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Title: The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
       Volume 3 (of 5) of the Raven Edition

Author: Edgar Allan Poe

Release Date: May 19, 2008 [EBook #2149]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORKS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE ***




Produced by David Widger





THE WORKS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE

IN FIVE VOLUMES

VOLUME 3

The Raven Edition


CONTENTS:

     NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM
     LIGEIA
     MORELLA
     A TALE OF THE RAGGED MOUNTAINS
     THE SPECTACLES
     KING PEST
     THREE SUNDAYS IN A WEEK





NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

UPON my return to the United States a few months ago, after the
extraordinary series of adventure in the South Seas and elsewhere, of
which an account is given in the following pages, accident threw me
into the society of several gentlemen in Richmond, Va., who felt deep
interest in all matters relating to the regions I had visited, and who
were constantly urging it upon me, as a duty, to give my narrative to
the public. I had several reasons, however, for declining to do so, some
of which were of a nature altogether private, and concern no person but
myself; others not so much so. One consideration which deterred me was
that, having kept no journal during a greater portion of the time in
which I was absent, I feared I should not be able to write, from mere
memory, a statement so minute and connected as to have the _appearance
_of that truth it would really possess, barring only the natural and
unavoidable exaggeration to which all of us are prone when detailing
events which have had powerful influence in exciting the imaginative
faculties. Another reason was, that the incidents to be narrated were
of a nature so positively marvellous that, unsupported as my assertions
must necessarily be (except by the evidence of a single individual, and
he a half-breed Indian), I could only hope for belief among my family,
and those of my friends who have had reason, through life, to put faith
in my veracity-the probability being that the public at large would
regard what I should put forth as merely an impudent and ingenious
fiction. A distrust in my own abilities as a writer was, nevertheless,
one of the principal causes which prevented me from complying with the
suggestions of my advisers.

Among those gentlemen in Virginia who expressed the greatest interest
in my statement, more particularly in regard to that portion of it
which related to the Antarctic Ocean, was Mr. Poe, lately editor of
the "Southern Literary Messenger," a monthly magazine, published by Mr.
Thomas W. White, in the city of Richmond. He strongly advised me,
among others, to prepare at once a full account of what I had seen
and undergone, and trust to the shrewdness and common-sense of the
public-insisting, with great plausibility, that however roughly, as
regards mere authorship, my book should be got up, its very uncouthness,
if there were any, would give it all the better chance of being received
as truth.

Notwithstanding this representation, I did not make up my mind to do as
he suggested. He afterward proposed (finding that I would not stir in
the matter) that I should allow him to draw up, in his own words, a
narrative of the earlier portion of my adventures, from facts afforded
by myself, publishing it in the "Southern Messenger" _under the garb
of fiction. _To this, perceiving no objection, I consented, stipulating
only that my real name should be retained. Two numbers of the pretended
fiction appeared, consequently, in the "Messenger" for January and
February (1837), and, in order that it might certainly be regarded as
fiction, the name of Mr. Poe was affixed to the articles in the table of
contents of the magazine.

The manner in which this ruse was received has induced me at length to
undertake a regular compilation and publication of the adventures in
question; for I found that, in spite of the air of fable which had been
so ingeniously thrown around that portion of my statement which appeared
in the "Messenger" (without altering or distorting a single fact),
the public were still not at all disposed to receive it as fable, and
several letters were sent to Mr. P.'s address, distinctly expressing
a conviction to the contrary. I thence concluded that the facts of my
narrative would prove of such a nature as to carry with them sufficient
evidence of their own authenticity, and that I had consequently little
to fear on the score of popular incredulity.

This_ exposé _being made, it will be seen at once how much of what
follows I claim to be my own writing; and it will also be understood
that no fact is misrepresented in the first few pages which were written
by Mr. Poe. Even to those readers who have not seen the "Messenger,"
it will be unnecessary to point out where his portion ends and my own
commences; the difference in point of style will be readily perceived.

                   A. G. PYM.




CHAPTER 1

MY name is Arthur Gordon Pym. My father was a respectable trader in
sea-stores at Nantucket, where I was born. My maternal grandfather was
an attorney in good practice. He was fortunate in every thing, and had
speculated very successfully in stocks of the Edgarton New Bank, as it
was formerly called. By these and other means he had managed to lay by a
tolerable sum of money. He was more attached to myself, I believe, than
to any other person in the world, and I expected to inherit the most
of his property at his death. He sent me, at six years of age, to
the school of old Mr. Ricketts, a gentleman with only one arm and of
eccentric manners--he is well known to almost every person who has
visited New Bedford. I stayed at his school until I was sixteen, when I
left him for Mr. E. Ronald's academy on the hill. Here I became intimate
with the son of Mr. Barnard, a sea-captain, who generally sailed in the
employ of Lloyd and Vredenburgh--Mr. Barnard is also very well known in
New Bedford, and has many relations, I am certain, in Edgarton. His son
was named Augustus, and he was nearly two years older than myself. He
had been on a whaling voyage with his father in the John Donaldson, and
was always talking to me of his adventures in the South Pacific Ocean.
I used frequently to go home with him, and remain all day, and sometimes
all night. We occupied the same bed, and he would be sure to keep me
awake until almost light, telling me stories of the natives of the
Island of Tinian, and other places he had visited in his travels. At
last I could not help being interested in what he said, and by degrees
I felt the greatest desire to go to sea. I owned a sailboat called the
Ariel, and worth about seventy-five dollars. She had a half-deck or
cuddy, and was rigged sloop-fashion--I forget her tonnage, but she would
hold ten persons without much crowding. In this boat we were in the
habit of going on some of the maddest freaks in the world; and, when I
now think of them, it appears to me a thousand wonders that I am alive
to-day.

I will relate one of these adventures by way of introduction to a
longer and more momentous narrative. One night there was a party at Mr.
Barnard's, and both Augustus and myself were not a little intoxicated
toward the close of it. As usual, in such cases, I took part of his
bed in preference to going home. He went to sleep, as I thought, very
quietly (it being near one when the party broke up), and without saying
a word on his favorite topic. It might have been half an hour from the
time of our getting in bed, and I was just about falling into a doze,
when he suddenly started up, and swore with a terrible oath that he
would not go to sleep for any Arthur Pym in Christendom, when there was
so glorious a breeze from the southwest. I never was so astonished in
my life, not knowing what he intended, and thinking that the wines and
liquors he had drunk had set him entirely beside himself. He proceeded
to talk very coolly, however, saying he knew that I supposed him
intoxicated, but that he was never more sober in his life. He was only
tired, he added, of lying in bed on such a fine night like a dog, and
was determined to get up and dress, and go out on a frolic with the
boat. I can hardly tell what possessed me, but the words were no sooner
out of his mouth than I felt a thrill of the greatest excitement and
pleasure, and thought his mad idea one of the most delightful and most
reasonable things in the world. It was blowing almost a gale, and the
weather was very cold--it being late in October. I sprang out of bed,
nevertheless, in a kind of ecstasy, and told him I was quite as brave
as himself, and quite as tired as he was of lying in bed like a dog,
and quite as ready for any fun or frolic as any Augustus Barnard in
Nantucket.

We lost no time in getting on our clothes and hurrying down to the boat.
She was lying at the old decayed wharf by the lumber-yard of Pankey &
Co., and almost thumping her side out against the rough logs. Augustus
got into her and bailed her, for she was nearly half full of water. This
being done, we hoisted jib and mainsail, kept full, and started boldly
out to sea.

