worn with our fruitless and desultory hunt, -after wandering about for an hour or two, we turned our steps towards -the brig, which still lay at anchor by the edge of the field, about -three miles off, and the masts and yards of which formed the chief -and sole feature in the flat and dreary prospect. - -The sun had set, but there was a dusky red flush in the sky which -marked the place of his declension; and now the ice began to assume -the cold green tints of salt water when frozen, as the shadows of -night stole over the sky from the eastward like a crape mantle, and -one by one the stars came out in the deep blue dome above us. - -Sliding, toiling, and scrambling on, we were endeavouring to reach -the brig, when suddenly Ridly and I uttered a mutual exclamation of -alarm, paused, and shrunk back. - -In our front we heard an astounding roar, as of an earthquake, and -lo! between us and the brig--between us and our friends, our home -upon the waters--there yawned a mighty fissure of zigzag form, that -ran east and west, and was about fifteen or twenty feet wide, as the -ice-field split under the influence of some atmospheric change! - -We stood and gazed blankly into each other's faces on beholding this -terrible barrier to our progression, and fearing that the ice might -yawn as suddenly under our feet. - -"Separated from all succour from the ship--alone upon the ice, and -with night coming on, what will become of us?" said I, thinking aloud. - -"God only knows, sir," responded my companion; "but we must endeavour -to reach the brig somehow." - -"There goes a lantern up to her mainmast-head," said I, as a light -was hoisted swiftly by the ensign halliards. - -"The captain is showing a signal to indicate her whereabouts. He has -heard the noise of the splitting ice." - -"If a fog should come on!" said I. - -"Don't think of it, sir," said my companion, hastily; "the night is -as clear as if day were overhead. So let us find the end of this -crack; it cannot be very far off." - -We proceeded westward for more than a mile, being compelled to make -many detours to avoid falling into the water among the ragged floes -or pieces of ice that lay along the margin of this zigzag fissure; -but, as it extended far away beyond the range of our vision, and -seemed to widen, we were compelled after long consideration, and -suffering great anxiety, to retrace our steps and proceed eastward, -in the hope of gaining the _east end_ of it, or at least of -discovering a place so narrow that we might leap across without the -danger of immersion, which, in such a season and at such an hour, -would have been fatal, as our entire clothing would in an instant -have become a casing of ice. - -To favour our efforts the moon now rose, ascending slowly from the -edge of the vast plain of ice, and notwithstanding the peril of our -situation, her beauty filled me with a glow of pleasure and hope. - -Far over that waste--so wide, so desolate, and mysterious--fell her -flood of silver light, so bright in its intensity, and redoubled by -reflection from the snow. It glittered on every rounded hummock and -splintered berg, and formed strange fantastic figures in their cold -green shadows, elsewhere making prisms that seemed like fairy -crystals, or gemwork of rubies, emeralds, and silver. Clouds of -fleecy whiteness came up with her from the sea, and as she _waded_ -among them, I recalled the words of Sir Walter Scott:-- - -"There is something peculiarly pleasing to the imagination in -contemplating the Queen of Night when she is wading, as the -expression is, among the vapours which she has not the power to -dispel, and which on their side are unable entirely to quench her -lustre. It is the striking image of patient virtue calmly pursuing -her path through good report and bad report, having that excellence -in herself which ought to command all admiration; but bedimmed in the -eyes of the world by suffering, by misfortune, and by calumny." - -While I felt something of the poetry of our situation and the beauty -of the night, my more practical and prosaic companion was sensible -only of the danger we ran, and after a minute reconnaissance, assured -me, with an exclamation of joy, that the split in the ice was -narrowing. - -We were then four miles from the brig, the crew of which had sent -more lanterns aloft, and ever and anon burned a brilliant red or blue -light, for Cuffy Snowball was a great pyrotechnist. - -"What is that?" said I, as a strange sound reached us. - -"I cannot tell," replied my comrade, as he toiled on, supporting -himself with his ice-gaff; "I never heard it before, and don't like -it at all, sir. I wish we were on board," he added, shuddering alike -with cold and superstitious fear, as the sound came again and again -from among the hummocks, and it was as weird and mournful to the ear -as their aspect was to the eye. - -It was a strange _mooing_, and gradually swelled into a bellowing as -we proceeded; thus it evidently came from the throat of a large -animal--but what species of animal could it be in such a place? - -We were not left long in doubt, for on the centre of a narrow isthmus -of ice, _over which lay our way to the ship_, as the fissure beyond -it opened wider than elsewhere, sat a huge, dark monster of the deep, -in which, on approaching it, I recognised (from pictures I had seen) -a sea-horse, or walrus, which the reader must remember is _not_ a -seal, but a ferocious animal that can defend itself and frequently -destroys its assailants, and this one manifested not the slightest -intention of making way for us. - -He was fearfully pre-Adamite, or antediluvian, in his proportions, -being fully twenty feet in length, and having a pair of tusks thirty -inches long protruding from the mass of quill-like bristles which -covered (like a thick moustache and whiskers) his upper lips and -cheeks. Grimly and ferociously he regarded us with his deep-set -eyes, which glittered in the moonlight amid the square mass of his -elephantine visage, and on beholding us, his hollow mooing turned -into a species of grunting bark. - -Finding that he obstinately barred our way, and, moreover, seemed -inclined to attack us, I levelled my rifle full at his grizzly front -and fired, while Ridly rashly and fatally charged him in the smoke -with his ice-gaff, which was armed with a sharp pike. - -My ball had pierced his great sloping shoulder, pricking him as a pin -might have done, and serving only to incense him, for his bark -changed to a mighty roar, and when the smoke cleared away, I saw poor -Ridly, who had fallen, lying under one of his gigantic fore-flippers. -The foam of rage was frothing on the bristles of the sea-horse, and -with his two enormous tusks, which stood upward through them like two -crooked sabre-blades, he was alternately rending the limbs and body -of his assailant and then great fragments of ice, which he dashed -into the water on each side of him. - -Ridly had only power to utter a faint cry, when he expired. - -Appalled by this sudden and terrible catastrophe, I reloaded my -rifle, and full of mingled rage and fear--a combination which made me -no longer feel the intensity of the cold--I fired again and again at -the horrid front of the walrus; but every shot seemed only to -redouble his wrath, and he continued to rend to pieces the clothes -and body of Ridly, till in less than five minutes the ice around him -was covered by the blood of his victim and that which gushed from his -own wounds. Ridly's left leg he wrenched completely off, and cast -into the sea. - -Rolling about in his wrath, and in his lubberly efforts to reach me, -he at last fell into the water; I then rushed across the narrow -isthmus where my poor companion lay. As I did so, the walrus made -many ineffectual efforts to reach me, grasping the ice with his -forepaws, or dashing his vast shoulders madly against it, while he -plunged and bellowed and covered all the water in the chasm around -him with mingled blood and foam, and, in his impotent fury, tore -great blocks off the ice by the tusks of his lower jaw. - -I fired ten shots into his body, point blank, without his strength or -wrath appearing to diminish in the least. - -On perceiving this, a species of superstitious dread came over me, -and turning away, I hastened towards the brig, which, as I have -stated, lay about four miles distant, leaving my walrus to flounder, -bellow, and drown in the moonlight. - -Anxiety to reach the vessel, lest I might be overcome by fatigue, or -that fatal drowsiness caused at times by intense cold, made me strain -every energy; and thus in a much shorter time than could have deemed -possible, considering the alternately rough or slippery and laborious -nature of the ice-field to be traversed, I found myself among the -carcasses of our slaughtered seals, and within hail of the _Leda_. - -Furnished with ice-gaffs, a bottle of rum, a sledge, and plenty of -blankets, so as to be prepared for any emergency, Captain Hartly, -with Hans Peterkin and ten of the crew, met me, just as I was sinking -with fatigue, half sleepy and half delirious with cold. Thus a -considerable time elapsed ere I could relate the story of my -adventure and our shipmate's death. - -They had heard the roar of the splitting ice, and knew why we were -wandering so long and so deviously among the hummocks, but the sound -of firing puzzled them extremely; and thus, while Paul Reeves with a -gang was hoisting out the jolly-boat upon a sledge, to have it -launched in the chasm for our conveyance across, Hartly had come on -in advance, and he met me just in time, for in ten minutes more I -must have perished of fatigue and cold! - -On returning next morning to collect poor Ridly's remains and commit -them to the deep, we found his great destroyer dead, but floating by -the margin of the ice, to which he was literally anchored, or hooked, -by his two longest tusks. - -By this, and the affair with the _Black Schooner_, we had lost two of -our crew. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -ON AN ICEBERG. - -Soon after this, in a dark and howling night, we were blown from our -moorings, and forced to run before the wind, with our topmasts -struck, and only our jib and a close-reefed foresail set, as we were -in the dangerous vicinity of innumerable broken floes, or masses -detached from the field-ice: the decks were so slippery that one -could scarcely keep afoot; and amid the arrowy sleet and snow that -rendered all so murky and obscure around us, and which stung the face -like showers of sharp needles, we were hurried on, expecting every -moment a collision which would stave our bows or snap the masts by -the board. - -We were repeatedly frost-bitten in the ears, nose, or hands; but snow -scraped up in the scuppers and promptly applied, soon brought a hot -glow in the benumbed member, and proved our best, indeed our only -remedy. - -All who could cultivate beards had permitted them to grow in Crimean -luxuriance, as any attempt at soapsudding in those latitudes produced -a coating of ice in a moment. - -Surging on through blinding drift and pitchy darkness, amid the -howling of the fierce tempest, the _Leda_ went bravely! Her spars -and cordage straining and groaning, her timbers creaking, while wave -after wave broke over her decks and hardy crew, each leaving its -legacy of ice upon everything. From time to time we were conscious -of a rude shock, or a furious scraping sound, as she grazed upon the -passing floes; and now, to add to the gloomy horrors of that -tempestuous night, Paul Reeves, who was keeping an anxious look-out -forward, shouted back through his trumpet-- - -"Icebergs ahead! Hard to port, or we are foul of one!" - -"Hard to port," echoed the two men at the wheel; sharply it revolved, -and in a moment we swept under the frowning cliff of a stupendous -iceberg, the cold white mass of which was discernible through the -gloom, as the arm of the mainyard grazed it! - -We passed on and it vanished in the darkness astern. - -"Thank Heaven!" - -"Thank God!" - -"A narrow escape!" - -Such were the muttered exclamations of our half-frozen crew; but at -that instant an icy sea broke over us, and two men were swept into a -watery grave, without the possibility of our rendering them the least -assistance. - -A minute had scarcely elapsed before we were sensible of a fierce -concussion; the masts reeled and the icicles fell in a shower as they -were shaken from our stiffened top-hamper. Then the brig's head was -tilted up and her stern correspondingly depressed; but still impelled -by the fury of the wind, she continued to advance upwards and _out of -the water_, as if she was being steamed up a landing-slip, or into a -dry dock. - -"We are ashore--beached!" said some one, beholding this phenomenon. - -"We are foul of an iceberg," exclaimed Hartly, while the brig -continued slowly to ascend till little more than the sternpost and -counter were in the water; then she heeled over to port and remained -there, wedged, with her jib-boom broken off at the cap, and dangling -in the jib-guys, her canvas bellying out so furiously that we thought -the masts would be carried away before the benumbed fingers of the -seamen could get it handed. - -In a trice the _Leda_ was under bare poles, while around us the -tempestuous wind was bellowing, the surf was roaring, and vast blocks -of ice, many tons in weight, were crashing against each other, adding -to the dread horrors of this bewildering catastrophe! - -It is impossible to depict the dismay of all on board, when finding -the vessel in this situation--high and dry upon a berg; for, -influenced by the storm, by the wind, or the slight additional weight -of the brig and her cargo, we felt the monstrous mass on which we -were wedged, _oscillating_ and gradually heeling forward ahead; thus -the stern of the _Leda_ was raised until her hull remained in the air -horizontally, just as she usually sat in the water. - -In blank horror we endured the gloomy hours of that northern night, -amid the drift, the sleet, and a darkness so dense that we could in -no way discover our real position, or how to extricate ourselves from -it. - -One fact, we were alarmingly alive to. It was this:--The sea no -longer dashed against the hull of our vessel, which lay on her side, -well careened over to port; and though we could _hear_ the roaring of -the waves, amid the oppressive gloom that enveloped us, we could no -longer _see_ them. - -As day broke the tempest gradually lulled, and the sleet, the snow, -and wind passed away together. Then the increasing light enabled us -to see the perils of our situation. - -We were nearly eighty feet above the ocean, on the flat, table-like -summit of a mighty iceberg; which, though it had presented a sloping -face _up_ which we had run last night before the furious wind and -sea, had now changed its position by heeling over, as icebergs always -do, from time to time, when their base in the ocean becomes -honeycombed and decayed.* - - -* Her Majesty's steam ship _Intrepid_, when commanded by Captain -Cator, was similarly carried bodily up the face of a berg, and left -high and dry in air, without injury. - - -The sky was clear now to the horizon; the icefield on which we had -pursued our hunting so successfully was no longer visible; but about -half a mile distant lay the island of floating ice we had escaped -last night; and around for miles, far as the eye could reach, the -sea, still perturbed by the past storm, was flecked by white floes, -the ruins probably of a third berg, which had been shattered by the -waves or by being dashed against others. - -Both these icebergs were several miles in circumference. The summit -of ours was flat as a bowling-green; but that portion on which the -brig rested was soft, pulpy, and rotten by its long immersion in the -sea. - -The other had many spiral pinnacles, some of them being several -hundred feet in height; and, save for the peril in which we were -situated, I could have admired the sublimity of that cold and silent -mass--so dazzlingly white when the beams of the rising sun fell on -it, so indigo-blue in its shadows--for it resembled a fairy isle, -which had steep hills, deep valleys, and chasms all fashioned of -alabaster; while around its base was a thick fringe of frozen foam of -snowy brilliance. - -While we were gazing upon it that morning, one of its loftiest -pinnacles, with a mighty crash, fell thundering into the sea. - -The _Leda_ was soon frozen into the bed she had ploughed by her keel -in the ice; and _how_ to get her launched again, _how_ to descend -from our perilous eminence, were the questions we asked of each -other, and which no one could answer. - -The summit of the berg was nearly a mile in circumference, and, as I -have said, was more than eighty feet from the water. This we -ascertained as a fact, though there was no small peril in venturing -from the ship upon its surface, which was so glassy and smooth that -in some places the lightest among us would have slipped off, as if -shot by a catapulta, into the sea below. - -Council and deliberation availed us nothing. Even Hartly, Reeves, -and Hans, with all their united skill, foresight, and seamanship, -found their invention fail in suggesting any means of release. - -"There is nothing for it but to wait the event," said Hartly, after a -long and solemn council. - -"But suppose that we waited a month, captain," asked Reeves, -gloomily, "where would our provisions be?--where our fresh water?" - -"We may be driven south into warmer latitudes where the bergs melt -rapidly in the sunshine." - -"But we may be drifted north into latitudes where the bergs freeze -harder, and where ice may close around us for ever," said Hans -Peterkin. - -"Or," said one of the seamen, who all crowded anxiously to this -conference, which we held around the capstan-head, "the berg may -_capsize_, and what will become of us then?" - -"Hold hard, my lads," exclaimed Hartly, "hold hard, and be stout of -heart and cheery. Remember that however miserable we may deem -ourselves, there is one Blessed Eye upon us--the eye of a kind, good -God," he added, uncovering his head reverently to the bitter frost, -"One who will never forget the poor sailor, if he is true to himself. -Think of the 'sweet little cherub that sits up aloft,' as the song -says, and rail not at fate, for fate guides man neither at home nor -abroad, at sea or on shore. Put all your trust aloft, my boys, and -hold on by poor Jack's best bower anchor!" - -This harangue was exactly suited to his hearers. We tried to feel -hopeful and trusting, and to have patience. But we longed very much, -nevertheless, to be free of the iceberg, and to have the blue sea -dashing alongside once more. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -ON THE ICEBERG--THE MASSACRE AT HIERRO. - -In this appalling situation we remained for ten days before any -alteration in the position either of the brig or of the two icebergs -was perceptible. - -We missed our lost companions sorely, for the death of a shipmate in -his hammock, or by falling overboard, makes a great impression on the -secluded survivors at sea. His watery grave is in itself a fearful -mystery, the depth of which we cannot realize or fathom. No stone or -mound marks the place where he lies; he is hurled, as it were, soul -and body into eternity, and blotted out of existence like the bubbles -that break round the place where he sinks. - -During these ten days Hartly was indefatigable in his efforts to keep -his crew employed, and their spirits from depression. Lest -provisions might become scarce, and our water fall short, he had -portions of the seals, the hideous paws especially, cleaned, -prepared, and pickled, while the snow and ice which adhered to the -rigging was boiled down, and added to our supply of fresh water. To -save our fuel, the fire for these purposes was fed with the fat of -the seals, and the blubber (so long as it lasted) of the gigantic -walrus I had slain. - -The seal "flippers," hairy and bloody, like the claws of a baboon -hewn off at the wrist, made a very cannibal-like repast when -fricasseed. Remembering how I had shuddered on seeing such repulsive -carrion sold at a penny per bunch in the streets of St. John, I could -scarcely digest such a meal; though Cuffy Snowball, when he made them -into sea-pies, rolled his eyes and grinned from ear to ear while -declaring his handiwork "de berry best dish in de 'varsal creation!" - -Our rigging was carefully inspected and prepared for any emergency, -as if we expected to make sail on the brig at a moment's notice; but -_how_ was she ever to reach her natural element again? - -On this subject, though we were wearied of it, conjecture became -utterly _lost_! - -Still, like a brave fellow, Hartly left nothing unsaid or undone to -keep up our hopes, though his own sank at times. Save the watch on -deck, he nightly assembled all hands in the cabin for companionship -and also for warmth. There he sang songs, (while Cuffy accompanied -him on the violin,) and told stories, or read aloud, and spoke again -and again to the poor crest-fallen seal-fishers (who thought only of -their wives and families) of their profits on the voyage, and the -reward they would receive from the Governor of Newfoundland for -destroying the obnoxious _Black Schooner_; and of that affair he drew -up a statement, to be attested by all on board. - -His example was invaluable, for he had somehow acquired the greatest -influence over all his crew. "It is pleasing to see a family, a -farm, or establishment of any kind (says Lorimer, in his "Letters to -a Young Merchant-Mariner") when, from long servitude, the assistants -and domestics are considered as humble friends or distant relations; -and independently of the kind feelings thereby occasioned and -cherished, all seems to prosper with them. Such a state of things is -by no means unfrequent in this happy country, Britain; and I see no -good reason why the same attachment to the master and to each other, -should not be more frequent on shipboard; indeed, considering the -dangers they are continually sharing, one is almost surprised that -they can _separate_ so readily. How to obtain a kind but powerful -influence over, and a devoted attachment _from_, a crew, is a secret -worth our deep consideration;" and Robert Hartly eminently possessed -this secret, which, in the desperation of our circumstances, proved a -priceless gift to him and to us. - -Every night one story or yarn produced others, and so the time passed -on, and peril was half forgotten. - -Most of these narratives were gloomy enough, however. They told of -ships whose crews were all poisoned save one man, by partaking of a -mysterious fish, or whose crews turned pirates, and slaughtered all -who opposed them; or of men who were marooned on lonely isles, and -left to perish miserably. - -Hans Peterkin, an Orkneyman, could tell us of queer shadowy craft, -manned by spectres, demons, and evil spirits, who displayed lights to -lure vessels ashore on Cape Wrath and the rocks of Ultima Thule, like -the wreckers of Cornwall and Brittany. - -Then Paul Reeves matched them by a curious tale of an enchanted -island in the Indian Seas, on which the lights of churches and houses -could be seen at night, and where the tolling of bells and the song -of vespers could be heard, with many other sounds; but lo! as the -ship approached, the isle would seem to recede till it sank into the -sea and reappeared _astern_! - -Then Tom Hammer, the carpenter, gave us a yarn of an ice-cliff in -Hudson's Bay that long overhung a whaler he was once serving in. One -day the cliff was changed in form, for a mighty piece had fallen from -it into the sea; and wonderful to relate, there was seen a man's -figure among the ice--a man imbedded up there a hundred feet above -the sea. Telescopes were at once in requisition, and they made out -that he was frozen--dead--hard and fast; but by his dress--a red -doublet, trunk-hose, and a long black beard--they supposed he was -some ancient mariner; and some there were on board who vowed he was -no other than the famous voyager Hendrick Hudson, who discovered the -bay, and was marooned by his mutinous crew in 1610. - -But one night, when we were all nestling close together, muffled in -our pea-jackets, and smoking, to promote warmth, a narration of -Hartly's far exceeded all that preceded it in interest, being a -veritable occurrence, and by its barbarity singular. - -"My grandfather," said he, "as thoroughbred an old salt as ever faced -a stiff topsail breeze, was skipper of the _Dublin_, a smart little -ship of three hundred and fifty tons, pierced for twelve -six-pounders, being a letter of marque that fought her own way when -the way upon the high seas was somewhat more perilous than it is now. - -"About the autumn of the year 1784--now a long time ago, my lads--she -was chartered as an emigrant ship for Canada, and sailed from the -Mersey with one hundred and eighty poor folks, half of whom were -women and children, going to seek their bread in another laud; and a -troublesome voyage the old gentleman had with them, for foul weather -came on; many of his spars were knocked away, and then a heavy -sickness broke out among the emigrants. Their little ones died daily -and were hove overboard, till those whose children survived became -wild with fear and apprehension that theirs would follow next; and, -to make matters worse, there was no doctor on board; for this was in -1784, as I told you, and the lives of the poor were not worth much to -any one, save themselves, in those old times. - -"Well, my grandfather was a soft-hearted old fellow, and his heart -bled for the poor people. His sick bay was crammed, and the -sailmaker's needle was never idle, but made one little shroud after -another till the man's heart sickened of the dreary task. So, when -foul weather mastered the _Dublin_, and blew her out of her course, -the old gentleman put his helm a-lee and bore up for the Canaries, -which were once called the Fortunate Isles, and came in sight of -Hierro, the most westerly of these islands, on the 6th December, -1784. He had his ensign flying; but knowing well what slippery -devils the Spaniards are, and that the _Dublin_ had rather a -man-o'-war cut in her spars and bends, he hoisted a _white_ flag at -his foremast head, and so came peacefully to anchor about sunrise. - -"The morning was beautiful; the shore was desolate, but fertile and -green. The poor emigrants were mad with joy at the sight of land, -and in an hour or two he set them all ashore, about a hundred in -number, on the smooth sandy beach. Many of them were women with -infants in their arms or at their skirts--men supporting their young -wives or old parents; and new life and health seemed returning to -them as they rambled on the sunny shore, or drank of the pure springs -that gushed from the rocks, and as they pulled the green leaves and -aromatic flowers, or the broad plantain leaves which always flourish -best near the sea. - -"Meanwhile, my grandfather had triced up his portlids, and a gang -with buckets and swabs were busy cleaning, airing, and fumigating -every place fore and aft, ere the live cargo were shipped again at -night, when an unforeseen catastrophe took place----" - -"A catastrophe!" said I; "the ship was blown out to sea?" - -"Not at all," said Hartly, refilling his pipe. - -"What then?" - -"His poor people were all dead ere nightfall." - -"Murdered?" - -"Aye, in cold blood, as you shall hear. They were all enjoying -themselves--the children were playing, gambolling and tumbling over -each other in heaps on the warm sands; the women were busy washing, -dressing and arranging each other's hair; the men smoking their -pipes, and talking, perhaps regretfully, of that jolly old England -they had left for ever and, it might be hopefully, of the new shores -they were bound for, when a long line of bright bayonets that -glittered ominously in the sunshine, appeared suddenly upon the steep -rocks which completely enclosed the sandy cove, and three companies -of lubberly Spanish militia commanded by Don Juan Briez de Calderon, -encircled them on all sides, save towards the sea, where the _Dublin_ -lay at anchor about three-quarters of a mile off. The reason of this -military display I shall explain. - -"False rumours of a plague said to be raging in Europe had reached -these isles, and filled the selfish and superstitious Spanish -colonists with such alarm, that Señor the Governor, fearing, or -pretending to fear, the strangers might bring it among them, -instantly convened la Mesa del Consejo--his council-board, as they -call it in their lingo--and quietly proposed to cut off all these -voyagers root and branch! - -"Some of the councillors vigorously opposed a course so revolting, -and pled the cause of the poor Inglesos, the rights of religion and -humanity, and called upon Don Juan to remember the honour of the king -he represented, and that he was the lineal descendant of that -adventurous Don Diego de Hierro, of Old Castile, who had captured the -island in the days of Ferdinand the Catholic, King of Arragon, -bestowing in memory thereof his own illustrious name upon it, and so -forth. - -"Señor Don Juan did not reply, but knit his fierce black brows, -lighted a cigar, and puffed away with true Castilian imperturbability. - -"'Señor el Gobernador,' urged a venerable Spanish friar, 'these poor -people who have landed on our shores, after a long voyage apparently, -we know not from whence, have been forced hither, as our mariners -aver, by those recent storms which have swept over the Canary -Isles----' - -"'What is all this to me?' growled Don Juan. - -"'Simply, Señor, that it will be alike cruel and unjust to inflict -the penalty of death upon them all for this.' - -"'Padre, they have transgressed the laws of Hierro,' thundered the -Governor. - -"'Laws temporarily made by _yourself_--laws with which they can in no -way be acquainted. If they have sickness among them, let us send -tents and supplies; but guard the avenues to the ground we may allot -them, until they are all re-embarked with their wives and little -ones. I will myself go among them,' continued the old friar, warming -in his merciful advocacy, 'and say that you will graciously afford -them succour, until the orders of the most illustrious señor, our -Governor-General at Teneriffe, can be obtained.' - -"'_Silencio!_' thundered Don Juan, and rudely threw the remains of -his cigar in the old man's face; 'order out our troops--we shall -march instantly and exterminate these dangerous vermin!' - -"The drums were beat, and the militia, three hundred strong, with the -valiant Don Juan at their head, marched to where the poor visitors, -ignorant of the horrors that were impending, were still amusing -themselves upon the beach. Some were gathering the brilliant shells, -flowers, and leaves; others were filling little kegs and jars with -the pure spring water that poured over the ledges of rock. The women -were sitting in groups, with their children gambolling about them; -others were gazing sadly on the evening sea, as if calculating the -number of miles that lay between them and their old home; or the -miles they had yet to traverse ere they found a new one amid the -forests of the western world. - -"To gather them all together, the villanous Briez de Calderon -procured an empty sugar puncheon, and tossed it over the summit of -the cliffs on which his men were posted. From thence, with a loud -noise, it rolled to the beach below. Curiosity made all the -loiterers rush towards it, as many of them thought it contained food, -clothes, or other necessaries for them. The men gave a hurrah, and -waved their hats in hearty English jollity to the crafty Spaniards, -and gathered with the women and children around the puncheon. - -"'Fire!' cried Don Juan. - -"Savage as they were, the Spaniards paused a moment; but Don Juan was -the first to fire a musket, and observing that his men were still -reluctant, he knocked one down with the butt-end, and threatened the -rest with death if they disobeyed him. - -"'Fire!' he shouted again, and then on the unsuspecting crowd there -was poured the concentrated volley of these three hundred miscreants; -thus, in ten minutes the dreadful massacre was complete. On the -beach all were lying dead and drenched in blood--husband and wife, -parent and child--all save one woman, who, with her infant, concealed -herself in the rocks, and her husband, who, with a ball lodged in his -arm, sprang into the sea and endeavoured to swim to the ship. - -"Failing in this, faint with loss of blood, weary and despairing, he -turned about and sought the shore, where he was hewn to pieces by -sabres as he clung to a seaweedy rock. On beholding this dreadful -sight, his poor wife, who was concealed in a cleft of the cliffs not -far off, uttered a shriek of dismay, which drew the murderers, now -flushed with blood, towards her. - -"She was soon dragged out, and with his own dagger Don Juan stabbed -her to the heart, and then killed the child, which he tossed into the -sea beside its father! - -"Paralysed by rage and astonishment, my grandfather and his crew saw -all this from the deck of the _Dublin_. They could see the red -musketry flashing from the rocks, filling all the little cove with -slaughtered corpses and smoke. They could hear the shrieks that were -borne over the water on the evening wind; and after a time, when all -was still, they could see the beach strewn with dead bodies, and in -possession of the Spaniards, who were stripping them, and who brought -up field-pieces to fire on the _Dublin_. - -"He hoisted his anchor and bore away; but on coming abreast of the -capital with British colours flying _above_ the Spanish ensign -_reversed_, he pitched a few shot into it from his carronades, sunk -three craft at their anchors, with all their crews on board, and then -bore away for England, and there was an end of it. We were at peace -with Spain; but I never heard that satisfaction was given, or the -atrocity revenged. That is _my_ yarn, lads."* - - -* The papers of the time fully corroborate Hartly's story. "The news -of this barbarity," says the Annual Register for 1785, "has been -received at Teneriffe by all ranks of people with the deepest concern -and regret, and by none more than the Governor-General, who deplores -it extremely. He could not at first give credit to it; but was at -last convinced of the fatal truth, by letters from the wretch Briez -de Calderon himself. Exasperated to the highest pitch, he has given -a commission to an officer of rank to go over to Hierro to take -cognizance of this tragical affair,"--of which we hear no more. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -ESCAPE FROM THE ICEBEBG. - -Though our apprehensions were great, our chief sufferings were from -cold in that lofty and listless situation; yet our dread of impending -dangers was so keen, our hope of a change so great, that even the -oldest seamen on board never turned into their berths or bunks at -night but with their clothes on, "to be ready," as they said, "to -turn up with all standing at a moment's notice." - -Hartly, who was rather scientific and was wont to expatiate upon the -theory of storms, and so forth, endeavoured to account for the -intensity of the frost, which I deemed a somewhat unnecessary -illustration to us who were on the summit of an iceberg. - -"The thermometer--" he would begin. - -"Ugh! don't speak of the thermometer, Bob," said I, one day, when -trembling in every fibre, as we endeavoured to tread to and fro on -the sloping deck. "It is so cold now, that the atmosphere can never -be colder!" - -"So you think; but wait until--" - -"When?" - -"--we are a few degrees further north, perhaps in the centre of an -ice-field, and then you will know what cold is! But the _degree_ of -it depends upon the power of the wind, after passing over -snow-covered wastes, rather than the actual state of the -mercury;--that was all I was about to remark." - -I was too miserable to thank him for the information, but said: - -"I do not think our vicinity to that other atrocious iceberg adds to -the pleasantness of our temperature." - -"Of course not--but see," he added, raising his voice, "by Heaven, it -is oscillating!" - -Just as he spoke, the cold, glistening, and splintered peaks of the -mighty berg seemed to topple over and sink into the sea, as it -_reversed_ with a stunning roar--its former base coming upward, and -imparting an entirely new form to it. - -All on board stood gazing at this reversal, which is a common -occurrence with icebergs; but it filled us with a horror of what -_our_ fate would be should a similar capsize occur with us, for now -the berg on which we were wedged heaved and surged in the foaming -eddy made by the other. - -"Icebergs have usually nine times as much of them below water as -appears above it," said I. - -"Yes, and at that ratio, if this one of ours reversed, we should find -ourselves in a moment somewhere about six hundred and forty feet -below the surface of the sea," replied Hartly, with a grim smile. - -"Ay," added Paul Reeves, "and our poor little _Leda_ would be -adhering, keel upmost and trucks down, like a barnacle at the bottom -of this vast floating island." - -On the tenth day of our imprisonment, as I have elsewhere said, after -rain had been falling all night in such torrents that we had battened -all the hatches fore and aft, on day breaking, we found a very -perceptible alteration in the position of the brig. From careening -over to port, she had gradually righted, and now rested fairly on her -keel, with her masts upright. The summit of the berg had again -become soft and pulpy on its surface, and the _Leda_ seemed to sink -lower by her own weight every minute, while the ice on each side -sloped upward, leaving her in a kind of valley; and so rapidly did -this state of matters go on, that in four hours the sides were nearly -eight feet above our deck, and suggested a new terror, that they -might collapse--close over, and freeze us in more hopelessly than -ever. - -As the rain abated, the berg began palpably to oscillate, that -portion of it which lay under the brig's head, however, became -depressed, and then the rainwater and _sludge_ that had collected in -the valley where we lay, poured over its icy brow like a cataract, -and we heard it thundering, as it fell into the sea below. - -"She moves--the brig moves! she forges ahead!" exclaimed Hartly, in -an excited voice, as the berg careened over more and more, and we all -stood pale, breathless, speechless, and rooted to the deck, expecting -a capsize that would bury her masts downward in the sea. - -This change of position continued to progress, but very slowly. - -There were about sixteen feet of ice from the cutwater of the _Leda_ -to the edge of the berg, and about forty from her stern-post to the -edge in the other direction. - -"If this depression forward continues slowly," said Hartly, "we shall -be floating in the blue in two hours, my lads; clear away two -hawsers, an ice-anchor, and kedge. Stand by with the capstan-bars, -cast loose the jib and foretopsail, to lift her head a bit, if the -wind serves when she slips off, and then stand by the braces to sheet -home!" - -These orders recalled us to life, for they filled us with hope, and -inspired us with activity. - -Led by Hartly, Hans Peterkin and two other adventurous fellows named -Abbot clambered along the soft ice astern, and fixed there a kedge -with our strongest hawser, which was to be eased gently off the -capstan, as the brig continued to forge downward and a-head, for her -motion was a double one. It was perilous work for these four brave -men, as the rain had rendered the face of the berg slippery as wetted -glass; but Hartly was full of inherent courage, and in the excitement -of the moment forgot all his superstition about his ring, the gift of -the reputed witch Jensdochter. - -He was scarcely on board again, ere the depression continued so -rapidly that the entire hull of the brig lay at an angle of -forty-five degrees from the line of the water below--her bows being -yet twenty feet distant from it. - -This was a momentous crisis for us all! - -A deathlike stillness was every where on board; on our pale lips, as -we grasped the shrouds or belaying pins to preserve our footing; on -the mighty isle of ice, from the shelving summit of which we were -about to be precipitated; and from the lonely sea below, there came -no sound; at least, we heard only its wavelets rippling against the -cold, glistening, and glacial sides of our prison. - -Slowly the brig moved, as if to protract that time of agonizing -suspense. Every man compressed his lips and stifled his breathing. -We seemed to speak our thoughts in silent and expressive glances, for -all had the certainty now that in _three_ minutes more, we should be -floating on the free waters of the ocean, or foundered and sunk, -headforemost, far beneath them. - -Foot by foot she forged ahead, as the berg continued to heel over, -and ere long our bowsprit projected in the air over the edge, and -then the bows, headboards, and cutwater! The angle at which the -_Leda_ lay was fearful; we could no longer work the capstan; I -clasped it with my arms, and shut my eyes. Then a heavy sob seemed -to escape from me, as Reeves, by one slash with a sharp axe on the -taffrail, parted the stern warp, which recoiled with a crack like a -coach-whip. Then followed a rushing sound--a mighty plunge, and the -waves dashed in foam on each side of us, as the _Leda_ shot off the -berg, and went souse, bows foremost into the sea; but rising up -again, and shaking all the spray off her, as a duck would have done. - -There was a deep silence after the shock and escape of this launch, -and all seemed to await the signal to utter a hearty hurrah of joy -and thankfulness for our miraculous preservation. Ere long it burst -forth, but Hartly cut it short by his orders to sheet home the jib -and foretopsail, to set the foresail, fore and aft mainsail and -maintopsail. - -Rapidly he was obeyed, and just as the _Leda_ fell off, and bore away -from the dangerous vicinity of the ice-island, it capsized, as its -companion had done, and with a roar, as if defrauded of its prey. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -UNDER WEIGH ONCE MORE. - -The chainbobstay under the bowsprit was snapped, our rudder was split -and its pintles were started, but these defects were soon repaired by -the carpenter; and next day, at noon, Hartly and Reeves on comparing -their observations, discovered that, unknown to ourselves, we had -drifted nearly one hundred miles towards the western coast of -Greenland, so a look-out was kept for the field-ice, as they were -anxious to complete their interrupted seal-fishing, to haul up for -St. John's, and then freight for Europe in the spring. - -Poor fellows! ... - -We seemed to have returned to life once more. Again we were dashing -through the blue sea with a free sheet, with the white canvas -bellying full upon the breeze; again, on waking in the morning, the -first familiar sounds that met the ear were the decks undergoing -their customary ablutions, by bucket and swab, and the rasping -holystones; Cuffy singing some Congo melody as he lighted the cabin -fire, the wind whistling through the rigging, the patter of the -reef-points on the bosom of the swollen sails, the dashing of the -spray over the sharp black bows, the occasional order issued on deck, -the clatter of the rudder in its case, and the bubble of the water as -it frothed past under the counter. - -All these spoke of our wonted life of activity, and of the _Leda_ -being under canvas. - -In a day or two we descried the slender white line of an ice-field, -stretching for miles along the horizon towards the north, and -approached it under easy sail, as the fields usually drift southward -at this season. By the appearance of the ice and the state of the -thermometer, we concluded this to be a much larger field than that -from which we had been blown by the gale of wind. - -While Reeves got ready the ice-hooks, sledges, warps, and gangs of -seal-hunters, with their bats, guns, and other apparatus, Hartly and -I were treading to and fro talking of various matters. I can -remember that he was relating to me, how, in his last voyage with the -_Leda_ up the Mediterranean, St. Elmo's blue and phosphorescent light -had enveloped fully three feet of her masts below the trucks, to the -great terror of Cuffy Snowball, and others who were ignorant of the -cause of that phenomenon, which lasted nearly an hour. He was -proceeding with his narration, when Tom Hammer, who was repairing -something aloft, hailed the watch. - -"Deck--ahoy!" - -"Hallo?" responded Hans Peterkin. - -"There is a craft wedged in the ice, sir." - -"Where away?" - -"About twenty miles off." - -"How does she bear?" - -"On our lee bow." - -"And what do you make her out to be?" - -Hammer stood on the main-crosstrees, with his left arm embracing the -mast, and through his telescope took a long and steady glance with a -somewhat perplexed air at this vessel, which we could not see from -the deck. - -"She is a brig with her topgallant masts struck." - -"Indeed!" - -"No," stammered the carpenter. - -"What then?" - -"A ship with all her canvas unbent." - -"Unbent! that is strange," said Hartly, shading his eyes, and peering -away to leeward. - -"No--now, sir, she looks like a brigantine, or hermaphrodite brig, -with her yards topped up in different ways." - -"Do you wish your nightcap sent up to you, Tom?" said the mate, -drily; "look again, perhaps she is the _Flying Dutchman_." - -"Or the ghost of the _Black Schooner_," said one. - -"Or a whale," added another. - -But on nearing the edge of the ice-field--so close that we sent off -the mate in the jolly boat with the warps, and handed our canvas, -preparatory to resuming the war against the seals--we could all see -the vessel which Hammer had discerned, lying among the ice about -fifteen miles off, and various were the discussions on board as to -her rig and nation. Even our oldest seamen were puzzled. Her hull -was scarcely visible, so high were the hummocks around her. She had -two masts, but her spars were, as Tom said, topped up in various ways -and at various angles, and seemed covered by long-accumulated ice and -snow, from which we augured that she had been long beset. - -We hoisted our colours and displayed the private signal of Messrs. -Manly and Skrew, but received no response, by which we supposed that -she had been deserted by her crew, or that her signal halliards had -given way. - -Some averred stoutly that they could distinguish a flag flying at her -gaff peak; others that she had no gaff peak whatever, but had _one_ -man seated in her fore rigging. Hartly ridiculed these fancies, -saying that the intensity of the cold, and the dazzling glare of the -sun shining on a sea covered by white ice, bewildered the vision of -most men; and so, full of vague conjectures as to what our neighbours -might be, we saw the sun set and night close in upon us. - -Next morning another large field of ice was discovered on our -larboard quarter, closing in upon us with considerable rapidity. It -extended along the offing for twelve or fourteen miles, and increased -to the eye as it was borne towards us by an under-current. - -Hartly conjectured it had drifted down Hudson's Strait from the Bay, -and to avoid being _beset_ like the unfortunate craft we had been -observing, he brought off the ice-anchor and made sail on the brig, -steering due west and keeping her close hauled with his starboard -tacks on board; but the field of ice we endeavoured to leave kept -close alongside, as if it sailed or floated _with_ us, which I have -no doubt it did. - -Thus both fields verged towards each other rapidly, one before the -wind, the other before a current; and so, ere sunset, we were closely -wedged in a frozen sea--BESET, amid a wilderness of pack-ice, of -bergs, and hummocks, which extended, as far as the eye could discern -from the main-crosstrees, in every direction, and probably far beyond -the horizon. - -Though this predicament was not without great peril, still it was -preferable by many degrees to our last situation; for here we could -pursue the object of our expedition, and hoped to have our cargo -complete, the hatches battened down, and all ready for our return to -Newfoundland when the ice broke up, amid the warmer water of more -southern latitudes, towards which we expected the field, like others, -would be borne by the currents. - -Alas! how little did we then foresee how long we and our desolate -neighbour, whose disordered aspect and bare spars made her resemble a -withered bush or bunch of reeds at the horizon, were to remain in -sight of each other. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -BESET WITHOUT HOPE. - -I cared little about the slaughter of the seals,--indeed, I rather -disliked it--and for several days my attention was excited solely by -the vessel which was beset so far from us. - -My imagination drew many painful scenes. I endeavoured to picture -how long she had been there--weeks, months, it might be years! - -Where was she from? What had she been--a ship, brig, or schooner? -for by the confusion of her rigging, and the distance at which she -lay from us, there was a difficulty in discovering this, even by by -our most powerful glasses, or whether the smoke ever rose from her -galley funnel. - -How many of her crew were alive, or had she a crew at all? If so, -what were their sufferings--if abandoned, amid that world of ice, -whither had they gone, and where had their perilous journey ended? -On Greenland, on the Labrador, or in the grave? - -These queries were for ever recurring to me, and that old beset -ship--I had made up my mind that she _was_ old--was the first object -to which my eyes turned when coming on deck in the morning, and the -last at night. Fogs--the dense fogs of the Arctic seas--came on and -shrouded us for days, till one's lungs almost filled with icy vapour, -and the pulses of the heart seemed to freeze. The wind blew a gale -at times, but the ice remained fast as adamant around us; but when -the obscurity passed away, there lay the beset ship in the dim -distance, wearing the same lifeless aspect as ever, so dreary and -forlorn amid that waste of cold white glistening ice, with its -endless vistas of hummocks and splintered bergs. - -We became somewhat alarmed on discovering by observations that -instead of drifting into southern latitudes, where the ice-fields are -usually broken into floes, and a ship becomes free to shape her -course in any direction, we were being borne almost due west, and -with considerable rapidity. By this the temperature remained nearly -the same, and our besetting, like that of our unfortunate neighbour, -became a permanence, and would probably continue so, unless we -weathered Cape Farewell, of which Hartly had some doubts at that -season. - -We had now reached the first week of April, and could only look -forward to the early days of May, when the field-ice breaks up, and -from the unknown seas and inlets of the north, floats southward in -masses so mighty, that a girdle of ice, sometimes two hundred miles -in breadth, environs the coasts of Newfoundland and the Labrador. - -Ere long we became sensible of a tremendous pressure upon the sides -of the brig, a pressure so great that her timbers in some places -became distorted, and Hartly was seriously alarmed lest she might be -crushed and destroyed. - -This unwonted pressure rendered us very anxious, and inspired many -with dread. - -One night when it was greater than usual, I was on deck, and from -thence ascended into the main-rigging a little way to contemplate the -snow-covered scene--so vast, so silent, and so terrible in its beauty! - -Spreading far as the eye could reach--far beyond the old deserted -ship, for such we deemed her now--lay the hummocks in uncounted -myriads, ascending here and there into bergs and mountains, so -impressive in their cold purity, so solemnizing in their silence and -monotony, their spiral peaks glistening and vitreous against the blue -immensity of the sky--an accumulation of ice and snow that would seem -to have lasted since the will and hand of God had first separated the -land from the water, and marked the limits of both. - -While lost in reverie, and surveying this scene, a strange sound, -like that which might be caused by the rending of a vast rock -asunder, fell upon my ear; then there was a shock which made every -fibre in my body tingle. A mighty power below us seemed to be -hoisting the brig out of the ice, while her masts and hull began to -sway to and fro. - -"Aloft, lads--all hands aloft!" cried Hartly; "we are about to be -crushed--God help us! for all is over with us now!" - -All our men rushed into the rigging on hearing this terrible -announcement, and at the same moment there was another crashing -shock, and lo! about a league from us, there ascended slowly and -vertically into the air, a sheet or wall of ice, perhaps twenty feet -thick, nearly a hundred feet in height, and several miles in length! - -Erect it stood for some moments, like a giant rampart, and then broke -into fragments, and as the field collapsed below, these fell with a -roar as if heaven and earth were coming together. - -How many _millions of tons_ might have been in that erected mass no -man could conceive, but the thunder of their fall, as they crashed -and glittered in the moonlight, caused one's soul to shrink with awe -and wonder at the grandeur and sublimity of such a scene. - -The ice around us cracked and rent in every direction, but though -there was a vibration, a seeming heaving of the icebound sea, the -brig settled down again into her bed, and we were only relieved of -that intense pressure which had threatened us with immediate -destruction. - -"We are saved--for this time," said Hartly. - -"Have the currents caused this?" I inquired. - -"Partly: and the east edge of the ice-field has crashed upon a -western shore." - -"Greenland?" suggested Paul Reeves. - -"Of course." - -"Then we are to the _north_ of Cape Farewell!" - -I gazed wistfully towards the east. Hartly saw the glance, and -smiled. - -"You wish to snuff the land," said he; "but whether the land on which -this mass of ice that imprisons us and our neighbour--a floating mass -perhaps as large as Ireland--be just below the horizon, or two -hundred miles distant, I have no means of ascertaining until I make a -correct observation at noon." - -The morrow came duly, and at twelve o'clock, Hartly, on consulting -the sun and his chart, declared that we were at least one hundred and -seventy miles due westward of Cape Farewell, on the coast of -Greenland. We had thus drifted before the wind many hundred miles -with the ice. The cold had now rendered the action of our compasses -sluggish; but, situated as we were, that was of little consequence. - -Our anxiety increased as our provisions diminished; we were placed -upon a scanty allowance; symptoms of scurvy became visible among our -seal-fishers; and how shall I find words to describe the intensity of -the cold? - -As we huddled together in the cabin at night, the ice actually came -down the funnel of the stove, and formed a little arch above the -fire. Our breath froze on our beards and whiskers, and on the -blankets of our beds. The barrels of salted junk had to be dashed to -pieces ere the food could be separated from the brine and staves. -Stiff grog froze as hard as our beer; and every day a smoky haze rose -from the sea, and freezing as it rose, when blown about by the wind, -seemed to scrape the very skin off one's face. This frost-rime -frequently enveloped us like a dense fog for days, and when it -cleared, the wearied eye had no object to rest on but the everlasting -ice and the old ship in the dreary distance. - -Chancing to stumble one day against the anchor, my bare hand touched -the fluke, and a portion of skin adhered to it as if it had been hot -iron. - -We hunted diligently for seals, as they formed our staple food, when -cooked on a fire of blazing blubber. The flesh of the cub, -especially the heart and liver, when hashed, and well seasoned with -pepper, was not unacceptable to appetites sharpened by the northern -blast that came from the Arctic circle. - -The middle of April came and passed away without a change, save that -the sun shone with a brilliance which somewhat alleviated the cold. -One day, at noon, I saw Hartly form a piece of pure fresh-water ice -from the scuttle-bucket into a lens, through which he concentrated -the rays of the sun as through a burning-glass, and thus igniting -little puffs of powder on the capstan-head, to the great astonishment -of our seamen, and the terror of Cuffy, who began to consider him a -species of Obi man. - -So day followed day of captivity! - -Seal-hunting and idling over, we would assemble, and sit for hour -after hour, crouching close together for warmth, around our little -fire, watching the glowing embers and the upward sparks; often in -dreamy silence, mentally wondering where, when, and _how_ this -monotony, misery, and suffering were to end! - -At times each almost fancied himself the last man in the world--and -certainly we were the last men to be envied. Then terrible -sensations crept over us, and horror filled our souls--the horror of -being the _last survivor_, when famine and death came together among -us. - -As a relief from this intolerable monotony, a party of us resolved to -visit the other ship. All were anxious to go; but Hartly said we -could never know the moment when the ice would partially break up; -thus half the crew at least must remain with him for the safety of -the whole. - -Furnished with a sledge, on which we placed a supply of such -provisions as the _Leda_ could afford, a small breaker, or gang-cask -of stiff grog, hatchets, guns, a compass, plenty of blankets, and -tobacco, so as to be ready for any emergency or detention, twelve -men--Paul Reeves, Hans Peterkin, Tom Hammer, Cuffy, and myself -inclusive--departed one bright morning about an hour after dawn, -resolved to overhaul the stranger, and if we found her deserted, to -cut away her masts, and drag them to the brig for fuel, though she -lay now at least fifteen miles distant. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -THE DEATH-SHIP. - -Inured though we were to the cold, we felt the toil and peril very -great when traversing the ice for fifteen miles; but fortunately the -day was clear, and not a speck of cloud appeared upon the blue -immensity of the sky. - -The crew of the _Leda_ cheered us from time to time until we were at -some distance, when they hoisted a red flag at the mainmast-head; but -in the hollows between the hummocks and vast blocks of ice which were -jammed and piled upon each other by the recent concussion and -compression of the field, we lost sight of both ships at times, and -could only discover them while surmounting some of the frozen ridges. - -We toiled bravely, anxious to attain the object of our journey ere -night came on, as we were assured of quarter on board, whatever might -be the circumstances of this strange-looking craft, the attention of -whose crew our colours by day, and our lanterns by night, had totally -failed to attract. - -Fifteen miles over an ice-field--especially such an ice-field as that -which inclosed us, rent by chasms in some places, and piled in giant -blocks elsewhere--were equal to the toil of traversing forty miles on -land; thus about two P.M., we found ourselves only eight miles from -the _Leda_, but rapidly gaining on the hull of the strange craft, -which seemed to rise out of the ice as we approached, and the aspect -of which puzzled us more than ever. We halted for a brief space; -then each man partook of a biscuit and piece of seal's flesh boiled, -a ration of rum, and in ten minutes more we pushed on again, four -dragging our sledge, laden with stores, by shoulder-belts made for -the purpose, and relieved by other four at every two miles or so. - -Our expedition was not without several dangers. Fog might come on -and conceal both ships from us; a blinding storm of snow might have -the same effect, and pile its drifts above our corpses for ever. The -ice-field might break up, and separate us from our ship so long that -when our slender stock of necessaries was expended, we should -infallibly perish. Each man among us thought of these possible and -terrible contingencies as the distance increased between us and the -_Leda_--our home amid the icy waste--but none spoke of them _then_; -all sang cheerily, and pushed on to overhaul the strange craft; thus -about five in the afternoon we found ourselves alongside, and all -paused to survey her with deep and undefinable emotions of awe in our -breasts, for she had evidently been long deserted, and now wore a -most chilling and desolate aspect. - -She was an old-fashioned pink-built barque, of about six hundred -tons, with bulging ribs and bluff bows; broad and clumsy in the -counter and deep in the bends--all fenced about with iron bands; she -looked like a whaler of George the Second's time, for, with a fiddle -head, she had the remains of a jack-staff and spritsail yard upon her -bowsprit. Her hull and spars were thickly coated with ice. - -Her fore and main topmasts were gone; her mizen was broken off at the -crosstrees, and hung, truck downward, in its gear. - -The topping-lifts and braces of the yards had long since given way, -and tatters of them swung mournfully on the wind. Many of the yards -had dropped from their slings, and lay athwart the deck or among the -ice alongside, where the gales had tossed them. - -Her ironwork was red and corroded; almost every vestige of paint and -tar had long since disappeared, as if she had been scraped by the -ice; beaten, battered, and washed by Arctic storms, American fogs, -and Greenland showers of sleet and rain, for many, many years must -have elapsed since the keel of this old craft had last been in blue -water, and first been frozen in the treacherous ice; years of -drifting to and fro in the far and frozen regions of the north, where -perchance not even the eye of the Esquimaux had seen her. - -We seemed all to read and know her history instinctively at a glance; -but her crew--what had their fate been? - -Inspired by a strange emotion, we hung back, while gazing at her, as -she stood like a silent ruin, or the ghost of a ship in the frosty -sunshine of the April evening; but no man attempted to board her, -till Paul Reeves, taking a hatchet from the sledge, exclaimed, - -"Come on, shipmates--we'll overhaul her!" and proceeded at once to -mount from the ice into her mainchains. As he grasped the starboard -shrouds about the upper dead-eyes, the whole gave way from their -rotten cat-harpings and crashed about him, with a shower of the ice -that had coated them for years. - -"By Jove! lads, 'twas not yesterday this craft left the rigger's -hands!" said he, as we clambered after him, and at length stood upon -her deck, which was coated about two feet deep with hard frozen snow, -on the pure whiteness of which no foot-track was visible. - -Sailors are ever superstitious; but theirs is an honest and -reverential superstition, very different from that of the landsman; -thus in breathless silence our party paused upon her deck, as if it -had been the lid of a huge coffin. - -"Go on--go on!" said several; yet no man moved, for there was a -deathlike silence in and around her. - -Her main-hatch was battened down; but we could see that the companion -aft and the fore-hatch were partly open. Her long-boat was turned -keel upmost on deck, aft the foremast; and by other indications it -had doubtless formed a species of round-house. Various large white -bones, fragments of broken casks, coils of old bleached ropes, and -rusty harpoons were strewn about, and served to indicate that she had -been a whale-ship. - -Urged by curiosity, I proceeded towards her cabin, my eleven -shipmates following closely at my heels. - -The skylight was covered with snow; yet through a broken pane I could -perceive the figures of men below: then I turned to descend into her -dark, gloomy, and slimy cabin, on entering which I beheld a wondrous -scene of horror, such as can never be forgotten by me, nor was it by -those who accompanied me. - -The red glow of the sun, now setting beyond the distant waste of ice, -shone from the west through her two square stern windows, pouring -athwart her cabin a sombre and dusky light. Its sides were covered -by a damp mould, which was green and thick as moss. Nearly three -feet of snow, which had drifted down the companion-hatch, was lying -upon its floor; half buried among it and huddled close together in a -corner, lay the bodies of three emaciated men, with fur caps tied -under their wasted jaws. - -A blue and ghastly hand that hung over one of the cabin berths -announced that a dead man lay there; and seated at the table was -another, whose arms, head, and back were half covered by the snow, -that had drifted over him after he had sunk into the sleep of death. -His coat was old in fashion, with large brass buttons and square -pocket-flaps. Amid the snow that covered the table, and amid which -his face was hidden, there appeared the necks of one or two square -case-bottles--empty. - -A quill was also standing amid the snow, and seemed to indicate that -the dead man had been writing, for it was still in the pewter -inkhorn, and near it stood a lamp, used by him probably to keep his -ink from freezing. Close by appeared the corner of a book, which I -drew with difficulty from amid the frozen snow, and then impelled by -a horror, of that cold dark floating grave, like frightened -schoolboys we rushed up the cabin-stairs, and regained the deck, just -as the last segment of the sun's red disc went down beyond the frozen -sea. - -We stood in a group near the mouldering mainmast, gazing at each -other awe-struck, for we had looked on the faces of men who had been -dead for years--how many, we knew not. - -"There is _something moving_ in the forehold!" exclaimed Tom Hammer, -the carpenter, while his teeth chattered alike with cold and fear. - -"Something?" I reiterated. - -"Ay, sir, and alive, too! Do you hear _that_?" added old Hans -Peterkin, in terror. - -It was a strange, croaking sound; and then, as we approached the -half-open hatch of the forehold, we heard the flapping of large wings. - -Though almost paralysed by hearing such an unwonted sound in such a -place, one of our seal-fishers fired his gun in his confusion. I -crept forward and peeped fearfully down, but could not distinguish -anything amid the gloom below. - -Then we heard another croak, which sounded so loud and so dreadful to -our over-strained organs of hearing that it nearly made us all -scamper over the side; when suddenly two giant ravens, who had -doubtless long made the empty wreck their home, rose through the -fore-hatchway on their black booming pinions, and soaring high into -the clear air, winged their way directly to the east, and so swiftly -that they soon disappeared. - -"The land lies where they are flying to," said Reeves. - -"And it is not far off, as their presence here would indicate," added -a seaman. - -This idea encouraged us all very much, as we forgot that they might -have floated with the ice-field for years. We were about to descend -into the forehold, but on lifting the other half of the decayed -hatch, we found the frozen remains of a man hanging there by the -neck, and half devoured by those obscene birds. A capstan-bar had -been placed athwart the combing, and to this he had suspended himself -by a well-greased rope. - -Was this unfortunate the last survivor, who, in desperation, had thus -awfully ended his misery? - -His situation seemed to say so. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -LEAVES FROM THE LOG. - -We repaired to our sledge alongside, and dragging it a little way -from the deserted barque, took a ration of grog (of which we stood -much in need), and then I proceeded to examine the volume we had -brought away. It proved to be the mouldered fragments of a log-book -or diary kept by the mate--doubtless the dead man, who was seated on -the stern locker, and whose body was reclining on the snow-covered -cabin table. - -From this book we could glean that she was the _Royal Bounty_, a -Peterhead whaler, which had been beset in the ice off Cape Desolation -in 1801, and that one by one all her crew had perished of cold, -hunger, and despair! - -The thick and crystalline coat of ice which covered every portion of -the ship, from her tops to her chain-plates--a coat that had never -melted or been disturbed--had protected her rigging, spars, and hull -from the natural progress of decay; so let none suppose it marvellous -that in a region or atmosphere of eternal snow, bodies are also thus -preserved; for frequently the remains of elephants and mammoths which -lived before the flood, and of pre-Adamite monsters, are found buried -in the Arctic ice, unchanged, undecayed, and entire. - -At the mouth of the Lena, in Siberia--a river which traverses the -vast and uninhabited plains of Asiatic Russia--there was discovered, -in 1805, a mammoth entire, with the hair on its skin four inches -long, and all of a reddish-black; and so frequently are similar -discoveries made along the shores of the Frozen Sea, that the poor -Russians believe that race of animals to be still extant in their -country, but existing like moles which dwell underground, and cannot -endure the light of day; and their exhumation from the ice is ever -deemed a forerunner of calamity, as it is said that all who see them -die soon after. But to resume. - -The book was much mouldered and decayed; only a few entries here and -there could be traced, as its leaves, now soft and pulpy, perished in -our fingers when we attempted to turn them over. A few passages ran -thus:-- - -"March 3rd, 1801; a brisk breeze from the S.W. The Faroe Isles -bearing about twenty miles off on our starboard quarter. - -"At 7 P.M., took in the topgallant sails, and all fore and aft canvas -........ set the ........ - -"April 4, 8 P.M. Set more canvas--out reefs--set foretopmast and -maintopgallant studdingsails. Ice-floes a head. Compasses not -working well. The captain ordered ........, and Cairns ........ - -"9 P.M. Land ahead--supposed to be Cape Farewell. Weather squally. -Beset by an ice-field in a strong current running N. and by E. Took -in everything fore and aft--sent down the topgallantyards, and -brought the masts on deck ........" - -After a successful whale fishing in latitude 76°-77°, they had been -again, or were still, beset. - -"1st May, 1801; hoisted a garland of false flowers, made by our wives -and sweethearts at home in Scotland, between the fore and -mainmast........" - -Then followed days and weeks, to the effect that they were _still -beset_. These memoranda were in the handwriting of various persons, -and were frequently mingled with earnest prayers for release. Then -scurvy appears to have broken out among them, and disease was quickly -followed by death. - -"1802. Birnie from Buchan-ness, off duty, unwell--Birnie's teeth -fell out of his head. Willie Cairns from Southhouse Head, off duty, -unwell. Poor Birnie died, and was buried in the ice, where the -_others_ lie, half a mile off, on the starboard bow. God rest them! - -"May 6th. Jobson ill with scurvy and blindness--Cairns died, and was -buried beside Birnie ........." - -Many leaves totally illegible followed, till we deciphered a passage -like this-- - -"1802, 4th Dec. The captain died in his berth this day at 8 A.M., -and we are too weak to move him. Smith, Arthur, and the cook are -dead, or dying of hunger on the cabin floor! We have now been beset -two years and twenty-one days. In that time twenty-four men have -died out of a crew of nine-and-twenty--no hope! no mercy! My God! -where is all this to end? We sailed upon a Friday, and this ........" - -I shut the book abruptly, for I could perceive in the twilight a -blank horror stealing over the pale features of my companions as we -stood beside that old vessel--a frozen tomb; and favoured by the -light of the rising moon, we proceeded to regain the _Leda_, with all -the speed we could exert; for to some it appeared as if our future -fate was fearfully foreshadowed in the story of this old doomed -whale-ship. Half a mile distant, on her starboard bow, an ice-coated -pole was visible. It seemed to indicate where her dead were buried. - -Hans Peterkin and three others strapped the collar-ropes over their -shoulders for the first "spell," and proceeded briskly in front with -our sledge of blankets, &c. The rest followed in silence, and only -turned from time to time to cast a backward glance at the old whaler, -whose decaying spars, coated with ice, glimmered darkly against the -starry sky. The moon arose in her full northern splendour--clear, -glorious, and wondrous! The sharp summits of the bergs (the -ice-mountains that rose from the plains of ice) gleamed and glittered -like mighty prisms, or spires, pyramids, and obelisks of crystal and -spar. - -After all we had seen, the dead, the awful stillness of the frozen -sea--that snow-clad plain, "the silence of which seemed to come from -afar and to go afar," impressed us with deep and solemn emotions. -Thus, for several miles we trod gloomily on, equally desirous of -reaching the _Leda_ and of leaving far behind the scene of gloom I -have described. - -The spirits of our party were sorely depressed; but Paul Reeves and I -did everything in our power, by cheerfulness and anecdotes, to divert -the gloomy current of their ideas; though poor Paul was not without -fears that a day might come when he would be inserting in the log of -the _Leda_, entries similar to those I have quoted from the -mouldering volume we had brought away. - -"We have found a ship of the dead," said he, "but that is nothing! -What think you, shipmates, of a whole city full?" - -"A city full!" reiterated our men. - -"Not exactly a city like London--but a city, nevertheless." - -"And where was this?" asked Hans, doubtfully. - -"I read of it in a book--a real printed book--when I was in South -Carolina. There was one Lionel Wafer, an English surgeon, who, -having nobody to physic at home, took a voyage with the old -buccaneers to the South Seas. Well, on one occasion, his craft was -cruising off Vermijo, at the mouth of the Red River, in Peru. It was -a wild and solitary place; but he went ashore with a boat's crew, and -travelled four miles up the stream in quest of adventures; and there, -from the margin of a fine sandy bay, a plain spread inland as wide as -this ice-field, all covered with the ruins of streets, built of -mighty blocks of stone carved with wonderful sculptures, like those -of the Egyptians--only more terrible and quaint; and among these -crumbling streets and mansions were thousands of graves half open, -with the dead bodies of men, women, and little children in them, all -mummified and light as cork, for they had been dead two hundred years -or more. - -"His men were terrified, and fled back to their boat; but on the way -they met an old Indian, who related that, in the days of his -forefathers, this arid plain had once been fruitful and green as the -greenest savannah, and the country so populous, that a fish of the -Red River could have been passed through the land from hand to hand, -till it was laid at the foot of the throne of the Inca (that was -their king, shipmates); but the cruel, murdering Spaniards came, with -their guns and bloodhounds, and laid siege to the capital city. Its -defence was long and desperate; and rather than yield, the -inhabitants slew themselves, and buried each other in the sand, till -there was only one man left, and _he_ drowned himself in the Red -River. - -"In after years the stormy winds had blown the dry sand aside, and -there the grim Mexicans lay in thousands--the women with the pearls -of Vermijo at their ears and round their necks, their little -children, their distaffs and hand-mills by their sides, and their -long black hair filled with coins and precious stones. There, too, -lay the warriors, with their flint axes and broken spears, and the -war-paint yet traceable on their mummies. Lionel Wafer brought away -the body of a child, but the buccaneers would not admit it on board -lest it might bring a plague or a curse upon them; so he threw it -into the Rio Grande." - -This yarn produced others equally lively, of course; but while -conversing we got over the dreary waste of hummocks more rapidly, and -some time after midnight were welcomed on board the _Leda_, where -those whom we had left were burning with curiosity to learn the -result of our expedition. - -The impression of all we had seen was so vivid, that a horror lest -the same fate should befal us, made our men suggest and revolve every -rash plan for release. - -The flight of the two ravens eastward indicated that land could not -be far off. Hans Peterkin, a hardy Orcadian, who was suffering from -scurvy, proposed that if matters grew more desperate, we should -travel over the field, taking with us the longboat upon -sledge-runners. Some urged that we should bore through the ice with -canvas set, while gangs went ahead blasting it up with gunpowder. - -"Bore and blast through ice twenty feet thick, for a hundred miles, -perhaps!" said Hartly, with sorrowful irony. - -But scurvy continued to increase among us; and on the eighth day -after our visit to the ship one of our crew died, and was buried in -the ice; while the brig was thrown in mourning, her colours -half-mast, her running-gear cast in loose bights, and her yards -topped up variously. - -After his funeral, which had a most depressing effect upon us all, I -remarked to Hartly, that either by a strange coincidence or by an -irresistible fatality, we had interred him _half a mile distant on -the starboard bow_, exactly as the crew of the old whaler had -interred _their dead_! - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -THE GRAVES ON THE STARBOARD BOW. - -The last of our stone ballast had long since been thrown overboard on -the ice, and was replaced by seal skins. We had now a valuable -cargo, over which the hatches were barred and battened; but Hartly's -hopes for an honest profit on his adventurous expedition were -forgotten, or merged in the overwhelming desire for freedom and the -safety of our lives and of the brig. - -Already five deaths were recorded in her log; and Hartly vowed that -if ever again her bows cut blue water, he would never more tempt Dame -Fortune in _the region of ice_. - -By this time our monotonous detention had so far exceeded every -expectation and contingency; that our beer, rum, and other spirits, -our salted beef, preserved meats, and lime-juice were consumed; and -though our biscuits were doled out in very small rations indeed, grim -starvation was before us, or food composed of seal and blubber alone; -so scurvy in its worst forms assailed us all more or less. Our -strongest seamen were the first who sank under it: their complexions -became yellow, with swollen gums, loosened teeth, and fetid breath. -These symptoms were accompanied by a difficulty in respiring, which, -on the least exertion being made, amounted almost to suffocation. - -Two of our gunners died one evening within an hour of each other. We -wrapped them in blankets, and buried them quickly, under cloud of -night, lest the survivors might be affected by the scene. - -Hartly, Hans Peterkin, Cuffy, and I performed this melancholy office, -when we had no lamp but the twinkling stars and the sharp streamers -of the northern lights, shooting upward from the icebergs that edged -the plain, over which the wind blew keen and bitingly. - -Grim seemed the pale faces of the dead in that wavering gloom, as we -lowered them into their last home, heaped the ice above them, and -returned to the _Leda_, leaving them to sleep the sleep of death -among their shipmates _half a mile distant on her starboard bow_. - -And now with each day there sank a deeper horror over us--the horror -that, like the old whaler at the horizon, the _Leda_ was a ship -foredoomed! Yet, like her, we had _not_ sailed upon a Friday. - -We were without a surgeon; but Hartly was a skilful fellow, and by -administering such simples as we possessed, he endeavoured to -ameliorate the condition of his suffering crew. - -Common potatoes he washed, cut into thin slices, and gave raw to -some, for the cure of their swollen and bleeding gums--usually a -sovereign remedy in this case. To others he gave decoctions of -tamarinds, scraped from an old gallipot, and boiled with cream of -tartar; or a ship biscuit pounded into a panada, and sweetened with -sugar; or gargles made of honey of roses and elixir of vitriol; but, -ere long, even these remedies failed us; and we had Reeves, Hans -Peterkin, and more than half our remaining crew, unable to raise -their heads or hands, sick and despairing. - -The miserable Esquimaux, by scraping the snow from their native -rocks, can find coarse berries, sorrel, and cresses, with which to -correct their blubber food; but in that world of ice we had no such -boon accorded us. - -Armed with our rifles and knives, I set forth with two of our -healthiest men, Dick and James Abbot, two brothers, in search of a -few fresh seals, as they had learned to shun our locality, and had -ceased to venture through their holes in the ice for some time past. - -We left the brig about two o'clock, P.M. - -On this day the wind was blowing hard, the white scud was flying fast -through the blue sky, and for the first time we felt a heaving motion -in the ice, which warned us instinctively not to venture far from the -_Leda_. After a ramble of three hours, we had only shot one seal and -knocked two cubs on the head with our rifle-butts, when we sat down -on a hummock to rest, at the distance of two miles or so from our -ice-bound home. - -"I wonder much how the masts of that old craft the _Bounty_ have -stood these many years?" said Dick Abbot, breaking a long silence. - -"The coating of ice has saved them, as it has preserved everything on -board--from decay, at least," replied his brother. - -"Always thinking of that ship," said I, with an air of annoyance. -"Come, let us talk of something more cheerful. You know that -she--but _where is she_?" I added, as we swept the horizon in vain -for her--the sole object on which our eyes had rested for so many -dreary weeks. - -"Sunk, by Jove! or can her old spars have gone by the board at last?" -exclaimed James Abbot, starting up. - -In great excitement we clambered to the summit of a mass of ice, and -looked around us. Not a vestige of the old barque could be seen, but -dense clouds that came heavily up from the north were overspreading -the sky, against the blue of which her crystal-coated spars had so -long been visible. - -"We shall have foul weather," said Dick Abbot. - -"And so they seem to think, sir, aboard the brig," added his brother: -"see--they've run the ensign up to the gaff peak as a signal for us -to return, Mr. Manly." - -"But our three seals----" - -"We must leave them where they are--that big hummock will mark where -they lie till to-morrow." - -"James is right, sir," said Dick Abbot; "let us get back to the brig -as fast as we can." - -"She is two miles distant, at least," said I. - -"The sky darkens fast; and see--see!" he added, with wild joy -expressed in all his features, his eyes, and voice; "the captain -expects something--they've cast loose the courses, and are hoisting -the topsailyards--THE ICE IS BREAKING UP!" - -These words made every pulse quicken, and as if in corroboration of -his surmise, we felt the field on which we trod agitated by -convulsive throes, and these increased as the fierce and darkening -blast, armed with showers of hailstones large as peas, that fell -aslant the cold grey sky, deepened the atmosphere around us. Madly -we toiled, scrambled, and rolled--fell, rose, and fell again--shouted -and cheered to each other, as we surmounted the endless succession of -glassy hummocks and snowy hollows to reach the _Leda_; but the gloom -increased so fast, that in less than half an hour we could no longer -distinguish where she lay. - -We did not feel cold--our brains seemed on fire, our bloodshot eyes -were wild and eager in expression, as we toiled on and on--but -_where_ was the brig? - -A misty veil of hail and snow--an atmosphere dark as the twilight of -the Scandinavian gods--enveloped us like a curtain. We paused at -times in our desperation, and uttered a simultaneous hallo; but no -voice replied, no sound responded, save the hiss of the hailstones as -they showered on the hard hummocks. Then we heard from time to time -a stunning crash, as the field was rent asunder into floes, that were -surged and driven against each other with such force as the waves of -an irresistible sea can alone exert. - -To us this crisis was, as I have said, maddening. We tossed away our -rifles, shot-belts, knives, bats, and everything that might impede -our progress, and toiled in wild despair in search of the _Leda_--but -alas, alas! the _Leda_ was nowhere to be seen! - -"Can we have passed her?" we asked repeatedly. - -To return was to acknowledge still more that we were at fault. - -Left upon the breaking ice, with night deepening, and a tempest, -perhaps, coming on together; the ice-field rending into floes, and -the _Leda_, when last seen, with her topsails loose for sea, and now -we knew not where, but assuredly not within call of our united -voices, which the envious wind, the very spirit of the wintry storm, -swept from our trembling lips, as if in mockery of efforts and -struggles so feeble as those of man when contending with the warring -elements of God,--how terrible was our situation! - -Inspired either by the activity of youth, or a greater dread of -perishing, I left my companions some twenty yards behind me. In this -race for life and death poor Dick Abbot was failing, and his younger -brother was loth to leave him a single pace behind. - -"Mr. Manly," I heard him cry, "take time, please; do you see anything -yet, sir--of the brig, I mean?" "Not a vestige," said I, turning to -wait until they joined me. - -The ice was bursting in every direction, and the waves seemed to boil -through the yawning rents in snowy foam; vast pieces, like bergs, -arose from the water, and were dashed against each other, to sink -into the deep, to arise, and then be dashed together again. Add to -this the darkness of the gathering night, the roar of the biting -wind, and the dense murkiness caused by the hail as it swept through -that mighty waste, and the reader may have an idea of the scene when -I paused and looked back for my two companions. - -At that moment the ice heaved beneath my feet, I was thrown forward -on my face and almost stunned. There was a terrific splitting sound -as the field around us broke into a thousand floes: I found myself -separated from my two friends, upon a piece of ice about half a mile -square, and borne away with it, despairing and alone, into the mist -and darkness of the stormy night. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -ADRIFT ON THE DEAD FLOE. - -All was obscurity around me--a chaos of tumbling waves, of crashing -ice and hissing hail. - -I shouted wildly, fiercely, as the dying or despairing alone may -shout. - -A faint response seemed to come through the drift and the hail that -was sowing the ice and pathless sea; but it might have been fancy, or -my own cry tossed back by the mocking wind. And now from time to -time I was covered by the icy _spoondrift_, as the water which the -wind sweeps from the wave-tops is named by seamen. - -For a time I felt the impossibility of realizing the actual horrors -of such a situation, and murmured repeatedly-- - -"Oh, this cannot be reality; if so, it must soon come to an end, and -I shall be dead!" - -The floe on which I sat surged and rolled heavily, as it was rasped, -dashed against others, and whirled round in the eddies they made. On -its slippery surface I was driven hither and thither, even when -seated; and at last, on finding myself among some large stones which -were frozen into the snow, and which I knew to be a portion of the -brig's ballast, I shuddered with instinctive dread when discovering -that I was adrift on that portion of the ice in which our dead were -buried, and which had lain on her starboard bow. Thus I learned that -at the moment of my separation from the Abbots, I had been within -half a mile of the _Leda_. - -There was agony in this now useless conviction! - -"Am I to find a grave here, after all?" was my thought. - -If I could live till dawn, the crew of the _Leda_ (if she, too, -survived the night) might see and save me; but who could live on an -ice-floe through so many freezing hours? - -After a time the wind lulled, the hail ceased, the clouds were -divided in heaven, and a star or two shone in its blue vault. The -ice-blocks ceased to crash against the floe, thus its motion became -steadier, and under the lee of a hummock, I endeavoured to keep -myself as warm as my upper garments, which were entirely composed of -seal-skins, would enable me. - -The moon was rising, and its fitful light added to the chaotic -terrors of the scene around me. To be alone--_alone_ upon a floe at -midnight, with the open sea rolling around me! All seemed over with -me now. I felt that my sufferings could not last long, as I should -certainly pass away in the heavy slumber of those who perish by -exhaustion and intensity of cold. In spite of this horrible thought, -I gradually became torpid. - -I had been, perhaps, an hour in this situation, when I seemed -suddenly to start to life, as a bank of vapour close by parted like a -crape curtain, and the moonbeams fell upon the white canvas of a -vessel. She was a brig--she was the _Leda_, under weigh, and distant -from the floe not more than one hundred yards! - -She was under sail, with her foreyards aback to deaden her way, as -she was rasping along a lee of ice-floes and _brash_, as the smaller -fragments are technically named. The weather had now become so calm, -that her canvas, which glittered white as snow in the moonshine, was -almost, as the sailors say, _asleep_, there being just sufficient -wind to keep it from waking. - -I endeavoured to shout, but my tongue was paralysed as if in a -nightmare; sobs only came from my heart, and I thought all sense -would leave me, as the brig, like a spectre, came slowly gliding -past. Again and again I endeavoured to hail her, but in vain. - -I rushed to the edge of the floe, at the risk of slipping off it into -the sea. Then a faint shout reached my ear, and made my heart throb -with joy. Those on deck could not hear my voice, but they had seen -my figure in the moonlight; and in a few minutes I beheld a boat -shoved off from her, and heard the cheerful voice of old Hans -Peterkin, crying with his Orkney _patois_-- - -"Quick, my lads--lay out on your oars!" as they pulled through the -rack and drift towards me. - -I was soon dragged on board the boat, and on reaching the deck of the -_Leda_, fainted, after all I had undergone, and the joy of escaping a -death so terrible. The last sounds I remember were the voice of -Hartly welcoming me, and the jarring of the yards and braces, as the -foreyards were filled, and the brig payed off bravely before the -gentle breeze. - -Of my unfortunate companions, no trace was ever seen! - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -CAPE FAREWELL. - -For three days our course was encumbered by masses of broken ice, -which seemed to crowd upon and follow us; thus the brig was -constantly being put about or thrown in the wind, backing and filling -to avoid the large floes and calves, as those treacherous pieces of -sunken or detached ice which suddenly rush to the surface are named. -To avoid the lesser floes, we had often to carry a warp to a large -one, and track along its side. The cheerful voice of Hartly might -always be heard encouraging the faint and weary on these occasions. - -"Now, my lads--tally on! bowse away upon the guess-warp!" - -"Hurrah!" the men would answer, as they pulled together vigorously. - -"Once more we are afloat, Jack," said he to me, on the third morning. -"I began to fear we should berth all our ship's company in the ice -that lay on the starboard bow; but now we may sit cosily in the -cabin, as of yore, and learn how her head lies by the _tell-tale_ -compass that swings in the skylight." - -Again at sea, our sick recovered as if by a miracle; but still many -antidotes against scurvy were requisite before we could haul up for -the long voyage that lay between us and St. John. I caught a few -fish, and they formed a delicious change for Cuffy's fricasees of -odious blubber, served up half cold in a greasy mess-kid. - -Once more there was a reckoning to keep. For a few cloudy days we -had merely kept a dead one, by log and compass; but on making a solar -observation, Hartly and Reeves found that they were many hundred -miles eastward of where they expected to be; and this was a -circumstance over which they had no control. - -It is well-known that a current which comes down Davis' Straits -eddies round the east coast of Greenland. By this we had been borne -towards its western shore with great rapidity. - -In 1818, the _Anne_, of Poole, when beset by an ice-field, was thus -drifted at the rate of two hundred and twenty miles per day! - -Early on the morning of the fourth day, the sea was pretty clear of -floes; but a dense and dusky fog-bank came down like a curtain, and -seemed to float upon the water, about twenty miles from us. We had -suffered considerably in our besetting, and by concussions among the -floes; so, as the morning was calm and sunny, Hartly had all hands at -work, tarring, painting, and repairing our various damages. A spare -jib-boom was shipped, and it was soon taut with its heel-rope and -jib-guys; our rudder was finally repaired, and two new staysails were -being bent, when there was a cry of "land" from aloft. - -"Land in sight!" shouted Hans Peterkin, who was out on the arm of the -fore-topgallant yard, repairing something. - -"Lad!