The wind, as I before said, blew freshly from the southwest. The night
was very clear and cold. Augustus had taken the helm, and I stationed
myself by the mast, on the deck of the cuddy. We flew along at a great
rate--neither of us having said a word since casting loose from the
wharf. I now asked my companion what course he intended to steer, and
what time he thought it probable we should get back. He whistled for a
few minutes, and then said crustily: "_I_ am going to sea--_you_ may go
home if you think proper." Turning my eyes upon him, I perceived at once
that, in spite of his assumed _nonchalance_, he was greatly agitated.
I could see him distinctly by the light of the moon--his face was
paler than any marble, and his hand shook so excessively that he could
scarcely retain hold of the tiller. I found that something had gone
wrong, and became seriously alarmed. At this period I knew little
about the management of a boat, and was now depending entirely upon the
nautical skill of my friend. The wind, too, had suddenly increased, as
we were fast getting out of the lee of the land--still I was ashamed
to betray any trepidation, and for almost half an hour maintained a
resolute silence. I could stand it no longer, however, and spoke to
Augustus about the propriety of turning back. As before, it was nearly
a minute before he made answer, or took any notice of my suggestion.
"By-and-by," said he at length--"time enough--home by-and-by." I had
expected a similar reply, but there was something in the tone of these
words which filled me with an indescribable feeling of dread. I again
looked at the speaker attentively. His lips were perfectly livid, and
his knees shook so violently together that he seemed scarcely able to
stand. "For God's sake, Augustus," I screamed, now heartily frightened,
"what ails you?--what is the matter?--what _are_ you going to do?"
"Matter!" he stammered, in the greatest apparent surprise, letting go
the tiller at the same moment, and falling forward into the bottom of
the boat--"matter--why, nothing is the--matter--going home--d--d--don't
you see?" The whole truth now flashed upon me. I flew to him and raised
him up. He was drunk--beastly drunk--he could no longer either stand,
speak, or see. His eyes were perfectly glazed; and as I let him go
in the extremity of my despair, he rolled like a mere log into the
bilge-water, from which I had lifted him. It was evident that, during
the evening, he had drunk far more than I suspected, and that his
conduct in bed had been the result of a highly-concentrated state of
intoxication--a state which, like madness, frequently enables the victim
to imitate the outward demeanour of one in perfect possession of his
senses. The coolness of the night air, however, had had its usual
effect--the mental energy began to yield before its influence--and the
confused perception which he no doubt then had of his perilous situation
had assisted in hastening the catastrophe. He was now thoroughly
insensible, and there was no probability that he would be otherwise for
many hours.

It is hardly possible to conceive the extremity of my terror. The fumes
of the wine lately taken had evaporated, leaving me doubly timid and
irresolute. I knew that I was altogether incapable of managing the
boat, and that a fierce wind and strong ebb tide were hurrying us to
destruction. A storm was evidently gathering behind us; we had neither
compass nor provisions; and it was clear that, if we held our present
course, we should be out of sight of land before daybreak. These
thoughts, with a crowd of others equally fearful, flashed through my
mind with a bewildering rapidity, and for some moments paralyzed me
beyond the possibility of making any exertion. The boat was going
through the water at a terrible rate--full before the wind--no reef in
either jib or mainsail--running her bows completely under the foam. It
was a thousand wonders she did not broach to--Augustus having let go
the tiller, as I said before, and I being too much agitated to think of
taking it myself. By good luck, however, she kept steady, and gradually
I recovered some degree of presence of mind. Still the wind was
increasing fearfully, and whenever we rose from a plunge forward, the
sea behind fell combing over our counter, and deluged us with water. I
was so utterly benumbed, too, in every limb, as to be nearly unconscious
of sensation. At length I summoned up the resolution of despair,
and rushing to the mainsail let it go by the run. As might have been
expected, it flew over the bows, and, getting drenched with water,
carried away the mast short off by the board. This latter accident alone
saved me from instant destruction. Under the jib only, I now boomed
along before the wind, shipping heavy seas occasionally over the
counter, but relieved from the terror of immediate death. I took the
helm, and breathed with greater freedom as I found that there yet
remained to us a chance of ultimate escape. Augustus still lay senseless
in the bottom of the boat; and as there was imminent danger of his
drowning (the water being nearly a foot deep just where he fell), I
contrived to raise him partially up, and keep him in a sitting position,
by passing a rope round his waist, and lashing it to a ringbolt in the
deck of the cuddy. Having thus arranged every thing as well as I could
in my chilled and agitated condition, I recommended myself to God, and
made up my mind to bear whatever might happen with all the fortitude in
my power.

Hardly had I come to this resolution, when, suddenly, a loud and long
scream or yell, as if from the throats of a thousand demons, seemed to
pervade the whole atmosphere around and above the boat. Never while I
live shall I forget the intense agony of terror I experienced at that
moment. My hair stood erect on my head--I felt the blood congealing
in my veins--my heart ceased utterly to beat, and without having once
raised my eyes to learn the source of my alarm, I tumbled headlong and
insensible upon the body of my fallen companion.

I found myself, upon reviving, in the cabin of a large whaling-ship (the
Penguin) bound to Nantucket. Several persons were standing over me, and
Augustus, paler than death, was busily occupied in chafing my hands.
Upon seeing me open my eyes, his exclamations of gratitude and joy
excited alternate laughter and tears from the rough-looking personages
who were present. The mystery of our being in existence was now
soon explained. We had been run down by the whaling-ship, which was
close-hauled, beating up to Nantucket with every sail she could venture
to set, and consequently running almost at right angles to our own
course. Several men were on the look-out forward, but did not perceive
our boat until it was an impossibility to avoid coming in contact--their
shouts of warning upon seeing us were what so terribly alarmed me. The
huge ship, I was told, rode immediately over us with as much ease as
our own little vessel would have passed over a feather, and without the
least perceptible impediment to her progress. Not a scream arose from
the deck of the victim--there was a slight grating sound to be heard
mingling with the roar of wind and water, as the frail bark which was
swallowed up rubbed for a moment along the keel of her destroyer--but
this was all. Thinking our boat (which it will be remembered was
dismasted) some mere shell cut adrift as useless, the captain (Captain
E. T. V. Block, of New London) was for proceeding on his course without
troubling himself further about the matter. Luckily, there were two
of the look-out who swore positively to having seen some person at our
helm, and represented the possibility of yet saving him. A discussion
ensued, when Block grew angry, and, after a while, said that "it was no
business of his to be eternally watching for egg-shells; that the ship
should not put about for any such nonsense; and if there was a man run
down, it was nobody's fault but his own, he might drown and be dammed"
or some language to that effect. Henderson, the first mate, now took the
matter up, being justly indignant, as well as the whole ship's crew,
at a speech evincing so base a degree of heartless atrocity. He
spoke plainly, seeing himself upheld by the men, told the captain he
considered him a fit subject for the gallows, and that he would disobey
his orders if he were hanged for it the moment he set his foot on shore.
He strode aft, jostling Block (who turned pale and made no answer)
on one side, and seizing the helm, gave the word, in a firm voice,
Hard-a-lee! The men flew to their posts, and the ship went cleverly
about. All this had occupied nearly five minutes, and it was supposed to
be hardly within the bounds of possibility that any individual could be
saved--allowing any to have been on board the boat. Yet, as the reader
has seen, both Augustus and myself were rescued; and our deliverance
seemed to have been brought about by two of those almost inconceivable
pieces of good fortune which are attributed by the wise and pious to the
special interference of Providence.

While the ship was yet in stays, the mate lowered the jolly-boat and
jumped into her with the very two men, I believe, who spoke up as having
seen me at the helm. They had just left the lee of the vessel (the moon
still shining brightly) when she made a long and heavy roll to windward,
and Henderson, at the same moment, starting up in his seat bawled out
to his crew to back water. He would say nothing else--repeating his cry
impatiently, back water! black water! The men put back as speedily as
possible, but by this time the ship had gone round, and gotten fully
under headway, although all hands on board were making great exertions
to take in sail. In despite of the danger of the attempt, the mate clung
to the main-chains as soon as they came within his reach. Another huge
lurch now brought the starboard side of the vessel out of water nearly
as far as her keel, when the cause of his anxiety was rendered obvious
enough. The body of a man was seen to be affixed in the most singular
manner to the smooth and shining bottom (the Penguin was coppered and
copper-fastened), and beating violently against it with every movement
of the hull. After several ineffectual efforts, made during the lurches
of the ship, and at the imminent risk of swamping the boat I was finally
disengaged from my perilous situation and taken on board--for the body
proved to be my own. It appeared that one of the timber-bolts having
started and broken a passage through the copper, it had arrested my
progress as I passed under the ship, and fastened me in so extraordinary
a manner to her bottom. The head of the bolt had made its way through
the collar of the green baize jacket I had on, and through the back part
of my neck, forcing itself out between two sinews and just below the
right ear. I was immediately put to bed--although life seemed to be
totally extinct. There was no surgeon on board. The captain, however,
treated me with every attention--to make amends, I presume, in the eyes
of his crew, for his atrocious behaviour in the previous portion of the
adventure.

In the meantime, Henderson had again put off from the ship, although
the wind was now blowing almost a hurricane. He had not been gone many
minutes when he fell in with some fragments of our boat, and shortly
afterward one of the men with him asserted that he could distinguish a
cry for help at intervals amid the roaring of the tempest. This induced
the hardy seamen to persevere in their search for more than half an
hour, although repeated signals to return were made them by Captain
Block, and although every moment on the water in so frail a boat was
fraught to them with the most imminent and deadly peril. Indeed, it is
nearly impossible to conceive how the small jolly they were in could
have escaped destruction for a single instant. She was built, however,
for the whaling service, and was fitted, as I have since had reason to
believe, with air-boxes, in the manner of some life-boats used on the
coast of Wales.

After searching in vain for about the period of time just mentioned,
it was determined to get back to the ship. They had scarcely made this
resolve when a feeble cry arose from a dark object that floated rapidly
by. They pursued and soon overtook it. It proved to be the entire deck
of the Ariel's cuddy. Augustus was struggling near it, apparently in the
last agonies. Upon getting hold of him it was found that he was attached
by a rope to the floating timber. This rope, it will be remembered, I
had myself tied around his waist, and made fast to a ringbolt, for
the purpose of keeping him in an upright position, and my so doing,
it appeared, had been ultimately the means of preserving his life. The
Ariel was slightly put together, and in going down her frame naturally
went to pieces; the deck of the cuddy, as might have been expected, was
lifted, by the force of the water rushing in, entirely from the
main timbers, and floated (with other fragments, no doubt) to the
surface--Augustus was buoyed up with it, and thus escaped a terrible
death.

It was more than an hour after being taken on board the Penguin before
he could give any account of himself, or be made to comprehend the
nature of the accident which had befallen our boat. At length he became
thoroughly aroused, and spoke much of his sensations while in the water.
Upon his first attaining any degree of consciousness, he found himself
beneath the surface, whirling round and round with inconceivable
rapidity, and with a rope wrapped in three or four folds tightly about
his neck. In an instant afterward he felt himself going rapidly upward,
when, his head striking violently against a hard substance, he again
relapsed into insensibility. Upon once more reviving he was in fuller
possession of his reason--this was still, however, in the greatest
degree clouded and confused. He now knew that some accident had
occurred, and that he was in the water, although his mouth was above
the surface, and he could breathe with some freedom. Possibly, at this
period the deck was drifting rapidly before the wind, and drawing him
after it, as he floated upon his back. Of course, as long as he could
have retained this position, it would have been nearly impossible that
he should be drowned. Presently a surge threw him directly athwart the
deck, and this post he endeavored to maintain, screaming at intervals
for help. Just before he was discovered by Mr. Henderson, he had been
obliged to relax his hold through exhaustion, and, falling into the sea,
had given himself up for lost. During the whole period of his struggles
he had not the faintest recollection of the Ariel, nor of the matters in
connexion with the source of his disaster. A vague feeling of terror
and despair had taken entire possession of his faculties. When he was
finally picked up, every power of his mind had failed him; and, as
before said, it was nearly an hour after getting on board the Penguin
before he became fully aware of his condition. In regard to myself--I
was resuscitated from a state bordering very nearly upon death (and
after every other means had been tried in vain for three hours and a
half) by vigorous friction with flannels bathed in hot oil--a proceeding
suggested by Augustus. The wound in my neck, although of an ugly
appearance, proved of little real consequence, and I soon recovered from
its effects.

The Penguin got into port about nine o'clock in the morning, after
encountering one of the severest gales ever experienced off Nantucket.
Both Augustus and myself managed to appear at Mr. Barnard's in time for
breakfast--which, luckily, was somewhat late, owing to the party over
night. I suppose all at the table were too much fatigued themselves to
notice our jaded appearance--of course, it would not have borne a very
rigid scrutiny. Schoolboys, however, can accomplish wonders in the way
of deception, and I verily believe not one of our friends in Nantucket
had the slightest suspicion that the terrible story told by some sailors
in town of their having run down a vessel at sea and drowned some thirty
or forty poor devils, had reference either to the Ariel, my companion,
or myself. We two have since very frequently talked the matter over--but
never without a shudder. In one of our conversations Augustus frankly
confessed to me, that in his whole life he had at no time experienced
so excruciating a sense of dismay, as when on board our little boat
he first discovered the extent of his intoxication, and felt himself
sinking beneath its influence.




CHAPTER 2

IN no affairs of mere prejudice, pro or con, do we deduce inferences
with entire certainty, even from the most simple data. It might be
supposed that a catastrophe such as I have just related would have
effectually cooled my incipient passion for the sea. On the contrary, I
never experienced a more ardent longing for the wild adventures incident
to the life of a navigator than within a week after our miraculous
deliverance. This short period proved amply long enough to erase from
my memory the shadows, and bring out in vivid light all the pleasurably
exciting points of color, all the picturesqueness, of the late perilous
accident. My conversations with Augustus grew daily more frequent and
more intensely full of interest. He had a manner of relating his stories
of the ocean (more than one half of which I now suspect to have
been sheer fabrications) well adapted to have weight with one of
my enthusiastic temperament and somewhat gloomy although glowing
imagination. It is strange, too, that he most strongly enlisted my
feelings in behalf of the life of a seaman, when he depicted his more
terrible moments of suffering and despair. For the bright side of the
painting I had a limited sympathy. My visions were of shipwreck and
famine; of death or captivity among barbarian hordes; of a lifetime
dragged out in sorrow and tears, upon some gray and desolate rock, in
an ocean unapproachable and unknown. Such visions or desires--for they
amounted to desires--are common, I have since been assured, to the whole
numerous race of the melancholy among men--at the time of which I speak
I regarded them only as prophetic glimpses of a destiny which I felt
myself in a measure bound to fulfil. Augustus thoroughly entered into my
state of mind. It is probable, indeed, that our intimate communion had
resulted in a partial interchange of character.

About eighteen months after the period of the Ariel's disaster, the
firm of Lloyd and Vredenburgh (a house connected in some manner with the
Messieurs Enderby, I believe, of Liverpool) were engaged in repairing
and fitting out the brig Grampus for a whaling voyage. She was an old
hulk, and scarcely seaworthy when all was done to her that could be
done. I hardly know why she was chosen in preference to other good
vessels belonging to the same owners--but so it was. Mr. Barnard was
appointed to command her, and Augustus was going with him. While the
brig was getting ready, he frequently urged upon me the excellency of
the opportunity now offered for indulging my desire of travel. He found
me by no means an unwilling listener--yet the matter could not be so
easily arranged. My father made no direct opposition; but my mother went
into hysterics at the bare mention of the design; and, more than all,
my grandfather, from whom I expected much, vowed to cut me off with
a shilling if I should ever broach the subject to him again. These
difficulties, however, so far from abating my desire, only added fuel to
the flame. I determined to go at all hazards; and, having made known my
intentions to Augustus, we set about arranging a plan by which it
might be accomplished. In the meantime I forbore speaking to any of my
relations in regard to the voyage, and, as I busied myself ostensibly
with my usual studies, it was supposed that I had abandoned the design.
I have since frequently examined my conduct on this occasion with
sentiments of displeasure as well as of surprise. The intense hypocrisy
I made use of for the furtherance of my project--an hypocrisy pervading
every word and action of my life for so long a period of time--could
only have been rendered tolerable to myself by the wild and burning
expectation with which I looked forward to the fulfilment of my
long-cherished visions of travel.