--where?" asked Hartly, snatching his telescope from the -companion. - -"On the lee quarter, sir." - -"You must have deuced good eyes, Hans," said the captain, sweeping -along the fog-bank with his glass; "for nothing like land can I see!" - -"The bank is rising, sir," replied the Orcadian, as he sat jauntily -astride his lofty perch, and pointed to the east. "I see either an -island or headland." - -Even while he spoke, the dense mountain of vapour, behind which the -morning sun was shining, rose slowly from the surface of the sea, and -with the naked eye we could see, at the far horizon, a low dark -streak, that ended in a bluff or promontory Hartly sharply closed his -telescope. - -"Luff, Paul--keep your luff," said he; "lie closer to the wind, while -I prick off our place on the chart." He hurried below; but soon -returned, saying, "That is either Cape Farewell, or I am bewitched." - -"Off the coast of Greenland?" said I. - -"No, _on_ the coast of Greenland," he replied, laughing. "And now, -as the ice and current have driven us so near it in spite of our -teeth, we may as well stand in for the shore, and get some fresh -provisions, before bearing up for Newfoundland." - -A careful examination of the chart proved that we had drifted, or -been driven (in our endeavours to avoid the floes) to latitude 59° -48' North, and were in longitude 43° 54' West of Greenwich, -consequently, the land we saw was undoubtedly Cape Farewell, a lofty -promontory which forms the most southern extremity of Greenland. - -With considerable satisfaction we stood in towards the shore, in the -hope of obtaining supplies from some of the Moravian settlements. - -About four hours after, some of the natives who were fishing came -about us in their strange boats, which are made of whalebone covered -with seal-skin, and shaped like a weaver's shuttle, so that they may -be rowed any way. - -By sunset we were close upon the land, and came to anchor several -miles north of the cape in a little cove of Nennortalik, or the Isle -of Bears, where, as Reeves said jestingly, we had no _groundage_ to -pay for letting go our cable; and there the wondering population of -the little Moravian colony received us with acclamation. The canvas -was handed and most of the crew were allowed to go on shore, with -instructions to return with as much scurvy-grass as they could -collect; for with this herb, like Baffin, the voyager of old, Hartly -proposed to brew scurvy-beer for his patients. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -THE MUSK-OX. - -Rejoicing that we trod on firm land once more, Paul Reeves, Hans -Peterkin, and I set off to shoot on the great Island of Sermesoak, -which is divided from the mainland of Greenland by the Fin Whale -Strait, while Hartly arranged with the Danish resident at the village -for such supplies of fresh food as a place so poor could afford. - -Leaving the Isle of Bears, we ran our boat into a creek called -Cunninghame's Haven, from John Cunninghame, a Scotsman, who was -Admiral of Denmark, and who, on his return from Davis' Straits, in -1605, appeared off Greenland with three ships, and carried away some -of the natives, whom he presented to Christian IV., together with a -chain weighing twenty-six ounces, formed of fine silver, found by him -among the rocks at a place still named Cunninghame's Fiord. - -With all our anxiety to add to the fresh provisions on board, we were -not without a desire to encounter some of the bears with which one -always associates the name of Greenland; and ere twenty-four hours -elapsed, I was certainly gratified to the fullest extent in that way. - -The people of Sermesoak were then in consternation, owing to the -depredations of a fierce herd of Bruins which had crossed the strait -from the mainland, and devoured many of their children, dogs, and -reindeer. - -These bears are as revengeful and subtle as they are savage. "Some -years ago," says a traveller, "the crew of a boat belonging to a ship -in the whale-fishery shot at a bear and wounded it. The animal -immediately uttered the most dreadful howl, and ran along the ice -towards the boat. Before he reached it a second shot hit him; this, -however, served but to increase his fury. He presently swam to the -boat, and in attempting to get on board, placed one of his fore-feet -on the gunnel; but a sailor, having a hatchet in his hand, cut it -off. The animal still continued to swim after them, till they -arrived at the ship; several shots were fired at him which took -effect, but on reaching the ship he ascended to the deck; and the -crew having fled into the shrouds, he was actually pursuing them -_thither_ when a shot laid him lifeless on the deck." - -Allured by the odour of the seal oil, they had surrounded and broken -into the dwellings of the natives in herds, and devoured them in -their beds; and numerous stories of these terrible _raids_ were told -to Hans (who knew something of the language) by the people of -Sermesoak, as we set out on our expedition. - -We shot several white hares, and consigned them to a large canvas bag -which Hans had slung over his shoulder. In our sporting ardour we -penetrated several miles into the country, and in making a détour to -beat up for nobler game, I lost my companions among the furze-covered -rocks of a ravine. Dusk was coming on, and, wearied with halloing, I -sat down to look around me. I was quite alone and in a strange -place, but more safe and comfortable in every way than when I was -alone on the ice-floe. Though in a foreign and barbarous country, -this reflection set my mind completely at ease. - -A wild and dreary scene lay around me. - -Mountains piled on mountains of stern rock rose on every side, -covered with snow unmarked by footstep, track, or road. No trees -were growing there and no verdure was visible, save some patches of -short grass and moss where the wind had torn the snow from the rocky -surface. It seemed as if the icy breath of the Northern Sea, when it -swept through the Fin Whale Strait, destroyed all vegetable nature; -and as for the flowers of spring, one might as well have looked for -them on an iceberg. - -Why that country was named the _Green_land, Heaven only knows! - -In 1610, Jonas Pool, a whaling captain, called it King James' -Newland, from James VI. of Scotland; but that name was soon forgotten. - -Above me impended a bluff of sullen aspect, the rifts of which formed -the eyrie of myriads of white sea-gulls and birds like the great -Solan goose of the Scottish isles; and these were whirring, -screaming, and booming on their broad pinions, as they came home from -the shore. - -As the shadows deepened, even these sounds ceased, and nothing met -the ear but the croak of a lonely raven which sat on a granite -boulder. - -Far away in distance, down below me, stretched the headlands which -jutted into the deep blue waters of the Whale Strait--starting up in -fantastic pinnacles and precipitous ridges, like the towers and -turrets of crumbling castles. These walls of rock were black and -sombre, though their summits were crowned by eternal snow. - -From the mountains the sleet and melting snows of ages have long -since washed away every grain of earth; hence, no verdure can spring -there, and their rugged fronts present the most harsh and singular -outlines. The higher ridges are rendered inaccessible by glaciers; -and when the snows melt from their gloomy lichened fronts, long and -silvery runnels, that seem like threads in the distance, trickle down -the precipices; then winter comes again, converting these runnels -into ice, which splits and rends the hardest rock to fragments, that -roll with the sound of thunder down the steep glaciers into the -valleys below. - -Leaning on my gun, I was surveying this wild and dreary scene, and -careless alike of the cold and the coming night, was lost in reverie, -when a sound aroused me, and on looking up, I saw close by an animal -of strange form, such as I had never seen before, even in a menagerie. - -It was larger than a pony, but had singularly short limbs, which were -almost entirely concealed by the long dark hair that covered all its -body, and reached nearly to the ground. It had a short tail, and -large crooked horns of powerful aspect, with a mass of hair like a -horse's mane hanging beard-wise under its throat. - -A very strange sensation comes over one on beholding an unknown -animal for the first time, and on this musk-ox--for such it -was--approaching, with its large projecting eyes glaring, and while -shaking those formidable horns, by which it can encounter and slay -the bear and walrus, astonishment soon gave place to alarm, and I -regretted more than ever the absence of my two comrades. - -The ox was only a pistol-shot distant, so, with my heart beating -quickly--as I knew not what the sequel might be--I levelled my gun, -and fired full at its head. The animal uttered a bellowing roar, -bounded furiously forward, and fell motionless on its side. - -The ball had pierced its brain. - -With a thousand echoes, the report of my gun rang among the hills of -rock, peak after peak seeming to catch the sound and toss it from one -to the other, until it died away on the wind that blew through the -Fin Whale Strait. - -I was not without hope that the sound might reach Reeves and Hans -Peterkin, and guide them towards me; but I hoped in vain. - -The ox I had slain was one of the largest of the Musk species, and -might have weighed, perhaps, seven hundredweight. It would, I knew, -prove a most acceptable addition to our scanty stores on board the -_Leda_; moreover, I was not a little vain of having slain, by a -single ball, an animal so large and so little known by Europeans; but -_how_ to get it conveyed to the brig, or how to guide any of our crew -to the spot where it lay, were puzzling queries. - -I observed that at the distance of a hundred yards from it, there -rose a steep and rugged rock, cleft into three singular peaks, so -lofty as to be visible from a great distance. Conceiving this to be -a sufficient landmark, I reloaded my gun, and resolved, if possible, -to discover Cunninghame's Haven, where our boat lay. Without a -track, a road, or native to guide me, I toiled over the steep and -rugged mountains, and through ravines and hollows half filled with -drifted snow, steering my way by the stars in that direction which I -conceived might lead me to our boat. - -To enhance the wildness and gloomy grandeur of the scenery, there now -came a wondrous and fan-shaped light over all the clear cold blue of -the northern sky--a glorious Aurora Borealis. This light, sent by -Heaven to cheer the lone denizens of that frozen wilderness, spread a -rich and wavering glow over all the northern firmament, playing in -streaks or lines that alternately faded away, and resumed their -dazzling brilliance. These alternations fill with awe the simple -Greenlander, who calls them the _Merry Dancers_, and who deems, - - "By the streamers that shoot so bright, - The spirits are riding the Northern light." - - -At times, the whole sky seemed a blaze of diamond-like light, tinged -with rainbow hues, and in front of these, the stern rocks, crags, and -mountains stood forth in sharp black outline. Ever and anon, an -electrical meteor shot athwart the sky, leaving, as these falling -stars always do, a train of momentary light. - -Frequently the long streamers played across this luminous white -radiance as if a mighty fan were being opened and shut, or like the -spokes of some revolving wheel whose axle was at the Pole. Then a -burst of glory would open in the zenith, and for a moment every -feature in the desolate landscape and the far-stretching vista of the -Whale Strait between its walls of rocks would be distinctly visible. - -Alone in that sterile solitude, I gazed upon the Aurora with emotions -of mingled awe and wonder, turning again and again to the north, as I -stumbled over rocks and frozen snow piles in my efforts to discover a -path that led to Cunninghame's Haven; so the result was this--that -after more than an hour of toil, I found that I had been proceeding -in a circle, and came back to the place from whence I had set out, -the bluff with the three pinnacles, at the foot of which my musk-ox -was lying; but there a very singular scene presented itself, for my -property had already been converted into a banquet by two denizens of -the wilderness. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -THE FOUR BEARS. - -On first approaching, I imagined that a heap of snow had fallen from -the upper rocks on the dead ox, and advanced so close that I was only -twenty paces from it before discovering in my supposed snow-heap two -enormous white bears who were rending the body asunder with their -giant claws as one might rend a chicken, and were devouring it with -all the gusto of an appetite whetted by the frosty air. - -To add to my dismay at this unexpected rencontre, I perceived close -by, some portions of a human body, half-devoured--red, raw, and -appalling! - -A horror came over me, suggesting that this victim might be either -Paul Reeves or Hans Peterkin; and it was not until some time after, -that I was assured, by fragments of the dress which remained, that -the unfortunate was a Greenlander, whom they had crushed to death and -dragged away. Pausing in their banquet, these savage brutes, which -were of enormous size, uttered a hoarse growl, and while their black -nostrils seemed to snuff the breeze, their deep-set eyes surveyed me -ominously. - -My gun had but a single barrel, thus if I killed one bear I might -fall a prey to the other before there was time to reload; and if my -first shot missed, my fate would be sealed by both, as they were -certain to crush and devour me between them! - -Turning, I fairly fled up the rocks towards the three pinnacles, -pursued by the bears, whose progress was slow, as they were evidently -gorged by their double repast on the dead man and the musk-ox. - -Twice I stumbled in my flight, and fell heavily on my hands and face. -My breath came thickly and fast, and my long seal-skin boots and -overalls, which were strapped up to a waistbelt, greatly incommoded -me; but love of life and dread of a horrible death are sharp -incentives to exertion and activity; thus I struggled to gain a cleft -in the rocks, from whence I might turn and shoot down these unwieldy -monsters at vantage and at leisure, while they trotted laboriously -after me, uttering a succession of deep and menacing growls. - -I had left them nearly fifty yards behind, while clambering up the -slope, terrified every instant lest by slipping on the ice-covered -rocks I might roll down under their very paws. Already I was within -twenty feet of the cleft, beyond which the dazzling gleam of the -Aurora played, when a hoarser growl saluted my ears; and -there--there--above me in the cleft--in the very haven I was toiling -to reach, appeared a huge brown bear, squatted on his hams, licking -his great red lips, and quietly waiting my approach! - -Bewildered by this new enemy, taken in front and rear, for a moment I -remained irresolute, with my rifle cocked, but not knowing which to -shoot before I met the rest with my weapon clubbed; and now to add -still more to my dismay and peril, a _fourth_ bear appeared, -advancing from another point! - -The monster in the cleft above me, now began to utter hoarse and -savage roars, in anticipation of my destruction, which seemed -certain; for those northern bears are so cruel and rapacious, that -the female secludes her cubs (of which she never has more than two at -a litter) from the male, lest he should devour them during the first -month of their blindness. I leave the reader to judge of my emotion -on finding my single self opposed to _four_ such antagonists; for the -white Greenland bears are double the size of those melancholy looking -brown brutes whom one may see dancing in the streets at home, being -generally about twelve feet long. - -I was blindly desperate, yet my heart did not entirely fail; and I -felt forcibly "how an influence beyond our control lays its strong -hand on every deed we do, and weaves its iron tissue of necessity." - -Clambering up the flinty face of the rocks to elude the three, -finding footing where, under circumstances less exciting, I might -have found none, I ascended resolutely towards the bear which stood -in the cleft snuffing the air, roaring, and showing his glistening -teeth. Already his hot and fetid breath began to taint the air about -me. I was within six feet of him, when, taking an aim there was no -doubt would be true, I fired, and the conical ball pierced deeply -into his vast chest. - -Maddened by pain, Bruin made a wild bound at me, but missed his mark, -as I crouched low; so he rolled, dead I suppose, to the bottom of the -rocks, in his progress tumbling over one of those which were in -pursuit of me. Springing into the cleft he had so lately occupied, I -hastened to reload, and defend my position, for only one brute at a -time could assail me, unless there were, as I feared, others among -the rocks in my rear. - -Now what were my emotions on discovering that in my exertions, while -struggling up the rocks, the strap of my shot-belt had given way, and -that I had _lost_ it, with all my ammunition! - -A wild perplexity filled my heart, and a cold perspiration burst over -my temples; but at that moment of desperation a happy thought -occurred to me. - -Remembering that I had a long clasp-knife, which opened and shut with -a spring, I applied it in bayonet-fashion to my rifle, and with my -handkerchief lashed it hard and fast to the muzzle and ramrod head. -This was barely accomplished, when one of the bears had its fore-paws -on the edge of the rock whereon I stood, and by the light of the -stars I could see his fierce red eyes, his long white teeth, and -enormous claws, while burying my impromptu bayonet thrice in his -great broad breast, and then the blood flowed darkly over his pure -white coat. The wounds were not deep enough to kill him at once, so -uttering roar after roar, the infuriated bear scraped away with his -hind feet, making vigorous but ineffectual efforts to reach me, till -by a furious kick I drove one of his paws off the ledge of rock. The -other relaxed immediately, and then Bruin rolled like a great -featherbed to the bottom, about thirty feet below, where he moved no -more. - -But in a moment a second bear took his place. Emotion almost -exhausted me; but in my confusion when charging him, fortunately my -knife was thrust into his right eye. He uttered a hideous cry, -between a bellow of rage and a moan of agony, and fell down the -rocks--also dead! - -The weapon had evidently penetrated to the brain, and killed him. - -A wild and joyous glow now filled my heart. It was a triumphant -emotion, a lust for destruction and revenge, after the terror I had -endured; and I believe that had a whole army of bears appeared, I -should, without fear, have encountered them--one by one. - -Uttering a "hurrah" just as the fourth bear arrived at my feet, I was -about to charge him as I had done the others when--oh, terror!--the -knotting of my handkerchief gave way, and the knife dropped from the -muzzle of my gun, and fell to the bottom of the rocks. - -Clubbing the weapon, I rained a torrent of blows upon the great head -of this new assailant, which seemed the largest and most ferocious of -them all, as he probably had neither partaken of the poor Greenlander -or of that most unlucky musk-ox, the slaying of which had no doubt -brought me into this perilous predicament; but my blows fell on his -fur-covered skull as harmlessly as they would have fallen on a bale -of cotton. - -Furiously I struck with butt and barrel at his broad black nose and -great round paws, the deadly claws of which grasped the rock with the -tenacity of iron hooks. Bruin uttered neither roar nor other sound, -but concentrating all his energies, drew up his hams, made a vigorous -spring, and in a moment I was dashed to the ground--his hot and -horrible breath was in my nostrils and on my face, while his weight -pressed me down as he prepared to hug or crush me to death. But now -a gun-shot rang between the rocks of the deep chasm, and I found -myself suddenly freed. Pierced through the heart by a single -well-aimed ball, the bear rolled over me dead, a quivering mass of -flesh and fur! - -So severely was I stunned by the shock of Bruin's attack, and so -confused by the whole combat, that some minutes elapsed before I had -sufficient strength or breath to thank my preserver, to whom I might -as well have spoken in Greek or Choctaw, as he proved to be a poor -Greenlander who had never heard a word of English before. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -WOLMAR FYNBÖE. - -After various efforts to make ourselves mutually understood, he said -something in a kind of jargon which resembled German, and as I had -learned that language at home for commercial rather than literary -purposes, we contrived to converse, though not with great fluency, -using grimaces and signs when words failed us, which was a -circumstance of frequent occurrence. - -He informed me that he had been searching for a friend who came forth -to hunt for a musk-ox, which had been seen in their district, and who -he feared had fallen a victim to its horns or the bear's paws. - -"I shot the musk-ox," said I; "and as for your friend, I fear your -surmises are only too correct, for the half-devoured remains of a -dead man are lying at the foot of these rocks just now." - -He hurried to the base of the precipice, where I was too exhausted to -follow him, and by the sounds of rage and lamentation which preceded -his return, I was assured that his friend or kinsman had been the -victim of these rapacious brutes. This comforted me, however, with -the conviction that the remains were neither those of Paul Reeves nor -old Peterkin, our second mate. - -But, meantime, where were they? - -The Greenlander rejoined me, with my shot-belt and gory knife, which -he found among the rocks. He thanked me for so amply avenging his -friend's death on his destroyers, and proceeded at once to calculate -the value of the four skins and eight hams of the bears. He invited -me to his house, which he said was not far off, adding that his name -was Wolmar Fynböe; that he was a merchant who exported to Europe -seal-skins, the horns of the sea-unicorn, whalebone, and blubber; -bartering these, and the skins of blue and white foxes, hares, and -bears, for knives and guns, shot, tobacco, barley, beer and brandy, -&c.; that he had once been as far as Kiobenhaven,[*] but did not like -the manners of the _kablunaet_ (foreigners), who were but half men -when compared to the Greenlanders; for national vanity is a great -characteristic of these poor people, as it is of many others even -less civilized. - - -[*] Copenhagen. - - -Like the Lapps, he wore a long pelisse of untanned reindeer skin, -having a hood like a friar's cowl attached thereto, and buttons of -walrus teeth. His hose, boots, and breeches, which were all in one, -were of the same material, but decorated at the sides by bunches of -thongs and tufts of white bearskin. Thus, but for his fair -complexion, he might have passed very well for an Esquimau of the -Labrador coast. - -I gladly committed myself to his guidance. - -We soon reached his house, a dwelling of singular aspect, built on -the slope of a snow-covered hill which overlooked the Fin Whale -Strait, on the waters of which the rays of the northern Aurora were -still playing with wondrous beauty; and from thence he dispatched -some of his men to bring home the remains of his friend, the dead -bears, and the head of the musk-ox. - -We were received at the door by an old servant, a woman of fearful -aspect, also dressed in skins; but these were adorned by stripes of -red and blue leather to indicate her sex. She was aged, and being of -"the _old_ school"--for there is one there, even in Greenland--she -was tattooed as completely as if she had been a denizen of Nootka -Sound. Aloft in her hand, which resembled a crow's talons, she held -a lamp to light us into an inner apartment, where Wolmar Fynböe -introduced me to his daughters, two girls dressed in skins; but these -were neatly adorned with variously-coloured leather, especially about -the moccassins which encased their trim legs. Their dresses were cut -low at the neck, either to reveal its whiteness (for females have -vanity even in that region of ice), or to display their under -garments, which were formed of the skins of little birds, ingeniously -preserved, sewn together, and worn with the soft feathers next the -skin. - -Wolmar Fynböe was the tallest man in Greenland, yet he measured only -five feet; and though deemed handsome, he had all the peculiarities -of his race--to wit, a paunchy figure, a broad flat visage, of a -brown brick-dust colour; small eyes, thick lips, and coal-black -locks, that waved upon his shoulders like those of a gnome. -Nevertheless, his daughters Grethe and Alfa had rather regular -features, clear complexions, and long brown hair, their mother having -been a woman of Iceland. - -They were preparing a supper of _grod_ (Danish), a species of food -made of oats or barley, and eaten with butter and milk, when their -father's entrance with a _stranger_--a being more seldom seen than -mermaids and gnomes, by common report--startled them so much, that -some time elapsed before they could resume their occupation, and -swing upon the fire the great pot-stone kettle containing the -aforesaid _grod_ with my assistance--in proffering which I won the -hearts of all, politeness to females being rather a rarity on the -shore of the Fin Whale Strait. - -The large fire burned brightly and cheerily, being composed of -drift-wood; for upon that barren coast, in addition to the stranded -wrecks of Scottish and Russian whalers, are found at times the spoil -of the Great Gulf Stream, the palmettoes of South America, and, -covered with weeds and barnacles, the vast logs that whilome cast the -shadows of their foliage on the lovely Bay of Honduras. By this -strange current the spoils of Virginia and Carolina are also cast on -the shores of Iceland, and by it the main-mast of H.M.S. _Tilbury_, -which was burned in Jamaica, was thrown upon the western coast of -Scotland. - -After having fed so long upon the spoils of the ice--the odds and -ends of seals and blubber--I made a veritable banquet with the worthy -merchant and his two daughters. Then we had the luxury of hot -brandy-and-water thereafter--the Ganymede who served us being, ugh! -the old tattooed woman. - -I have mentioned that the mansion of Weimar Fynböe presented a -curious aspect, but this arose from the circumstance of its being (as -he informed me) built from the remains of an old whale-ship of large -dimensions, which had been cast away in the Fin Whale Strait about -one hundred and fifty years ago. Her ribs and timbers formed the -roof and uprights of the walls; on these the outer and inner -sheathing were bolted or pegged anew, and filled-in between with moss -and turf. The lockers in which her cabin stores had been placed were -our seats, the beds were her berths; the room of the fur-clad Grethe -and Alfa was merely separated from ours by an old bulkhead, in the -centre of which a cabin door was hinged. The four stern-windows were -framed into the wall, a luxury, a piece of splendour, in Greenland, -where the casements are usually formed of the entrails of seals and -dolphins dried, and neatly stitched together. Some faded charts were -nailed on the wall as pictures. An old musket or two, and a -pinchbeck watch, were nearly all that now remained of the spoil found -in the ship, which had been deserted by her crew; but from none of -these relics could her name or country be discerned, though I -supposed her to have been English from the circumstance of a Bible -and little book in that language having been found in her by the -grandfather of Wolmar Fynböe, who built his house from her materials. - -The "little book" Wolmar showed me. It was a curious black-letter -pamphlet, printed at London in the time of Charles II., and in Dutch -types. I took a particular fancy for it, as it contained the -relation of a perilous voyage performed by a ship which belonged to -the Seven United Provinces. - -Wolmar Fynböe offered to barter it for the horns of the musk-ox; but -I assured him that he was welcome alike to the entire head, the -bears' skins, and hams to boot. To this he agreed at once, -conceiving, probably, that one who parted so readily with spoil did -not deserve to possess any; so I retired with my literary acquisition -(the contents of which I shall give to the reader elsewhere), begging -Wolmar Fynböe to have me summoned betimes in the morning, as I was -most anxious to reach Cunninghame's Haven, and rejoin my friends on -board the _Leda_. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -ADIEU TO THE REGION OF ICE. - -Next morning I was up early, my bed not being exactly so luxurious as -I could have wished; and there was about everything that overpowering -odour of blubber which pervades a Greenland household. For -breakfast, Grethe brought in a gaily-painted Muscovite bowl, full of -warm milk, and a hot barley-cake, made by Alfa. Her father soon -after brought my gun, cleaned and oiled; and then bidding adieu in -rather symbolical language to his daughters, we set forth into the -clear, cold atmosphere of the young May morning--for we were now in -what is deemed in kindlier climes the second month of summer--but as -yet no sun was visible. - -Far away in distance stretched the Fin Whale Strait, towards Kalla -Fiord, which opens into the Icy Sea; its broken scenery, its -splintered crags, its lofty bluffs and pinnacles, exhibiting the most -singular combinations of light and shadow in the yellow blaze of the -yet unrisen sun. The summits seemed tipped with fire, while the -bases which rose sheer from the still, deep waters of the waveless -strait were dark and sombre as ebony. - -Waveless it truly was, save where broken by the knoblike head of a -blackfin-whale, as he swam against the wind, and blew clouds of water -into the air. - -As we proceeded, I could perceive that Wolmar Fynböe, though merry -and good-humoured, like all Greenlanders was deeply imbued with -superstitions dark and gloomy as those of the Scandinavian Edda. -Leaning on his hunting-spear, he pointed to a rock in the strait, -saying that his mother's sister Alfa (from whom he named his youngest -daughter) was wont to see a handsome young merman seated thereon, -every time she came to the beach to gather shell-fish or dry nets. - -"A merman!" I reiterated, believing that I had not heard him -correctly. - -"A merman," continued Fynböe, emphatically. "His curling beard was -green, and his features, like those of the _Innuit_ (Greenlanders), -were as soft and pleasing as his manner was mild and persuasive. He -took her by the hand, and after their fourth meeting led her under -the sea, where she lived with him at the bottom of the Fin Whale -Strait for a great many years, and never grew less beautiful, though -she frequently pined for the dwelling of her mother, whom at times -she could behold from the windows of her watery home, every summer -when the ice-floes floated out to sea, and the young whales came to -play about the headlands in the sunny waves. - -"One summer came, but the old woman appeared no more on the slope of -the hill; and then Alfa knew that her sorrowing mother had gone to -the Island of the Dead. - -"Alfa dwelt with the merman, till one night as he was sporting about -in the moonbeams amid the waters of the strait, Grön Jette, the wild -huntsman, who once in every year comes over the sea at midnight out -of Denmark, slew him by a blow of his lance, as he sped with his -yelling hounds and fierce black horses over land and ocean towards -the north, where the bright streamers were dancing. - -"The spell was thus broken; and the young girl found herself turned -suddenly into an old woman, seated on the same rock where, twenty -years before, the merman had wooed and won her; but now seven -well-grown children with fish-tails, and hair that was half green -like her husband's and half golden like her own, were swimming about -in the flood before her, weeping for her return. So, to rejoin them, -she plunged in and was drowned--for the spell of the merman's -presence was no longer around her. Next day I found her body -floating in the strait, and by a string of crystals round her neck, -knew her to be the sister my mother had lost twenty years before. We -bore her to the Island of the Dead; and as we use no coffins, like -the red-haired Danes, we heaped up stones to hide her from view; but -a bear swam off from Sermesoak, tore our gathered heap asunder, and -devoured her!" - -Wolmar Fynböe rehearsed this strange story with the utmost good -faith; for he was simple enough to believe that Torngarsück, the God -of Greenland--a spirit which, though no larger than one's thumb, at -times assumes the form of a gigantic white bear--dwelt at the bottom -of the Whale Strait, with his wife the Demon of Evil, guarded by -droves of narwhals and ferocious seals, and surrounded by vast lamps -filled with train-oil, in which the sea-birds swam by night. - -With many a strange story of witches, and conflicts with whales, -walruses, and with devils that sailed through the air and changed -themselves into snowdrifts to overwhelm belated hunters, he beguiled -the way, until we reached Cunninghame's Haven, where I found Paul -Reeves and Hans Peterkin awaiting me in considerable anxiety, and -irresolute whether to put off for the Bear Isle and report to Hartly -that I had been lost, or to return once more in search of me. - -I now gave the honest Greenlander two crown pieces, as neck amulets -for each of his daughters (among whose descendants they may become -heirlooms for ages), and bidding him farewell, we stepped into our -boat, which was well stocked with game--a large white bear, a pile of -hares, and several brace of birds shot by the two mates. Then we -shoved off to join the _Leda_, and Wolmar Fynböe, ever and anon -pausing to look after us, slowly ascended the cliffs, assisted by his -harpoon-shaped hunting spear, and at last disappeared on the path to -his half-barbarous and wholly secluded home. - -In two hours after, we reached the _Leda_, which had her courses -loose, a signal for sea. Our quota of provisions proved a very -acceptable addition to those obtained by Hartly from the Danish -resident. - -"Bravo, Jack!" said he, as we hoisted the bear on board, "our -victualling department is complete now, and if this wind holds we -shall weigh an hour before sunset." - -"But the victualling--of what does it consist?" - -"The dainties--the luxuries of Greenland!" - -"Indeed," said I, doubtfully. - -"In exchange for a few hundred seal-skins, and some kegs of rancid -blubber, we have got pickled bear's flesh, bull-heads, gulls and -belugas, salmon-trout, and reindeer tongues, hares and partridges in -pickle, with a few tubs of whortleberries, preserved in oil. We -shall have the white bear in the cabin to ourselves." - -"Why?" - -"Sailors won't eat white bear hams?" - -"But why?" - -"They assert that the flesh makes their hair grey. We have also a -cask of sorrel preserved in blubber." - -"Ugh! of course; but for what purpose?" - -"As a preservative against scurvy. And now up blue-peter, man the -windlass, and heave short on the anchor!" - -We sailed an hour before sunset; and ere the pale white moon rose -from the sea, the jagged pinnacles of Sermesoak and the stormy bluff -of Cape Farewell were melting into the brilliant sky astern, while -our sailors sang cheerily as they hoisted the working anchor on -board, unbent the chain-cable and stowed it in the tier. The month -being May we had the light of the sun nearly all night, though in the -daytime he only rises thirty-three degrees above the horizon. - -However, we lit our binnacle lamps when he set, the sails were -trimmed for a south-west course, and now we fairly bore away into the -mighty ocean, and bade adieu for ever to the REGION OF ICE. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -A SHARK. - -For the fourth time during our rambling voyage, the _Leda_ was again -free and under sail upon the blue and boundless sea. - -I cannot describe the emotions of joy with which, after our recent -long imprisonment amid the waste of ice we gazed upon its buoyant -ripples shining in the sun of May. Its broad vast bosom of -resplendent blue--a blue so indicative of immensity--that spread far -away beyond the dim horizon, flecked with tiny floes of ice, seemed -as the mirror wherein we could trace the future. - -It was freedom, it was the high road to our homes, to sunshine and -the genial south. Everything was set that would draw--royals, flying -jib, and studding-sails, as we bore on with a breeze, which, though -keen, cold, and cutting, enabled us soon to leave the clime of frost -and suffering, bears and icebergs far astern. - -On the second day we passed a ship waterlogged and dismasted, -battered, and abandoned. Her boats, bulwarks, and everything had -been swept from her decks. We bore down upon her, but there was no -sign of life on board, so we hauled our wind again and left her to -drift, where she would no doubt prove a prize, on the sterile coast -of Greenland. - -One day a shark followed us with singular pertinacity, eluding every -shot we fired at his black dorsal fin from our rifles and sealing -guns, till Hans Peterkin, who was skilful in the use of the harpoon, -evidently wounded the monster by a well-directed blow over our stern -quarter, after which our enemy disappeared. Old Hans exulted -considerably in his victory, but awoke that night in the midst of a -frightful dream, and alarmed all his shipmates by crying out that a -shark was devouring him. - -"Take care, Hans," grumbled Tom Hammer, as he turned in his hammock, -annoyed on being roused from a sound sleep, "don't be falling -overboard, for it is my belief that Jack Shark is in the dead water -astern yet, looking out for his revenge." - -This passed as a joke at the time, but next day it had a singular -sequel. - -We were almost becalmed. From being light and variable, the wind had -nearly died away. The sea was smooth as if oil covered all its -surface; the listless canvas hung asleep, or flapped heavily as the -masts swayed to and fro, the reef points pattering, as the _Leda_ -rolled lazily on the long glassy ridges that swelled up and shone in -the meridian sun. - -Amid the general apathy which such a state of matters produces on -board of a ship, we were roused by the cry of "a dolphin alongside;" -and though these fish are generally met in droves, when the waves are -breaking and the wind blowing fresh, one was seen rising and sinking, -as if sporting in the sunshine. - -Immediately Hans appeared on the bowsprit, armed with his Orkney -harpoon, a long spear pointed with barbed iron. Rapidly he bent the -line to the foreganger of his weapon, and grasping it, with a handful -of slack in his right hand, he slid under the bowsprit, and along the -martingale stays which are stretched taut to the end of the jib-boom. -Clasping the vertical spar of the martingale with his left arm, he -took a steady aim at the dolphin, and launched his harpoon with all -his strength. - -The stroke was followed by a shout from the crew, who crowded into -the bows and forerigging, for poor Hans had overstruck himself, and -after swinging violently round the martingale, fell into the sea, -missing the dolphin, which instantly disappeared. - -"My dream--oh, my dream!" cried old Hans in terror, as he rose -floundering and sputtering to the surface. - -Then came the appalling cry of "A shark! a shark!" and in the very -place where the dolphin sank, the short crooked fin of this great -monster of the deep was seen making straight towards Hans, who, -though an expert swimmer, a hard-a-weather salt, accustomed to all -the hardships and terrors of Ultima Thule and his native Orcades, was -struggling wildly for life, having got entangled in the slack line of -his harpoon. - -"Captain Hartly--man overboard! a rope--a rope!" - -"Cut away the life-buoy!" - -"Lower away the stern-boat!" - -Such were the cries on every hand, while the current soon swept -Peterkin past the brig, till he was nearly fifty yards astern. - -Old Hans uttered a cry of despair, echoed by a groan from all, and -sank! - -Regardless of the shark, which was then double the distance of Hans -from us, Hartly, who had rushed on deck at the first alarm, with the -rapidity of thought, threw off his coat, knotted a line round his -waist, lowered himself into the mainchains, and joining the palms of -his hands together in the cut-water fashion of a diver, urging the -while his agile body by a sharp push from the chain-plate, sprang -into the sea, and vanished amid the ripples. Then in half minute or -less he reappeared with Hans, whose grey locks he grasped firmly, as -he cast upward a glance of mingled hope and terror--hope of aid from -his crew, and terror of the monster, which was shooting towards them; -for though the ring of Mother Jensdochter was to save him from -drowning, the good dame omitted all mention of sea-lawyers. - -"Down with the stern-boat!" cried Reeves. - -In a moment the falls were cast loose and the boat was lowered from -the davits, manned, and shoved off with a rapidity which nothing but -the discipline of the crew and their love for Hartly could have -ensured! Save those in the boat, all held their breath--all were -paralysed by the scene, and our complete inability to aid or to -protect our friends. However, the splashing of the half-drowned Hans -somewhat scared the monster, and kept him off. - -The boat soon reached the spot; they were drawn on board, and just in -time, for the shark's nose was close to Hans' heels, while a hearty -hurrah greeted him and his gallant preserver. - -Ere the boat was again dangling at the stern davits, the shark, which -had now recovered his surprise and the alarm Hans' splashing had -occasioned him, was seen darting furiously to and fro in search of a -victim; and but for the celerity of our boat's crew, one or other -must have perished in his horrible jaws. Though the shark has rarely -the power to bite a man in two, he can strip the flesh from his body -in such a manner, that death is sure to follow. - -The wind freshened after this, and the ship's course was resumed; but -as night came on, the studdingsails and royals were taken in. Hans -appeared in very low spirits after his recent adventure, so Hartly -excused him from deck duty for that night. Then, as we sat over our -grog in the cabin, the deck being in charge of Tom Hammer, Hartly -said-- - -"By the bye, Jack, you said something of finding an old printed yarn -about a shipwreck in Skipper Fynböe's house in Greenland." - -"Yes--a queer old story it seems." - -"Let us have it, then; read it aloud. Cuffy, trim the lamps; bring -another case-bottle from the locker, and shut the cabin door. Pass -word for Mr. Reeves and Hans Peterkin to step down--Mr. Manly is -about to spin us a yarn." - -I soon produced my little story-book, of which (as it was an -authentic narrative) I shall give the exact title; though I prefer to -rehearse the contents in my own manner, as the language and spelling -of its author are somewhat quaint and antiquated. - -It was called "The Wonderfull and Tragical! Relation of a Voyage -from the Indies, printed at the Black Raven, in Duck Lane, A.D. 1684." - -The substance thereof was as follows. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -THE FATAL VOYAGE OF THE HEER VAN ESTELL. - -It was in the month of August, 1670, that the barque _De Ruyter_, -bearing the flag of the Seven United Provinces (then under their High -Mightinesses the States General) and named after Michael Adrian de -Ruyter, Admiral of Holland--the same valiant mariner who beat the -English, burned Chatham, and bombarded Tilbury--left the port of -Pernambuco, in Peru, for Rotterdam, tacking carefully to avoid the -shoals and rocks which made the Portuguese of old name it the "Mouth -of Hell"--_Inferno-bocca_--hence its present corrupted name. - -She was manned by Captain Koningsmarke and sixteen seamen; she -carried four brass guns, and had her stern decorated by the lions, -spotted sable and gules, which form the arms of Rotterdam. Her mate -was an Englishman named Carpinger, a brave and skilful seaman. - -As passengers, she had the Heer Van Estell, his wife Gudule, their -two little children, Erasmus and Cornelius, with Dame Trüdchen, their -faithful old nurse. The Heer was a native of the Low Countries, who, -after a long residence in the Dutch colony at Brazil, had amassed a -magnificent fortune, and risen to be a Director of the Company of the -Great Indies, a dignity which no one could attain unless he vested -twelve thousand guilders in the old stock. Now, having amassed all -the wealth he deemed desirable, with his wife and children--little -curly-haired Erasmus, whom he had named after the great philosopher -of Rotterdam (towards whose statue in the Bürger-platz he gave a -thousand rix-dollars), and chubby little Cornelius, whom he had named -after Cornelius de Witt, who, with his brother, was so barbarously -assassinated by William of Orange (and afterwards of England)--he was -returning to his native city to spend his days in peace and quiet, -with the three beings whom he loved most on earth. - -The day was cloudless and clear, the wind was fair, but light, and -while the bark, with all her canvas set, from her flying-jib to her -spanker, and with the colours of the Seven Provinces flying at her -gaff-peak, passed in safety the flat sandbanks of St. Antonio, and -that long reef which receives the full force of the sea, and guards -the town of Recife, the tall and portly Heer, with his beautiful wife -and chubby little ones beside him, sat in a cushioned chair on the -warm deck, enjoying a long pipe of tobacco with all the ease and -complacency that became a wealthy Hollander and Director of the Great -India Company. - -Without any emotion, save joy that he was returning, he saw the hill -of Olinda, the tall slender spires of the town, and the grim -batteries of Cinco Pontas, melt in the distance astern, as the _De -Ruyter_ bore away into the Western Ocean. - -For more than a month the voyage was delightful and prosperous; but -adverse winds came anon, and storms too; and Captain Koningsmarke was -blown out of his course; moreover, he lost his reckoning, as the sky -remained obscured by clouds, and for weeks both quadrant and sextant -were used in vain. - -His anxiety and that of the Heer became great, for provisions were -becoming scarce--so much so that, ere long, all on board received but -a scanty allowance. Then Van Estell and Dame Gudule beheld with -secret agony the roses fading from the cheeks of their children, -their pretty faces becoming blanched, and their once round forms -attenuated. - -Week after week rolled anxiously, mournfully away! - -Still the winds were adverse, and still the _De Ruyter_ tacked and -tacked again, like the fabled ship of Vanderdecken, but without -meeting a craft that might assist them, till at last there fell a -death-like calm upon the sea; and then, for many, many days under a -hot sun, and in the breathless nights that followed, the helpless -vessel lay like a log, with her blocks and cordage rattling, and her -loose canvas flapping until it was frittered and frayed on the -blistering yards and masts, while the sea chafed her rusting -chain-plates and the pitch boiled from her planking--yet "she lay so -that, for several weeks, they could scarcely tell whether they were -forwarded a league's space." - -And now a deadly pest broke out on board--a malignant fever, which -covered its victims with livid blotches, like the spotted lions, -gules and sable, on the ship's stern; and among those who perished -were Koningsmarke, the captain, and eight of his crew. They were -thrown overboard, and for days their bodies remained in sight, with -fishes sporting about them, and obscene birds of the sea lighting on -them, as they floated on its still and waveless surface. - -Provisions were now dealt out more sparingly than ever. Strong men -grew wan, and gaunt, and feeble; for as their strength failed and -hope faded, so did their spirit die within them; and then even the -most superstitious ceased to _whistle_ for wind. - -At last they were reduced to a half biscuit and single morsel of meat -per day; the latter failed, and then the half biscuit; and now they -looked grimly and terribly in each other's hollow visages and -bloodshot eyes, while wondering what was to become of them, for -although lines had long hung overboard, the sea had refused to yield -them fish. - -"To wait with hope is nothing, but to wait with DESPAIR is worse than -death!" - -So did the Heer Van Estell wait, and his wife Gudule--now no longer -the beautiful Gudule, for she was wan, wasted, and sinking, having -given her pittance of food for several days to sustain her little -ones. All his wealth, all the riches acquired by years of prudence -in the Indies, would the unhappy Van Estell have given gladly to -purchase a single biscuit, to sustain for one day more the lives of -those he loved so well. - -At last little Erasmus and Cornelius died, passing away without pain -or a murmur, having become of late too weak even to weep for food. - -They passed away, and the Heer and his wife remained by the pretty -corpses as if transformed to stone! - -Four days passed after this--still no food--no hope--no wind in the -air, no ship upon the sea! - -Gudule could not consent to cast her dead children into its mighty -depth; but anon she repented of it bitterly, for the eight seamen who -remained, after a long conference on the forecastle, and frequently -casting glances aft towards the cabin--glances like those of -wolves--came in a body, and demanded that the dead children should be -surrendered to them as _food_! - -The entreaties and tears of the parents were vain. The Heer (now -shorn of his strength) and his miserable helpmate were thrust into -their cabin, while the wasted bodies of their children were borne -away and laid on the drum of the capstan, where they were cut to -pieces by the cook's knife, and then devoured raw. Hunger seemed to -make the sailors insane, and able to overcome all aversion for food -so unnatural; but whether it was that they ate immoderately, or that -with satiety came a horror of their meal, I know not, but they were -immediately assailed by a dreadful sickness, which left their bodies -weaker than ever. - -Gudule lay in a stupor on her bed, but the Heer loaded his pistols, -though scarcely knowing for what purpose; and exerting all his -strength, he contrived to burst open the cabin door and stagger on -deck, when the crew, whom the hunger of another day assailed again, -had just concluded the last of a second dreadful banquet--a banquet -on his children! - -On the capstan there lay the head of one. It had the fair curly -locks of little Erasmus. - -"Oh, madness and agony!" groaned the miserable Van Estell, as he took -it in his tremulous hands, kissed it tenderly thrice, and slowly and -solemnly dropped it into the glassy sea. - -He could not weep--his hot dry eyes refused a tear, but groans burst -from his overcharged breast and parched lips, and he swooned on the -deck. There he lay, and so another day passed. When he recovered it -was about the time of midnight, and a full round moon was shining on -that now neglected ship of death and of despair. - -The atmosphere was mild and warm. - -The Heer stole into the cabin, and saw that his poor, sad, childless -wife lay very still and motionless. Tremblingly he drew near, lest -she might be dead; for then he had resolved to cast her and himself -into the sea, lest her fair form might also be devoured by the madmen -on deck. But she was in a soft sleep, dreaming, perhaps, that her -lost little ones were alive, and seated by her side in a palm grove -of Peru, listening to the voice of the campanero, or sweet bell-bird -of Brazil. The deep slumber that follows long hours of mental and -bodily suffering had fallen upon her. - -The poor man wept and kissed her tenderly, but at that moment the -mate, George Carpinger, entered, and roughly ordered him to come -forward to the capstan head, where he and his comrades were -deliberating on what was to be done next. - -Heer Van Estell assured himself that his pistols were still in his -pocket, that they were primed and loaded, and then he obeyed. As -these nine men stood round the capstan, they resembled spectres -rather than human beings, when the cold lustre of the moon fell on -their pallid visages and bloodshot eyes that glared wildly from out -their sunken sockets. - -Eleven persons were still on board, namely, the Heer, his wife and -servant, the mate, and seven seamen; it was evident that one must be -sacrificed to prolong the existence of the rest, and mentally they -resolved that whoever became the victim, should be cooked, lest the -flesh might sicken them again...... - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -THE FATAL VOYAGE--HOW THEY CAST LOTS. - -"I am aware," says the author of _Antonina_, "of the tendency in some -readers to denounce truth itself as improbable, unless their own -personal experience has borne witness to it." In this spirit, some -may denounce the fatalities of the Heer's voyage as improbabilities, -though the hideous circumstance of human beings in extremity of -hunger destroying each other for food, has been too well and too -terribly established in many instances--such as the wreck of the -French frigate _Medusa_; when the British frigate _Nautilus_ was lost -on a solitary rock in the Mediterranean; during the famine on board -the American ship _Peggy_; and on many other occasions. - -But to resume our little quarto. - -The mate conducted the Heer Van Estell to the capstan, where the -starving seamen stood in a silent group, and then he informed him in -a hoarse whisper-- - -"That unless they contrived a means of furnishing themselves with -food, they must all die of starvation; it was impossible for them to -subsist for another day. That there were eleven persons on board, -and they had come to the resolution of determining by lot who should -die that the rest might live." - -"_Eleven_ on board!" reiterated the Heer, faintly, for his poor wife -Grudule was one of these. - -"Eleven," added a seaman named Adrian Crudelius, with a wild glare in -his eye; "if one dies, ten may live. Bring your wife on deck, sir; -she must take her chance with the rest. There must be no distinction -here." - -"Nay," said George Carpinger, "we may excuse her presence, and so -spare her some of this horror; but her husband shall draw for her." - -"Sirs," replied the poor Heer, "I thank you. Even here she finds the -privileges of her sex accorded her." - -Then with tremulous hands the mate tore a sheet of paper into eleven -pieces, and numbered them from _one_ to _eleven_. He folded and -placed them in his hat. It was then agreed that he who drew number -_one_ was to die, and that he who drew number _two_ was to be the -executioner. After shaking the fatal pieces of paper, amid a silence -that was awful--the silence of horror--for food or want, death or -life, were on the issue, every glassy eye was fixed, each nether jaw -relaxed, while with hot and feverish hands that trembled, they drew -forth their lots--the Heer taking two in succession. He opened them -hastily, smote his forehead, uttered a wailing cry, and reeled -against the capstan. - -He had drawn numbers "one" and "two," so it was the lot of him to -die, and by the hand of Grudule, or _vice versâ_! - -The unhappy seamen had scarcely foreseen a chance so terrible as -this. Carpinger urged that the wife should be spared, or that lots -should be cast once more; but those who by risking their fate had -escaped death, were loth to tempt it again, and with sullen murmurs -declined. Propping himself against the capstan, the unfortunate Van -Estell summoned all his energies, and thus addressed them:-- - -"My good companions in misery, you have seen our sorrow and despair -for the loss of our dear little children; and though I know that -death would be a relief and refuge to my poor Grudule, neither she -nor I can perish by the other's hand. Thus I offer myself freely and -willingly as the victim and sacrifice. When I am dead, I charge -you--I pray you be kind unto her. Conduct her to her friends, her -home, her country, and be assured that if ever you are happy enough -to see the waters of the Maese, and the old spires of Rotterdam, she -will have wealth enough to reward you all. May Heaven bless you! -Gudule, farewell--my poor Gudule!" - -At these words he drew a pistol from his pocket, shot himself through -the head, and fell flat on the deck. Some appeared stunned by the -whole affair, but two threw themselves upon the yet quivering body -like wild animals, and sucked up the blood that oozed from it. - -In the weird light of the moon, that bloody deck, that silent group -and fallen corpse, presented an awful scene to Gudule Van Estell, who -tottered from her cabin, being roused by the sound of the pistol; but -now Carpinger the mate, Adrian Crudelius, and her old nurse, bore her -back into the cabin, and fastened the door to prevent her seeing the -dreadful scene that was sure to ensue, when the famished men, in -their voracity and fury, almost tore the clothes from the body of the -Heer, being rendered more mad than ever by the contents of a single -case-bottle of Geneva which had been discovered. They hewed the body -to pieces, cast its head into the sea, and again the horrible repast -commenced--a repast which rendered two raving mad, for with loud -yells they sprang overboard and disappeared. - -All the rest became insane, save the mate and Adrian Crudelius, who -endeavoured to control their extravagance. One proposed to scuttle -the ship, or set her on fire, that all might perish together; another -raved and blasphemed Heaven for withholding the wind; a third -denounced the craft as being under a spell, and thus fixed to one -part of the sea, from whence she would never stir till her timbers -rotted and her planks opened; and all, save the mate, were unanimous -that next time the wife of the Heer, upon whom one of the lots had -fallen, should perish for their sustenance if a sail came not in -sight. - -That day passed as others had done; the glassy sea without a ripple, -the hot sun overhead, the sails flapping against the masts; the -banner of the Seven Provinces, inverted as a sign of distress, -hanging listlessly downward from the gaff-peak; the sky without a -cloud, the horizon without a sail, and the hearts of the cannibals on -board the _De Ruyter_ without hope! - -Gudule Van Estell was still surviving. The kind mate had caught a -couple of mice; these he gave to the nurse, who cooked them in secret -for her mistress and herself. But now, towards evening, four of the -crew, who were bereft of reason, approached her cabin door, and were -attempting to force it open, for the purpose of dragging her to the -capstan head, when George Carpinger, armed with a cutlass, rushed -forward, and drove them back. - -They soon procured arms, and howling like wild animals, attacked him, -staggering the while like drunken men with weakness. Crudelius now -joined the mate, and there ensued a conflict in which two were slain, -and their bodies were cast overboard by the survivors, who were -already so glutted by their horrible food as to have no desire for -more. - -By the noon of the next day, all had perished by exhaustion, save the -mate and the Dame Van Estell. - -Night was coming on, and the poor solitary seaman was sitting on the -windlass in a species of stupor, when an unusual coolness in the -atmosphere roused his attention, and, with a sailor's instinct, he -felt the coming breeze. - -First there came a gentle catspaw upon the darkening water, then a -ripple, and now a whitening of the wave-tops at a distance. He -stretched his tremulous hands towards them, and wept in joy! - -Anon, clouds came banking up in dense masses to leeward, and -rain--blessed rain! began to fall, while the wind of heaven blew the -long neglected rigging out in bands, and filled the flapping sails. - -A brace of lazy gulls suddenly appeared wheeling about; and a bird--a -land bird--perched on the end of the studding-sail boom alongside. - -The haggard eyes of Carpinger swept the horizon, and saw afar off a -spark, which he at first supposed to be a star, but, ere long, -discovered to be a light; yet whether it shone on board of a ship, or -on the shore, he knew not; so he lashed the helm, and rushing to the -lifts and braces, strove to trim the sails and shape the vessel's -course towards it. - -The bunting began to shake at the gaff-peak; ere long it floated out -upon the wind, while a wake whitened astern, a bubble rose under the -bows, and the _De Ruyter_ walked through the water as of yore. - -The breeze continued, and next morning she was close in upon a bleak, -rugged, and mountainous coast, which proved to be the Lizard Point in -Cornwall, the most southern promontory of England.* - - -* It must be borne in mind that the mouth of the Channel was less -frequented by shipping in 1670, than now. - - -George Carpinger had the Dame Van Estell conveyed ashore in the -stern-boat, together with a casket of valuable jewels; and the _De -Ruyter_, after drifting about the coast, escaping the Cornish -wreckers, who deemed a wreck "a Godsend," was taken into Plymouth and -sold. Gudule Van Estell was afterwards conveyed to Rotterdam, where -she found herself one of the wealthiest widows in the city; and as a -reward to George Carpinger for defending her life so valiantly in the -fated _De Ruyter_, she bestowed her hand and guilders upon him. - -"They lived long and happily together; and he died Burgomaster of -Rotterdam in 1720, when Anne was Queen of Britain." - ------------- - -"So ends this story," said I. - -Hartly filled his glass of grog, and emptied it in silence. - -Then I could perceive that the perusal of the history of this fatal -voyage had a most unpleasant effect upon all who heard it, for -Reeves, Hartly, and Hans Peterkin, frequently recurred to it -afterwards. - -"That little black pamphlet came from a wrecked ship," said Hartly, -one day--"'a fated craft'--I can't help wishing you had never brought -it on board, Jack." - -"Why?" I asked. - -"It is such a devil of a horse-marine yarn about these Dutchmen -eating each other." - -"How?" - -"I always think about it." - -"I can easily put it out of existence by stuffing it under a kettle -in the cook's galley; it may aid Cuffy in cooking the dinner." - -"No, no," said he, hastily, "that would be worse." - -"In what way?" - -"I don't know," said he, thoughtfully; "but such things are like the -Flying Dutchman's letters, which must neither be taken or refused -when the wind blows them on board." - -Some days after this, Hartly lost his ring--the ring given him by old -Mother Jensdochter--the amulet which, until that moment, he had never -been without. It was torn from his hand while assisting to haul the -maintack on board, and dropped over the gunnel. - -This trivial event, and the story of the _De Ruyter_, together with -the past evils of our voyage, affected Hartly and Reeves more -seriously than I could have imagined. From the cabin, Cuffy Snowball -soon carried the vague fears forward among the seamen. Hans Peterkin -began to shake his white head ominously, for old mariners have, they -know not why or how, strange instincts and presentiments; so our -crew, without any just reason, became more than usually solicitous -about their duties, and anxious for the termination of the voyage. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. - -ADVENTURE WITH A WHALE. - -Next day the wind veered due west, and we trimmed the _Leda_, to lie -close to it, making long tacks to the southward, as we had been -driven so far to the north-east. - -Hartly and I were leaning over the weather-quarter, chatting and -gazing listlessly at the white water that bubbled like a flooded -mill-race under the brig's counter, while Mother Cary's chickens came -tripping lightly after us, when suddenly a huge whale (like a ship's -hull, bottom uppermost) rose from the waves close by us, with the -water pouring in torrents from its dusky and shining sides. Its -appearance was so sudden and alarming, that I started back; but -Hartly laughed, saying, - -"Don't mind him, Jack; he is not coming on board." - -For a full minute he floated in the water, keeping pace with the -brig, to the great admiration of our old Orkney whaleman, Hans, and -then sank slowly down--down far below. We could see his vast bulk -shining as he passed _under_ us, and came up on our other side, so -close that he almost grazed the copper of the _Leda_. - -This monster of the deep was nearly as large, at least as long, as -the brig, and his aspect was calculated to inspire awe in those who -were less familiar than we now were with the denizens of the sea. - -He was a common whale, and the head being, as usual, out of all -proportion, was one-third the entire size of the fish, while the eyes -were no larger than those of an ox. The smooth and slippery skin, -from which the foam dripped, was mottled; and it--or _he_, as we -named him--swam not as whales generally do, _against_ the wind, but -with us. - -Our friend was evidently in a playful mood, as he repeatedly rose and -sank, plunged and surged up on each side of the _Leda_ alternately, -and twice grazed our rudder. - -"He smells the blubber and sealskins aboard, sir," said Hans -Peterkin, "and they make him frolicsome, you see." - -"Look out, sir!" added Reeves, who was in the mainchains; "by Jove, -he'll be foul of us in his next gambol!" - -"And we may have our rudder unshipped--I don't like this at all," -replied Hartly. "Cuffy, bring me a sealing-gun, with powder and a -handful of slugs." - -In half a minute Hartly stood in the boat at the stern davits, with -the long gun loaded and charged with ten square junks of lead, each -larger than a rifle ball. Then, just as the whale, for the fifth or -sixth time rose under the stern, he fired. - -The whole charge entered one of the great spiracles, or blow-holes, -which are situated in the middle of the head, about sixteen feet from -the nose, and through which this fish can spout to a vast height when -wounded or annoyed. The moment the gun was fired, our whale sunk -like a stone. - -"There he goes, for ever I hope!" cried Hartly. - -"We have not seen the last of him, sir," said old Hans, as he got -astride the boom of the fore-and-aft mainsail in his excitement to -see the whale again; "he has a long way to go _down_, before he'll -come up again. Why, Lord love you, sir, I have known them in the -sound of Yell, when struck by a harpoon, descend head-foremost for -eight hundred fathoms, (at the rate of eight knots an hour, till the -line in the bowpost smoked, ay, blazed with friction,) and then come -up with their jawbones broken, by running foul of a rock at the -bottom. That one has gone down fully four hundred fathoms." - -"How do you know, Hans?" - -"By the eddy--he'll be up to _blow_, directly." - -"Where?" said I. - -"On our weather beam, I think. See! there are the bubbles of his -blowing already!" - -Hans was right; even while he spoke, the whale rose to the surface, -about fifty yards from us, and from his blow-holes shot a vast spout -of water streaked with blood into the air, and then it pattered like -rain as it fell into the sea. After lashing the water furiously with -his tail till it boiled in foam around him, and the air above became -filled with vapour, he threw himself into a _perpendicular_ position, -and stood for a moment like a pillar, from the sea. - -It was a strange and exciting scene! - -He now flapped his mighty flukes, which were perhaps thirty feet -apart, till they cracked like a gigantic whip, and then sank from our -gaze in a deep eddy, around which the concentric waves heaved and -broke for a considerable time; but we saw him no more. - -"Well, Hans," said I, "how do you like this adventure?" - -"Not much, Master Manly," replied the old Scotsman, shaking his white -hairs; "'cause you see, sir, when a whale takes to dancing about on -his nose in this fashion, after lashing the water with his flukes, a -_storm_ is sure to follow. A whale knows better than a human -creature when a close-reefed topsail breeze is coming, by a pricking -pain that comes over their bodies, and so, after dancing about as -that fellow did, they run right away from that quarter of the sea to -another. I have known o' this many times, when I was a wee bairn at -home in Whalsoe. I'll stake a trifle we have our topgallant yards on -deck before the sun sets." - -And old Hans proved correct. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. - -LOSS OF THE "LEDA." - -On the night after our adventure with the whale I had turned in to -bed betimes; but was roused about two in the morning by the noise -made by Hammer, our carpenter, Cuffy Snowball, and others battening -the deadlights of the stern windows. At the same moment I became -sensible of the unusual motion of the vessel, of the tremendous din -that reigned on deck, and of the furious manner in which my cot, the -brass cabin lamp, and the tell-tale compass swung about. - -"What is the matter?" I asked, starting up, while the prophecy of -Hans flashed on my memory. - -"Matter, sir! faith, if you were on deck you would soon find out!" -was the somewhat impatient response of Tom Hammer, who was drenched -to the skin. - -"Is it blowing hard?" said I. - -"'Twill nebber blow harder, Massa Tanly, till him blows himself right -out," grinned Cuffy Snowball. - -"A regular hurricane! the brig is almost under bare poles, and we -sound the pumps every half-hour," added Hammer, who seemed indignant -at the soundness of my past slumber. - -On hearing all this, I leaped out, dressed myself, and hurried on -deck. - -A wild gale, in short, a tempest, was roaring through the rigging and -straining the shrouds of the _Leda_; she lurched and pitched heavily, -as she rushed through mountains of seething foam; for amid the black -obscurity on all sides we could see its whiteness, and the snowy -surf, which was torn by the wind from the wave-crests, and swept, -like smoke, along the sea. - -The brig was driving right before the wind, under a foresail, -foretopsail, and fore and aft mainsail, all closely reefed. -Everything was done that might render her snug. The deadlights had -barely been shipped before she was struck by a wave which buried her -in the black trough of the sea--tore her stern-boat from the iron -davits, and swept it away like a leaf shred from a twig. - -Hans and Paul Reeves were at the wheel. Hartly stood by them pale -and excited, as I could perceive by the glimmering lights of the -binnacle. All hands were on deck, and muffled in their glazed -storm-jackets and dripping sou'-westers, so they seemed as drenched -as if they had come up from the bottom of the sea. - -"Take care of yourself, Jack--take care!" cried my friend; "every sea -she ships sweeps something off the deck, and we have already lost one -man from the fore-yardarm." - -"Good Heavens--when?" - -"About an hour ago--poor Bill Bradley!" - -I grasped one of the mainshrouds, for the deck was so slippery, the -gusts of wind so fierce, and the force of the seas, which broke ever -and anon across the brig, so overwhelming, that I could never have -kept afoot for a moment without some support. - -On, on careered the _Leda_, through wind and waves--on through -whitening foam and tossing wrack--on through drenching rain, -darkness, and obscurity, with the storm roaring and whistling amid -her straining spars and rigging, while she groaned in every timber, -and seemed to quiver to her backbone, as the ponderous waves pursued -and burst upon her. - -Once or twice the gloom around us was varied by sheets of lightning -which gleamed luridly at the far horizon; and then for an instant the -black waves seemed to be washing _against_ the reddened sky. -Elsewhere to the northward, when the black flying scud was torn -asunder in heaven, we saw the long flickering rods of the "merry -dancers" playing athwart the sky. Then the crape-like rent would -close, and all again became pitchy darkness. The sea which tore away -our quarter-boat had started the sternpost. Tom Hammer and his mates -rushed to sound the pumps, and reported that "the water in the well -had risen _four feet_!" - -Hoarse orders were bellowed by Hartly through his trumpet, and the -clank of the pumps rang incessantly, for it was evident she had -sprung a leak somewhere aft, the _clear_ water having replaced the -bilge; so a fresh gang was required every quarter of an hour. Here -was a place in which I could make myself useful, and take my "spell" -with the rest; and where, though the dread of perishing was strong in -my heart, I worked hard but mechanically, like one in a terrible -dream. - -Hammer, with all the hands that could be spared from the deck, -hurried below, but soon reappeared, to announce--why I know not--that -to get at the leak was impossible! - -"Do we gain upon her?" was the constant question of those who toiled -at the pumps; but Hammer was too full of hopelessness to reply; so -for hours the monotonous clanking went on, till the chains and -leathers of the pumps became almost useless, and then the water rose -rapidly in both the fore and after hold! - -We threw our large anchors and carronades overboard to lighten her by -the head; but without much avail. Pale and composed--resolute yet -anxious--poor Hartly had stood by the pumps, encouraging us by his -voice and example. He was, however, sad and gloomy. That the loss -of his _ring_ affected him was evident. How strong and yet how weak -is the mind of man! - -The water continued to rise rapidly, though we toiled till our knees -and arms ached; grey dawn began to brighten in the east, but there -was no symptom of the storm abating. - -"If she ships one sea more, such as that which struck our quarter," -said Hartly, "she will founder!" - -The words were scarcely uttered, when a mighty mountain of black -water reared up like an arching cliff, fringed by foam, came hissing -and roaring towards us, and burst in thundering volume on our decks, -sweeping poor Tom Hammer the carpenter, another seaman, and all the -spare booms, spars, buckets, and everything that previous waves had -left, overboard--starting the longboat from its lashings, and dashing -it with such violence against the larboard bulwarks, that a vast -breach was made in them. The gang at the pumps were all tumbled in a -heap into the starboard scuppers, and returned to their work with -difficulty. The iron sling of the mainyard gave way at the same -moment, and the spar with the handed sail fell heavily with all their -gear into the sea. - -Under this shock the Leda literally _stood still_, as if paralysed in -her forward progress. - -Another fatal volume burst upon her quarter, and _then_, alas! she -began to settle down into the trough of the sea. She had lost all -her buoyancy and was sinking! Her rudder was torn away--the stern -frame shattered, and so she filled with perilous rapidity. - -"Clear away the longboat, Reeves--unship the compass in the -binnacle," ordered Hartly; "Hans, get up a beaker of water, a bag of -bread--in oars and blankets--we must quit instantly and shove off!" - -"In such a sea as this?" asked Reeves, with wildness in his eye, as -he clung to a belaying pin. "No boat can live----" - -"Ay, Paul, even in such a sea as this; we must quit the ship, or sink -with her. Stand by, my lads, and throw her head to the wind." - -"The foremast will go like a reed--but see--the wind has already done -what you wish." - -The loss of her rudder had rendered the _Leda_ (her chain plates were -now in the water) unmanageable, but, with the promptitude and -decision of brave and desperate hearts, some of our men hurried to -the braces, to strive and keep the vessel's head to windward, while -others got the longboat cleared of all that endless _débris_ and -rubbish which usually accumulate there during a voyage--launched it, -and by fending, with no small exertion of skill and strength, -prevented it from being dashed to pieces against the side of the -foundering _Leda_. A cask of water was thrown in, also the binnacle -compass, which, unfortunately, was broken during the confusion. The -oars were luckily lashed to the thwarts; the mast, yard, sail, and -rudder were also there, and we prepared at once to leave. - -Wild though the wind, the atmosphere was dense and full of vapour and -obscurity; the mingled rain and surf were so blinding, that one could -scarcely see one's hand outstretched at arm's length. To keep our -feet in such a howling tempest was almost impossible; thus in passing -forward or aft, we were obliged to drag ourselves along by clutching -belaying pins, cleats, and ring-bolts, while many of us were severely -injured by pieces of broken wreck that floated about the deck, and -were dashed to and fro by the waves. - -Two or three of our men were stunned, and on falling overboard were -seen no more; but in less than three minutes after the longboat was -launched, we had all left the ship--Hartly being the last to do -so--and to the number of fourteen in all (including Paul Reeves, Hans -Peterkin, Cuffy Snowball, and me), committed ourselves to the mercy -of the sea and storm, in that small craft, which was tossed like a -cork upon the billows. - -For a time the boat was rasped so furiously against the side of the -brig, that all our united strength was requisite to get under her -shattered stern, and fairly shove off. We worked in silence--the -silence of black desperation! - -But on falling astern of the sinking brig, the boat became exposed -still more to the fury of the sea. - -"Pull her round," cried Hartly; "keep her bow to the break of the -sea, or we shall be swamped. Pull to windward of the _Leda_!" - -As we did so, a single wave nearly filled the boat, and we had -nothing for it but to bear away before the roaring blast. - -Through the black drift we could see the brig, from which we were -only a few yards distant, sinking deeper and deeper; at last the -waves rolled in fierce tumult over her deck; still not a word escaped -us. Our hearts were too full for utterance; but a pang of sorrow and -dismay thrilled them when the poor little _Leda_, with her masts -still standing, went down into the waste of waters and disappeared -for ever! - -Hartly now took off his sou'-wester, and briefly told us "to be of -good heart, for God would be sure to protect us." - -All present untied and took off their hats, and listened to him in -silence, though he could scarcely be heard amid the wild fury of the -gale. Then Paul Reeves, who pulled the bow oar, shouted-- - -"Three cheers, my lads, for our captain!" - -And they gave them with all the heartier will that he was now as poor -as themselves, for all that Hartly possessed in the world had gone -down with the _Leda_, as she was not insured. To keep the boat from -being swamped, with incredible difficulty we now stepped her mast, -hoisted a little of the sail, and bore away before the wind; but when -we were in the _trough_ of the sea, it flapped against the mast, and -the next instant, when we rode on the _summit_ of a wave, the wind -almost tore it to shreds. Then the wild water bubbled over her -stern, often immersing the steersman to his ears, and obliging us -incessantly to bale with our hats; but the increasing light of dawn, -and an evidence of some abatement in the tempest, encouraged us to -persevere in our efforts to save our lives; and so we struggled -manfully with the warring elements. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. - -THE CRY. - -The wind and sea went down together as day brightened on the -cheerless scene. After the night we had passed, how grimly pale and -wan our faces seemed in the cold grey dawn of morning! - -This catastrophe occurred in the middle of May, when we were about -three hundred miles from St. John, our destination. Our compass was -broken, but we continued to steer south-west and by west, as well as -we could determine. - -The gale having abated, we hoisted the sail to the masthead, shipped -our oars, and after receiving about a tablespoonful of rum per man, -endeavoured to make the best of our way towards Newfoundland, in the -hope of being picked up, ere long, by one of the many outward or -homeward bound traders. - -When day was fully in, we swept the sea with anxious eyes, but not a -sail was visible! - -Cast thus helplessly on the wide ocean, with a few biscuits, a small -beaker of fresh water, and a gallon keg of rum, at a distance of -three hundred miles from land, our prospects were gloomy in the -extreme; and amid them all, the horrible story of the _De Ruyter_, -and similar miseries endured by those of whom I had heard and read in -such situations, haunted me. - -Exertion warmed us: we now got our clothing wrung out and dried, the -boat thoroughly baled, and by midday we were as comfortable as men so -circumstanced might be. Cuffy, who had saved his violin, the only -article of property he ever possessed, now proceeded to enliven us, -as he had often done before, by singing a negro melody, to his own -accompaniment; yet this was but ghastly mirth at best. - -Our biscuits being soaked by the brine, excited a thirst which we -were without the means of allaying. Moreover, the _idea_ of being -upon allowance in itself excites a thirsty craving; thus by the noon -of the second day, the water in the beaker was nearly consumed, and -we had no hope now but for rain. - -I believe some hours elapsed before we were fully aware, or had -realized a true sense of our dreadful situation. - -How shall I describe the days that passed--and how the nights? -Morning after morning only dawned to raise our hopes of success; and -these faded as the day wore on; and then the nights were dark -monotonous hours of bitterness and despair. - -Yet they were the short nights of May; and it must be borne in mind -that however warm they are upon the land, and in more temperate -latitudes, they were cold and chilly when passed in an open boat, -upon the mighty Atlantic. The evening of the fourth day deepened, -and still not a sail was in sight. About nine o'clock, one of our -forlorn party, whose clothing was thinner than the rest, and who had -suffered much from hunger and exposure, died in the bottom of the -boat, and we silently committed his body to the deep. - -There were neither prayer nor funeral service, but we all stood up, -and uncovered our heads, while Hans and a seaman launched the poor -fellow into the sea. - -Our last drop of water was now expended, for it had been poured -between the parched lips of this sufferer, in vain. - -Our bread we dared scarcely eat, even in the morsels in which it was -doled out, lest it might excite that awful thirst which we had no -liquid to assuage, and which the summer sun, when blazing over our -heads at noon, rendered worse by a thousand degrees, making us long -for night, when the moist dew would fall on our parched lips and arid -visages; then night made us long for day, in the hope of seeing a -sail, as we were in terror lest one should pass us unseen; and I am -assured that more than one must have done so. - -Amid his own bodily misery, poor Hartly frequently reproached himself -for having, as he said, "lured me from a quiet occupation into a -career so fatal and disastrous." - -The older seamen sought to encourage us by relating how often they -had been wrecked, and yet had escaped death. - -"I remember," said Hans Peterkin, "when the _Brenda_, a bark of -Kirkwall, was wrecked on her voyage from Jamaica. The night was -rough, and we were under close-reefed topsails, when a sea struck -her, and unshipped her rudder, just as she sprang a leak. All hands -were ordered to the pumps, and to the thrumming of a sail; but the -loss of the rudder hove her dead in the wind's eye, so her mainmast -went by the board, bringing with it the fore and mizen topmasts, -making her a useless wreck in a moment. I was washed overboard; but -there was no time to look after me, so I rode on the mainmast all -night. When day broke there was no ship to be seen--she must have -foundered in the dark. Three days and two nights I rode upon that -shattered mast, till a Spanish schooner, bound for Rio, picked me up; -yet I never lost heart, shipmates, for I knew I should be saved." - -"How?" said Reeves. - -"Because we have a saying among us in Orkney, that he who eats of the -dulse of Guiodin,* and drinks of the well of Kildingie, will escape -everything but the _Black Death_; and many a time I have eaten of one -and drunk of the other." - - -* The creek of Odin, in Stronza. - - -On the fifth day another man died, and was committed to the deep. No -one stood up this time, we were becoming either too weak or too -callous. - -"Water--water," sighed Paul Reeves; "when ashore, I will never drink -aught but pure spring water again." - -"Bide ye, messmate, and dinna gut a swimming fish; or, as we say in -Orkney, cut up nae herrings till ye have them in your net. When you -are ashore!--ashore indeed--when shall we ever see the shore?" - -Even the strong mind of the hardy Hans was wandering now. The wind -kept tolerably fair, and though by alternate spells at the oars we -toiled day and night to add to the speed of our sail, we had no means -of ascertaining the distance we ran; and now the pangs of hunger were -alternately maddening or paralyzing, but they were trivial when -compared with those of thirst. By skilfully striking with his oar, -Hans contrived to kill four petrels when they came tripping by close -to our boat. Since the days of Clusius and Pliny, tradition has -foolishly made these poor birds the precursors of a storm; but the -elements had done their worst upon us, so we cared not. They were -soon plucked and demolished. - -We found them very fat and nutritious, as the whole genus of petrels -have a singular facility for creating and for spouting pure oil from -their bills in defence of themselves and their eggs if molested; and -of this oil they can produce plenty, as they feed on blubber and -fish. The quantity in them astonished all but Hans Peterkin, who had -been wont to harry the nests of the skua, as the petrel is named in -his native isles, and who told me that whales were often discovered -in the Firth of Westra and the Sound of Yell by the flocks that -followed in the hope of a gorge of blubber. - -"My father was drowned by a _skua_," said he. - -"Drowned--how, by a skua?" - -"Ay, for so they called the petrels in Orkney once, and so they call -them in Faroe now." - -"But how was he drowned?" asked Hartly. - -"He was a bold fellow who could climb the steep rocks that overhung -the most furious sea, to get eggs and catch the petrels _asleep_ if -possible; for the skua or fulmar supply us with feathers for our -beds, medicine in illness, and oil for our lamps. My mother used to -make the whole bird a candle by passing through its mouth a wick, -which the fat of the body fed. My father, Magnus Peterkin, was, I -have said, a bold fellow, though he wore a _glain neidr_, or -adder-gem, an old amulet of the Druid days, and believed that while -it hung at his neck he was safe. On a stormy night he swung himself -over a rock in Pomona to pull some petrels out of their holes, but -one squirted a billful of salt oil right into his eyes---just as I -might a quid--which so confused him, that he quitted hold of the -rope, fell upon the rocks three hundred feet below, and perished -miserably--poor man!" - -The fifth night was calm and beautiful--too calm for us, as the wind -had almost died away, and a clear moonlight was shining on the silent -sea, when a singular and startling event occurred--one that filled us -with vague terror and awe. - -Six of us, faint, worn, and half-asleep, were tugging monotonously at -our oars; four slept in the bottom of the boat, and Reeves was -steering by a star, while honest Cuffy Snowball, whose native -good-humour and cheerfulness even the horrors of our situation could -not repress, was playing sweetly on his violin, and, to keep our -spirits from sinking, sang a negro song which he had picked up during -the years of his slavery in South Carolina--and sung it while his -tongue clove to the roof of his mouth with thirst. I leave the -reader to judge how in such a time and place the soft melody and -grotesque pathos of a hackneyed popular air sounded in the ears of -the starving and the dying! - - "All round de leetle farm I wandered, - When I was young; - Den my 'appy days I squandered, - Many de songs I sung. - - "When I was playing wid my brudder, - 'Appy was I; - Oh take me to my kind old mudder, - Dere let me lib and die. - - "All the world am sad and dreary, - Ebberywhere I roam; - Oh darkies, how my 'art grows weary, - Far from de old folks at home!" - - -Alas, it was grotesquely horrible! - -The calmness of the night, the sickness of my heart, the weakness of -my limbs, and the sweetness of the violin as its notes floated far -over the moonlit sea, together with the monotonous sound of the oars, -made me fall into a waking doze--yet I still tugged mechanically on, -though dreaming. - -At times I imagined that I was in a dense fog off the harbour mouth -of St. John. I heard the booming of the fog-guns from the battery on -the mountains, though they sounded faint and far off. Then followed -the welcome voice of the gunner on the low rocky point of Fort -Amherst, challenging as usual-- - -"What ship is that?" - -I strove to answer as we ran in through the Narrows, but my tongue -refused its office. - -Again, I was at my desk, engrossing in giant ledgers, with the -snorting voice of old Uriah Skrew grating on my ear. Anon I was in -my father's rose-covered villa at Peckham--in London, amid the roar -and gaiety of its streets--its evening bustle and lights--in the -theatre--at the opera--galloping out of town on the Derby-day. Then -I was in a silent forest--but lo! - -My dreams were broken by a shriek which made us all start as if -electrified--the oarsmen at the oars, the sleepers at the bottom of -the boat. Cuffy dropped his violin, and Reeves his tiller, as we all -sprang up, looked in each other's sunken eyes, and on the glassy sea, -that rippled in flat immensity far away in the moonlight. - -"What is it--where did it come from?" we all gasped. - -But none could answer correctly. - -"It seemed to rise from the sea, far away on the starboard bow," said -Reeves. - -"_The starboard bow!_" repeated Hartly, shuddering. - -We gazed intently around us, and though one of our men insisted that -he could see a large figure like that of a man swimming towards us in -the moonlit water, the rest could discern nothing. - -This supernatural cry or sound seemed to belong neither to earth nor -heaven; it rent the air and penetrated to our inner hearts; its -cadence, too, was horrible, and unlike anything we had ever heard -before. Its source occasioned us endless surmise, and we never -discovered it; but the circumstance affected us all variously, and -for a time we forgot our thirst, our hunger, and our danger, in the -mystery and vague fear it occasioned. - -That it could be given, as one surmised, by a drowning seaman who had -escaped from some wreck, was impossible, for under the brilliant moon -of the early May night, the whole sea was visible to us as at -noonday. Hans of Orkney declared it to be a spirit of the sea, a -water-bull, or the ghost of a man, whom we had unwittingly deserted -in the foundering wreck. Cuffy moaned out that it was a warning from -the Obi man. An Irish batman muttered something about a Banshee, but -poor Hartly was too careless now, or too desponding, to suggest -anything, and remained silent. - -I can scarcely conceive that this cry, so strange, so wild and -thrilling--so appalling to those who were in such a solemn and -terrible situation--and which was heard by us all at the same moment, -was the combined effect of imagination; but whether it was some -phenomenon--a sound brought through the air from a vast distance, by -some unknown cause--the echo of a crime committed elsewhere, or a -jarring of the elements that affected our over-strained organs of -hearing, I know not. - -I merely relate the event as it occurred; but never, while life -remains, shall I forget the bewildering and terrifying effect of that -appalling shriek, when it rang in our ears, across the otherwise -silent sea on that most mournful night. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. - -THE TWELFTH DAY. - -The sixth day dawned as the wind freshened and the waning moon went -down in clouds; it dawned upon an angry sea, a leaden sky, and with a -cold breeze that bore no ship--no hope of release towards us. - -On, this day two more of our men, who had been lying in a torpid -state for three hours, died, and were cast overboard. We were -completely callous now. About eleven in the forenoon, Hans Peterkin, -who was steering, suddenly uttered a hoarse cry. - -"See--see!" he exclaimed, pointing a-head, while glaring with haggard -eyes; "a sail--a sail! Thanks be to God," he added, pulling off his -fur cap, "we are saved!" - -We that were rowing turned, and those who were dozing between the -thwarts sprang up; and there sure enough, hull down about eighteen -miles off, we saw a large ship under a cloud of dark canvas, which -had evidently been wet by rain overnight, running close-hauled upon -the starboard tack, and going with great speed through the water. - -Oh the ecstasy of this sight! - -We trimmed our little sail anew; we hoisted all our neck-ties at the -mast-head, as a signal; we pulled with the strength of -madmen--madmen, who were dying and despairing--towards her; but she -saw us not, (I dare not say that her crew _heeded_ not.) Though for a -time we seemed to gain upon her, the wind freshened so much that she -was soon out of sight; and once more, after all our prayers, our -longings, and our joy, we were left alone upon the sullen sea--alone -amid emotions too terrible to delineate, for hope and life went with -her! - -Some of our strongest men wrung their hands and wept. Three days -after this, those who had restrained the maddening desire to drink of -the sea, now gave loose to their burning thirst, and heedless of the -appeals of Hartly and the warnings of Peterkin, plunged their wasted -hands in the brine, and drank it in great quantities. - -The sequel soon followed--a delirium and insanity which rapidly -became infectious. - -All were soon raving. Hartly talked of his dead wife--of their -little ones, and the green churchyard, where they lay under an old -yew-tree; then of his lost ship, and the ring of the Iceland witch. - -Hans sang Orkney songs in a guttural dialect--half Scottish and half -Norse; and believed himself to be whaling in the Pentland Firth, and -Sound of Yell. Paul Reeves sat with a serious but fatuous aspect, -writing an imaginary log with his fingers on the boat-thwart; Cuffy -played scraps of negro-melodies on his violin; and believed himself -to be in his caboose, cooking a sumptuous dinner for those in the -cabin. - -Some raved of rich repasts, and with idiot joy enumerated the viands -that smoked before them, or the cool draughts of spring water that -gurgled over mossy rocks and under broad green leaves in shady -woods--and of luscious fruit that grew in ripe clusters, but which -they strove to reach in vain, as, like the gushing spring, it always -eluded them. In pursuit of one of these illusions, poor Hans -Peterkin fell overboard, and, without an effort to save himself, sank -like a stone. Alas! the holy well of Kildingie and the blessed dulse -of Guiodin, availed him nothing now! - -At last we ceased to row, for the strongest among us "caught crabs" -from time to time, and had the oars twitched out of their hands by -the sea, for we were helplessly and hopelessly worn out. - -The haggard features of some became rigid; the black fur of fever -gathered upon their cracked lips; and their wild, sunken, and -blood-shot eyes assumed a snaky glare. Their wasted forms seemed to -dwindle before me; then they grew and dwindled again like a species -of phantasmagoria, as I sat bewildered and half torpid among them; -then a lurch of the boat would throw some of them off the thwarts -motionless and dead! - -On the _Twelfth_ day after we had abandoned the _Leda_, there -remained in the boat only four alive, including Hartly, Reeves, a -seaman named Jones, and myself. All the rest had been thrown -overboard in succession as they died--even poor Cuffy Snowball, -clutching his violin to the last. - -In their delirium some had been very violent--proposing to scuttle -the boat; others threw the oars overboard and unclasped their knives -to slay their messmates. One sprang into the sea, with a husky cry, -and ended his miseries at once. - -Grim and fearful as they were, I thought the calm aspect of those who -died was to be envied. They seemed so free from every ill and storm -that might assail them, while those who yet lived and lingered were -the most helpless of human beings. I know not why or how it was that -so many strong and hardy men perished, while I survived. - -Reeves, Hartly, and Jones the sailor, lay prostrate in the bottom of -the boat; and at times I knew not whether they were alive or dead, -save by an occasional spasm that twitched their features, or a -quivering in their limbs. After a time even these symptoms of -existence ceased. - -I felt the slumber of long exhaustion stealing over me. Lest the -boat might capsize in a squall, I remember having just sense and -strength sufficient to enable me to let go the halyard, and lower the -sail, or rather, let it fall by its own weight, when I sank down in -the stern sheets, and must have lain there for hours. - -A drizzling rain refreshed me, and when I awoke, the silver moon, was -shining on the sea. - -Another night had descended upon us! - -I baled out the boat with a hat, for the forms of my passive -companions were half-covered by water. As I did so, I thought Hartly -spoke--at least, that his white and bloodless lips moved; but this -might be fancy. My mind was a chaos of gloom, misery, and terrible -forebodings. - -Anxious to learn whether life yet lingered in my friend, or whether I -was quite alone--the last man--with the dead upon that silent -midnight sea, I stooped close to Hartly; but at that moment the boat -gave a sudden lurch, which threw me violently among the three bodies. -In falling, my head struck against one of the thwarts, and happily I -became senseless. - -* * * * * - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII. - -WHAT FOLLOWED. - -After that night a long time of dreamy stupor seemed to elapse, -before any distinct sense of existence forced itself upon me. Then I -seemed to wake from a heavy slumber (which had frequently been -crowded by dreadful images), and found myself in bed, and in what -appeared to be a little state-room that opened off a ship's cabin. - -The roof seemed close and near my eyes; but the bed was soft and -screened by green curtains, which hung upon a brass rod. The little -panelled apartment had shelves crammed with books and bundles of -papers; a gun, a cutlass, and telescope were hung on hooks; and from -the deck above, a bull's-eye threw the sun's rays vertically down -upon me. I saw all these details at a glance, but believed them to -be portions of a dream--that I was still tossing in the open boat, -with my dead or dying companions rolling about in the bilge-water -below the thwarts--so my last thoughts of loneliness, of despair, and -coming death recurred to me in all their bitterness. - -Gradually, however, the warmth and softness of the couch on which I -lay became too confirmed and real to be doubted; and now a hot but -soothing liquid, like mulled wine, was poured between my lips. I -drank deeply, and not until the draught was ended did I open my heavy -eyes, and again look round me, fearing to dispel the delicious -illusion of imbibing a liquid, for the wild agonies of unassuaged -thirst were still in my memory. - -A jolly and bluff-looking seaman, well tanned by exposure to the -weather, and well whiskered; squat in figure, merry in eye, and -hearty in voice, wearing a straw hat and pea-jacket, with a handsome -gold ring to secure the ends of his black silk neck-tie, was holding -back the green curtain, and surveying me with some solicitude of -manner. - -"How do you feel yourself now, my lad?" he asked. - -"Weak--giddy--ill--Hartly--Bob Hartly, keep her head to the break of -the sea, or we shall be swamped," said I, incoherently. - -"By Jove, I thought the mulled port would bring you up with a round -turn and make you speak if nothing else would." - -"Where am I?" said I, partially recovering again. - -"On board ship at last." - -"Which--what ship?" - -"The barque _Princess_ of London." - -"Thank God--thank God!" I exclaimed; but though my breast heaved with -wild emotions of joy, not a tear would come, for even that fount of -tenderness seemed dried up within me. - -"We picked you up when in an awful plight, my poor fellow! Your boat -was half full of water, with two dead bodies washing about in it." - -"Two!" - -"Yes--two, and you were lying in the stern-sheets looking as pale and -as stiff as the others. We were just about to send you over to -leeward with a cold shot at your heels, when, fortunately, some signs -of life escaped you." - -"And you, sir----" - -"Am the master of this craft--Captain John Baylis--I think you won't -forget the name," he added, smiling. - -"Forget it! Oh, sir, how shall I ever forget it?" I groaned. "But -Hartly--poor Bob Hartly!" - -"Who was he?" - -"_Was_--is he then dead?" I exclaimed. - -"I cannot say, until you tell me more." - -"He was Master of the _Leda_, and my dear friend. She foundered in a -tempest, and those you found in the longboat were the last of -twenty-five stout fellows who sailed in her from St. John's, -Newfoundland, on the 17th of March." - -"Is he about my size; with very dark whiskers and short curly hair?" - -"Yes." - -"Then he is getting on famously, and lies in my chief mate's -berth--but you must not speak any more at present, try to sleep; a -little time, and I will be with you again." - -This was joyous intelligence! - -In short, I learned by degrees that Hartly and I were the sole -survivors of the crew of the _Leda_. Paul Reeves and Jones the -seaman had been found dead in the long boat by the crew of the -barque, who buried them in blankets, each with a heavy shot at their -heels. After this they scuttled the boat, as the sight of her -suggested unpleasant ideas. - -The vessel which picked us up proved to be the barque _Princess_, a -stately Blackwaller of sixteen hundred tons register, Captain John -Baylis, from Quebec, bound for the Cape of Good Hope, with a general -cargo. Our poor boat, tossing on the sea, had been descried about -daybreak, by a man who was at work on the maintopgallant yard. She -immediately bore down upon us, and hence our rescue at a time so -critical. I must have been insensible for about four hours when her -crew found me; and but for their ministrations, could not have -survived another. - -Fortunately for Hartly and me, the jolly and hospitable captain had -his wife on board, and she nursed us with the tenderness of a mother. -Indeed, honest Baylis and his whole crew vied with her in their -attention to us. - -Our feet and legs were so soddened by the bitter, briny water in -which they had been so long immersed, that for some days -mortification was dreaded; but as Mrs. Baylis had six goats on board, -she made, and skilfully applied, poultices of bread and milk, which -ameliorated the symptoms and our sufferings. - -Food and liquids were administered to us in homoeopathic doses at -first; and several days elapsed before our interiors became -accustomed to receive their usual quantities. At times we were both -somewhat bewildered in mind--especially when the vessel encountered -rough weather, and rolled much. Then Hartly and I were sure to -imagine ourselves again in the longboat on the desolate sea, with the -starving and dying around us; and long the voices of poor Hans -Peterkin, of Paul Reeves, and the notes of Cuffy's violin, lingered -in my ear, especially in dreams. - -In about a fortnight--thanks chiefly to the kindness and nursing of -Mrs. Baylis--we were able to sit on a sofa under an awning on the -poop-deck; for we were now in warmer latitudes, and a protection from -the sun of June was necessary. We greeted each other like two -kinsmen who had escaped death; but Hartly mourned the loss of the -_Leda_ and of her crew, as they were all picked men, whom he never -paid off on entering a port, but who had sailed with him to all parts -of the world, and would as readily have thought of attempting to fly -in the air as of leaving the poor old _Leda_. - -For many days her loss, and the anecdotes connected with it, formed a -staple subject for our conversation, until other thoughts, with -returning health, forced themselves upon us; for those who are in the -world must live for it. - -The _Princess_ was bound, I have said, for the Cape of Good Hope, -where she would, perhaps, take a freight home for London; but there -was an equal probability of her being chartered for Bombay, Hong -Kong, or anywhere else, so that on reaching Cape Town there would be -an immediate necessity for Hartly and me looking about us, and -seeking means for returning to the great metropolis. - -As we approached the line, the heat increased rapidly, awnings were -spread over the decks, wind-sails were rigged down the hatchways, and -skeets over the sides were resorted to daily. - -The latter are pieces of grooved wood, for throwing water over the -planks or outer sheathing of a ship, to prevent them from being rent -by the heat of the sun in warm climates. - -For some weeks Hartly and I were totally unable to make ourselves of -any use, so great was the lassitude which succeeded our recent -sufferings, and rapid transition from starvation and misery to -comfortable quarters, and from the Regions of Ice to those of the -burning sun; for after passing St. Jago, the most southerly of the -Cape de Verd Isles, we rapidly approached the line; and then Captain -Baylis, his wife, Hartly, and others, prepared letters for home, to -be left at the Isle of Ascension, or given to the first ship that -passed us for England. - -Day after day I reclined listlessly under the awning, watching the -shining sea, on which many an argonauta now was floating; and, in a -warm latitude, singularly beautiful are those little "Portuguese -men-of-war," as our sailors term them, when whole fleets of them may -be seen sailing past, with their purple sails up and rowing swiftly, -with all their tentacula or feelers out. - -But, on being approached by anything, in go the tentacula, and down -sinks the miniature sail, as the fish concentrates itself in its -shell, and both vanish together, like a fairy in the sea. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV. - -THE SAILOR'S POST-OFFICE. - -We crossed the line on the last day of June. I need not rehearse the -description of a hackneyed ceremony known to all--how curtains were -rigged amidships--how Father Neptune with his hempen beard came on -board, seated on a gun-carriage, and how roughly all who had _not_ -crossed the line before were tarred, scraped, shaved, and soused by -his whimsically attired barbers, courtiers, and Tritons, to the great -delight of the older salts--a ceremony which I only escaped in -consequence of my recent sufferings. - -Two days after, we passed St. Matthew, a little desert isle on which -the Portuguese formed a settlement so early as 1516, and which lies -"amid the melancholy main," at a vast distance from the African -coast. It is the abode of sea-birds alone. - -Then we completed our bag of letters, which were all duly gummed -up--wax will not do in the tropics--for delivery at Ascension, which, -after three hundred miles' further run, we sighted on the evening of -the 9th July, for we had a fine wind, and the _Princess_ carried her -studdingsails night and day. - -I was not without hope that we might find some homeward-bound vessel -at Ascension, on board of which we might be transferred, as I was -most anxious to return home to tranquillize the minds of my own -family, whom I knew must long since have numbered me with the dead; -but this hope was dissipated when we came abreast of the roadstead, -which was _empty_, and let go our anchor about midnight, in fourteen -fathom water, on a red sandy bottom. - -The anchorage of this solitary isle is a sheltered creek, -overshadowed by a high pyramidal mountain, having on its summit the -remains of two great crosses, erected of old by the pious and -adventurous followers of Juan de Nova, a Portuguese mariner who -flourished in the days of King Alfonzo Africanus. - -The heat was so great now that the atmosphere in the cabin rendered -one absolutely breathless; and with pleasure, Hartly and I, clad in -light clothes, with broad straw hats, furnished to us by kind Captain -Baylis, accompanied him and his wife ashore next morning after -anchoring, and landed at the little town, which is fortified, and the -harbour of which frequently forms a rendezvous for our African -squadron. The longboat with her crew afterwards came off for fresh -water and turtles. The superintendence of collecting these was left -to the chief mate, while with Hartly (who had been there before), -Captain Baylis and I set forth on a ramble over the island, which is -only nine miles long by six miles broad. - -An undefinable interest is excited when landing on a lonely little -island after a long sea voyage; and for ages Ascension has been a -species of halfway house, or resting-place for ships between Europe -and the Cape. - -We resolved to visit the _Sailor's Post-office_, a cranny in the -rocks, known for ages to the mariners of all nations, who were wont -to deposit their letters there, closed up in a bottle, to be taken -away by the first ship which passed in an opposite direction--a -custom which the Dominican, Father Navarette, mentions as being -_old_, at the time of his visit in 1673. - -The little isle is barren, but having been rent by volcanic throes, -it has hills of pumice-stone and calcined rocks, with abrupt -precipices overhanging sterile ravines that are full of black ashes. -Here and there a solitary goat might be seen cropping the scanty -herbage, or perched upon a sharp pinnacle, snuffing the sea breeze -that waved its solemn beard. Where a spring gurgled from the rocks -into the sea the turtle were seen in plenty, and there our boat's -crew came in search of them. There also lay the skeletons of great -numbers, which seamen, in mere wantonness, had turned on their backs, -and left thus to die. - -From the summit of the pyramidal hill which overlooks the anchorage -we could survey the boundless ocean, spreading away towards the -distant shores of Africa, the still more distant coast of Peru, and -the unexplored waves of the Southern Sea, all glassy, heaving, and -vibrating like a mighty mirror under the vertical glare of the -tropical sun. - -Fanning ourselves with banana leaves, for at times we gasped in the -heat, we trod among ashes ankle deep, and over rocks where the power -of the sun had turned to fine salt the spray cast upon them by the -sea. - -At last we reached the Sailor's Post-office, and examined the cleft -in the rocks, where the bottles or cases containing many a letter -that carried to the hearts and homes of generations long since gone -to dust, hope and happiness, or it might be sorrow and woe--the -tidings of loved and lost ones far away in lands and seas that were -then so little known and so little traversed; and then combining -prose with poetry, we sat down to discuss some light sherry, pale -ale, and sandwiches, which the worthy Captain Baylis insisted on -conveying for us in a travelling-bag slung over his shoulder. - -As evening drew on, the sterile rocks and impending bluffs, the great -rugged pyramidal hill that towered over the anchorage, the little -town of Ascension, with its battery and gaudy Union Jack, all assumed -a dusky red hue; and when the sun sank westward, the shadow of the -_Princess_ at her anchor was thrown far across the bright blue water -of the creek. Our last boat with turtle, bananas, fish, and fresh -water, was to leave the harbour at sunset; so we were preparing to -descend, when an object lying among some stones at the bottom of the -cleft in the rock, caught Hartly's eye. - -Scrambling among ashes and black pumice-stone, he reached, and drew -it forth. - -It was a stone jar, shaped like a ginger-beer bottle, tightly corked, -and covered over the mouth and neck by thin sheet-lead, which was -paid over with old tarred spunyarn; but it was so thickly encrusted -with lichens and dust, which the sun and dew had baked upon it, that -it had quite the colour and aspect of the stones that lay around it. - -"Now, what the deuce is this?" asked Captain Baylis. - -"A bottle," said Hartly, turning it over. - -"A bottle in the Post-office!" - -"It must have lain here a long time, if we judge by its outside," -said I. - -"Letters have never been deposited here since 1816," observed Baylis, -"when the British built the town and battery yonder." - -"So if it has lain here one year, it must have lain fifty." - -"Shake it, Hartly," said I. - -"It is full of something that rattles!" - -"Letters, probably; but few folks can care about them now." - -"Faith! the man's head does not ache that untwisted this spunyarn; it -is at least seventy years old!" said Captain Baylis, fraying the -strands with his fingers; "but we'll crack the bottle when we get on -board, and see what the contents are." - -We joined Mrs. Baylis at the landing-place. She was reclining in the -stern of the gig with a large white umbrella over her head, and could -scarcely repress her curiosity to discover the contents of the old -stone jug, or bottle, till we got on board. - -Then we broke it by a blow of a hammer, and there fell out, not -letters, as we expected, but a roll of paper, consisting of leaves -stitched together, and closely covered with writing, containing a -narrative, or something of the kind, which had been deposited in that -strange mode and strange place by some waggish or eccentric person, -in the hope, perhaps, that if ever discovered, by the mystery -enveloping their literary production, it would assuredly be given to -the public. - -It was without date; but fortunately the handwriting was plain and -legible, though the ink was dim and faded, for the stone bottle being -porous, the paper had become damp, almost wet, and had to be -carefully dried in the sunshine, which curled it up like crisped -leaves in autumn, so the preparation of it for perusal was consigned -to my care by Captain Baylis, who had discovered that I was, as he -said, "a regular-built bookworm." - -"It is a history," said he, as he lighted his long clay pipe in the -cabin, after the _Princess_ got under weigh next evening, and stood -out of the anchorage under her courses and topgallant sails, with her -royals, spanker, and gaff-topsail set. - -"Or the narrative of an unfortunate voyage," suggested Hartly, -thinking, doubtless, of his own. - -"Or the revelation of some dreadful crime, or unfortunate -love-story," lisped Mrs. Baylis, all impatience, pausing and looking -up in the act of pouring out our tea. - -"It is none of these," said I; "but seems to be the translation of a -Portuguese legend, connected in some way with the discovery of the -Cape of Good Hope." - -And so, while the good captain lounged in his shirt sleeves on the -cabin sofa, and puffed away with his long clay pipe, while his buxom -wife made tea for us, and Hartly lit his Havannah, I commenced to -read the MS. we had found so singularly; and it ran thus--but -requires a chapter or two to itself. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV. - -MS. LEGEND OF EL CABO DOS TORMENTOS. - -It is written--says the Spanish Dominican Friar and Missionary -Priest, the Padre Navarette--that the first time reports reached -Europe of a spectre haunting the Cape of Storms, was by the -narratives of certain Portuguese adventurers, who sailed into the -Southern Sea, with the Senhor Bartholomew Diaz, in the early part of -the fifteenth century, when Dom Joam II. occupied the throne of -Portugal. - -His cousin and successor, King Emmanuel, fired by the discoveries -made in the reigns of his predecessors, who had planted their flag -and cross on the shores of Madeira, the Azores, and Isles of the Cape -de Verd, resolved to accomplish what they had failed in, and with -praiseworthy zeal despatched an admiral to discover a passage to -India by sea. - -After a long absence this cavalier returned and reported that he had -found the _southern_ extremity of the mighty African continent; but, -that his ships had encountered great perils when off a flat-headed -mountain of wondrous form, which he had named _El Cabo dos Tormentos_. - -The King of Portugal suggested that "_El Cabo de Buena Esperanto_, -(_i.e._, the Cape of Good Hope), would be a better term;" and it was -at once adopted by his courtiers, though the mariners of the Admiral -adhered to "the Cape of Torments," as they alleged that, not only had -they nearly been swallowed by the waves of a black and stormy sea, -but that they had seen a stupendous form, resembling a human figure, -riding upon the whirling scud above the Table Mountain, and spreading -his giant arms as if to clasp them in his terrible embrace, and hurl -them into the yawning deep. - -They insisted that this dangerous promontory was the end of the -habitable world--the abode of devils, spectres, and torments--a place -wherein nothing human could dwell; and that the seas which washed its -shore should be shunned by all future navigators. - -They ridiculed the title of _Buena Esperança_, and urged that no -mariner in his senses would visit the place again; for the old salts -of those days devoutly believed in tales of - - "That sea-snake tremendous curled, - Whose monstrous circle girds the world," - -and that the earth was girt with fire at the Equator; that whoever -passed the tempestuous Cape Bojador, which was first doubled by the -Portuguese in 1433, and which forms the southern limit of Morocco, -was doomed never to return, as a mysterious breeze (the trade wind?) -blew for ever against them; that ships got into currents that ran -_down hill_--currents against which they might beat and struggle in -vain, till their shattered hulls were cast upon Bermuda--the "vexed -Bermoothes" of Shakespeare, which, as Stowe tells us, "were supposed -to be inhabited by witches and devils"--an iron shore where perpetual -storms raged, and fated ships were dashed upon the rocks. - -Despite these terrors, animated by a spirit of adventure, Vasco da -Gama, a valiant mariner and cavalier of Alentejo, resolved to sail in -quest of this terrible cape, accompanied by many of his friends, -among whom was a noble young hidalgo, named Vasco da Lobiera, -grandson of the gallant knight of that name, who fought at the battle -of Aljubarotta, and received his spurs on the field from King Joam of -good memory, at whose feet, in after years, he laid his famous -romance, "Amadis de Gaul." - -From his grandsire young Vasco inherited a love of wild adventure; -thus his mind was full of tales of - - "The days when giants were rife - With their towers and painted halls, - And heroes, each with a charmed life, - Rode up to their castle walls-- - When gentle and bright ones with golden hair - Were wooed by princes in green, - And knights with invisible caps to wear, - Could see, and yet never be seen." - - -Notwithstanding the alleged terrors of the spectre or storm fiend -which haunted the Cape, the brave Da Gama and his friend Lobiera -resolved to set forth upon these mysterious waters, and to double the -promontory of Southern Africa. So the former, as Captain-General, -hoisted his banner on board the _San Gabriel_, of two hundred and -twenty tons; while Paulo da Gama, his brother, commanded the _San -Rafael_, of one hundred tons. - -Vasco da Lobiera had the caravella named _Nossa Senhora da Belem_ (or -Bethlehem), with Joam da Coimbra as pilot, and Gonsalo Nunez had -their great storeship laden with provisions. - -All these vessels were built of the pines which were planted in the -forest of Marinha by King Denis the Magnificent, and were manned by -one hundred and sixty chosen mariners. - -King Emmanuel made them a farewell oration, and gave into the hands -of each commander a white silk banner of the military order of -Christ, together with his royal letters to an imaginary potentate, -who was supposed to dwell beyond the Southern Sea, and was named -Prester John of the Indies, Lord and Emperor of Ethiopia; and so, -with the prayers of all good Portuguese for their success, the little -squadron sailed from Lisbon, on the 8th July, 1497, when it is -recorded that "thousands remained weeping on the shore, until the -last traces of the receding fleet had disappeared." - -Among their own crews, as well as among those of the other two ships, -Da Gama and Da Lobiera found men averse to touching at the Cabo dos -Tormentos; and these urged, that to double this dreadful promontory, -they should stand further out to sea than the adventurers of Dom -Joam's days, and then visit in safety the realms of Prester John on -the other side. Gama and his friend heeded neither their remarks, -their exhortations, or their fears, but bore away steadily to the -southward. - -After a long and perilous voyage, and after anchoring in a great bay -which they named Angra de Santa Elena, the crew of _Our Lady of -Belem_ first saw the land of Table Bay on the morning of Saturday, -the 4th of November, when, in obedience to Dom Vasco da Lobiera, the -ship's company donned their gayest apparel, discharged a volley from -their culverins, and blew all their trumpets; but, as they stood -towards the shore, they were compelled to lessen their canvas, for -the wind, which had hitherto been moderate and favourable, now -changed to the south-east, and increased to a gale, while the sun set -in dense clouds, and turning from light green to black, the waves -began to froth and break as they alternately rose into hills or sank -into valleys. - -And now as night and mist descended together on the sea, and on the -Cabo dos Tormentos, lightnings began to play about the awful summit -of the Table Mountain, which rises for more than three thousand two -hundred feet above the shore. The four ships which prior to this -evening had kept close together, were compelled by the violence of -the gale to separate, lest they might be dashed against each other; -and in the murk and gloom they continued to beat against the -headwind, with their topsail-yards lowered upon the cap, their -courses close reefed, and their spritsails stowed. - -When the vessels last saw each other, the Senhor Vasco da Lobiera was -much chagrined to perceive that his caravella had dropped far astern -of her companions. He had ever prided himself upon the swiftness of -her sailing, and now he burned lights, and strove to come abreast of -the Captain-General, who had beat far to windward, and who he feared -might attribute his drifting so much a-lee, and towards danger, to -want of skill or seamanship. - -He set as much canvas as he dared, and _Nossa Senhora da Belem_ tore -through the angry sea with her foresail and foretopsail close reefed, -and her jib and spritsail set, while the waves lashed her worn sides, -and burst in foam over her carved and lofty prow at every furious -plunge. - -The seamen told their beads, lit candles before the shrine of Nossa -Senhora in the great cabin, shook their heads, muttered under their -long black beards, or maintained gloomy silence, fearing they knew -not what, but anticipating all the terrors that had beset the -followers of Bartholomew Diaz in the same waters. - -And now wave after wave broke in thundering volume over her decks, -till Lobiera was fain to cast overboard the brass culverins which had -been consecrated by the Bishop of Lisbon, and his men averred that -each uttered _a cry_ as it sank into the sea. - -By midnight they were, as Joam da Coimbra stated, about six miles -from the mouth of Table Bay. - -Hoarsely roared the wind through the strained shrouds of the -labouring caravella, as she rolled and pitched wildly amid the black -and fearful waste of water, and ere long she was driving under bare -poles with only her jib and staysail to lift her head from the sea, -which rushed upon her like a succession of watery mountains. - -With all the firmness of true mariners and cavaliers, Vasco da -Lobiera and his friend Joam stood at the tiller, crossing themselves -ever and anon when they shouted a command through the trumpet, or -invoked our Lady of Belem. The deck had long since been cleared of -every loose spar, bucket, or other material by the waves; and more -than one poor mariner had been swept overboard to perish miserably in -the midnight sea, for no human hand could assist them. - -Some there were who asserted that they had seen the claws of a giant -figure start from the black waves, and drag their shipmates down -below by their beards and trunk hose. - -"We make no progress," said others, rending their hair; "a mighty -magnet, buried deep in the sea, holds us to one accursed spot!" - -"Nay," said Joam da Coimbra; "'tis the teeth of a mighty fish that -grasp our keel." - -"Be of good cheer, I pray you, my friends," said Vasco, pointing to -the Southern Cross, which was then visible through a rent in the fast -flying scud; "behold the sign by which we shall conquer! What says -the motto of our country?" - -"_In hoc signo vinces!_" exclaimed Joam da Coimbra, throwing his -hands towards the south. - -"Amen," responded the terrified crew, and still their ship bore on. - -"Thou art right, Joam," said Vasco da Lobiera; and the courage of the -crew revived, for their pilot was a mariner of great experience, and, -like Chaucer's shipman-- - - "By many a tempest had his beard been shaken." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI. - -LEGEND CONTINUED--THE CATASTROPHE. - -The moon, which had hitherto been concealed in dense vapour, now -glanced at times through the flying clouds. It was one of those -stormy moons well known in that quarter of the world. She seemed -small, but keen and bright, gilding with whitest silver the ragged -edges of the torn vapour, which fled past with such speed as to give -her literally the aspect of sailing through the sky. - -A mournful and moaning sound now came upon the wind which traversed -that dashing sea, and the mariners of Lobiera, who had never looked -on such a scene, nor beheld such lightnings as those that girdled -like a fiery belt the flat summit of the Table Mountain, were -becoming more bewildered and faint of heart, when a cry of dismay -burst from Joam da Coimbra, and now even the resolute Vasco stood -speechless and aghast. - -Above the Table Mountain the clouds rapidly rolled themselves into a -denser and darker mass, which assumed the outline of a human figure -that grew in volume while they gazed upon it, until it towered into -the sky, against the moonlit blue of which it was defined with -terrible distinctness. - -"The spectre--il demonio del Cabo dos Tormentos!" said each in his -heart, while it continued to tower, with mighty arms outstretched, as -if to clutch the devoted ship, or bury it in the sea that seethed -around this dreadful cape--the great promontory of the southern world. - -With one foot planted on Table Mountain, and the other on the Devil's -Hill, with a head that darkened heaven, stood this mighty form, which -appeared to have the power of curbing and of loosening the elements, -for at every wave of its threatening arms the sea increased in -turbulence, and the wind in fury, for the thunder appeared to be his -voice, the lightning the flashes of his eye, the tempest the breath -of his nostrils! - -"Madre de Dios--our Lady of Belem!" prayed Dom Vasco. - -"Dei genetrix, intercede pro nobis!" was the faint response of his -quailing crew. - -"Courage, comrades," he exclaimed; "I have still the blessed banner -which our Lord the King gave me, and it shall yet float above the -storm." - -"But the ship has become unmanageable!" cried Joam da Coirabra. - -"Nay, say not so--Heaven forefend! _Nossa Senhora da Belem_ is as -gallant a craft as ever came from the woods of Marinha, and she shall -bear us yet to seas beyond the power of this resentful demon!" - -Vasco da Lobiera would have said more, but a burst of thunder drowned -every other sound; lightning filled the entire sky with lurid flame; -the wind bellowed, and the blinding rain descended in a solid sheet -upon the trembling sea with such power as almost to still its waves. -He ordered the masts to be cut away; only two of his crew heard the -order, or had the courage to obey it. The rest were crouching in a -group, stupified by despair and fear. - -Three blows of a sharp axe were alone required, the tempest did the -rest, and the stately masts with all their yards and gear vanished -alongside. The rudder was torn from its iron bands, and now the -boasted _Lady of Belem_ floated like a log upon the waves, which -incessantly broke over her, washing the crew in succession away. Now -it was that the heart of Vasco da Lobiera began to sink, and he gave -himself up for lost! - -In a few minutes more he found himself struggling in the sea, for his -ship was hurled upon the rocky coast and dashed to pieces. - -Clutching a piece of wreck, he was tossed up by a vast wave, that -cast him stunned, breathless, helpless and alone, upon the desolate -shore of that terrible promontory; so his holy banner availed him -nothing. - -And there he lay as the sea receded, wave after wave continuing to -hiss and roar behind him, as if loth to lose their prey. - -* * * * * - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII - -LEGEND CONCLUDED--THE SEQUEL. - -When the Senhor Dom Vasco came to his senses, says the Padre -Navarette, morning had dawned. All nature was calm, and the warm -rays of the rising sun were shedding light and gladness on the land -and sea. - -Above him rose in sullen majesty the triple crest of the Table -Mountain, the Devil's Hill, and the Hill of Lions; and undisturbed by -a single ripple before him lay that treacherous sea, which, but a few -hours before, had destroyed _Nossa Senhora da Belem_. With some -surprise, Vasco found that his doublet and hose were dry; and that -his bruises were not so severe as he might have expected, under all -the circumstances. - -He arose, invoked Heaven on his knees, and surveyed the watery plain -with anxiety, to discover whether any fragment of the wrecked -caravella was floating there; but not a vestige was to be seen, and -apparently none of his crew had reached the shore save himself, all -had perished. - -The forlorn cavalier could not repress an exclamation of bitterness -and grief, on realizing the full horror of this catastrophe; for he -loved his crew, and also the little caravella in which he had sailed -so gaily from the Tagus, on that auspicious 8th of July. - -Distant from his native land many, many thousand miles, without a -hope of rescue or release, he was about to abandon himself to -despair, when in the vague hope of meeting another survivor, he -traversed the plain which lies at the base of the Table Mountain, and -which was then covered by white lilies, gorgeous tulips, and almond -trees, all growing wild. - -To add to his grief and terror, here he found the remains of his -friend, Joam da Coimbra, half devoured by lions or wolves, who had -dragged him from the beach. Dom Vasco shuddered, and was hastening -on, when a deep voice that seemed to fill the whole welkin, cried, - -"_Stay!_" - -He turned, and beheld a copper-coloured man of wondrous stature, and -savage, yet noble aspect, who held in his right hand a hunting spear, -so long, that it was twice the length of any Vasco had ever -seen--aye, thrice the length of the lance his grandsire had carried -at Aljubarrota--and in his left a reeking skin, which he had just -torn from a lion--perhaps one of those that had been feasting on the -hapless pilot. His aspect was alike sublime and terrible; his black -beard was of majestic length; his bright eyes wore a sad and gloomy -expression, and his hair which rose in great curls, like those of the -Phidian Jove, resembled the mane of a sable lion. But what is -stranger than all, this wild man spoke very good Portuguese. - -"In the name of Heaven," said the cavalier, "who and what are you?" - -"The spirit of the Cabo dos Tormentos--the demon of the storm which -rent your ship asunder, and cast it on yonder shores, dashed to a -thousand pieces," replied the form in a deep, but melodious voice. - -Vasco--continues the Padre Navarette--doubted the evidence of his -senses. This was like one of the adventures with which the history -of "Amadis de Gaul" had filled his mind--one for which he longed; but -he felt the reality the reverse of pleasant. - -"I have ruled these regions since the ark rested on Mount Ararat, and -since the land was parted from the waters; but never until now, has -the foot of man invaded them; and had my power prevailed in the storm -of yesternight, instead of being here, thou too shouldst have found a -grave where many other adventurers lie, in yonder rolling sea." - -"Terrible spirit," said Dom Vasco, "is the presence of a mere mortal -so hateful to you?" - -"Yes," replied the demon, shaking his mighty locks with gloom and -sadness; "for now my power over these seas, and shores, and clouds, -must end where thine begins. Else, wherefore did I bury ship after -ship in that tempestuous sea, or split them by the flaming bolts, -that all on board might perish? Many have sought to pass my -promontory, to reach the golden realms of Prester John, but none have -escaped me save _thee_! I have had the power of assuming what form I -please. To-day I am a man, to-morrow I should tower to the skies -astride the Table Mountain, or ride the wild blast that comes from -the arid desert of Zahara, to bury some barque in the distant sea; -but that my power is passing away from me. I tell thee, O most -fortunate and valiant cavalier, that from this day the Cabo dos -Tormentos shall be a Cape of Storms no more, but one of Good Hope to -all the mariners of the earth--for so it was ordained by the hand -which placed Adam in Eden and gave such wondrous power unto the Seal -of Solomon." - -As the spirit concluded, his voice became fainter; his broad and -dusky chest heaved as he sighed deeply, and he gradually appeared to -dissolve into a thin white vapour, which floated upwards and melted -away on the summit of the Table Mountain. But the power of the -spirit lingers there still; for over the same spot where he vanished -from the eyes of Dom Vasco, _a thin white cloud_, which rises from -the hill, is unto this day the sure forerunner of a storm.* - - -* In summer, when the S.E. wind blows, a cloud called _the -Tablecloth_ appears on the mountain, and always indicates a tempest. -This cloud is composed of immense masses of fleecy -whiteness.--_Arnott_. - - -Next day, the _San Rafael_, the vessel of Da Gama, which had been -greatly shattered by the tempest, appeared off Table Bay, and on -Vasco da Lobiera making signals, a boat was sent for him and he was -brought on board, more dead than alive after all he had undergone. - -To the wondering followers of his friend, he related his adventure. -They deplored the loss of his caravella, and of so many good and -pious Portuguese; but they shook their long beards doubtfully when he -spoke of the spectre, though the unusual calmness of the weather -about the Cabo dos Tormentos seemed to verify his story and the -promises made to him. - -On being joined by the vessels of Paulo da Gama and Gonzalo Nunez, -they bore away to the eastward, and named the coast La Terra de Noel -(or Natal) having anchored off it on Christmas Day. Sixty leagues -from the Cape, they found a bay, which they named San Blaz, and in it -an island, full of birds with bat's-wings. (Penguins.) - -Thus the passage of the Cape of Storms was fully achieved and the -spell broken by these valiant Portuguese; but they could nowhere -discover the realms of Prester John, so the royal letters of Dom -Emmanuel remained unopened. - -On his return to Lisbon, Dom Vasco applied to the King of Portugal -for a gift of the Table Mountain, and money to colonize the land -about it, in virtue of his interview with the spectre; but he was -laughed at by the courtiers, and especially by the priests, who -proved his greatest enemies. - -The King, after this, styled himself Lord of the Seas on both sides -of Africa; Lord of Guinea, Ethiopia, Persia, India, Brazil, and many -other lands; but how fared it with Dom Vasco da Lobiera? - -Fury, pride, and mortification turned his brain; but he survived till -the reign of King Joam III., when he was last seen, an old and -impoverished man, with a white head and threadbare doublet, hovering -in the Rua d'Agua de Flore in Lisbon, at the gate of the Estrella, or -at the chapel of Nossa Senhora da Belem, raving to the passers about -the friendly Demon of el Cabo de Buena Esperança, and the colony of -which the King had deprived him. - -So--says the Padre Navarette--ends this wild story. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. - -WE LAND IN AFRICA. - -And now to resume my own more simple narrative. - -The barque _Princess_, which, until we touched at Ascension, had been -favoured with singularly fine weather, now encountered strong -head-winds. She was driven out of her course, and had to run well -in, on the African coast. - -After long beating about, on the 2nd of August we saw the great -continent on the southern shore of the Gulf of Guinea. - -The winds had become light and the weather cloudy. On this day I -remember the crew were variously employed, and the carpenters were -busy in making two new topgallant masts, to replace those injured in -the rough weather we had so recently encountered. - -About six P.M. the weather became squally. Captain Baylis ordered -the studding-sails to be taken in, and the chain-cables bent to the -anchors. At midnight we took in the royals and flying-jib. - -At four o'clock on the morning of the 3rd, as we required fresh -water, we came to anchor in a little sheltered bay of the Rio Gabon, -which lies between the Bight of Benin and Cape Lopez Gonsalvo. - -The wondrous transparency of the atmosphere here exceeded all I had -seen--even in the pure region of eternal ice; for amid the clear -splendour of the heavens, the eye could observe without a telescope -many a lesser star unseen in the north; and on this morning when we -were coming to anchor, two of the fixed planets shone with a -refulgence so brilliant as to cast the shadow of the ships far across -the estuary. - -By this time, the hot vertical sun of the tropics had peeled all the -paint off the blistered sides of the _Princess_. Her anchors and -ironwork had become mere masses of red rust, her once white paint had -been turned to orange colour, and her tar to dirty yellow, while the -caulking and pitch had boiled out from her planks and seams. - -Captain Baylis had no intention of remaining here longer than he -could avoid, as the climate is unhealthy. Though the hills which -overlook the river are of considerable height, the land between it -and them is but a series of swamps, where the gigantic water-weeds of -Africa and the wild mangrove-trees flourish in rank luxuriance, and -where the hideous crocodile squatters in the slime, or crawls along -the sand, where its eggs are hatched by the hot sun, if they are not -previously stolen by the ichneumon. - -While the chief mate went off in the long-boat to the Pongos--as the -little isles at the mouth of the estuary are named--to fill several -casks with fresh water, Captain Baylis proposed a visit to a negro -village on the coast, for the purpose of procuring some elephants' -teeth and leopard skins, and having a _palaver_ with the natives, -many of whom, though extremely savage, have picked up a little -English by the frequent visits of our ships, particularly those of -the African squadron. - -With a view to barter, he placed in his gig four old rusty muskets, -some well-worn table knives, old coats, pots and kettles, while, to -be prepared for any emergency, four rifles, carefully loaded and -capped, were concealed in the stern sheets, and Mrs. Baylis, Hartly, -and I accompanied him on this expedition, which was the commencement -of a series of disasters, that ended in the destruction of nearly all -concerned. - -For the lady's comfort, an awning was rigged over the stern of the -gig, which, being rowed by eight oars, ran rapidly close in shore, -where we saw a number of black fellows in a state of semi-nudity, -gabbling, gesticulating violently, and watching our arrival with -considerable interest. - -Some of their actions seeming to indicate hostility as they -brandished long spears and asseguys, Captain Baylis stood up in the -boat and displayed his old pots and kettles, making signs that he -wished to trade or barter with them. On this they uttered a -simultaneous yell, and disappeared among the mangroves, which fringed -all the bank of the river, and formed a species of natural arcade by -their branches arching over from the solid soil, and taking root in -the slimy water. - -Of this unsatisfactory result we could make nothing; but in no way -daunted, Captain Baylis (though saying that he "wished he had left -his good wife on board") steered for a little creek, on entering -which, we lost sight alike of the Pongo islets and the _Princess_, -which lay at anchor in the estuary, about four miles off. - -Beaching partly the sharp-prowed and handsome gig in the soft sand, -Baylis, Hartly, and I sprang ashore, and looked in every direction -among the tall weeds and mangroves for our sable traders; but all was -silent and still. The breast of the broad river was undisturbed by a -ripple, and seemed to sleep in the sultry sunshine; the silence of -the mighty forests that grew along its banks was unbroken by a sound; -and the vast baobab or calibash trees, with their gigantic yellow -fruit and wondrous horizontal branches, covered by foliage, were -drooping listlessly in the hot and breathless atmosphere of the -tropical noon. - -"I don't understand this, and, moreover, I don't much like it," said -Captain Baylis, in a low voice to Hartly and me; "for when I was here -before I found the darkies ready enough to 'make friends,' as they -term it, and to exchange their elephants' tusks, panther skins, and -camwood for any rubbish we could collect on board." - -But he knew not that, at this time, one of the crew of an American -ship which sailed on the previous day had wantonly shot the fetisher, -or priest of a village, and thus inspired the people with hostility -to all white strangers; and it is not improbable that they conceived -the Yankee and the _Princess_ to be one and the same vessel. - -After looking about us for some time, and finding that none of the -natives returned, Baylis proposed that we should pull a little higher -up the stream, to the village of the Rio Serpientes--or Snake River, -as it is called in the charts--a tributary of the Gabon. - -The giant size of the plants, shrubs, and trees, their wonderful -greenness and luxuriance, the brilliance of the flowers, the loud hum -of insect-life, where insects are as large as birds at home, the -depth of the forest dingles, and the overpowering heat of the -atmosphere, all served to impress me with novelty and strangeness; -while mingled emotions of wonder, pleasure, and apprehension filled -my breast. - -With deep interest I trod this wondrous soil, of which so little is -known. "For three centuries," says some one, "our ships have -circumnavigated Africa, and yet, with a few exceptions, our knowledge -of its districts is very incomplete; while the interior presents to -the eye a _blank_ in geography--an unsolved problem, in moral as well -as physical science." Though nearly four thousand years ago the -valley of the Nile was the cradle of art and commerce, we know no -more about the Mountains of the Moon than old Ptolemy himself knew. - -We were about to re-embark, when the united yells of more than a -hundred negroes rent the clear welkin, and starting from the leafy -seclusion of the mangroves into the blaze of sunlight, a horde of -black and naked savages rushed upon us with long asseguys, bows, -clubs, and knives; and in a moment we found ourselves their prisoners. - -Two seamen in the bow of the gig, while attempting to shove her off, -were struck through the body with poisoned spears, and slain on the -instant; the rest were dragged out, the gig itself was lifted fairly -out of the water, hoisted on the brawny shoulders of nearly twenty -men, and borne with yells of derision and exultation up the bank, -where they hurled it high and dry ashore among the mangroves; while -at the same moment, poor Baylis with horror saw his shrieking wife -dragged by others into the jungle. - -After being beaten with asseguy-shafts until we were nearly -senseless, our clothes were rent from us roughly, and in a state -nearly approaching nudity, covered with bruises, and in some -instances with blood, we were dragged into a thicket, and brought -before the King of the village, who was seated on a grass matting, -which was spread under the umbrageous shadow of a baobab-tree, where -he was smoking a great wooden pipe. - -All this passed in less than five minutes; and I was so stunned by -the rapidity of the transaction, as well as by several blows received -on the head from lance-shafts, that the whole affair resembled a -terrible dream! - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIX. - -THE KING OF THE SNAKE RIVER - -In that district of Africa every village has its petty monarch, and -these are all vassals of the King of Gabon, who, in turn, is vassal -of the King of Benin; and Zabadie, the sooty sovereign of this -empire, had just died about this time. - -The town, or capital (of his Majesty of the Snake River), if it could -be so named, in which we found ourselves, was composed of some six -hundred huts or so; and these resembled a large collection of -beehives, being constructed with meshes, twigs, straw, and turf. - -I was dragged to the door of one, while a savage, whom I conceived to -be the proprietor, and who wore a large coin at his neck, threw in my -hat, coat, vest, and trowsers, of which he had violently possessed -himself, being a person in authority and near relation of the King. -While he grasped me by a thong which secured my right wrist, I could -perceive within that his dwelling consisted of one apartment, the -appurtenances of which were only mats, calibashes, a stone mortar for -pounding millet, and a cauldron of earthenware. - -Closing the door, which was composed of basket-work, he dragged me to -our forlorn group, which stood before the King, who for some time -permitted us to be pelted with stones, decayed gourds, and pulpy -water-melons, by the women and children of his capital; and under -this treatment and her terror, poor Captain Baylis saw his -unfortunate wife about to sink without being able to yield her the -least assistance, as the point of an asseguy menaced his throat at -the slightest movement. - -As an accessory to the alarm our situation excited within us, close -by where his Majesty sat was a negro, on whom a sentence of his had -just been executed. - -This miserable wretch had been tied to a stake, disembowelled alive, -and had his body thereafter filled with hot salt. Despite the -terrors of our own situation, his dying agonies suggested terrible -thoughts of what our own fate might be. At last his contortions and -quiverings ceased for ever, and then, on the hoarse beating of an old -Arab drum, the pelting was stopped, the King of the Snakes laid aside -his pipe, and while all his sable subjects, save those who guarded -us, prostrated themselves on the turf, he commenced to address us; -and Baylis, who knew something of his jargon, replied, and translated -the conversation to us. - -The Captain earnestly deprecated our treatment, as we had come among -them with the peaceful intention of trading. He pled especially on -behalf of his wife, and offered a great store of bottled rum, old -firelocks, pots, kettles, brass buttons, and iron nails, as ransom -for us all. - -At these offers his sable Majesty, the Solon of the Snake River, -before whom had been laid the entire contents of the gig, with the -bloody garments of the poor fellows slain in her, only grinned from -time to time, and then uttered a diabolical laugh, which boded us no -good. - -This savage chief presented a dreadful aspect. Black as ebony, tall, -strong, and muscular in form, he had a horizontal slit in his nether -lip (a custom of his people) through which he could loll his tongue -at pleasure. This unusual aperture was so large as to give him the -appearance of having two mouths; thus, when he grinned, the white -teeth appeared at the upper, and the red cruel tongue through the -lower. He wore long splints of wood through the lobes of his ears; -one eye had a fiery red circle painted round it, the other a yellow. -He wore the skin of an ape in front like an apron; and this, with a -pair of sandals, formed of elephant hide, completed his attire. His -weapons were a long asseguy of tough teak wood, having a point of -iron; and a short sword of iron, curiously fashioned, with a great -leathern tassel at the end of the sheath, hung on his left side. - -Behind him a savage held the bridle of his dromedary, which was -covered by a multiplicity of barbaric trappings. - -"It is the law of Empungua," said the King, "that he who slays a man -shall have a public trial in face of the tribe; and if he cannot -justify the act, he and all his adherents are doomed to die." - -"Then," replied Baylis, "I demand justice on those who slew two of my -men, and plundered our boat." - -"But how know we not that one or both killed the fetisher, who was at -worship in the Wood of the Devil?" demanded the King, with a dreadful -expression in his yellow eyeballs. - -"Ya--ya--ya--yah!" chorused the tribe. - -"I swear to you that we know nothing of the act you mention," replied -Baylis, with great earnestness. - -"The white men are liars!" - -"If we had known, or been guilty of it, would we have ventured ashore -to trade or barter with you like brothers?" - -"Yes; because the white men are all liars!" - -"It was done by the ship of another nation." - -"All the white men belong to one tribe, and one big canoe is very -like another. You are liars who come over the Sea of Darkness."* - - -* The Atlantic. - - -Baylis, on finding that all his assertions of innocence met with -utter disbelief, bent all his energy to bribe our release; but his -sable Majesty only grinned through _both_ his horrid mouths, and -said-- - -"Enough! the King of the Snake River will keep what he has got, -without trusting to getting more. The white men are false. Who of -my people would venture to your ship when we know now what we never -knew before?" - -"And what is this?" - -"Accursed dog and son of a race of dogs!" thundered the King, -spitting a quid of something like beetel-nut full in the face of -Baylis; "we have learned that you white men take our people away in -shiploads to fatten them for food, in a land far beyond the sea!" - -On this, a yell similar to that we had first heard made wood and -welkin ring. Violent hands were again laid on us, and we expected -instant immolation; but their purpose at present was merely to denude -us more fully of anything we had about us. - -On having his shirt torn from him, poor Hartly endeavoured to protect -or conceal a little gold locket, which contained the hair of his dead -wife and of their little ones, and which was hung at his neck by a -black silk riband. But he received a blow from a carved war-club -which covered his face with blood; he reeled backward, and the prized -relic was instantly appropriated by the King, who, no doubt, deemed -it the white man's fetish, a "great medicine," or amulet. - -Mrs. Baylis became insensible, and was delivered over to a crowd of -women, who shouted and laughed like devils as they bore her into a -wigwam, while her husband, Hartly, six seamen, and I, were, by the -King's order, conducted through the town of huts, and driven like a -herd towards the summit of a high mountain, where we fully expected -to be put to death in some barbarous fashion. - -Mounted on his dromedary, the King accompanied his savages, one of -whom, brilliantly smeared over with ochre, was an esquire of the -royal body, I presume, as he sat behind, and held outspread a broad -umbrella of grass matting. - - - - -CHAPTER XL. - -THE GABON CLIFF. - -A sad series of barbarities, suffering, danger, and death make up the -remainder of my story. - -We were in the hands of a tribe addicted to fetishism of the lowest -kind. Worse than the ferocious Bisagos, who pay divine homage to a -dunghill cock, or the people of Benin, who worship their own shadows, -they adored the devil and all snakes, from the little adder to the -great cobra-capello, and maintained temples and priests in their -honour; remaining, in this age of steam, gas, and electricity, as -ignorant as the people mentioned by Ælian, who worshipped flies, and -offered up full-fed oxen on their shrines! - -Amid a yelling horde, who, by their menacing tones, seemed full of -animosity, and no doubt were pouring upon us their whole vocabulary -of abuse, though we understood it not, we were led up the steep rough -slope of a mountain, which rose at a very sharp angle to a great -height. The side on which we ascended was covered with loose stones, -amid which the wild coffee and tobacco plants, with innumerable -thorny trees--the _persea_ of Theophrastus--grew in tangled masses, -with serrated grass, having blades as sharp as knives, with many a -nameless bramble that tore our tender skins, while gnats came upon us -in swarms, and well-nigh drove us mad; and all this we endured, while -the well-armed crew of the _Princess_, in ignorance of our fate, were -within a few miles of us! - -On reaching what we supposed to be the summit of a mountain, we found -ourselves upon a green plateau that terminated abruptly in a -precipitous cliff nearly four hundred feet in height, and overhanging -some rocky shelves, which sloped down to the bed of the Gabon River. - -Here the King dismounted from his dromedary, and squatted his sable -person on a piece of grass matting under the royal umbrella, while -several of his chief men seated themselves at a respectful distance, -after knocking their woolly heads upon the earth, in token of their -slavish submission. - -From the brow of this cliff we could see our ship at anchor in the -estuary, but alas! far beyond the reach of signals. We could also -see the little green Pongos, which stud the bay formed by the great -sweep of the Gabon. - -Afar off on the other hand towards the east, we could discern where, -between groves of strange trees--the plantain, banana, and the -baobab--with many a giant plant and mighty flower upon its shores, -the great river of Guinea, the Rio Gabon, rolled from its distant -source, in the unexplored land of Ungobai--a stream so broad and deep -that a sloop of war has ascended it for more than seventy miles. - -Transparent though the air was around us, a hot sunny haze shrouded -those green forests through which the Gabon came rolling like a -mighty flood of gold towards the west--rolling through a vast plain, -covered by a leafy wilderness, where the lordly lion with his shaggy -mane, the cruel panther with his stealthy step, and the ponderous -elephant, roved in herds; and amid the luxuriant flowers and lovely -fertility of which, the scaly cobra-capello, and a hundred kinds of -dreadful reptiles, with tongues that teemed with poison, lurked; -where every fruit and herb were gigantic in proportion to the mighty -continent which produced them; where the crocodile squattered in the -green miasmatic slime, and the hippopotami, huge, misshapen, and -pre-Adamite in form, swam like the great tusky walrus of the icy -regions I had left so recently. - -All these natural wonders were contained in the vast plain at our -feet--a plain that seemed to vibrate under the cloudless glare of the -burning sun; for the heat at noon must have been somewhere about 107° -in the shade, and our tender skins were blistering under it. - -But the thoughts this scene inspired for a moment were soon diverted -from it, by the terrors about to be enacted there. - -A hideous old negro, whose barbaric ornaments announced his rank and -character as a _fetisher_, proceeded to examine, with gipsy-like -care, the various lines on the palms of our hands. - -What he affected to gather therefrom we could not divine, but the -lines proved fatal to three of our companions, whom, with yells of -satisfaction, he thrust aside from the rest, and the work of torture -and death at once began by order of the King. - -Three strong and handsome young seamen had their hands tied behind -them by a thick thong. - -To this a rope was attached; after this they were thrust over the -cliff, and a piercing cry, which curdled the blood in our hearts, -burst from each, when, by the violence of the jerk and their own -weight, their arms were torn round and upward, and dislocated in the -shoulder socket. - -In this horrible situation they swung at the extremity of the -suspending lines, which were made fast to the roots of a palm-tree; -and there with a pendulous motion, they swayed to and fro in mid-air, -over the sharp edge of that impending cliff, with the rocky bank of -the Gabon four hundred feet below. - -Need I say their shrieks and cries for pity were piercing and -unheeded? - -Unable to yield them the slightest assistance, we gazed in speechless -horror; while, as their strength waned, their sad moans arose from -time to time to the plateau on which we stood. - -The hungry cormorants, in anticipation of their coming repast, came -out of their holes in the cliff, and with flapping wings, wheeled and -swooped up and down about them. - -To protract the mental and bodily agony endured by these poor -fellows, they were permitted to hang thus for nearly half an hour, -when the King gave a signal, and a score of tum-tums, or drums, were -beaten. On this, the cords were parted by three blows of a sharp -hatchet, then the bodies of our companions fell whizzing through the -air, and vanished from sight far down below, where no doubt the river -crocodiles, the greedy cormorants, and the wild ducks would soon rend -their poor corses asunder. - -So perished these unfortunates! - -We looked into each other's haggard eyes with blank dismay; and it -may readily be supposed that such an episode made us still more -spiritless and timid. - -"Oh, my wife! my poor wife!" exclaimed the unfortunate Baylis from -time to time. "Death is but the birthday of _another_ life, the -parsons tell us; but I think with horror of her fate among such -cowardly dogs as these. God help her! God help her!" - -A series of prolonged and exulting yells now announced that our -captors conceived they had appeased the spirit of the fetisher whom -the Yankees had slain. - -"Let them die! let them die!" (Baylis told me were their shouts;) -"they are but white dogs who worship neither the sun nor moon, nor -the big snake that lives in the wood." - -There were now but six of us remaining, and our fate was soon -decided. The King selected Hartly and Baylis as slaves for himself, -assigning the four others to different chief men of his town or -territory. - -"My poor friend," said Hartly, "this is from bad to worse! Why did -we not perish with the _Leda_? We shall never weather these fellows, -I fear!" - -I fell to the lot of the savage with the coin at his neck, a -personage whom they named Amoo--the same supple fellow who had first -pounced upon me when we landed in that fiendish country. - -As we were separated, Hartly and I had only time to exchange a -farewell glance. My hands were still secured by the thong, which was -tied so tightly that the flesh of my wrists was becoming blue, livid, -and swollen almost to bursting, so my aching arms were powerless. By -blows with the shaft of his asseguy, Amoo drove me down the hill, and -conducted me to his wigwam, when the tribe separated, and save on one -occasion I never again saw any of my poor companions in misfortune; -though I afterwards learned the miserable fate of Captain Baylis and -his wife. - - - - -CHAPTER XLI. - -HOW THE CAPTAIN PERISHED. - -I have mentioned that the gentle Mrs. Baylis--she who had nursed us -so kindly in our helplessness--had been carried off by the women of -this tribe of devils, who confined her in a wigwam. - -On perceiving the whiteness of her skin, and the great length and -softness of her hair, which was of a fair auburn colour, forming thus -a strange contrast to their sooty exteriors, and the short, -poodledog-like tufts of wool with which their own round skulls were -covered, they diligently proceeded to make her as like themselves as -possible. - -A species of gum and certain herbs were boiled in an earthen pipkin, -and with this decoction they rubbed her whole face and body, until -they became black as ebony. - -They next rooted out the whole of her soft and beautiful hair, making -her perfectly bald. Her head was then smeared thickly with gum, and -coated over with green and crimson parrot's feathers. They then -streaked her breast and shoulders with red and yellow paint. This -process occupied two entire days, during which she remained a passive -victim in their hands, and at the close--when these ladies of the Rio -Serpientes thought they had made the unhappy woman as fiendish in -aspect and as like themselves as possible--they placed a kind of hoe -in her hands and dragged her into a plantation of millet to work with -them; as the naked warriors and lazy husbands of Gabon, like those of -other savage districts, disdainfully leave all manual labour to their -slavish helpmates. - -Despair and exhaustion rendered Mrs. Baylis unable to work; so the -negresses beat, scratched, and bit her, till she sank under their -hands at the root of a date-tree, where she lay inert and reckless -alike of life and death; but the horrid hiss of a serpent close by, -aroused her. - -So great is the instinctive love of life, that on beholding this -hideous reptile, which was of the venomous kind and some six or eight -feet long, rearing its head to attack her, she uttered a shrill and -piercing cry for aid. - -Two white prisoners who had been hewing wood in an adjacent thicket -came forth on hearing this; but the negresses, who laughed and danced -on seeing the poor woman assailed by one of their holy snakes, met -the two men with their hoes in a hostile attitude, and barred their -advance to a rescue: while the white men, conceiving the shrieking -victim to be a mere savage--so darkly was the skin of Mrs. Baylis -dyed by the decoctions of her tormentors--were not over anxious to -interfere. - -In one of these white prisoners, worn to a skeleton, haggard in eye, -and covered with sores and bloody bruises, she had nearly as much -difficulty in recognising her husband, the once plump and jolly -captain of the _Princess_, as he had, in tracing in the face of that -dusky and copper-coloured squaw, with her gummed wig of red and green -parrot's feathers, his pretty English wife, with her once snowy skin -and silky auburn hair; but she cried aloud, - -"Save me, Baylis--Oh, save me! I am your poor wife, your own Annie!" - -The unfortunate Baylis trembled with mingled rage and horror, and -snatching a hoe from a negress rushed upon the poisonous serpent, -which had already bitten its victim thrice, and beat it furiously -upon its flat head and scaly body; but while doing so, the frantic -cries of the negresses, who deemed this an act of sacrilege, brought -to the spot Amoo, with a crowd of savages, one of whom pierced Baylis -through the heart with his asseguy, and mercifully slew him on the -instant. - -The negresses then rushed upon his wife, and by repeated blows of -their implements upon her head, face, and bosom, soon ended her -miseries. - -On beholding this scene of double barbarity, the seaman who had been -at work with Baylis, and who, like him, was also a mass of sores and -bruises by the ill-usage he had undergone, became filled by a species -of frenzy. Wresting an asseguy from Amoo, he ran three of his -followers through the body in quick succession, and killed, or -mortally wounded them, as all these weapons are poisoned; but he was -soon overpowered by numbers, beaten down, secured, and condemned to -death by tortures, almost too horrible for narration. - -His eyes, mouth, and nostrils were forced open and filled with hot -pepper. He was then enclosed in a strong basket of cylindrical form, -full of long sharp thorns, and this was rolled for hours about the -town of wigwams, until he became a shapeless mass of flesh and blood, -which dropped through the wattling of the cage; and during this -dreadful torture, under which he must soon have perished, if he -uttered cries they were unheard, as they were unheeded, for the -whooping, yelling, and beating of tum-tums, might have made one -suppose that Pandemonium had vomited all its denizens on the bank of -the Gabon River. - -While this was going on, I was at work among the plants which grew in -a patch of ground adjoining the wigwam of Amoo; but I could in no way -discover _who_ this last victim was. However, as Baylis and Hartly -had been condemned to slavery together, I was full of deep sorrow -lest the sufferer might be my friend. - - - - -CHAPTER XLII. - -AMOO. - -Amoo, the savage who wore the amulet or coin at his neck, proved to -be the King's brother; and when first dragged to his miserable -dwelling he informed me, by signs--pointing to the earth which I was -to till, and to the trees which I was to hew--that I was to be his -obedient servant or slave, and by placing the poisoned point of his -asseguy in dangerous proximity to my throat, he menacingly indicated -that death would be the result of the least attempt at resistance or -escape. - -I understood his grim pantomime in all its terrible minutiæ; but in -no way daunted thereby, resolved, whatever froward fate might have in -store for me, to leave no means untried to fly his thraldom and reach -the coast, in the hope of escaping to any vessel that might come in -sight, or anchor off the Pongos on the same unfortunate errand as the -_Princess_. - -I could no longer hope that she was still there, as the chief mate, -after the lapse of a week, would suppose we were all murdered, and so -continue his voyage to the Cape of Good Hope. - -Amoo, though savage and exacting in the tasks he set me, was nothing -in severity when compared to his wife, for this Brave of the Rio -Serpientes had "a helpmate meet for him," who hoed his rice and -maize, shared his matted hut and couch of skins, and who scraped in -thankful silence what he was pleased to leave her after meals at the -bottom of his calibash; who shared with the house-dog his half-picked -bones, and nursed a frightful little imp about a month old. They had -three others, and Amoo doubtless fondly hoped (to quote Ossian) "they -would carry his name and fame to future times." - -By an anomaly in savage life, Amoo was very much attached to his four -children, while their mother was tolerably indifferent about them, -and often forced me to carry her black bantling, which I did, with an -exhibition of all the solicitude I could assume, and with as little -disgust as possible, conceiving that if her good will and confidence -could be won, they might improve my chances of escape; but I strove -in vain, and might as well have caudled the cub of a she-bear. - -My mistress was a negress of Guinea, and of unusually horrible -aspect. Her lower lip was slit, and had a long wooden peg inserted -in it so curiously, that the end thereof dangled upon her breast. -Her great ears, set high upon her woolly head, had ponderous rings of -metal, which dragged them downward to her shoulders. Her teeth were -dyed blood red by some native herb, known to the fetishers alone, and -her whole body, where revealed by her only garment--an apron of grass -matting--was covered with a species of tattooing, and always smeared -with a thick unctuous grease, in which the embedded gnats and flies -could revel undisturbed. - -To eat repasts which were cooked by her odious hands excited a -loathing which hunger alone could conquer; but anxiety for the -future, and the intense heat of the atmosphere, made me generally -averse to animal food; hence I found the yams, which there grow like -turnips (and shoot out long leaves like French beans), my most -pleasant food, as I could cook them for myself, either by boiling -them in a pipkin, or roasting them among cinders. The inside is -white as flour, and sweet and dry. - -For many days I lived on these, with such fruit as I could find when -at work near our wigwam, and Amoo gave me at times a little olive oil -and palm wine, but in secret, for this warrior, though fearless in -other respects, was civilized enough to be afraid of his wife. - -My days were spent in hoeing yams, cutting fuel, carrying water in -calibashes, selecting long and straight reeds for baskets, or boughs -and bark to keep the wigwam water-tight. My mistress would have had -me dive into the bay in search of sea-eggs, but to this I would by no -means consent, and my refusal caused an open and standing feud -between us. - -At night, in a corner of their wretched dwelling, I coiled myself up -on a panther skin, and for hours would lie awake in the dark, -revolving plans of escape. To push a passage through the wattles, -and make off under cloud of night, would have been an easy task, -could I have silenced or circumvented the herd of ferocious dogs -which guarded the town, or rather village, after sunset, and the -yells of which, on the slightest movement, raised an alarm that would -soon cause their being unleashed and let slip upon my track. - -The negroes among whom I was cast worshipped the sun, the moon, and -the devil; and in many instances, with singular barbarity, offered up -their youngest children to the latter, that rain might fall in due -season to make the yams big and the bananas grow. - -Amoo strove in vain to lessen the severity of his wife, who -frequently beat me with a hard club, till I grew weary of existence, -and my heart swelled with savage thoughts of revenge. - -Among the glass beads, feathers, rusty nails, and other trash which -Amoo wore as a necklace, was his great amulet, a curious coin, which -he one day permitted me to examine, but which he would have yielded -up less readily than his life. - -It proved to be a piece of the reign of Servius Tullius, sixth King -of the Romans, and consequently must have been more than twenty-three -centuries old. How came it there, and what was its history? So this -prize, which half the savans of Europe would have rejoiced to -possess, hung, and, for aught that I know, still hangs at the neck of -an African savage, who found it on the sea-shore. - -It was several ounces in weight, and bore on one side the head of -Minerva, on the other an ox, as plain as if struck yesterday; and -accoutred with this "great medicine," Amoo rushed fearlessly to -encounter alike human enemies and the wild beasts of the forests -which bordered the Gabon and the River of Snakes. - -In the course of three weeks I picked up several words of the native -language, which is full of rather musical sounds, as most of the -words end in a vowel. The desire for escape added to the care with -which I studied it. - -One day when Amoo, with other savages, was hunting in the forest, and -his better half was paddling about in her canoe on the river fishing, -she suddenly uttered a shrill yell, which arrested me at my work -among the yams, where I was hoeing under a broiling sun. - -She was only about forty yards from me, and was pointing frantically -to a huge baboon, which had squatted itself close by where her -youngest child was asleep, under two large plantain leaves, the stems -of which had been stuck in the turf as a species of sun-shade. - -The baboon was of the ursine species, larger than a Newfoundland dog, -and though common enough in South Africa, I now beheld it for the -first time. It was a hideous brute, covered with shaggy brown hair, -except on the hind feet and hands, for its forepaws are literally -_hands_, and bare as a man's, being constantly employed in climbing -rocks and trees, pulling fruit, or grubbing up roots and esculents -for food. Its head resembled that of a dog, but its hind feet were -rather human in form. - -These baboons are so strong and bold, that they will attack a leopard -or hyæna, and by their teeth, which are an inch-and-a-half long, and -their sharp fore-claws, can rend the throat and jugular vein with -ferocious dexterity. - -The woman uttered yell after yell, and pointing to her nursling with -one hand, paddled vigorously towards the shore with the other, while -I gazed at her with irresolution; thus, before either of us could -come to the rescue, the grisly she-baboon had snatched it up and -bounded into the forest! - -Though I had no great love for the tribe of the Rio Serpientes, the -natural impulses of humanity, together with a dread of the vengeance -that might fall upon me for neglect, caused me instantly to rush away -in pursuit. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIII. - -THE RESCUE OF HIS CHILD. - -Some time before this, I had fortunately made for myself a pair of -long sandals, formed of panther's skin, which I wore as Bryan O'Lynn -did his breeches-- - - "With the skinny side out and the hairy side in." - -Indeed these, and a kind of shirt of grass-matting, were all the -garments I possessed; for the savages, on our capture, tore all our -clothes into strips, that each might have a portion; thus, every coin -and button found upon us were appropriated; even our watches were -broken up, and the wheels and springs of them were worn in their -noses and ears as ornaments. - -These sandals enabled me to run with ease and safety through patches -of prickly yams, among serrated blades of grass, wild vines, dense -creepers, and all kinds of thorny bushes. - -Two warriors, on hearing the alarm, joined me in the pursuit. One -soon passed me, but went upon a false trail; the other stumbled and -hurt himself severely; so relinquishing my wooden hoe for his -asseguy, I continued the pursuit alone. - -Encumbered by her prey, the baboon could only run upon her hind legs, -thus I easily kept her in sight after seeing her again. She was -making straight towards those steep and lofty rocks which overhang -the Gabon river--the same fatal rocks where three of our boat's crew -had perished so miserably. - -But her progress was soon impeded by a wall of gigantic reeds about -ten feet high, through which a passage seemed impossible, as they -grew close and dense amid a deep miasmatic quagmire, which covered -all the plain at the base of the rocks, and amid which myriads of -water-snakes lurked, and poisonous reptiles squattered. Here, too, -there was no air--not a breath could be inhaled with freedom, for the -density of the reeds obstructed every passing current; and, gasping -and bathed in perspiration, as I drew near the savage animal she -turned, and was about to make a hostile, and perhaps most fatal -spring, in which case all had ended with me then; when suddenly -perceiving a narrow opening in the reedy wall, she changed her -intention, and entering, again vanished with the child. - -Further pursuit seemed impossible! - -I sank under a tree, and for some time fanned myself with a large -leaf. While thus employed, I heard a strange railing cry at a -distance, and on looking round perceived the baboon, about a hundred -yards off, clambering up the face of the rocks, where it entered a -hole, and disappeared. - -Though I could scarcely hope that the child of Amoo would be alive or -undevoured, I marked well the locality of the crevice its captor had -entered, and making a detour, reached the end of the reedy marsh, and -then proceeded boldly to ascend the rocks. - -In some parts the climbing convolvoli and papyrus grew in such -masses, and were so interlaced, as to form a rampart, against which I -toiled in despair, and had my skin torn in innumerable places, ere I -could burst through them. One feels so helpless without clothing. - -At last I reached the vicinity of the hole, and after pausing for a -time to recover breath, advanced with the asseguy charged breast -high, lest the fierce brute might spring forth upon me; but on -peering into the den, I saw its eyes glancing, and its grim -satyr-like visage grinning at me, while uttering a hoarse cry. - -The infant was alive, and its captor was kindly fondling it; having -been probably deprived of her own offspring by some hunter's shaft, -the act of abduction had been prompted by a strange and erratic -maternal emotion in herself. - -Amoo explained this to me afterwards as being no uncommon occurrence. -I had no thought of it then, but rushed upon her with the long and -sharp asseguy, and thrust it deeply into her breast. Coiled up in -her little den, and thus rendered incapable of active resistance, she -could only howl, bite, and writhe upon the tough teakwood shaft; -while her life-blood smeared all the little black infant, and ebbed -away among the well-picked bones of the small monkeys and wild ducks, -which strewed the hole that formed her lair. - -The poor baboon expired just as I drew forth the asseguy for a -finishing thrust; and at that moment Amoo, with a crowd of other -savages, came rushing up the rocks, and joined me, with excitement -expressed in all their wide mouths and glittering eyeballs. - -Breathless and drenched in perspiration, overcome by exertion, and -somewhat sickened by the cries and death agonies of the half -human-like creature I had slain, I sank upon a bank of turf, -incapable of further exertion. - -Amoo, after holding up his offspring by each leg alternately, and -viewing it over as one might do a dead duck or rabbit, to ascertain -if any of its bones were broken, found that it had suffered only a -few scratches, on which he uttered sundry shrill howls expressive of -paternal satisfaction, and patted me kindly on the head and breast, -in token that henceforth we were friends, and in amity. - -"You are brave--you are brave! Yah--yah!" said he repeatedly. "You -are the brother of Amoo." - -Thus did I achieve the very end I had in view--to win the confidence -of my savage task-masters! - -We returned to the wigwams in triumph, bringing with us the skin of -the ursine baboon on the point of an asseguy; and the circumstance of -a creature so agile and ferocious having been slain by me, the poor -despised white slave, was evidently the cause of much marvel to that -dingy community. - -From this day there was a sensible alteration in the bearing of my -mistress towards me. I cannot say that I gained more of her -confidence, or had fewer tasks set me, but when beating me with her -club, she entirely ceased to strike me on _the head_ or face, as she -had been wont to do. But the reason of this unusual forbearance was -explained to me by Amoo, and proved a very cogent reason for -hastening my departure from the unpleasant vicinity of the Snake -River. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIV. - -THE GRATITUDE OF HIS WIFE. - -In two instances she patted my head and smiled on me, till the -corners of her mouth went up to her ears. - -On the last occasion she gave me a large iron knife to sharpen, -indicating by various signs that a very fine edge must be put upon it. - -"She is grateful to you for saving her child," said Amoo, who -observed her. - -"I am glad of it," said I, with a sigh of mingled bitterness and -impatience. - -"She means to show you and the tribe that she is so." - -"The tribe too, how?" - -"Yah, yah," said Amoo, as he placed one hand on my head, and drew the -right forefinger of the other across his throat, in a way that was -unpleasantly suggestive. Then he laughed and pointed to a gaily -painted canoe that lay among some reeds by the river-side. - -"She will assist me to escape in it to a big ship at the Pongos?" -said I with a glow of hope. - -Amoo frowned, then he grinned and shook his head. - -"What then?" I asked anxiously. - -After a good deal of pantomime, with which he endeavoured to aid his -explanations, at last the horrid truth broke upon me! - -She wished my caput as a figure-head to her canoe, for which purpose, -after being duly prepared by gums, balms, and herbs, she could make -it suitable. Amoo flatteringly added that such had been her desire -from the first, as "I was the youngest and best-looking of the -prisoners." - -Here was a pleasant prospect! - -"And it was for this purpose she gave me the long knife to sharpen so -carefully?" - -"Yah, yah," replied Amoo, while a glow of rage filled my breast; "and -even now she is gathering herbs on the borders of the wood to boil in -the stone jar with it." - -"It--what?" - -"Your head." - -"I must watch." - -"It is of no use to watch," replied Amoo; "sometime, when you are not -thinking of it, she will give you some red berries, that will cause -you to sleep _very sound_; and then with her knife or a sharp -shell--yah, yah!" he concluded by a guttural laugh, and again pressed -his finger round his neck. - -"Oh, Heavens!" I exclaimed, "aid me to escape from this atrocious -squaw!" - -I asked Amoo if he, in gratitude to me for saving his child, would -aid me to escape; but he shook his head, adding: - -"I am the brother of a great king, and must keep my slave." - -"Why?" - -"To punish the white men, who fatten up our brothers beyond the Sea -of Darkness, and eat them." - -After reiterated applications to his gratitude and pity for freedom -or assistance, finding that he was gradually losing his temper and -becoming suspicious; that his snake-like eyes were beginning to gleam -and his thick red nostrils to quiver, I abandoned the subject, and -resuming my hoe, went to my daily task in the patch of garden where -our yams and other esculents grew, and affected to work as usual, -conscious that, for a time, my savage owner was eyeing me with vague -doubts, and while playing ominously with his long reed-like asseguy, -was probably repenting that by his admissions he had put me on my -guard against the artistic views of his better half. - -After a time he disappeared, yet I dreaded that it was only to -conceal himself under some of the bushes, or the leaves of the -creeping gourds, to watch me, so I affected to hoe -industriously--yes, and to whistle too, though my heart was sick and -full of dreadful apprehensions. One thing I had resolved, come what -might, never again to commit my head to sleep, or to pass a night -within the same wigwam with that horrible woman. - -While revolving in my mind, and almost blind with desperation, what -measures I should take to save myself, to escape from my present -danger and misery, I saw her pass from the wood towards the town of -wigwams. In one hand she held the knife I had sharpened so nicely -for her, in the other a basket filled with herbs--herbs, I doubted -not, for my especial behoof; and she "grinned horribly a ghastly -smile," as she walked on with that shuffling gait peculiar to these -negresses. - -My heart swelled with so much rage and hatred at this hideous -creature, that I had some difficulty in repressing a vehement desire -to beat her down with my hoe; but such a proceeding would only have -ensured and accelerated my own destruction; as I knew not what number -of watchful savages might at that moment be eyeing me from amid the -jungle of leaves, flowers, and fruit which bordered the patch wherein -I worked, under a sun so vertical that I had scarcely a shadow. - -Lest such a surveillance might be maintained, I resolved as soon as -she disappeared to adopt something of their own subtlety. - -I seated myself under a tree among some weeds, as if tired, and then, -after a time, affected to sleep; though keeping watch with open ears -and half-closed eyes, lest any one might approach; but all remained -still around me, save the monotonous hum of the millions of insects -that revolved in the shade of the adjacent wood. - -On being assured of this, I crept on my hands and knees into the -jungle, dragging my hoe after me, and going feet foremost on my face -for nearly a hundred yards or so, that I might with my fingers -obliterate all traces of a _trail_; and in this, I was very -successful by raising the crushed grass and shaking the bruised twigs. - -At last I reached a runnel, the waters of which I knew would destroy -all scent of my footsteps, and baffle the keen nostrils of those -ferocious dogs, which would certainly be let slip in search of me the -moment I was missed. - -Assured that this runnel of water would be a tributary of the Rio -Serpientes, I proceeded up its course for several miles, and in my -anxiety to escape the human race forgetting all about the ferocious -denizens of the African forest--the snakes and other dreadful -reptiles with which the woods, the water, and the bordering deserts -teemed. - -I must have proceeded about ten miles without meeting either man or -beast to molest or obstruct me, when evening was beginning to close, -and I found myself nearly exhausted, but within a pleasant thicket of -orange, citron, and chestnut trees, which bordered a pretty lake, and -flourished amid the thousand flowering shrubs of this luxuriant -wilderness. - -The necessity for rest forced itself upon me; but I dared not sleep -on the earth lest snakes might assail me, and even in a tree I was -not safe from the panthers, yet I chose my couch in the latter. -Furnished with a large stone, as a missile for defence in any -emergency, grasping the hoe by my teeth, I clambered into a -chestnut-tree, scaring therefrom a whole covey of kingfishers, -copper-coloured cuckoos, and green and flame-coloured parrots. - -Then selecting a place where the leafy branches were forked out from -the stem, and grew in such a form that I could rest upon them with -ease, and without fear of falling, I deposited the stone in a hollow -of the tree, and after an hour of anxious and exciting watchfulness, -gradually felt sleep stealing over me--a sleep to which the "drowsy -hum" of the insects, the balmy air of the evening, the lassitude -produced by my recent travel after a day's toil under a burning sun, -all conduced; and so, heedless of everything, at last I slept -profoundly on my awkward perch. - - - - -CHAPTER XLV. - -FLIGHT. - -In this precarious situation I must have been asleep for some hours, -when awakened by a dreadful sound, and with a start so nervous that I -nearly fell from my roost upon the long, reedy grass below. - -This sound was the roaring of a lion! - -I had heard it often in menageries at home; but there the sound was -feeble as the bay of a house-dog when compared to the dread roar, -which rolled along the ground and rent the still air of the morning -in that lone African forest. A terror possessed me; yet, grasping my -hoe, while quivering in every fibre, I gazed with keen anxiety -between the leaves of the chestnut-tree for the approaching enemy. - -Ignorant alike of his powers of leaping and scenting, I knew not -whether the lion might, on discovering me, at once spring up like a -tree-leopard, which can pursue its prey, like a cat, from branch to -branch. Oh, how I longed for a good rifle--a sharp sword--a -dagger--for any other weapon than the miserable wooden club (for the -hoe was no better) with which I was armed at that moment. - -The lilac light of dawning morn poured through the thick green vista -of the wild forest, and the little lake which lay near my -chestnut-tree shone white as a sheet of milk, bordered by countless -gaudy tulips and opening flowers. - -The sun was yet below the horizon, but every dew-drenched herb, and -leaf, and tree, were distinctly visible in the clear pale light that -overspread the sky. - -Every pulse quickened, and all my energies became wound up to the -utmost pitch by excitement, when I saw the mighty lord of the -wilderness--a vast dun-coloured lion, with his large round head and -shaggy mane, powerful legs, his close round body and tufted tail, -that shook wrathfully aloft as he trotted past swiftly, bearing a -dead sheep in his mouth. - -Passing almost under the tree, and round the margin of the lake, he -disappeared in the forest; but a sense of his terrible presence -seemed to linger about me still. My doubts and irresolution were -increased; the dangers of the wilderness in which I wandered, alone -and unarmed, became more vividly impressed upon me, and for a time I -almost regretted that I had left the coast, and the protection of my -savage task-masters. But then the wife of Amoo, and her hideous -desire for possessing my head! - -"Hope is the bounty of God!" thought I, and as the forest remained -still and quiet--at least, as no sound reached my ear, save the -increasing hum of the myriads of insects warming into life and sport -in the light and heat of the rising sun--I resolved to descend from -my perch, and follow the track of any stream which might lead to the -coast, for by the sea--the open, free, wide sea--lay my only hope of -escape from this dangerous and detested shore. - -Remembering the geographical form of Africa, as represented on the -map, I knew that if I could, by any means, proceed westward for about -two hundred and fifty miles or so round the Bight of Benin, I should -be so near our settlement at Cape Coast Castle as to be in safety. -But how, in such a country, was this to be accomplished? - -I had already begun my descent from the tree, when the noise of -something coming rapidly through the forest made me scramble into my -perch again. And lo! a savage, armed as usual with a long asseguy, -but mounted on a swift dromedary, came from amid the trees, and -paused by the lonely lake to give his great misshapen nag a drink; -and while he did so, in his brawny form and tasselled apeskin apron -and sandals, his eyes with their circles of red and yellow paint, the -slit under his mouth, his hideous aspect and barbaric trappings, I -recognised the brother of Amoo--the King of the Rio Serpientes! - -Were both upon my track, or had chance alone brought him here? I -knew that if retaken, I had met with more mercy from the lion than -from either; and the image of the wife of Amoo, with her sharp knife -and basket of herbs and gums, seemed to rise before me. - -The savage looked around him, and suddenly turning his dromedary, -rode straight towards my place of concealment. I grasped my hoe, -resolved if he had seen me, not to yield up my wretched existence -without a desperate struggle; but all unconscious of my presence, his -sable majesty dismounted, placed his asseguy against the chestnut -tree, spread a grass-mat at its root, and seating himself, proceeded -quietly to light a species of hubble-bubble, or pipe made from a reed -and a nut-shell. Stuffing therein some dried herbs, he applied flint -and steel, and began leisurely and literally to enjoy his morning -weed. - -At his neck I could see poor Robert Hartly's gold locket glittering. - -The vicinity of this ferocious and tremendous personage, with the -chances of his horde being all within hail, like the band of Roderick -Dhu, so greatly alarmed me, that fully a quarter of an hour elapsed -before I rallied sufficiently to conceive the idea of appropriating -his quiet and docile dromedary (which was cropping the herbage close -by), and using it as a means of reaching Cape Coast Castle, the -western goal of all my hopes. - -I knew that this animal was deemed a miracle of swiftness even in -that burning clime, where they will travel with ease fifty miles per -day. - -The savage King seemed to be asleep, or in a waking doze; but I knew -that by habits of danger, activity, and a life spent in the open air, -the senses of these people were so acute, that the slightest sound -would revive him; and that, if once discovered, he could crush me -like a shrimp in his powerful grasp. - -"Can I not kill him?" thought I, as furious thoughts began to fill my -mind; "my hoe is too light--ha! the stone!" - -I snatched the stone, which with difficulty I had conveyed up the -tree overnight, as a missile against wild animals, and poised it in -my hands. It was nearly twelve pounds weight, and the woolly skull -of the King was immediately below me; but it might be thick as that -of an elephant, so the missile would prove more harmless than a ball -of worsted. - -If I missed, death to me was certain; if I slew or stunned him, I had -an equal certainty of escape. Then I thought of poor Captain Baylis, -of his tortured wife, of Hartly, and of that horrible butchery by the -steep rocks of the river Gabon, and a glow of merciless fury filled -my soul! - -The stone shot from my hand, and, bathed in blood, quivering and -senseless, the brutal King of the Snake River rolled among the long -dry grass, with foam issuing from his mouth, and the aperture below -it. - -Swift as lightning I descended the tree--all cramped and stiff by a -night passed amid its branches; caught his dromedary by the bridle, -sprang upon its back, snatched up the asseguy as a weapon for -defence, and, without casting a glance to ascertain whether I had -been guilty of actual regicide, or had merely given him a crack upon -his imperial crown, urged the animal I bestrode westward at furious -speed, through a grove of pale green orange trees, where the rich -dewy fruit hung like balls of gleaming gold in the light of the -morning sun. - - - - -CHAPTER XLVI. - -FLIGHT CONTINUED. - -Steering my course westward, so closely as I could judge, I rode -rapidly through wild and pathless places; and when mounted on an -animal so sure and swift of foot, I felt more confident of escape -from any savages in whose way I might fall. - -I was not without a dread of wild animals, for the furious lion and -the stealthy panther roam everywhere through the forests of Africa; -and though nearly the whole day passed without meeting one of either -species, hundreds of pernicious serpents, black, or brown, or green -and scaly, with glaring eyes, hissed at me from amid the long rank -grass; while brightly pinioned birds flew about me, and horrid -baboons and monkeys, of all kinds and sizes, leaped and frisked on -every hand, springing from branch to branch of the trees, where they -swung madly to and fro by their tails as I passed. - -At a distance rose the smoke of fires, with the dome-shaped wigwams -of three negro villages; but these I avoided by keeping far off, and -without tarrying a moment for food or refreshment, pushed on -westward, through a broad plain where the maize, cassava, and pulse -were cultivated in little patches. On, on where the banana, the -papaw, the lemon, orange, and tamarind trees grew wild in thickets; -where the spotted giraffe, the striped zebra, and the graceful little -antelope, made their lair, and trembled when they heard the roar of -the lion of Libya. - -On, on I rode to reach the castle of Cape Coast, and urged the -dromedary to his utmost speed. - -Leaving the plain, at the end of which the sun was setting now, I -continued my way still westward across a long tract of desert sand; -and now for the first time I paused to look around me. - -On the borders of this desert grew some wild lotus trees. -Dismounting, I took some of their farinaceous berries with joy to -assuage my hunger, and found their flavour to resemble sweet -ginger-bread. - -After a draught of water from a runnel--water that was actually -tepid--I remounted with difficulty, as my strength was nearly gone -now; having ridden the livelong day under a burning sun, which left -the sand so hot that it scorched my feet, while the finely pulverized -grains of it were floating in a cloud about me, and filling my mouth -and eyes as it whirled in eddies when the faint evening wind passed -over the arid waste, rippling up its surface as if it was water. - -At a distance appeared some bustards and long-legged cranes; but no -other living thing, as the setting sun, vast, round, and blood-red, -after shedding a steady crimson glare across the desert waste, sank -beneath the horizon. - -At the quarter of his declension, I perceived a grove of trees, and -fearing to remain all night on the open waste, rode swiftly towards -them; but they were farther off than I imagined, and seemed to recede -as I progressed, so deceptive is the distance of a level sandy -desert; thus night was far advanced when I reached the shelter of -their foliage, and overcome by a lassitude--a total -prostration--there was no resisting, I had just strength sufficient -to throw the bridle of the dromedary over the branch of a tree, and -to roll off his back upon a bank of soft turf, when a heavy sleep -fell on me. - -Waking next morning, stiff, cramped, and drenched with dew, I looked -round for my four-footed friend, but he had disappeared, and not a -trace of him remained. - -Thus, after all the toil and travelling of the past day, my prospects -were little better than before. - -But the forest scene was lovely! It was full of scarlet and golden -blossoms, all bright as the glossy plumage of the parrots that -nestled amid the foliage; while the perfume of the orange and lemon -trees, which the dew of the past night had refreshed, filled the -morning air with delicious fragrance; and now the mighty hum of a -myriad great insects loaded it with monotonous and perpetual sound. - -On the outskirts of the wood, between me and the far-stretching vista -of the white sandy desert, my eye suddenly detected the tall dark -figure of a savage, stalking about with a long asseguy in his right -hand. He was naked, all save a scanty scarlet grass-cloth around his -body. - -Coiled up in my lurking-place, I watched with considerable interest -the motions of this man of the wilderness. Supple, brawny, and -strong, he had the form of a bronze Hercules, the agility of an -antelope, and the eye of an eagle. He had detected the footmarks of -the dromedary, and gliding about, with a light stealthy step, and a -keen prowling eye, he tracked them with his face near the ground, -until he came close to where I lay, but never, the while, did he -venture _within_ the actual boundary of the wood. - -Suddenly his eye fell upon me! - -He started; uttered a shrill cry, and poised his long asseguy, as if -about to launch it; then he lowered it, and uttered a whoop, which -brought some twenty or thirty other savages around him. - -They all pointed to me in a manner and with expressions that seemed -to indicate surprise or rage; they gesticulated violently, and by -what they said, I could learn that by being _within_ the forest, I -was guilty of an act of sacrilege. Their language seemed a dialect -of that spoken by the tribe I had lied from, on the north bank of the -Gabon. - - - - -CHAPTER XLVII. - -THE WOOD OF THE DEVIL. - -Making signs that I was a friend, or wished to be considered one, by -casting away my asseguy, and placing my hands upon my head and -breast, I advanced with a resolute aspect, but with a quaking heart, -towards them. - -By what I heard then, and learned afterwards, I had violated the -sanctity of a holy place--the abode of a fetish--as this wood had for -ages been dedicated to the Devil, whom these savages, like those of -Benin, worship as a dreadful spirit, not to love, but to conciliate. - -No one entered this wood, which was composed of giant chestnuts, -palm, orange, and lime trees, all growing wild for many leagues, as -the spirit of evil was alleged to harbour in its inmost recesses. - -Here then, on its skirts, a mother and her infant were sometimes -sacrificed with tortures too terrible for description, to propitiate -this dark spirit; though in some rare instances a husband might -ransom his doomed wife with a poor female slave, captured from a -hostile tribe. - -So sacred is this wood deemed, that if a person accidentally enters -it by one path, he must force his way through it to the very end -without turning or looking back--a feat none ever performed, as it -teems with wild beasts, whose fangs and claws speedily dispose of the -intruder. Even a foreign _negro_, or his wives, dare not enter it; -then, what punishment was due to me, a white man, for having ventured -to do so? - -Dapper, a very old traveller, and a bold fellow, too, mentions that, -to ridicule the faith of the people in this forest, he went shooting -into it, and deliberately turned _back_ when about half way through. - -"What will the Devil think of this?" he asked the negro priests, who -were scared by his audacity, and confounded by his return in safety. - -"He does not trouble himself about white men," was their response; -and, singular to say, our traveller was permitted to go unscathed, -for savages generally admire courage and temerity. - -However, the negroes into whose hands I had unfortunately fallen -seemed of a different opinion from Mr. Dapper's friends; and after a -noisy palaver, to which I listened with an agonizing interest, my -life being in the balance, they laid violent hands upon me. - -I was dragged to a tall palm-tree, which grew on the verge of the -forest, with some of its fibrous roots extending among the grassy -border on one side, and into the dry sand of the desert on the other. - -I was placed with my back against the stem; and there they bound me -hard and fast by drawing my arms round it and tying my wrists -securely by the tendrils of a convolvolus--one of the climbing kind, -which, when tough and green, is strong as a new inch-rope. - -They then retired, mocking and grinning, and ever and anon -threatening to launch their asseguys at me; thus I fully expected to -be martyred like St. Sebastian, as we see him in Guido's picture at -Dulwich; but they left me, and disappeared round an angle of the -forest, abandoning me to my fate and my own terrible reflections. - -It was midday now, and above me shone the blaze of an almost vertical -sun; thus I found the shade of the drooping palm branches grateful -and pleasant--a boon, a blessing. - -Lest the savages might be watching me from a distance, I did not -attempt to release my hands; but after nearly an hour elapsed, -fearing that strength might fail me from the cramped manner in which -my arms were bound backward round the tree, I strove to rend the -green withes which fettered me to it. - -Vain task! - -Strain them as I might, the tough and unyielding tendrils of the -convolvoli only seemed to tighten, and to cut me as I tore, wrenched, -and struggled, without success. - -The horror of being left thus defenceless at the mercy of the wild -animals with which the forest teemed was so great, that I forgot -alike the pangs of hunger and those of thirst, which are greater -still; and again and again strove frantically for freedom, until, -with the futility of each successive effort, the conviction forced -itself upon me, that without human assistance I could never be -released, but might perish of starvation, or be devoured alive. - -Human assistance! who, then, would be disposed to aid me? And, if -so, who would come in time? - -And so the hot day passed breathlessly, slowly, and terribly on! - -As the burning sun revolved towards the West, the lengthening shadows -of the wood went round in the reverse direction, until the level -sunbeams cast them far across the arid desert I had traversed so -swiftly yesterday; and as the light of evening sank, the hues of that -white glistening waste changed to yellow, then to brown, and then to -amber. - -My arms ached till they seemed in process of being rent from my -shoulders: so, panting, hot, breathless, and half dead with thirst, I -reclined against that abhorred tree, from which I could in no way -free myself. - -As evening deepened, the hum of insect life lessened, and the -bright-plumed birds of the wilderness were seeking their nests in the -foliage above me; but on me their beauty was lost. Even the cock of -the Libyan forest, with his purple breast, his crimson and green -pinions, was unheeded, as he picked up a few grains of millet at my -feet, and passed to his mate in the orange tree. - -A raven or two, soaring through the blue immensity of the sky, -suggested dreadful thoughts of what I _might be_ on the morrow. - -Then little snakes came from amid the long grass to writhe and -wriggle on the sand, which was yet warm with the sunshine of the past -day; and they made me think of the dreadful cobra-capello, with his -flamelike tongue, charged with poison and death--the hooded serpent, -which, when in fury, has been known to rear its horrid front, and -spring at a man on horseback; and then of the berg-adder, which I -feared still more, because it is so difficult to discover, and which -I had no means of avoiding if it approached me. - -My past reading had given me, moreover, a somewhat exaggerated idea -of the number of wild animals in Africa. At Ascension, I had seen a -narrative of a _Voyage à l'Isle de France_, by a person who styled -himself an _Officier du Roi_, and who stated that, in the forests of -Africa, "there were to be found whole _armies_ of lions." - -Later travellers have ridiculed this idea, but be that as it may, the -distant roaring of a lion now added to the accumulating dangers which -surrounded me, and filled my soul with emotions of horror so great -that I could not summon even a thought of prayer, and memory refused -to supply me with the most hackneyed ejaculation of piety. - -Bound and helpless, without means of defence or flight, I now heard -this terrible animal approaching me, crushing the shrubs and branches -in his native forest as he came. - -On hearing this sound, so fraught with danger, a zebra and several -antelopes bounded out of the wood and paused to listen. Again that -prolonged cry rang upon the still air. The zebra cowered and -shuddered, and after crouching for a moment, sprang away into the -desert of sand, followed by the fleet little antelopes (which were of -the kind called Guinea Deer, having legs no thicker than a -tobacco-pipe), and they were all soon out of sight. - -The roar was singular in sound. Hoarse and inarticulate, it swelled -upon the air like a prolonged O, that seemed to come from and pass to -a vast distance. It never became loud or shrill, but the _idea_ it -suggested of the animal itself, made it seem to pierce the very soul; -and all the tales I had read or heard of the lion, and all the -terrors I had conjured up as being embodied in his tremendous person, -came upon me like a flood. - -There are some who aver that if he has once tasted human flesh he -will for ever disdain any other. - -With great bewilderment of mind--like one in a dream that is full of -nightmare--I beheld a great and dark-skinned lion, with an enormous -dusky mane, run out of the wood about a hundred yards off, and, after -looking about, he came straight towards me, for by some strange -instinct he became sensible of my vicinity in a moment. In his mouth -he bore a zebra (about the size of a Shetland pony), which he grasped -by its crushed back, and the legs of which were trailing on the -ground as he bore it along, with all the air and all the ease of a -cat carrying off a large rat. - -On beholding me he dropped his prey, which was quite dead, and after -uttering another hoarse roar, continued to approach, with his nose -close to the ground, while switching his tufted tail and shaking his -shaggy mane, preparatory, as I imagined, to making a spring upon me; -then I closed my eyes, and with a heart that died within me, resigned -myself to my fate. - -Onward he came, step by step, for I could hear his footfalls on the -ground! - -Onward yet, and now every pulse seemed to stand still! - -Then a warm and fetid breath played upon my face, I felt his whiskers -touch my breast, and there was a strange snuffing sound in my -tingling ears. - -Opening my eyes, I beheld close to mine the tremendous visage of the -lion, the enormous upper lip, in form so suggestive of cruelty and -rapacity, and all studded with wiry hairs, bristling out fiercely on -either side; the low flat forehead and impending brows; the wild orbs -that seemed to glare from amid the masses of his tangled mane; the -open jaws and sharp teeth, reeking and steaming with the warm blood -of the zebra he had just slain! - -After deliberately snuffing at me in this manner for a second or -so--a time which seemed an eternity, so much agony of thought and -tension of the heart were compressed within it, he quietly _turned -about_, took his dead zebra, as if he deemed it the most preferable -supper of the two, trotted into the wood and disappeared. - -The agonies of a lifetime seemed concentrated into that minute! - -All I had endured now proved too much for me. A sudden insensibility -sank like a cloud over all my senses, and a sleep--the sleep of utter -prostration of mind and body, fell upon me. Thus, the noon of the -next day was far advanced before I became again conscious, or aware -of my miserable existence. - - - - -CHAPTER XLVIII. - -RETAKEN. - -Released from the tree, but still benumbed and sore after being so -long bound to it, I was now stretched upon the grass, under the -shadow of its great fan-like branches. Many persons were moving -about me, and the hum of their voices filled my ear. - -Raising myself slowly and heavily upon my hands, I saw around me -hundreds of negroes, and close to mine was the ugly visage of--Amoo. - -"Oh," thought I, bitterly; "this is too much! A prisoner again, and -after all the dangers I have dared--the friends I have seen -perish--the miseries I have undergone! Will fate never weary of -persecuting me?" - -But Amoo was not such a wicked fellow after all. - -Producing his gourd bottle of palm wine, he mixed it with cool water -from a shaded spring, and forced me to imbibe a long draught, after -which I sat up and looked about me more collectedly. - -I was in the midst of a species of negro bivouac, consisting of many -hundreds of men and women, with camels and dromedaries laden with -various stuffs and rudely fashioned weapons and utensils, made up in -bales with grass matting and cordage. - -They were cooking at several fires, and in various modes, the flesh -of an elephant which they had snared, as Amoo informed me, in a pit -on the other side of the forest on the preceding day, and the meat of -which is esteemed in these latitudes as a veritable dainty--a right -royal luxury. He pressed me to eat a slice or so, but in my weak -state, and the fever of my spirit, the odour and the aspect of it -were more than enough for me, so a mouthful or two of boiled yam and -palm wine sufficed. - -The negroes were all well armed with asseguys, swords, bows, muskets, -and targets, as if proceeding on a hostile expedition. Among them -were many who were better clad and more civilized in aspect than the -painted savages who dwell by the Snake River, and these, Amoo -informed me, were subjects of the King of Benin. - -After relating how his companions had found me bound to the tree, -senseless or asleep, he inquired how it came to pass I was there. - -"I fled to escape your wife," said I, looking round fearfully. - -"Yah, yah," said he, laughing; "I was sorry for the loss of my white -slave, but am glad you escaped her knife; for she wished much to -ornament her big canoe, so she got the head of another white man." - -"Another--who--which?" - -"Amoo does not know; he tried to steal a canoe and escape to the -Pongo Islands, but was retaken, and so my wife got his head for her -canoe. She boiled it in a stone pipkin, with gums and herbs, stuck -fish-bones in its nose and ears, and now it will last for many, many -suns and moons, without decay." - -(Who was this _other_ unfortunate that had perished so miserably? He -might be my friend Hartly--if indeed it was not he who was so cruelly -destroyed in the basket of thorns.) - -"Never mind who it was," said Amoo, divining my thoughts, "since you -are found again." - -"To be your prisoner?" I sighed. - -Amoo grinned, leered cunningly, and shook his woolly head. - -"What then?" - -"To be reserved for something better than being my slave." - -"_Better!_" I reiterated, with perplexity; "how--where?" - -"Yah, yah--you will learn in good time." - -"When?" I exclaimed, with impatience. - -"On our reaching the capital of Benin." - -"You are going there with all these people?" - -"Yah." - -"For what purpose--to fight?" - -"No." - -"What then?" - -"To bury Zabadie, the king, who is dead." - -I was somewhat comforted by this, as everything added to the chances -of escape; for I knew that European vessels frequently anchored in -the Bight of Benin, and I associated ideas of greater civilization -with that quarter of Africa, though it bordered on Dahomey--that -barbarous land of blood and terror. - -It was evident that Amoo knew nothing about my encounter in the wood -with the King, his brother, or the manner in which I had borrowed the -royal dromedary; for he informed me, in the course of our obscure and -somewhat pantomimic conversation, that on his return he would -probably find himself King of the Snake River, as his brother was not -expected to live. - -I inquired why. - -"As he was asleep under a tree, a great baboon let a big stone fall -upon his head, and nearly killed him," replied Amoo, with perfect -unconcern, and I cannot plead guilty to feeling the smallest -compunction in the matter. - -This species of caravan was proceeding from the territory of Gabon, -whose king is a vassal of the monarch of Benin, with a tribute of -female slaves, baskets, gourd vessels, panther skins, elephants' -teeth, and gold dust, to assist at the funeral of the late royal -defunct, or to lay at the feet of his successor; and I was pleased to -find that we were to proceed as nearly as possible along the coast. - -I resolved to take the first opportunity of securing arms--a musket -and knife if possible--of leaving the cavalcade, and concealing -myself in a wood near the sea-shore, there to await a ship; but the -hope was formed in vain, for Amoo, who frequently spoke of the "great -future in store for me at Benin," never lost sight of me for an -instant, either by night or by day, when we halted. - -When we did so, we warily lighted a circle of large fires to scare -wild animals from our bivouac. and thus could sleep in security. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIX. - -THE CARAVAN. - -The whole of the coast there is broken by innumerable river -estuaries, the banks of which are covered by bright green reeds, and -broad-leaved weeds and canes of mighty growth. Thus our progress was -slow, as we had frequently to embark in canoes on those frowsy -waters, whose miasma is so pestilential by night, and which are ever -rendered dangerous by the alligators and hippopotami that lurk in the -oozy holes along their banks. - -At a place where we were about to cross, the black scouts, who formed -a species of advanced guard, returned in haste and excitement to -state that one of the last-named animals (one of great size, too) was -asleep on the bank. - -On hearing this the caravan halted, and Amoo, being a brave and hardy -warrior, and moreover the brother of a king, claimed the privilege of -assailing it. Armed with a spear made specially for the purpose, he -advanced to the enterprise, accompanied only by one companion and by -me, to whom he relinquished for a time his gaily painted bow and -quiver of poisoned arrows. - -I had heard so much of those fierce and unwieldy monsters, that I -followed him with considerable interest and curiosity as we -shouldered and pushed a passage through a dense and leafy jungle of -gigantic weeds, prickly yams, serrated grass, and reeds of enormous -height, which flourished amid the deep quagmire that bordered the -broad bosom of this majestic but nameless river, whose waters are now -rolling, as they have rolled for ages, into the Gulf of Guinea. - -On forcing our way through a wall of reeds, we suddenly came upon the -hippopotamus, which was lying on his left side, asleep in the -sunshine, and stretched at full length upon a piece of greensward, -where, probably, he had been grazing overnight. - -The aspect of this mis-shapen monster, which was about fourteen feet -long--his singular form, a great round body with short elephantine -legs, a broad, square head and stunted tail--was as repulsive as the -size of his great cavernous mouth with its terrible incisors was -appalling. - -He slept soundly, however, so Amoo, gliding stealthily as a serpent, -approached until within seven feet of where he lay, snoring heavily, -and basking in the hot and breathless sunshine. - -With a dexterity which my poor old friend Hans Peterkin would have -appreciated highly, Amoo, with a line, attached to his spear a light -wooden float which serves to show where the animal lurks when he -takes the water after being struck; then, while the attending warrior -stood near to hand a second lance, Amoo raised his sinewy form on -tiptoe, poised his barbed weapon, and hurled it, whizzing, with -singular force and dexterity, full at the sleeping animal. - -Deep through the thick, dark hide sunk the pointed spear, until its -iron head was completely buried. At the moment it left his hand, -Amoo, an agile and practised huntsman, sprang backward several paces; -but not so his unfortunate companion, on whom the awakened monster -leaped with the weight of an elephant united to the fury of a -panther, and in an instant crushed him to death in his enormous jaws, -doubling up the body and grinding ribs and legs together till they -were churned into a mass of blood. - -Then plunging into the river, he disappeared, leaving the water -covered with froth and bloody ripples, that ran in circles to either -shore; but still the little buoy attached to the spear or harpoon -floated and bobbed up and down to indicate where he lay writhing -among the weeds and beds of bright blue coral far down below--for the -coral is blue there. - -Amoo's shrill cries brought several negroes to his assistance; and -these, enraged by the sudden death of their friend, began to haul -sturdily on the line, which was a good English rope, obtained from -some passing ship by theft or barter; this irritated the wounded -animal, so he came surging, bleeding, and frothing to the surface -again, when a dozen spears, whizzing through the air, were launched -by unerring hands, and he was soon slain, and amid exulting yells, -whooping, and beating of tum-tums, was hauled close in shore among -the reeds, and there, as he was too bulky to be pulled entirely out -of the water, was cut up in large pieces and placed in baskets on the -backs of the camels, dromedaries, and slaves. - -Amoo declared this prey was too full-grown, and consequently too fat -for eating; but added, that his "skin would make excellent whips." - -This was the _fifth_ he had slain--thus he equalled Commodus who slew -five in the amphitheatre. - -The country through which we travelled was low, flat, and thickly -wooded; thus we seldom saw the sea; yet, when glimpses of its bright -blue waters, stretching to the horizon far away, came before us at -times through the groves of orange, lime, and palm trees, or through -valleys where the white tufts of the cotton buds flecked the -greenness of the luxuriant scenery, how anxiously, how affectionately -I gazed upon it, for it was the high road to my home--the way to -freedom and dear old England! - -After travelling many days, until I was almost sinking with fatigue, -by the intense heat of the atmosphere and the number of things I was -compelled (as a slave) to carry, we came at last in sight of the -great city of Benin, which stretches far along the right bank of the -river Formosa. - -I hailed it with emotions of undisguised joy, for Amoo had been daily -recurring to the liberty and honours that were in store for me there. - - - - -CHAPTER L. - -WE REACH THE CAPITAL. - -I resolved while life remained to persevere to the last in attempting -an escape. - -"'I shall never succeed,' is often the parent of failure" (to quote -Isaac Taylor when writing on character). "'I will not try any more,' -ensures disappointment. 'It is all _chance_, and I am not in luck,' -most commonly leads to disgrace." - -Calling his words to memory, I resolved to trust to none of these -fatal phrases, for I had passed through too many perils not to hope -that a few more might be surmounted. - -An old writer says, "The King of Benin has men in pay to furnish -travellers with water, and these keep great pots full of that which -is fresh and clear at convenient distances, with a shell to drink it -out of; but no person must take a drop without paying for it; and if -the waterman is absent, they drink, leave the money, and pursue their -way." - -It may have been so when old Dapper wrote or romanced, but not a drop -of water found we on the weary track to quench our burning thirst, -save in stagnant tarns by the wayside. - -It was towards the close of a day when we had been nearly choked by -the sulphurous heat which filled the air after a violent -thunderstorm, that we approached the city of Benin, and saw its long -lines of huts, or wigwams, each one story high, covering for many -miles the right bank of the Formosa, one of the greatest estuaries -which disgorge their waters into the Bight of Benin. - -Groves of beautiful wood, orange, lime trees, cotton and pepper -bushes, spread along the banks of the river, and many floating -islets, covered with flowers and unknown fruit trees, are constantly -borne past by its waters, from the unexplored lands through which -they flow. - -The city and its walls too were unlike aught I had ever seen before; -yet their extent was great, and the dusky hordes that peopled them -are probably unnumbered and unknown. - -We were admitted through a wooden gate in the ramparts, which were -composed of the trunks of trees pegged together, as palisades are in -America, but loopholed for arrows or musketry; and the guard at this -gate, as at all the others, was composed entirely of women armed with -bows, lances, and old firelocks, for, like his royal brother of -Dahomey, the sovereign of Benin has somewhere about four thousand -wives, whom he has armed and formed into troops, and who--when off -duty--make crocks, pots, and pipkins of clay, from the sale of which -he derives his principal revenue. - -They were all stout and handsome negresses, attired in a species of -petticoat which reached below the knee, with a vest to cover the -breast; their hair was dyed into alternate red and white locks, and -they had great rings of polished metal on their otherwise bare arms. - -Through this guarded gate our long cavalcade of laden camels, -dromedaries, negroes, and slaves, passed down a populous street of -great width, and nearly three miles in length. The houses, or huts, -on either side, were alike singular in aspect and construction, being -built of red clay, and having behind or around them spacious gardens -and shady groves of lime and orange trees. Vast crowds of male and -female blacks followed us, but in solemn silence, as the cavalcade -bore a double tribute to the dead king and his successor, towards -whose royal palace--if the odd collection of fantastic buildings -could so be called--we now proceeded. - -We passed through a kind of square, which Amoo described to me as the -market-place; and there the king's female guards were exposing for -sale great quantities of their clay pots and pipkins, gourd bottles, -calibash basons, wooden spoons and ladles of all sorts and sizes, at -their own prices; for these industrious Amazons enjoyed the entire -monopoly of this branch of trade; and as a hint that none might -interfere with them, there hung by iron hooks upon a gibbet the -headless bodies of four men, in a frightful state of decay, with -turkey buzzards feeding on the fragments that dropped from them, as -they sweltered in the burning sunshine. - -In the centre of this market-place rose a pyramid some twenty feet -high, formed entirely of human skulls, bleached white as snow by the -alternate rain and sun--a ghastly and terrible trophy of barbarism -and cruelty, which reminded me of stories I had read of old Mexico, -where similar monuments adorned the cities of the Incas; or of the -tower formed of the skulls of slaughtered Christians, now standing in -the Mohammedan isle of Gerba. - -Fascinated by this revolting spectacle, I passed on with the dusky -multitude; and Amoo informed me (while all prostrated their ugly -faces in the dust) that we stood at the gate of the king's palace! - -It was a vast collection of rambling wooden houses, which formed the -dwellings of the sovereign, his wives, fiadoors, or officials, -stables for his horses and dromedaries, dens for slaves or prisoners -(a commodity with which he seldom troubled himself), magazines for -stores and plunder. These edifices extended for nearly a mile before -us; and on all those quaint buildings, which were barbarously adorned -with the bones and horns of animals, a grinning human skull was the -chief ornament. - -Through a barrier _manned_ by a motley multitude of female guards, -many of whom were armed with bayonets and old brass-butted Tower -muskets, which may have done service under Moore and Wellington, we -were conducted into a court surrounded by copper figures, so -monstrous in aspect and conception, that the eye laboured in vain to -discover whether they were meant to represent men, beasts, or birds. - -The crowd who followed were all well armed with spears, bows and -arrows, which, as Amoo informed me, were duly poisoned by the -_fetishers_, or priests. Many of the fiadoors wore gay dresses of -Dutch scarlet cloth, caps edged with civet fur, and necklaces of -jasper and fine coral, or rings of yellow copper, bracelets of lions' -teeth, and bucklers of rhinoceros hide. - -Round this court were wooden pillars, curiously carved and painted, -and, in some instances, covered with plates of engraved copper--the -hieroglyphical records of battles, victories, and massacres--the -edifices were roofed with palm canes, and had many fantastic -pinnacles, surmounted by human skulls, or birds dried and prepared, -with their pinions outspread. - -In the centre of the court, about twenty negroes, captured from some -hostile tribe, were digging a deep hole, like a vast grave, with -wooden shovels; and they grinned at us malevolently as we passed them. - -Amoo now told me "that the time was come to which he had so often -referred, when a great honour would be conferred on me, and when we -must part." - -I knew not what all this meant, but bewildered by the scenes through -which I had passed, the strange places in which I found myself, -wearied by the toil of our journey, choked by dust and heat almost to -fainting, I resigned myself to the custody of the negress guard, and -left Amoo, whom hitherto I had considered a species of protector. -Perceiving the dejected state I was in, he gave me a draught from his -gourd bottle; and as I was thrust into my prison, and the door of it -closed upon me, I saw for the last time save once, the dark visage of -this friendly savage, who never forgot that I had rescued his child -from the baboon. - -The wooden door was secured upon me; the hum of guttural voices died -away as the cavalcade passed on to some other portion of this vast -and rambling habitation of barbarous royalty; then I was left to my -own reflections, and partly in the dark; at least, there was just -sufficient light to enable me to see a pile of straw, or dried river -grass, on which I threw myself in weariness, if not in despair, as I -knew not what new misfortune fate had in store for me. - -Sleep, oblivion, I courted in vain. I was now, though exhausted, in -too high a state of nervous excitement for sleep; and as my eyes -became accustomed to the dim twilight of my prison, I could perceive -the chamber to be fashioned of the trunks of trees, squared, -smoothed, and pegged together, and then painted with barbarous -figures. Above the door by which I had entered were three human -skulls, placed upon the hoofs of hippopotami, as brackets. - -A sound as of something rustling in a distant corner attracted my -attention. I approached, and saw upon a pile of straw and dry leaves -a white man extended at full length, and almost destitute of clothing. - -I drew nearer softly, for I knew not whether this new companion in -misfortune might be alive or dead. - -Then imagine what were my emotions on discovering him to be my -friend, sunk in a profound slumber--my old friend, Robert Hartly, -captain of the fated _Leda_. - - - - -CHAPTER LI. - -AN OLD FRIEND IN A NEW PLACE. - -The pallor of his countenance, his wasted form, and sunken features -shocked me, for I was quite unaware or heedless that he would find an -equal ravage in my own appearance. His beard and hair grew in matted -masses about his sunburnt face, and his once stout and manly hands -were thin and wan as those of a consumptive girl. - -I shook his shoulder; he awoke, and turned listlessly to me at first; -then with a strange cry of mingled joy and grief, he exclaimed-- - -"Jack!" - -"Bob--Bob Hartly!" - -Such was all we could utter for some seconds as each clasped and -shook the hands of the other. - -"Oh, Jack Manly," he exclaimed, in a broken voice, "I would rather -see you in your grave than in this place with me!" - -"How--why--what do you mean?" - -"My poor lad, you know not for what we are reserved." - -"Not--not to be killed and eaten?" said I, in a low voice of dismay. - -"Oh, worse than that. Do you not know?" - -"No." - -"My poor friend--my poor friend!" - -"What on earth can be worse than that? Amoo told me----" - -"Who is Amoo?" - -"A chief, the brother of the King of the Rio Serpientes." - -"The savage brother of a savage! And he told you----" - -"That I was reserved for the greatest honour?" - -"Honours indeed!" reiterated Hartly, with a bitter laugh. - -"Yes." - -"Did he add, you should have _liberty_ to enjoy your honours?" - -"No." - -"Air--breath--sunshine--light--life?" - -"No!" - -"I thought not, for these accursed savages are as subtle and severe -as they are cruel and sanguinary." - -"What _do_ you mean, Hartly?" - -"That we are reserved for _burial alive_." - -"Alive!" - -"Yes--with their king who is just dead. It is the custom here to -celebrate the obsequies of royal personages--of kings especially--in -a frantic and barbarous manner. Oh, Jack! after all we have seen and -suffered together, is it not cruel of fate to persecute and finish us -thus? And is it not strange that in this age of a civilized world -such things _can_ be?" - -"I will fight to the last!" I exclaimed, furiously. - -"We have not a single weapon." - -"But these female guards have plenty." - -"The weakest among them is stronger than both of us put together -_now_," said he, despondingly. - -"We must not perish thus, Hartly--we _shall_ escape!" said I, -emphatically. - -"But how?" - -"Time will show--we were nearly as desperately circumstanced when -foul of the iceberg, or beset in the field ice." - -"We have still a few days for deliberation; but meantime, tell me how -you came here." - -"I was brought to Benin by Amoo, who saved me from dying of hunger, -or by the teeth and claws of wild animals in the Devil's wood, where -some savages found me concealed, and bound me hand and foot by withes -to a tree." - -"Tell me all about this, Jack." - -I related briefly all that had occurred to me since we had been -separated at the cliff above the Gabon, where three of our hapless -party perished; the destruction of poor Captain Baylis and his wife; -and how I feared that he, Hartly, was the seaman who had been -tortured in the basket of thorns; of my slavery with Amoo, and his -squaw's felonious intentions with regard to my head; of my flight and -recapture--to all of which he listened with varying expressions of -anger and honest grief, for the loss of so many brave English seamen. - -"And now, Bob," added I, "for your own story." - -"I have little to relate that is not similar to what you have told -me. On that fatal day when our boat's crew were captured, and we -were separated, I was given by the King to a fetisher, or priest, a -hideous old fellow who was covered with tattooing, and wore a copper -ring in each of his ears, and had the dorsal fin of a shark through -his nose, in sprit-sail-yard fashion. - -"He employed me as his 'slavey,' in making and pointing arrows for -the warriors, as the manufacture of that commodity is a perquisite, -or portion of the priestly trade in Gabon, for the tips of the arrows -are poisoned by a combination of herbs, of which these fetishers -alone possess, or pretend to possess, the knowledge, and with true -priestcraft take especial good care to keep the secret among -themselves. If the monstrous negro race hereabout have any religion, -it consists of an adoration of the Devil, to whom they never tire of -sacrificing wild animals, and occasionally each other--which is a -sacrifice of much less consequence." - -"Have they no belief in a Supreme Being?" - -"They know that some power superior to themselves created the skies -and the earth; but because He is not an evil, but a good spirit, they -deem it better policy to appease the Devil, and so they work in _his_ -service with all their might; and from all we have seen, they seem to -have the gift of doing so to the utmost. My old master, the -fetisher, professed to be on very intimate terms with Whirlwind Tom, -and by his aid could always foretell what was to happen." - -"How?" - -"He had an old pipkin perforated by three holes, through which he -alleged the Devil spoke to him in whispers. He was a vicious old -wretch, and on one occasion _bit me_, which was no joke, as his teeth -were all filed, till they were sharp as those of a tiger cat. - -"When not employed in selecting and cutting reeds for arrows, or -feathering, or pointing and poisoning them, this fetisher made me -fish for him in a tributary of the Snake Elver, on the bank of which -he lived in a wigwam, which stood amid a grove of mimosa trees; and -it resembled a huge punch-bowl or beehive, as it was built entirely -of reeds and turf, plastered over with mud, which the sunshine had -burned as white as Kentish chalk. - -"There he led me a dog's life, for he was an ill-tempered old savage, -who hourly reviled, kicked, beat, and spat upon me, and as my beard -grew, he was wont to snatch and tear it, a proceeding, you must -allow, very trying to one's temper. - -"I perceived that we dwelt in a secluded place; that, save a warrior -who came from time to time for a bundle of arrows, no one ever -approached us, so I resolved to escape. In my fur socks, and a -species of cummerbund which my master permitted me to wear, I -secreted a good stock of fishing apparatus, and selected a strong -javelin with an iron point, well steeped in those precious poisonous -stuffs which he was wont to brew in a pipkin. - -"On the day I had finally made up my mind to slip my cable and be -off, we were cutting reeds for arrow-shafts on the summit of a rock -above the Gabon River. It was a lovely place, covered with feathery -fern, bright scarlet geraniums, and flowering reeds, but I thought it -looked very like the place where I had last seen you, and where our -three shipmates perished in so barbarous a manner. My heart became -filled with wild and dark thoughts, and I was neglecting my work, -when suddenly my beard was grasped by the old tattooed fetisher, who -squirted a whole quid of some stuff full in my face, while raining a -shower of blows upon my bare back with a _sjambok_, or supple-jack, -of rhinoceros hide, which he always carried for my especial benefit. - -"Flesh and blood could stand this no longer. - -"We were close to the brink of the rock which overhung the stream -that rolled about a hundred feet below, so I gave his sooty reverence -a vigorous kick which shot him over like a crow, and souse he went -through the air, with arms outspread. - -"Whether he swam, sank, or fed some hungry crocodile, I know not, as -I fled into the adjacent forest, and after lurking there -long--sleeping at night in the trees, as many a time I had done on -the swinging topsail-yard--I began, like you, to make for the coast -to the westward, in the hope of seeing a ship venture into the Bight, -or bearing toward the Pongos for fresh water. - -"For many days and nights I wandered through forests of oak, cypress, -myrtle, and mimosa trees, enduring constantly the terror of being -devoured by wild animals, or falling again among savages who might -force me to render a severe account of the blessed fetisher I had -kicked into the Gabon, till at last I found myself in a stately wood -of sea-pines and _then_ I saw the ocean--the brave old ocean, -Jack!