In pursuance of my scheme of deception, I was necessarily obliged to
leave much to the management of Augustus, who was employed for the
greater part of every day on board the Grampus, attending to some
arrangements for his father in the cabin and cabin hold. At night,
however, we were sure to have a conference and talk over our hopes.
After nearly a month passed in this manner, without our hitting upon
any plan we thought likely to succeed, he told me at last that he had
determined upon everything necessary. I had a relation living in New
Bedford, a Mr. Ross, at whose house I was in the habit of spending
occasionally two or three weeks at a time. The brig was to sail about
the middle of June (June, 1827), and it was agreed that, a day or two
before her putting to sea, my father was to receive a note, as usual,
from Mr. Ross, asking me to come over and spend a fortnight with Robert
and Emmet (his sons). Augustus charged himself with the inditing of
this note and getting it delivered. Having set out as supposed, for New
Bedford, I was then to report myself to my companion, who would contrive
a hiding-place for me in the Grampus. This hiding-place, he assured me,
would be rendered sufficiently comfortable for a residence of many
days, during which I was not to make my appearance. When the brig had
proceeded so far on her course as to make any turning back a matter out
of question, I should then, he said, be formally installed in all
the comforts of the cabin; and as to his father, he would only laugh
heartily at the joke. Vessels enough would be met with by which a letter
might be sent home explaining the adventure to my parents.

The middle of June at length arrived, and every thing had been matured.
The note was written and delivered, and on a Monday morning I left the
house for the New Bedford packet, as supposed. I went, however, straight
to Augustus, who was waiting for me at the corner of a street. It had
been our original plan that I should keep out of the way until dark, and
then slip on board the brig; but, as there was now a thick fog in our
favor, it was agreed to lose no time in secreting me. Augustus led the
way to the wharf, and I followed at a little distance, enveloped in a
thick seaman's cloak, which he had brought with him, so that my person
might not be easily recognized. Just as we turned the second corner,
after passing Mr. Edmund's well, who should appear, standing right in
front of me, and looking me full in the face, but old Mr. Peterson, my
grandfather. "Why, bless my soul, Gordon," said he, after a long pause,
"why, why,--whose dirty cloak is that you have on?" "Sir!" I replied,
assuming, as well as I could, in the exigency of the moment, an air
of offended surprise, and talking in the gruffest of all imaginable
tones--"sir! you are a sum'mat mistaken--my name, in the first place,
bee'nt nothing at all like Goddin, and I'd want you for to know better,
you blackguard, than to call my new obercoat a darty one." For my life
I could hardly refrain from screaming with laughter at the odd manner in
which the old gentleman received this handsome rebuke. He started back
two or three steps, turned first pale and then excessively red, threw up
his spectacles, then, putting them down, ran full tilt at me, with
his umbrella uplifted. He stopped short, however, in his career, as if
struck with a sudden recollection; and presently, turning round, hobbled
off down the street, shaking all the while with rage, and muttering
between his teeth: "Won't do--new glasses--thought it was Gordon--d--d
good-for-nothing salt water Long Tom."

After this narrow escape we proceeded with greater caution, and arrived
at our point of destination in safety. There were only one or two of
the hands on board, and these were busy forward, doing something to the
forecastle combings. Captain Barnard, we knew very well, was engaged
at Lloyd and Vredenburgh's, and would remain there until late in the
evening, so we had little to apprehend on his account. Augustus went
first up the vessel's side, and in a short while I followed him, without
being noticed by the men at work. We proceeded at once into the cabin,
and found no person there. It was fitted up in the most comfortable
style--a thing somewhat unusual in a whaling-vessel. There were four
very excellent staterooms, with wide and convenient berths. There was
also a large stove, I took notice, and a remarkably thick and valuable
carpet covering the floor of both the cabin and staterooms. The ceiling
was full seven feet high, and, in short, every thing appeared of a more
roomy and agreeable nature than I had anticipated. Augustus, however,
would allow me but little time for observation, insisting upon the
necessity of my concealing myself as soon as possible. He led the way
into his own stateroom, which was on the starboard side of the brig, and
next to the bulkheads. Upon entering, he closed the door and bolted it.
I thought I had never seen a nicer little room than the one in which I
now found myself. It was about ten feet long, and had only one berth,
which, as I said before, was wide and convenient. In that portion of
the closet nearest the bulkheads there was a space of four feet square,
containing a table, a chair, and a set of hanging shelves full of books,
chiefly books of voyages and travels. There were many other little
comforts in the room, among which I ought not to forget a kind of
safe or refrigerator, in which Augustus pointed out to me a host of
delicacies, both in the eating and drinking department.

He now pressed with his knuckles upon a certain spot of the carpet in
one corner of the space just mentioned, letting me know that a portion
of the flooring, about sixteen inches square, had been neatly cut out
and again adjusted. As he pressed, this portion rose up at one end
sufficiently to allow the passage of his finger beneath. In this manner
he raised the mouth of the trap (to which the carpet was still fastened
by tacks), and I found that it led into the after hold. He next lit a
small taper by means of a phosphorous match, and, placing the light in a
dark lantern, descended with it through the opening, bidding me follow.
I did so, and he then pulled the cover upon the hole, by means of a nail
driven into the under side--the carpet, of course, resuming its original
position on the floor of the stateroom, and all traces of the aperture
being concealed.

The taper gave out so feeble a ray that it was with the greatest
difficulty I could grope my way through the confused mass of lumber
among which I now found myself. By degrees, however, my eyes became
accustomed to the gloom, and I proceeded with less trouble, holding
on to the skirts of my friend's coat. He brought me, at length,
after creeping and winding through innumerable narrow passages, to an
iron-bound box, such as is used sometimes for packing fine earthenware.
It was nearly four feet high, and full six long, but very narrow. Two
large empty oil-casks lay on the top of it, and above these, again, a
vast quantity of straw matting, piled up as high as the floor of
the cabin. In every other direction around was wedged as closely as
possible, even up to the ceiling, a complete chaos of almost every
species of ship-furniture, together with a heterogeneous medley of
crates, hampers, barrels, and bales, so that it seemed a matter no less
than miraculous that we had discovered any passage at all to the box. I
afterward found that Augustus had purposely arranged the stowage in this
hold with a view to affording me a thorough concealment, having had only
one assistant in the labour, a man not going out in the brig.

My companion now showed me that one of the ends of the box could be
removed at pleasure. He slipped it aside and displayed the interior, at
which I was excessively amused. A mattress from one of the cabin berths
covered the whole of its bottom, and it contained almost every article
of mere comfort which could be crowded into so small a space, allowing
me, at the same time, sufficient room for my accommodation, either in a
sitting position or lying at full length. Among other things, there were
some books, pen, ink, and paper, three blankets, a large jug full of
water, a keg of sea-biscuit, three or four immense Bologna sausages, an
enormous ham, a cold leg of roast mutton, and half a dozen bottles of
cordials and liqueurs. I proceeded immediately to take possession of my
little apartment, and this with feelings of higher satisfaction, I am
sure, than any monarch ever experienced upon entering a new palace.
Augustus now pointed out to me the method of fastening the open end
of the box, and then, holding the taper close to the deck, showed me a
piece of dark whipcord lying along it. This, he said, extended from my
hiding-place throughout an the necessary windings among the lumber, to a
nail which was driven into the deck of the hold, immediately beneath the
trap-door leading into his stateroom. By means of this cord I should be
enabled readily to trace my way out without his guidance, provided any
unlooked-for accident should render such a step necessary. He now took
his departure, leaving with me the lantern, together with a copious
supply of tapers and phosphorous, and promising to pay me a visit as
often as he could contrive to do so without observation. This was on the
seventeenth of June.

I remained three days and nights (as nearly as I could guess) in my
hiding-place without getting out of it at all, except twice for the
purpose of stretching my limbs by standing erect between two crates just
opposite the opening. During the whole period I saw nothing of Augustus;
but this occasioned me little uneasiness, as I knew the brig was
expected to put to sea every hour, and in the bustle he would not easily
find opportunities of coming down to me. At length I heard the trap
open and shut, and presently he called in a low voice, asking if all was
well, and if there was any thing I wanted. "Nothing," I replied; "I am
as comfortable as can be; when will the brig sail?" "She will be under
weigh in less than half an hour," he answered. "I came to let you know,
and for fear you should be uneasy at my absence. I shall not have a
chance of coming down again for some time--perhaps for three or four
days more. All is going on right aboveboard. After I go up and close the
trap, do you creep along by the whipcord to where the nail is driven in.
You will find my watch there--it may be useful to you, as you have no
daylight to keep time by. I suppose you can't tell how long you have
been buried--only three days--this is the twentieth. I would bring the
watch to your box, but am afraid of being missed." With this he went up.

In about an hour after he had gone I distinctly felt the brig in motion,
and congratulated myself upon having at length fairly commenced a
voyage. Satisfied with this idea, I determined to make my mind as easy
as possible, and await the course of events until I should be
permitted to exchange the box for the more roomy, although hardly more
comfortable, accommodations of the cabin. My first care was to get the
watch. Leaving the taper burning, I groped along in the dark, following
the cord through windings innumerable, in some of which I discovered
that, after toiling a long distance, I was brought back within a foot or
two of a former position. At length I reached the nail, and securing the
object of my journey, returned with it in safety. I now looked over
the books which had been so thoughtfully provided, and selected the
expedition of Lewis and Clarke to the mouth of the Columbia. With this
I amused myself for some time, when, growing sleepy, I extinguished the
light with great care, and soon fell into a sound slumber.

Upon awakening I felt strangely confused in mind, and some time elapsed
before I could bring to recollection all the various circumstances of
my situation. By degrees, however, I remembered all. Striking a light, I
looked at the watch; but it was run down, and there were, consequently,
no means of determining how long I slept. My limbs were greatly cramped,
and I was forced to relieve them by standing between the crates.
Presently feeling an almost ravenous appetite, I bethought myself of the
cold mutton, some of which I had eaten just before going to sleep, and
found excellent. What was my astonishment in discovering it to be in a
state of absolute putrefaction! This circumstance occasioned me great
disquietude; for, connecting it with the disorder of mind I experienced
upon awakening, I began to suppose that I must have slept for an
inordinately long period of time. The close atmosphere of the hold might
have had something to do with this, and might, in the end, be productive
of the most serious results. My head ached excessively; I fancied that I
drew every breath with difficulty; and, in short, I was oppressed with
a multitude of gloomy feelings. Still I could not venture to make any
disturbance by opening the trap or otherwise, and, having wound up the
watch, contented myself as well as possible.

Throughout the whole of the next tedious twenty-four hours no person
came to my relief, and I could not help accusing Augustus of the
grossest inattention. What alarmed me chiefly was, that the water in
my jug was reduced to about half a pint, and I was suffering much from
thirst, having eaten freely of the Bologna sausages after the loss of my
mutton. I became very uneasy, and could no longer take any interest in
my books. I was overpowered, too, with a desire to sleep, yet trembled
at the thought of indulging it, lest there might exist some pernicious
influence, like that of burning charcoal, in the confined air of the
hold. In the meantime the roll of the brig told me that we were far in
the main ocean, and a dull humming sound, which reached my ears as if
from an immense distance, convinced me no ordinary gale was blowing. I
could not imagine a reason for the absence of Augustus. We were surely
far enough advanced on our voyage to allow of my going up. Some accident
might have happened to him--but I could think of none which would
account for his suffering me to remain so long a prisoner, except,
indeed, his having suddenly died or fallen overboard, and upon this idea
I could not dwell with any degree of patience. It was possible that we
had been baffled by head winds, and were still in the near vicinity of
Nantucket. This notion, however, I was forced to abandon; for such being
the case, the brig must have frequently gone about; and I was entirely
satisfied, from her continual inclination to the larboard, that she had
been sailing all along with a steady breeze on her starboard quarter.
Besides, granting that we were still in the neighborhood of the
island, why should not Augustus have visited me and informed me of
the circumstance? Pondering in this manner upon the difficulties of
my solitary and cheerless condition, I resolved to wait yet another
twenty-four hours, when, if no relief were obtained, I would make my way
to the trap, and endeavour either to hold a parley with my friend,
or get at least a little fresh air through the opening, and a further
supply of water from the stateroom. While occupied with this thought,
however, I fell in spite of every exertion to the contrary, into a state
of profound sleep, or rather stupor. My dreams were of the most terrific
description. Every species of calamity and horror befell me. Among other
miseries I was smothered to death between huge pillows, by demons of
the most ghastly and ferocious aspect. Immense serpents held me in their
embrace, and looked earnestly in my face with their fearfully shining
eyes. Then deserts, limitless, and of the most forlorn and awe-inspiring
character, spread themselves out before me. Immensely tall trunks of
trees, gray and leafless, rose up in endless succession as far as the
eye could reach. Their roots were concealed in wide-spreading morasses,
whose dreary water lay intensely black, still, and altogether terrible,
beneath. And the strange trees seemed endowed with a human vitality, and
waving to and fro their skeleton arms, were crying to the silent waters
for mercy, in the shrill and piercing accents of the most acute agony
and despair. The scene changed; and I stood, naked and alone, amidst the
burning sand-plains of Sahara. At my feet lay crouched a fierce lion
of the tropics. Suddenly his wild eyes opened and fell upon me. With
a conclusive bound he sprang to his feet, and laid bare his horrible
teeth. In another instant there burst from his red throat a roar like
the thunder of the firmament, and I fell impetuously to the earth.
Stifling in a paroxysm of terror, I at last found myself partially
awake. My dream, then, was not all a dream. Now, at least, I was in
possession of my senses. The paws of some huge and real monster were
pressing heavily upon my bosom--his hot breath was in my ear--and his
white and ghastly fangs were gleaming upon me through the gloom.

Had a thousand lives hung upon the movement of a limb or the utterance
of a syllable, I could have neither stirred nor spoken. The beast,
whatever it was, retained his position without attempting any immediate
violence, while I lay in an utterly helpless, and, I fancied, a dying
condition beneath him. I felt that my powers of body and mind were fast
leaving me--in a word, that I was perishing, and perishing of sheer
fright. My brain swam--I grew deadly sick--my vision failed--even the
glaring eyeballs above me grew dim. Making a last strong effort, I at
length breathed a faint ejaculation to God, and resigned myself to
die. The sound of my voice seemed to arouse all the latent fury of the
animal. He precipitated himself at full length upon my body; but what
was my astonishment, when, with a long and low whine, he commenced
licking my face and hands with the greatest eagerness, and with the
most extravagant demonstration of affection and joy! I was bewildered,
utterly lost in amazement--but I could not forget the peculiar whine
of my Newfoundland dog Tiger, and the odd manner of his caresses I well
knew. It was he. I experienced a sudden rush of blood to my temples--a
giddy and overpowering sense of deliverance and reanimation. I rose
hurriedly from the mattress upon which I had been lying, and, throwing
myself upon the neck of my faithful follower and friend, relieved the
long oppression of my bosom in a flood of the most passionate tears.

As upon a former occasion my conceptions were in a state of the greatest
indistinctness and confusion after leaving the mattress. For a long time
I found it nearly impossible to connect any ideas; but, by very slow
degrees, my thinking faculties returned, and I again called to memory
the several incidents of my condition. For the presence of Tiger I tried
in vain to account; and after busying myself with a thousand different
conjectures respecting him, was forced to content myself with rejoicing
that he was with me to share my dreary solitude, and render me comfort
by his caresses. Most people love their dogs--but for Tiger I had an
affection far more ardent than common; and never, certainly, did
any creature more truly deserve it. For seven years he had been my
inseparable companion, and in a multitude of instances had given
evidence of all the noble qualities for which we value the animal. I
had rescued him, when a puppy, from the clutches of a malignant little
villain in Nantucket who was leading him, with a rope around his neck,
to the water; and the grown dog repaid the obligation, about three years
afterward, by saving me from the bludgeon of a street robber.