--the broad turnpike that could lead us home--the same ocean -whose waves swept up by the Nore and Greenwich Reach, to mingle their -waters with the Thames--and I laughed with joy, though its bosom was -glistening under the vertical sun that scorches the coast of Guinea. - -"All the memories of home and Old England swelled up within me as I -gazed upon the girdle of her shores. The sea! that - - "----glorious mirror where the Almighty's form - Glasses itself in tempests; in all time, - Calm or convulsed--in breeze, or gale, or storm, - Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime - Dark-heaving;--boundless, endless, and sublime!" - - - - -CHAPTER LII. - -HARTLY'S STORY. - -"When night fell, I came out of the lonely forest to gaze upon the -moonlit sea--not that the forest was very _lonely_, after all, as -there seemed to be at least fifty thousand baboons, monkeys, and -squirrels, which jabbered and leaped as if they had all gone mad, the -whole night, from tree to tree, and more than once the roar of a lion -came hollowly from a distance, under the lower branches of the pines. - -"I sat upon a piece of detached rock, and, to seek for food, dropped -my fishing-line into the water. There I soon caught a fish, on which -I breakfasted next day, after spreading it, split open, on the rocks, -where it was half cooked by the burning sun. As for salt, there was -plenty of that to be found among the crevices, where the heat had -burned up the spray of the sea. - -"For three nights I fished there with success and safety. On the -third, I found at my line a fish of strange aspect, and, sailor-like, -had some doubts about breakfasting on it, but hunger soon ends all -niceties. When morning came, I sought a secluded part of the wood, -and thought of lighting a little fire by rubbing dried branches -together that I might broil my fish. - -"Now, unless I could produce ocular proof of what I am about to say, -you would laugh at me for telling you a forecastle yarn, but the -proof shall not be wanting. - -"While opening and cleaning the fish at a spring, previous to -broiling it (an almost epicurean process to me), I found in its -entrails--what? MY RING--the ring given me by old Mother -Jensdochter, in Iceland, and which, as you remember, I lost a few -days after we left Sermersoak, when lending a hand to haul the -main-tack on board the _Leda_." - -"Your ring!" I exclaimed; "this is like a bit of a fairy tale." - -"My ring," he continued; "and here it is, hid among my hair to -conceal it from these greedy negroes, who would at once deprive me of -it, and keep it as an ornament or amulet." - -"This is most singular!" - -"Singular indeed, but on beholding it a new glow of hope filled my -breast. I resolved to persevere in my efforts to escape, and so -became too bold, for, venturing upon the open beach next day, I was -seen by some savages belonging to the King of Biafra, who pursued and -soon made me their prisoner. The rest of my story is nearly the same -as your own, as my captors were with a caravan on their way to Benin, -to attend the funeral of King Zabadie. - -"I was severely treated by them. Under a burning and vertical sun, -they employed me constantly in loading and unloading their -dromedaries, or in pulling up esculent roots for them, and this was a -serious task even to a hard-handed sailor, as these roots lay among -thorny leaves and serrated grass, the blades of which were like -newly-sharpened saws. - -"In the desert, the sand was so hot that it baked or roasted the eggs -I stole or found at times, and was fain to eat in secret. When my -work was over, I was always malevolently treated by the women, and -more especially by those little black imps, the children of the -caravan. Their chief occupation was spitting at me, reviling and -pelting me with stones, bones, rotten gourds, and every missile that -came to hand. - -"The women had a particular animosity to my beard, and the men -hereabouts, like other darkies, not being troubled with much of that -commodity, joined them in the general desire for having it uprooted, -but I contrived to weather them by singeing it off. - -"Every way I endured great misery. I was not even permitted to drink -of spring water, save from a calabash, which some of their dogs had -used; and to tell the truth, I preferred to drink after the poor -doggies rather than after their beastly masters. - -"Well, it would seem that His High Mightiness, the King of Biafra, is -a vassal of that more illustrious nigger the King of Benin; so, five -days ago, I was sent here, with many other miserable wretches, to -be--to be----" - -"What?" - -"Immolated on the grave of the late king, or buried within it." - -"Is such the custom?" I asked, with indescribable dismay. - -"Benin borders on the kingdom of Dahomey, and all the world knows how -the people there celebrate the obsequies of their kings." - -"How?" - -"Frequently by the massacre of thousands." - -"Hartly! Hartly--we seem to go from bad to worse!" - -"I have been in the Pongo Isles, along the coast of Guinea, and in -the Bight of Benin before, and know all about the fiendish ways of -their inhabitants. Jack, did you observe a great hole in the -courtyard without?" - -"Yes; and I can hear the shovels of the workers among the earth even -now." - -"When a king dies here, his body is laid in a kind of great hall, -which, like that at Dahomey, has a ceiling ornamented by the jawbones -of his enemies. There the very sleeping chambers of royalty are -paved with human skulls, and have cornices entirely composed of them! -Zabadie, the King of Benin, is just dead, and his son proposes to -inter him with unusual splendour." - -"In that hole?" - -"Yes." - -"But what is all this to us?" - -"Oh," groaned Hartly, "do you not understand--have I not told you? -When a king dies here, a great grave is dug somewhere near the -palace, and it must be hollowed so deep, that the diggers are drowned -by the water which bursts in upon them, and there they lie, after -concluding their work. In this great hole the fiadoors place the -royal corpse, dressed in all its barbaric finery, with a lance, -sword, bow and arrows. With the dead king are placed all his -favourites and servants, who are supposed to follow him to the other -world, and serve him there; and so proud are they of this -distinction, that it occasions the most violent disputes as to who -shall have the honour of entombment, so blind and idolatrous is the -veneration of these creatures for their dingy monarchs. When the -last man has descended into the hole, an immense stone is placed over -it; this is removed a few days after, and one of the great fiadoors -inquires what are the tidings from beneath, adding,-- - -"'Who has gone to serve the king?' - -"Then the poor wretches who are expiring below reply according to -circumstances. - -"Day after day the stone is removed, and the same questions are -asked, until all in that horrid pit have 'gone to serve the king,' -and are dead of starvation and the noxious miasma of the vault. When -no voice responds to the inquiry of the fiadoor, the great stone is -securely built over, a mighty fire is made upon it, a great festival -is held, and the flesh of an elephant is roasted and given to the -multitude." - -"And we--we----" - -"Are to be placed there among the slaves of the dead Zabadie." - -I remained silent, oppressed by the horror of what was before us; but -Hartly spoke again:-- - -"When a year has passed and gone, these wretches, in honour of their -dead king and his dead followers, make a dreadful sacrifice of men -and animals, till about five hundred are destroyed. Most of the -human victims are malefactors, or slaves taken in war. If enough of -either are not to be had, the king sends his female guards into the -streets at night to decoy and seize men till the number is made up." - -This was a cheerful account of the state of society in the realm of -Benin, and it afforded ample food for thrilling reflection and -fruitless surmises. - - - - -CHAPTER LIII. - -THE FEMALE GUARDS. - -Yams, bananas, plantains, even boiled potatoes, and pipkins of pure -spring water were liberally provided for us by our black female -guardians, six of whom appeared once daily with our food and then -retired, securing us with great bars of wood fastened outside in some -fashion known only to themselves. - -These Amazons were all well armed, and some were richly clad in -braided vests and petticoats of Dutch scarlet cloth. Among them were -several veteran female warriors, whose skins, by the process of time -under a tropical sun, had become spotted yellow and brown, like the -hides of the leopard and panther. - -Light was admitted to our prison by a small square hole cut through -one of the trees which formed the wall, and from thence, when each -supported the other on his shoulders, we could see by turns the -progress of the diggers of the royal grave in the courtyard, and to -judge by the quantity of earth and stones thrown up, the depth must -have been immense; and it seemed as if King Zabadie was going to the -other world accompanied by all his wives, slaves, dromedaries, and -diabolical courtiers to boot. - -We knew not _when_ this dreadful interment and immolation were to -take place. When day dawned on us, we knew not if we should be -permitted to see it close; when it closed, we knew not if we should -ever behold another dawn. - -So the wretched hours passed slowly, wearily on; and the close of the -third day found us still captives, and still unresolved on any -expedient to dree ourselves. - -Sailor-like, Hartly was fertile in schemes and resources; but the -former were no sooner proposed than they were abandoned as -impracticable. - -One time he suggested that we should endeavour to procure a light by -friction, set fire to the old wooden den in which we were confined, -and then seek an escape amid the consequent confusion; at another, he -proposed that we should close with our guards, wrest away a musket, -kill one or two of them, and fight our way off; but how could we -attack women? - -"If once free of the palace, the town, and its suburbs----" resumed -he. - -"Free! how can we remain free, Hartly, in a land where our colour, -which there is _no_ disguising, renders us constantly liable to -recognition, to attack, and recapture?" - -"True; but if we could only reach the coast, after having so dearly -learned circumspection, we might lurk in the woods." - -"Without arms?" - -"We have done so before. Then we might steal a canoe, or fashion -one, and put to sea." - -"But the tools and the skins?" - -"We could steal both, as these fellows won't lend." - -"Escape from this is necessary first: and in the pilfering visits you -suggest, we should certainly be retaken, together or singly; and then -how miserable would be the reflections of the survivor." - -"Tut, Jack! unless we venture we shall never win." - -"Ah, Hartly," said I, "at last I have lost all hope!" - -"Do not say so; we are both too young to despair," was the sturdy -response of the English sailor. - -We thought of the old stereotyped modes of escape--by ropes or -ladders manufactured from shirts and trowsers, and by ample -melodramatic mantles; but such were impossible to us, who were nearly -as nude as when we came into the world; by drugging our guards or -sentinels; by bribing, coaxing, or assassinating them; but these, and -all the thousand other modes by which heroic and romantic gentlemen, -when in trouble or durance, effect escapes in novels and plays, were -useless or impracticable there. - -Hartly, indeed, proposed to make love to one or two ladies of the -royal guard, and by gaining their confidence, to effect the -appropriation of their muskets and ammunition. But those dingy -Amazons seemed of a very unapproachable nature; and moreover, were so -thickly smeared with war-paint and vegetable oils, as to be too -hideous in aspect and repulsive in odour to render the attempt at all -pleasant. - -So the darkness of the third night closed upon us, and undecided as -to any mode of escape, we sat gazing with longing eyes on the little -bit of blue sky that was visible through the hole, which by day -afforded light and air into our den. - -A single star of uncommon brilliance shone through it now, and so -brightly as to cast the form of the loophole upon the floor like a -little white patch. - -"If once we were out of this place," said Hartly, for the twentieth -time, "I would certainly trust to my two hands and pair of heels for -doing the rest." - -"The town walls seem a high palisade." - -"Yes. I had a good view of them for an hour and more on the unlucky -day I first arrived in Benin. And yet, Jack," he added, kindly, "I -am glad those devils brought me here, after all--we should never have -met again else. The town walls are a double palisade, sparred over -on the outside and in--double sheathed a sailor would call it--and -then the whole is plastered over with red clay." - -"Their height----" - -"Is not less than twelve feet; and at those parts of the town which -are without a rampart, there is a ditch of great depth, full of slime -and poisonous serpents, and bordered by an impassable hedge of -brambles, through which fire alone could make its way." - -If I attempted to sleep, I was haunted by visions of being buried -alive in that enormous tomb, from which there could be no -escape--buried amid a hecatomb of hideous and sweltering negro -corpses and the dead royalty of a savage race. The pictures my -imagination drew of the future nearly distracted me; and I began to -consider whether it was not better, by rushing barehanded and unarmed -upon our captors, to provoke a more speedy and merciful death under -their knives, asseguys, or muskets; and failing an escape, Hartly -agreed with me that it was a wiser alternative; but Heaven lent us -its helping hand ere the third night was passed. - - - - -CHAPTER LIV - -ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE AGAIN. - -On this night, for more than an hour, there was an unusual beating of -tum-tums, and the chorus of some barbaric songs stole upon the wind -at times from that quarter of the royal dwelling in which the wives -of the late King Zabadie were enclosed. - -During the past day the digging in the courtyard had ceased; and this -circumstance, together with the sounds we heard (the adoration of -some great fetish, or idol), made us tremble in our hearts lest the -following day might see us placed in that more horrible prison, from -whence there could be no release but by death. - -We mutually expressed our fears of this; and so absorbed were we in -this terrible surmise, that some time elapsed before we perceived -that the blue of the sky and the light of the stars had disappeared; -that a thick vapour had overspread both--that rain was pattering -heavily on the flat roofs of the wooden city; and that thunder, the -deep, hoarse thunder of the tropics, which sounds as if it would rend -the earth in twain, was roaring athwart the darkened firmament. - -The rain now poured down in such mighty torrents, that we listened to -the din of its fall in silent wonder; for it seemed as if once again -that "all the fountains of the great deep had broken up, and the -windows of heaven were opened." - -Ere long we felt the drops descending upon us, tepid and sulphureous, -as the clay coating that covered the split canes, or lathing, which, -formed the roof of our prison, soon became a puddle; while the straw -and leaves on which we usually sat or reclined, were reduced to a -mass of wetted mire. - -For nearly an hour this continued, till our den became so thoroughly -wet, that when the rain was over not a single dry spot could we find; -and (as Hartly said) King Zabadie's trench in the courtyard would -have the water some fathoms deep in it by this time. - -On the rain ceasing, and the clouds dispersing, which they did as -suddenly as the storm had come on, we saw the stars shining through a -breach which the moisture had made in the roof, and something like a -branch that was waving to and fro fell on my upturned face. - -I grasped it. - -It was the strong sinewy tendril of a climbing convolvulus, which had -fallen through the aperture. I drew it down, so far as it would -come, and then _another_ branch fell in. On this I called joyously -to Hartly, that "here were the first means of escape!" - -Without a moment's hesitation he grasped them, twisted them together, -and with sailor-like agility swung himself up, hand over hand, till -he reached the crevice through which they had fallen. - -Supporting the whole weight of his body by the left hand, with the -right he tore down a mass of the fragile roof, and swinging himself -up, passed through and at length stood upon the outside. - -"Now, Jack," said he, "come up in the same fashion, hand over -hand--it is just like going through the lubber's hole, instead of -over the futtock shrouds. Bravo! we'll weather this dead devil of a -king and his armed wenches to boot." - -I dragged myself up by the twisted tendrils, but when near the hole -should have fallen to the ground, had not Hartly's strong and -friendly hands grasped and dragged me on to the roof, where for a -little time we lay flat on our faces, panting alike with exertion and -excitement, and listening anxiously to hear if any guards or watchers -were near us. - -By the starlight we could see the long rows of flat wooden huts which -composed the palace divided into various courts. At the distance of -three hundred yards from us, on our right, a ruddy glow that deepened -into crimson, then wavered, sunk, and flashed up again, revealed the -outline of a monstrous fetish, or wooden idol, of hideous aspect, -which the young King, his fiadoors, guards, and people were -worshipping; and we could see the woolly heads bowed before it packed -thick and close as cannon balls in Woolwich arsenal. - -The long vista of the great street of huts, which stretches the -entire length of the town, and is alleged to be three miles long, lay -upon our left. - -We had no guide to the ramparts or outskirts; but as the long extent -of this street seemed empty and silent, our best chance of ultimate -escape lay through it. - -Again grasping the tendrils of the convolvulus, we slid down from the -roof and reached the ground. Robert Hartly dropped first. When I -was following, the tendrils gave way, and I fell heavily, making thus -a noise which roused a large dog in an adjacent shed, where it barked -furiously; but as we lay close and still, it gradually ceased, and -growled itself off to sleep again. - -We were in a garden attached to the King's residence; and being (by -our white skins) liable to immediate pursuit, capture, or -destruction, the moment we were seen--a contingency that would become -a certainty when day broke--we hurried through it, getting our legs -and feet severely cut and torn by the flowers and prickly plants; but -of this minor evil we had no heed at that time. - -A paling of split canes was soon surmounted, and once more we found -ourselves in the long street of Benin. - - - - -CHAPTER LV - -THE FORMOSA. - -"If once we are free from the town," said Hartly, "we can find -concealment during the day, and by travelling at night may reach the -coast. Then, if we can but obtain a canoe, and pass over to one of -the little isles in the Bight, we might remain there snugly enough, -till some ship ran in on the same unlucky errand which brought poor -Baylis here." - -"I pray it may end as you say." - -"Courage, Jack! Energy and faith will work miracles!" - -"But I imagine----" - -"Don't talk of imagination; it may only paralyse you by the fears it -fashions, the danger it suggests; but hush!" - -At that moment the fire before the idol flared up broad and redly, -and then the mingled roar of many voices swelled upon the night air. - -High above the hedge-rows or kraals for containing cattle, and the -lines of countless huts, formed of turf, of wickered cane, and other -rude materials which the wild vines, creepers, and convolvuli -concealed, rose the lurid flame that blazed before the misshapen god -of Benin; and far across the flat city it cast the shadows of the -tall giraffe trees, which grew in rows around the palace wall. - -This red light mingled with the pale white lustre of the moon, which -was just rising at the horizon, from whence its splendour cast long -and steady shadows across the streets, and thereby favoured alike our -concealment and escape. - -As we hurried along the empty thoroughfares towards the town wall, -Hartly found at the door of a hut, a war-club, of which he -immediately took possession. It was formed of teak-wood, black as -ebony, ponderously heavy, and its knob was covered by elaborate -carvings. - -While our hearts alternately glowed with hope, or sank with -apprehension, unseen we reached the high wall of wood and clay, and -ran alongside it, in search either of an outlet, or some means of -surmounting it; but no wild creepers, no gourd vines or climbing -convolvuli were permitted to grow there. - -We had been out of our prison at least half-an-hour without being met -or seen by a single negro. - -At last we reached a place where, for more than a hundred feet, the -wall was breached by the recent storm of wind and rain, which had -overturned and beaten its ruins flat on the ground. - -With mutual exclamations of joy, we were proceeding to clamber over -the fallen piles of rotten palisades and clay, when a wretched negro, -who appeared suddenly, on perceiving the whiteness of our skins in -the bright moonlight, uttered a loud cry of wonder or alarm! - -In an instant we heard the clatter of steel, and at least a dozen of -the King's armed women issued from a kind of wooden tower which stood -near the fallen wall. - -Hartly uttered something very like an oath; he struck the negro to -the earth by a blow of his club, and crying--"Follow me, Jack!" -sprang over the scattered ruin, and rushed into the moonlit country -beyond. - -Swift of foot and active as these "fair viragoes" were, they proved -no match for us in a race for life or death, especially when -encumbered ty their muskets, asseguys, and red petticoats, which were -covered with heavy beads, lions' teeth, and grass braiding. - -Two shots were fired after us, but where the balls went, Heaven only -knows; fortunately, they fell far from us. - -On we ran in the full blaze of the moonlight, bathed in perspiration, -now floundering among wild gourds and creeping plants, where little -snakes started up to hiss at us; anon over waste tracts, where lilies -and geraniums covered all the wilderness; then among long and -serrated grass, which cut our shins like saws and sabre-blades. Next -we tore a passage through dense masses of wild canes, then through -fields of maize, or rice, or millet, and often through cattle kraals, -till we reached a wood, where, after taking the precaution of running -in _one_ direction in the full light of the moon, we turned and, -hare-like, doubled in the _other_. - -By this manoeuvre, I believe, we baffled our _fair_ pursuers, as we -saw no more of them for the remainder of that night or the following -morning, during the long hours of which we lay close to the earth, -buried and hidden under a cool and shady mass of leaves and jungle. - -And there, without water to quench our thirst, and without other food -than a few wild berries that grew within arm's length of our lurking -place, we lay concealed during the whole of the next day. - -When night fell, Hartly climbed into a chestnut-tree, and after -looking carefully around him, uttered an exclamation of delight. - -"I see the way we must steer, Jack," he added. - -"You can see the ocean?" - -"Ay, or a large river, rippling in the moonlight to the horizon far -away." - -A sigh of joy escaped me. - -"And so, Jack, if our company is necessary to complete the happiness -of King Zabadie in the next world, I am sorry for him, as he is -likely to take his long voyage without us." - -The chestnut was lofty, and from it Hartly could see on one hand the -distant hills which form the termination of that mighty chain, the -mountains of Kong, and end at the river Formosa. On the other hand, -beyond the flat and open country, he could see the great river -itself, flowing towards the Bight of Benin, along whose shores and by -whose waters lay all our ultimate hope of escape. - -We bathed ourselves in a limpid pool to freshen and brace our nerves; -I armed me with a cudgel formed of a young tree torn up by the roots; -Hartly had still his war-club; and resolving to travel only under -cloud of night, as cautiously as possible, and to avoid all negro -camps and villages, we found the highway--if it could be called -so--which leads from the city of Benin towards the Waree. - - - - -CHAPTER LVI. - -A PERILOUS JOURNEY. - -In our ignorance of the wild country through which we travelled, our -sole guide towards the sea was the course of the river Formosa, which -rapidly widened into a mighty estuary, along the left bank of which -we proceeded with the utmost circumspection; and inspired by the -triple dread of being recaptured and killed by the natives, devoured -by wild animals, or sinking under the heavy miasma which exhales from -the marshy creeks and isles of the uncounted river-mouths which there -pour their muddy tides into the Bight of Benin, laden with the -decaying vegetable débris of an unexplored world. - -By various sounds which the wind swept after us at times, such as the -baying of dogs, and notes of cane horns, we feared a pursuit by the -people of Benin, and the sequel proved that our fears were but _too_ -true. - -We were frequently bewildered by seeing large lakes, which we -conceived to be the sea, till dawn of day would reveal their size, -and the gigantic trees or walls of wavy reeds which surrounded their -stagnant waters. - -Hartly often beguiled the way by relating strange stories he had -heard or read, and by the margin of one of those silent lakes in the -wilderness he told me of the shattered hull of an ancient ship being -found, beached upon the bank of one of those inland waters in the -continent of Africa. - -"How came it to be cast up there?" I asked, with surprise. - -"Some alleged that it came through a subterraneous opening, a channel -in the bowels of the earth, connected with the same vortex or -whirlpool which had sucked it down long years ago--the Maelstrom, -perhaps, though many say that, like Charybdis, no such place exists. -But it sounds very like a bouncing yarn, such as one may hear at the -Royal Society, or under the leech of the foresail of a fine night, -Jack, when the middle watch are spinning their _twisters_." - -We spent a whole night wearily and anxiously circumnavigating the -banks of one of those lakes whose waters were full of thick green -slime, of sturdy reeds, and leaves of wondrous size and form; falling -into black quagmires and deep holes made by the clumsy hippopotami, -and every instant in danger of being pounced upon by a panther or a -poisonous snake for our intrusion upon their secluded domains. - -It is in these lakes of Benin, and in those of the kingdom of Angola, -that the quaint old writer named Dapper (who must have been a very -fanciful or credulous personage) relates he saw "water animals which -the negroes call _ambisiangula_, and the Portuguese _pezze-moueller_. -These monsters are both male and female. They are eight feet long -and four broad, with short arms and long fingers of three joints, -like ours. They have an oval head and eyes, a high forehead, a flat -nose, and great mouth. Snares are laid for them, and when caught, -they sigh and cry like women till they are killed by darts. Their -entrails and flesh are like those of hogs in scent, taste, and form. -'Tis said the filings of certain skull-bones in the males, if mixed -with wine, are an excellent remedy against gravel, and the bone which -extends towards the membrane of the ear is good against bad vapour, -if we may believe the Portuguese." - -Master Dapper then goes on to state, that of the ribs of this -wonderful fish, particularly those on the left side, surgeons can -make a powder which will effectually stanch bleeding, and that -bracelets made of them were worn for the preservation of health. -Another account, published in 1714, adds, that in the Cabinet of -Rarities at Leyden one of their _hands_ is preserved, and two others -were in the _Musæum Regium_ at Copenhagen. - -We, however, never saw aught but the fibrous leaves of enormous -aquatic plants, large as table-cloths, floating on the water of these -lakes, under the clear lustre of a lovely moon, that cast the shadows -of the feathery palm and bending orange-trees from banks where the -alligator dozed amid the slime, or the hippopotamus came to crop the -herbage and bask in the rays of the sun when he rose above the -foliage of the vast untrodden forest. - -Manfully we struggled on, supporting nature by such fruits and -esculents as we found, especially yams, and on the sixth night after -our escape, with a prayer of thankfulness, we found ourselves under -the friendly shelter of a chestnut grove, and close upon the shore of -the mighty sea. - -We were now so scorched and burned by the sun, and so embrowned by -daily and nightly exposure, that we might very well have passed for a -couple of mulattoes, and so have claimed kindred with our tormentors. - -We had now left the territories of Benin, and were in the land of -Waree, which has a dingy sovereign of its own. The whole of this -district is covered by wild forests, which in the wet season are -frequently converted into lakes and marshes, where the stems of the -trees are submerged for two or three feet in water. - -Opposite to where we lay concealed, and at the distance of a mile -from us, we saw a little green island, having upon its summit a negro -village, some of the inhabitants of which, when day broke, came over -to the mainland with four canoes, which they moored or beached in a -creek not three hundred yards distant from where we lurked among some -long grass. - -These negroes were sixteen in number, all armed with asseguys, -muskets, and bows, and they proceeded into the forest apparently to -hunt. - -We climbed into a leafy chestnut for security, and passed the entire -day amid its branches, thus escaping the hunting party, several of -whom passed underneath us, on their way back to the canoes in which -they embarked, and returned to the island laden with game. - -These canoes were large; each appeared to be a single tree hollowed -out, and flattened in the bottom. Hartly, who announced his -intention of borrowing one _sans_ leave on the first available -opportunity, said, that after being scooped out, straw was burned in -them to save the wood from being spoiled by worms. They can be rowed -swiftly, and are steered by a long spar, which acts as a rudder. The -oars are usually made of teak-wood, and fashioned like spades. - -Each of these canoes had a round knob on its prow; and by this they -were pulled ashore with ease, and beached high and dry upon the thick -mangrove leaves of the creek. - -When night fell again, I sank into a profound sleep among the -branches of our chestnut tree. There was no danger of a tumble, we -had become so accustomed to roosting on such perches. - -Day dawned again, and we looked about us. - -Ah! what were our emotions _then_ on seeing in the blue waters of the -bay, and about two miles from the green island, _two vessels at -anchor_--one a brig, with American colours flying; and the other a -stately ship, with the broad scarlet ensign of Britain floating at -her gaff peak! - -There they rode proudly at their moorings; but we were destitute -alike of means for reaching them or making signals; as yet all their -boats were on board, and we could perceive no sign of any of them -being despatched ashore. Their topsails and topgallant sails were -handed; but their courses were only hauled up, and some of their fore -and aft canvas hung loose in the brails. - -We gazed at them with tearful and haggard eyes, our hearts swelling -the while with mingled hope and fear--hope that they might yet save, -and fear that they might unwittingly sail and abandon us. - -While we were debating what was to be done, the four canoes with the -sixteen negroes again shot off from the island village, and -disappeared among the mangroves of the creek; and soon after we saw -them, as on the previous day, pass, armed, into the wood to hunt. - -"Now is our opportunity, Jack--now or never!" cried Hartly, as he -dropped lightly from the tree; "let us make a rush at the canoes, -seize one and shove off!" - -I instantly followed his example; but, alas! we were too rash in our -desire to embark, for at the same instant we dropped from our -perches, we found ourselves confronted by two of the savages, whom -the suddenness of our appearance seemed to fill with astonishment and -irresolution. - - - - -CHAPTER LVII. - -PURSUIT AGAIN. - -Without pausing for a moment to express friendly or other signs, we -rushed down with headlong speed towards the creek, where the canoes -lay beached upon the thick fringe of mangrove leaves, and eight of -the sixteen hunters pursued us; but notwithstanding the swiftness of -foot they possessed--a swiftness acquired by a savage and roving -life--we distanced them with ease, for despair seemed to lend us the -strength and speed of ostriches as we rushed towards the beach. - -An asseguy, aimed with almost fatal precision, glanced over my left -shoulder, and shivered as it sank into the turf beyond me. Then a -war-club, thrown with fatal force and dexterity, struck poor Hartly -between the shoulders, and nearly prostrated him; but in less than -two minutes we were in the creek, and had one of the largest canoes -afloat. - -"In, in, Jack--leap in!" cried Hartly, while he lightly and adroitly -pushed the other three into the water, and setting them all afloat to -cut off pursuit, sprang in after me. - -His presence of mind was most fortunate, for on the steep brow of an -eminence which overhung the creek on the side opposite to our more -immediate pursuers, there suddenly burst a storm of shrill yells and -discordant shouts, mingled with the beating of tum-tums and the -snorting of ferocious dogs, as a number of Benin savages, who -doubtless had tracked us thither with the most fell intentions, -rushed to the shore in pursuit--but thank Heaven, happily too late! - -Hartly's sinewy hand had shot two of the canoes some thirty yards or -so from the beach; and while towing a third by its bow-knob, he -proceeded to row most vigorously with one of the spade-like paddles -which lay in our craft. - -Ere we got out of the wooded creek its water smoked and boiled under -the shower of missiles--arrows, asseguys, clubs, and stones--which -were sent after us, while five negroes and several dogs plunged in to -pursue or to slay. - -These tracking dogs were animals of strange aspect--sharp-nosed, with -skins spotted black and white, or red--they had slender legs, sharp -tusks, and a low, but ferocious bark. - -While four of the negroes busied themselves in bringing back the -drifting canoes--an operation during which one of them was shot by -the musket of some blundering comrade--the fifth, a man of fierce and -resolute bearing, having red and yellow circles painted round his -eyes, and a knife in his teeth, swam after us, accompanied by a dog, -the most formidable of the whole. - -Swiftly though our canoe shot through the water, and vigorously -though we paddled, they were soon alongside of us. The dog had his -fore paws, and the man his black hands, upon the gunnel at the same -moment. - -The time was painfully critical! - -I struck the dog with my paddle, and broke both his fore legs; unable -to swim, he floated away sinking, yelping, and drowning; while Hartly -relinquishing the canoe he was towing, dealt the painted savage--in -whom I recognised Amoo, my former master--a tremendous blow on the -head. Though the latter proved _harder_ than the hard wood paddle, -which was split and splintered, Amoo sank with a yell of rage and -pain. - -After the danger was past, I was pleased to see that he rose to the -surface again and reached the shore; for this negro chief was not, in -some respects, and apart from a general inclination to homicide, -ungenerous. - -The three canoes were quickly crowded by armed warriors, and rowed -out of the creek at a speed that bade fair soon to overhaul us, -though we paddled away, each on his own side, with all the rapidity -our strength and our desperation enabled as to exert. - -We were now entirely clear of the creek, and about a quarter of a -mile from the shore, when a hearty English cheer rang across the -water towards us. - -On turning and looking ahead, we saw two large and well-manned boats, -which had been put off from the ship (the craft nearest the shore), -pulled rapidly towards us; while two rifles from the headmost one -were discharged into the canoes, as a hint for their owners to sheer -off, which they immediately did with great expedition. - -We were soon alongside of the nearest boat, the crew of which pulled -us on board, canoe and all, continuing to cheer the while so lustily, -that some time elapsed before we could inform them that we were -countrymen. - -The steersman then inquired whether there were any more fugitives -ashore. - -We replied "No;" on which the boat's head was turned towards the -ship; the oars again fell into the water, and the creek soon lessened -and melted, as it were, into the general scenery of the wooded shore. - -The vessel by which we were so providentially rescued, proved to be -the _Havelock_, of London, a fine clipper ship of a thousand tons -register, belonging, by a singular coincidence, to my father--at -least, to the firm of Manly and Skrew, homeward bound from the Cape; -but which had been, like the barque of poor Captain Baylis, driven -out of her course by the hurricane of the other night, and had -anchored in the Bight to procure fresh water, and repair some -trifling damages. - -Soon her spars and hull (old England's wooden wall), a welcome sight, -rose higher from the water as we pulled towards her; and as they -rose, the low, level, and marshy shore we had left, with all its -mangrove creeks and reedy lagunes--its wildernesses of giant leaves, -and long and fibrous creepers--its dense jungles, where serpents -hissed, monkeys chattered, and crocodiles laid their eggs; where the -great yellow gourd and coarse serrated grass flourished under the -feathery palm and broad baobab trees, amid slime and miasma, that -carry death to the vitals of the European--soon all these diminished -and sank astern, as our boat sped through the shining sea; and, ere -long, Robert Hartly and I shook each other's hands with honest warmth -and joy, when we found ourselves among our own countrymen, treading a -deck of good English oak, with the old scarlet bunting floating from -the peak halyards above us. - -Three days the _Havelock_ remained in the bay; and during that time, -you may be assured, neither Hartly nor I had any wish to venture on -shore. - -I shall never forget the glow of happiness that thrilled through me, -when, on the third evening, the Captain gave orders to hoist the -boats on board and prepare for sea. - -"Man the windlass!" was the cry; "hands, up anchor!" - -The bars were inserted by sturdy hands in the huge beam, and then the -pauls clattered cheerily, while the iron cable rattled as it was -dragged aft along the deck, and soon the great clipper ship came -round with her head to the wind. - -"Cast loose the courses; away aloft--shake out the topsails, and let -fall!" - -And anon the snowy canvas fell like white curtains on the lower -spars, as the topsail yards ascended to the crosstrees. - -"Heave on the cable--weigh!" was the next order. - -Tight as if its iron rings would snap like pack-thread grew the -mighty chain, for strong hands and muscular arms were tugging with -united strength at the bars of bending ash. - -"Together, lads--together--hurrah!" cried Hartly, who had supplied -himself with a handspike. - - "Uptorn, reluctant, from its oozy cave, - The ponderous anchor rises o'er the wave." - - -And soon the great iron flukes were dripping with glittering brine, -as the ring rattled at the cathead; then the yards were trimmed; the -larboard tacks were brought on board, and with a fine spanking -breeze, that came from the burning shores of Benin, our fleet clipper -ship bore away for Old England. - - -* * * * * - - -CONCLUSION. - -Such were my adventures in the lands of snow and sunshine--the -latitudes of ice and fire! - -On the 17th of December, exactly nine months after the day on which -Hartly and I had sailed through the Narrows of St. John, we found -ourselves bowling along the crowded and busy streets of London in a -hackney cab, with our African canoe--all the property we -possessed--lashed on the roof thereof. - -We separated for a time at the Bank; he to look after another ship, -and I--like he of old, who came to the husks and the swine trough--to -return to my father's house at Peckham (a tamer and wiser youth than -when I left it) and to the circle of my family, who had long since -gone into mourning for me. - -I am delighted to add that my worthy Robert Hartly soon got another -vessel. As sole survivors of the crew of the _Leda_, we obtained, -after a world of trouble with the Red-tapists of the Circumlocution -Office, the 500_l._ offered by the Governor of Newfoundland for the -destruction of the _Black Schooner_. - -My share I made over to Hartly, who invested it in the capital of his -new owner. - -He still preserves, with religious care, the ring of old Mother -Jensdochter; and undeterred by all he has undergone, sails from -Blackwall for China on the 10th of next month. - - - -THE END. - - - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Jack Manly, by James Grant - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JACK MANLY *** - -***** This file should be named 63566-8.txt or 63566-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/5/6/63566/ - -Produced by Al Haines -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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