Getting now hold of the watch, I found, upon applying it to my ear, that
it had again run down; but at this I was not at all surprised, being
convinced, from the peculiar state of my feelings, that I had slept,
as before, for a very long period of time, how long, it was of course
impossible to say. I was burning up with fever, and my thirst was almost
intolerable. I felt about the box for my little remaining supply of
water, for I had no light, the taper having burnt to the socket of the
lantern, and the phosphorus-box not coming readily to hand. Upon finding
the jug, however, I discovered it to be empty--Tiger, no doubt, having
been tempted to drink it, as well as to devour the remnant of mutton,
the bone of which lay, well picked, by the opening of the box. The
spoiled meat I could well spare, but my heart sank as I thought of the
water. I was feeble in the extreme--so much so that I shook all over,
as with an ague, at the slightest movement or exertion. To add to my
troubles, the brig was pitching and rolling with great violence, and
the oil-casks which lay upon my box were in momentary danger of falling
down, so as to block up the only way of ingress or egress. I felt, also,
terrible sufferings from sea-sickness. These considerations determined
me to make my way, at all hazards, to the trap, and obtain immediate
relief, before I should be incapacitated from doing so altogether.
Having come to this resolve, I again felt about for the phosphorus-box
and tapers. The former I found after some little trouble; but, not
discovering the tapers as soon as I had expected (for I remembered very
nearly the spot in which I had placed them), I gave up the search for
the present, and bidding Tiger lie quiet, began at once my journey
toward the trap.

In this attempt my great feebleness became more than ever apparent.
It was with the utmost difficulty I could crawl along at all, and
very frequently my limbs sank suddenly from beneath me; when, falling
prostrate on my face, I would remain for some minutes in a state
bordering on insensibility. Still I struggled forward by slow degrees,
dreading every moment that I should swoon amid the narrow and intricate
windings of the lumber, in which event I had nothing but death to expect
as the result. At length, upon making a push forward with all the energy
I could command, I struck my forehead violently against the sharp corner
of an iron-bound crate. The accident only stunned me for a few moments;
but I found, to my inexpressible grief, that the quick and violent
roll of the vessel had thrown the crate entirely across my path, so as
effectually to block up the passage. With my utmost exertions I could
not move it a single inch from its position, it being closely wedged
in among the surrounding boxes and ship-furniture. It became necessary,
therefore, enfeebled as I was, either to leave the guidance of the
whipcord and seek out a new passage, or to climb over the obstacle, and
resume the path on the other side. The former alternative presented too
many difficulties and dangers to be thought of without a shudder. In my
present weak state of both mind and body, I should infallibly lose
my way if I attempted it, and perish miserably amid the dismal and
disgusting labyrinths of the hold. I proceeded, therefore, without
hesitation, to summon up all my remaining strength and fortitude, and
endeavour, as I best might, to clamber over the crate.

Upon standing erect, with this end in view, I found the undertaking even
a more serious task than my fears had led me to imagine. On each side of
the narrow passage arose a complete wall of various heavy lumber, which
the least blunder on my part might be the means of bringing down upon my
head; or, if this accident did not occur, the path might be effectually
blocked up against my return by the descending mass, as it was in front
by the obstacle there. The crate itself was a long and unwieldy box,
upon which no foothold could be obtained. In vain I attempted, by every
means in my power, to reach the top, with the hope of being thus enabled
to draw myself up. Had I succeeded in reaching it, it is certain that
my strength would have proved utterly inadequate to the task of getting
over, and it was better in every respect that I failed. At length, in
a desperate effort to force the crate from its ground, I felt a strong
vibration in the side next me. I thrust my hand eagerly to the edge
of the planks, and found that a very large one was loose. With my
pocket-knife, which, luckily, I had with me, I succeeded, after great
labour, in prying it entirely off; and getting it through the aperture,
discovered, to my exceeding joy, that there were no boards on the
opposite side--in other words, that the top was wanting, it being the
bottom through which I had forced my way. I now met with no important
difficulty in proceeding along the line until I finally reached the
nail. With a beating heart I stood erect, and with a gentle touch
pressed against the cover of the trap. It did not rise as soon as I
had expected, and I pressed it with somewhat more determination,
still dreading lest some other person than Augustus might be in his
state-room. The door, however, to my astonishment, remained steady, and
I became somewhat uneasy, for I knew that it had formerly required
but little or no effort to remove it. I pushed it strongly--it was
nevertheless firm: with all my strength--it still did not give way: with
rage, with fury, with despair--it set at defiance my utmost efforts; and
it was evident, from the unyielding nature of the resistance, that the
hole had either been discovered and effectually nailed up, or that some
immense weight had been placed upon it, which it was useless to think of
removing.

My sensations were those of extreme horror and dismay. In vain I
attempted to reason on the probable cause of my being thus entombed. I
could summon up no connected chain of reflection, and, sinking on the
floor, gave way, unresistingly, to the most gloomy imaginings, in
which the dreadful deaths of thirst, famine, suffocation, and premature
interment crowded upon me as the prominent disasters to be encountered.
At length there returned to me some portion of presence of mind. I
arose, and felt with my fingers for the seams or cracks of the aperture.
Having found them, I examined them closely to ascertain if they emitted
any light from the state-room; but none was visible. I then forced the
blade of my pen-knife through them, until I met with some hard obstacle.
Scraping against it, I discovered it to be a solid mass of iron, which,
from its peculiar wavy feel as I passed the blade along it, I concluded
to be a chain-cable. The only course now left me was to retrace my
way to the box, and there either yield to my sad fate, or try so to
tranquilize my mind as to admit of my arranging some plan of escape.
I immediately set about the attempt, and succeeded, after innumerable
difficulties, in getting back. As I sank, utterly exhausted, upon the
mattress, Tiger threw himself at full length by my side, and seemed as
if desirous, by his caresses, of consoling me in my troubles, and urging
me to bear them with fortitude.

The singularity of his behavior at length forcibly arrested my
attention. After licking my face and hands for some minutes, he would
suddenly cease doing so, and utter a low whine. Upon reaching out my
hand toward him, I then invariably found him lying on his back, with his
paws uplifted. This conduct, so frequently repeated, appeared strange,
and I could in no manner account for it. As the dog seemed distressed,
I concluded that he had received some injury; and, taking his paws in my
hands, I examined them one by one, but found no sign of any hurt. I
then supposed him hungry, and gave him a large piece of ham, which he
devoured with avidity--afterward, however, resuming his extraordinary
manoeuvres. I now imagined that he was suffering, like myself, the
torments of thirst, and was about adopting this conclusion as the true
one, when the idea occurred to me that I had as yet only examined his
paws, and that there might possibly be a wound upon some portion of his
body or head. The latter I felt carefully over, but found nothing. On
passing my hand, however, along his back, I perceived a slight erection
of the hair extending completely across it. Probing this with my finger,
I discovered a string, and tracing it up, found that it encircled the
whole body. Upon a closer scrutiny, I came across a small slip of what
had the feeling of letter paper, through which the string had been
fastened in such a manner as to bring it immediately beneath the left
shoulder of the animal.




CHAPTER 3

THE thought instantly occurred to me that the paper was a note from
Augustus, and that some unaccountable accident having happened to
prevent his relieving me from my dungeon, he had devised this method of
acquainting me with the true state of affairs. Trembling with eagerness,
I now commenced another search for my phosphorus matches and tapers.
I had a confused recollection of having put them carefully away just
before falling asleep; and, indeed, previously to my last journey to the
trap, I had been able to remember the exact spot where I had deposited
them. But now I endeavored in vain to call it to mind, and busied myself
for a full hour in a fruitless and vexatious search for the missing
articles; never, surely, was there a more tantalizing state of anxiety
and suspense. At length, while groping about, with my head close to the
ballast, near the opening of the box, and outside of it, I perceived
a faint glimmering of light in the direction of the steerage. Greatly
surprised, I endeavored to make my way toward it, as it appeared to
be but a few feet from my position. Scarcely had I moved with this
intention, when I lost sight of the glimmer entirely, and, before I
could bring it into view again, was obliged to feel along by the box
until I had exactly resumed my original situation. Now, moving my head
with caution to and fro, I found that, by proceeding slowly, with great
care, in an opposite direction to that in which I had at first started,
I was enabled to draw near the light, still keeping it in view.
Presently I came directly upon it (having squeezed my way through
innumerable narrow windings), and found that it proceeded from some
fragments of my matches lying in an empty barrel turned upon its side. I
was wondering how they came in such a place, when my hand fell upon two
or three pieces of taper wax, which had been evidently mumbled by the
dog. I concluded at once that he had devoured the whole of my supply
of candles, and I felt hopeless of being ever able to read the note of
Augustus. The small remnants of the wax were so mashed up among other
rubbish in the barrel, that I despaired of deriving any service from
them, and left them as they were. The phosphorus, of which there was
only a speck or two, I gathered up as well as I could, and returned
with it, after much difficulty, to my box, where Tiger had all the while
remained.

What to do next I could not tell. The hold was so intensely dark that
I could not see my hand, however close I would hold it to my face. The
white slip of paper could barely be discerned, and not even that when
I looked at it directly; by turning the exterior portions of the retina
toward it--that is to say, by surveying it slightly askance, I found
that it became in some measure perceptible. Thus the gloom of my prison
may be imagined, and the note of my friend, if indeed it were a note
from him, seemed only likely to throw me into further trouble, by
disquieting to no purpose my already enfeebled and agitated mind.
In vain I revolved in my brain a multitude of absurd expedients for
procuring light--such expedients precisely as a man in the perturbed
sleep occasioned by opium would be apt to fall upon for a similar
purpose--each and all of which appear by turns to the dreamer the
most reasonable and the most preposterous of conceptions, just as the
reasoning or imaginative faculties flicker, alternately, one above the
other. At last an idea occurred to me which seemed rational, and which
gave me cause to wonder, very justly, that I had not entertained
it before. I placed the slip of paper on the back of a book, and,
collecting the fragments of the phosphorus matches which I had brought
from the barrel, laid them together upon the paper. I then, with the
palm of my hand, rubbed the whole over quickly, yet steadily. A clear
light diffused itself immediately throughout the whole surface; and had
there been any writing upon it, I should not have experienced the
least difficulty, I am sure, in reading it. Not a syllable was there,
however--nothing but a dreary and unsatisfactory blank; the illumination
died away in a few seconds, and my heart died away within me as it went.

I have before stated more than once that my intellect, for some period
prior to this, had been in a condition nearly bordering on idiocy. There
were, to be sure, momentary intervals of perfect sanity, and, now and
then, even of energy; but these were few. It must be remembered that
I had been, for many days certainly, inhaling the almost pestilential
atmosphere of a close hold in a whaling vessel, and for a long portion
of that time but scantily supplied with water. For the last fourteen
or fifteen hours I had none--nor had I slept during that time. Salt
provisions of the most exciting kind had been my chief, and, indeed,
since the loss of the mutton, my only supply of food, with the exception
of the sea-biscuit; and these latter were utterly useless to me, as
they were too dry and hard to be swallowed in the swollen and parched
condition of my throat. I was now in a high state of fever, and in
every respect exceedingly ill. This will account for the fact that many
miserable hours of despondency elapsed after my last adventure with the
phosphorus, before the thought suggested itself that I had examined only
one side of the paper. I shall not attempt to describe my feelings
of rage (for I believe I was more angry than any thing else) when the
egregious oversight I had committed flashed suddenly upon my perception.
The blunder itself would have been unimportant, had not my own folly and
impetuosity rendered it otherwise--in my disappointment at not finding
some words upon the slip, I had childishly torn it in pieces and thrown
it away, it was impossible to say where.

From the worst part of this dilemma I was relieved by the sagacity of
Tiger. Having got, after a long search, a small piece of the note, I put
it to the dog's nose, and endeavored to make him understand that he must
bring me the rest of it. To my astonishment, (for I had taught him none
of the usual tricks for which his breed are famous,) he seemed to enter
at once into my meaning, and, rummaging about for a few moments, soon
found another considerable portion. Bringing me this, he paused awhile,
and, rubbing his nose against my hand, appeared to be waiting for
my approval of what he had done. I patted him on the head, when he
immediately made off again. It was now some minutes before he came
back--but when he did come, he brought with him a large slip, which
proved to be all the paper missing--it having been torn, it seems,
only into three pieces. Luckily, I had no trouble in finding what few
fragments of the phosphorus were left--being guided by the indistinct
glow one or two of the particles still emitted. My difficulties had
taught me the necessity of caution, and I now took time to reflect upon
what I was about to do. It was very probable, I considered, that some
words were written upon that side of the paper which had not been
examined--but which side was that? Fitting the pieces together gave me
no clew in this respect, although it assured me that the words (if there
were any) would be found all on one side, and connected in a proper
manner, as written. There was the greater necessity of ascertaining the
point in question beyond a doubt, as the phosphorus remaining would be
altogether insufficient for a third attempt, should I fail in the one I
was now about to make. I placed the paper on a book as before, and sat
for some minutes thoughtfully revolving the matter over in my mind. At
last I thought it barely possible that the written side might have
some unevenness on its surface, which a delicate sense of feeling might
enable me to detect. I determined to make the experiment and passed
my finger very carefully over the side which first presented itself.
Nothing, however, was perceptible, and I turned the paper, adjusting it
on the book. I now again carried my forefinger cautiously along, when
I was aware of an exceedingly slight, but still discernable glow, which
followed as it proceeded. This, I knew, must arise from some very minute
remaining particles of the phosphorus with which I had covered the paper
in my previous attempt. The other, or under side, then, was that on
which lay the writing, if writing there should finally prove to be.
Again I turned the note, and went to work as I had previously done.
Having rubbed in the phosphorus, a brilliancy ensued as before--but this
time several lines of MS. in a large hand, and apparently in red ink,
became distinctly visible. The glimmer, although sufficiently bright,
was but momentary. Still, had I not been too greatly excited, there
would have been ample time enough for me to peruse the whole three
sentences before me--for I saw there were three. In my anxiety, however,
to read all at once, I succeeded only in reading the seven concluding
words, which thus appeared--"blood--your life depends upon lying close."

Had I been able to ascertain the entire contents of the note-the full
meaning of the admonition which my friend had thus attempted to convey,
that admonition, even although it should have revealed a story of
disaster the most unspeakable, could not, I am firmly convinced, have
imbued my mind with one tithe of the harrowing and yet indefinable
horror with which I was inspired by the fragmentary warning thus
received. And "blood," too, that word of all words--so rife at all times
with mystery, and suffering, and terror--how trebly full of import did
it now appear--how chilly and heavily (disjointed, as it thus was, from
any foregoing words to qualify or render it distinct) did its vague
syllables fall, amid the deep gloom of my prison, into the innermost
recesses of my soul!

Augustus had, undoubtedly, good reasons for wishing me to remain
concealed, and I formed a thousand surmises as to what they could
be--but I could think of nothing affording a satisfactory solution of
the mystery. Just after returning from my last journey to the trap, and
before my attention had been otherwise directed by the singular conduct
of Tiger, I had come to the resolution of making myself heard at all
events by those on board, or, if I could not succeed in this directly,
of trying to cut my way through the orlop deck. The half certainty which
I felt of being able to accomplish one of these two purposes in the last
emergency, had given me courage (which I should not otherwise have had)
to endure the evils of my situation. The few words I had been able to
read, however, had cut me off from these final resources, and I now, for
the first time, felt all the misery of my fate. In a paroxysm of despair
I threw myself again upon the mattress, where, for about the period of
a day and night, I lay in a kind of stupor, relieved only by momentary
intervals of reason and recollection.

At length I once more arose, and busied myself in reflection upon the
horrors which encompassed me. For another twenty-four hours it was
barely possible that I might exist without water--for a longer time I
could not do so. During the first portion of my imprisonment I had made
free use of the cordials with which Augustus had supplied me, but they
only served to excite fever, without in the least degree assuaging
thirst. I had now only about a gill left, and this was of a species of
strong peach liqueur at which my stomach revolted. The sausages were
entirely consumed; of the ham nothing remained but a small piece of the
skin; and all the biscuit, except a few fragments of one, had been eaten
by Tiger. To add to my troubles, I found that my headache was increasing
momentarily, and with it the species of delirium which had distressed me
more or less since my first falling asleep. For some hours past it had
been with the greatest difficulty I could breathe at all, and now each
attempt at so doing was attended with the most depressing spasmodic
action of the chest. But there was still another and very different
source of disquietude, and one, indeed, whose harassing terrors had
been the chief means of arousing me to exertion from my stupor on the
mattress. It arose from the demeanor of the dog.

I first observed an alteration in his conduct while rubbing in the
phosphorus on the paper in my last attempt. As I rubbed, he ran his nose
against my hand with a slight snarl; but I was too greatly excited at
the time to pay much attention to the circumstance. Soon afterward,
it will be remembered, I threw myself on the mattress, and fell into
a species of lethargy. Presently I became aware of a singular hissing
sound close at my ears, and discovered it to proceed from Tiger, who was
panting and wheezing in a state of the greatest apparent excitement, his
eyeballs flashing fiercely through the gloom. I spoke to him, when he
replied with a low growl, and then remained quiet. Presently I relapsed
into my stupor, from which I was again awakened in a similar manner.
This was repeated three or four times, until finally his behaviour
inspired me with so great a degree of fear, that I became fully aroused.
He was now lying close by the door of the box, snarling fearfully,
although in a kind of undertone, and grinding his teeth as if strongly
convulsed. I had no doubt whatever that the want of water or the
confined atmosphere of the hold had driven him mad, and I was at a loss
what course to pursue. I could not endure the thought of killing him,
yet it seemed absolutely necessary for my own safety. I could distinctly
perceive his eyes fastened upon me with an expression of the most deadly
animosity, and I expected every instant that he would attack me. At last
I could endure my terrible situation no longer, and determined to make
my way from the box at all hazards, and dispatch him, if his opposition
should render it necessary for me to do so. To get out, I had to
pass directly over his body, and he already seemed to anticipate my
design--missing himself upon his fore-legs (as I perceived by the
altered position of his eyes), and displayed the whole of his white
fangs, which were easily discernible. I took the remains of the
ham-skin, and the bottle containing the liqueur, and secured them about
my person, together with a large carving-knife which Augustus had left
me--then, folding my cloak around me as closely as possible, I made a
movement toward the mouth of the box. No sooner did I do this, than the
dog sprang with a loud growl toward my throat. The whole weight of his
body struck me on the right shoulder, and I fell violently to the left,
while the enraged animal passed entirely over me. I had fallen upon my
knees, with my head buried among the blankets, and these protected
me from a second furious assault, during which I felt the sharp teeth
pressing vigorously upon the woollen which enveloped my neck--yet,
luckily, without being able to penetrate all the folds. I was now
beneath the dog, and a few moments would place me completely in his
power. Despair gave me strength, and I rose boldly up, shaking him from
me by main force, and dragging with me the blankets from the mattress.
These I now threw over him, and before he could extricate himself, I had
got through the door and closed it effectually against his pursuit.
In this struggle, however, I had been forced to drop the morsel of
ham-skin, and I now found my whole stock of provisions reduced to a
single gill of liqueur. As this reflection crossed my mind, I felt
myself actuated by one of those fits of perverseness which might be
supposed to influence a spoiled child in similar circumstances, and,
raising the bottle to my lips, I drained it to the last drop, and dashed
it furiously upon the floor.

Scarcely had the echo of the crash died away, when I heard my name
pronounced in an eager but subdued voice, issuing from the direction of
the steerage. So unexpected was anything of the kind, and so intense was
the emotion excited within me by the sound, that I endeavoured in vain
to reply. My powers of speech totally failed, and in an agony of terror
lest my friend should conclude me dead, and return without attempting
to reach me, I stood up between the crates near the door of the box,
trembling convulsively, and gasping and struggling for utterance. Had
a thousand words depended upon a syllable, I could not have spoken
it. There was a slight movement now audible among the lumber somewhere
forward of my station. The sound presently grew less distinct, then
again less so, and still less. Shall I ever forget my feelings at this
moment? He was going--my friend, my companion, from whom I had a right
to expect so much--he was going--he would abandon me--he was gone! He
would leave me to perish miserably, to expire in the most horrible and
loathesome of dungeons--and one word, one little syllable, would save
me--yet that single syllable I could not utter! I felt, I am sure, more
than ten thousand times the agonies of death itself. My brain reeled,
and I fell, deadly sick, against the end of the box.

As I fell the carving-knife was shaken out from the waist-band of my
pantaloons, and dropped with a rattling sound to the floor. Never did
any strain of the richest melody come so sweetly to my ears! With the
intensest anxiety I listened to ascertain the effect of the noise upon
Augustus--for I knew that the person who called my name could be no one
but himself. All was silent for some moments. At length I again heard
the word "Arthur!" repeated in a low tone, and one full of hesitation.
Reviving hope loosened at once my powers of speech, and I now screamed
at the top of my voice, "Augustus! oh, Augustus!" "Hush! for God's sake
be silent!" he replied, in a voice trembling with agitation; "I will be
with you immediately--as soon as I can make my way through the hold."
For a long time I heard him moving among the lumber, and every moment
seemed to me an age. At length I felt his hand upon my shoulder, and he
placed, at the same moment, a bottle of water to my lips. Those only who
have been suddenly redeemed from the jaws of the tomb, or who have known
the insufferable torments of thirst under circumstances as aggravated as
those which encompassed me in my dreary prison, can form any idea of the
unutterable transports which that one long draught of the richest of all
physical luxuries afforded.

When I had in some degree satisfied my thirst, Augustus produced from
his pocket three or four boiled potatoes, which I devoured with the
greatest avidity. He had brought with him a light in a dark lantern, and
the grateful rays afforded me scarcely less comfort than the food and
drink. But I was impatient to learn the cause of his protracted absence,
and he proceeded to recount what had happened on board during my
incarceration.




CHAPTER 4

THE brig put to sea, as I had supposed, in about an hour after he had
left the watch. This was on the twentieth of June. It will be remembered
that I had then been in the hold for three days; and, during this
period, there was so constant a bustle on board, and so much running
to and fro, especially in the cabin and staterooms, that he had had no
chance of visiting me without the risk of having the secret of the trap
discovered. When at length he did come, I had assured him that I was
doing as well as possible; and, therefore, for the two next days he
felt but little uneasiness on my account--still, however, watching an
opportunity of going down. It was not until the fourth day that he found
one. Several times during this interval he had made up his mind to let
his father know of the adventure, and have me come up at once; but we
were still within reaching distance of Nantucket, and it was doubtful,
from some expressions which had escaped Captain Barnard, whether he
would not immediately put back if he discovered me to be on board.
Besides, upon thinking the matter over, Augustus, so he told me, could
not imagine that I was in immediate want, or that I would hesitate,
in such case, to make myself heard at the trap. When, therefore, he
considered everything he concluded to let me stay until he could meet
with an opportunity of visiting me unobserved. This, as I said before,
did not occur until the fourth day after his bringing me the watch,
and the seventh since I had first entered the hold. He then went down
without taking with him any water or provisions, intending in the first
place merely to call my attention, and get me to come from the box to
the trap,--when he would go up to the stateroom and thence hand me down
a supply. When he descended for this purpose he found that I was asleep,
for it seems that I was snoring very loudly. From all the calculations
I can make on the subject, this must have been the slumber into which
I fell just after my return from the trap with the watch, and which,
consequently, must have lasted for more than three entire days and
nights at the very least. Latterly, I have had reason both from my own
experience and the assurance of others, to be acquainted with the strong
soporific effects of the stench arising from old fish-oil when closely
confined; and when I think of the condition of the hold in which I was
imprisoned, and the long period during which the brig had been used as a
whaling vessel, I am more inclined to wonder that I awoke at all, after
once falling asleep, than that I should have slept uninterruptedly for
the period specified above.

Augustus called to me at first in a low voice and without closing the
trap--but I made him no reply. He then shut the trap, and spoke to me in
a louder, and finally in a very loud tone--still I continued to snore.
He was now at a loss what to do. It would take him some time to make his
way through the lumber to my box, and in the meanwhile his absence would
be noticed by Captain Barnard, who had occasion for his services every
minute, in arranging and copying papers connected with the business of
the voyage. He determined, therefore, upon reflection, to ascend, and
await another opportunity of visiting me. He was the more easily induced
to this resolve, as my slumber appeared to be of the most tranquil
nature, and he could not suppose that I had undergone any inconvenience
from my incarceration. He had just made up his mind on these points
when his attention was arrested by an unusual bustle, the sound of
which proceeded apparently from the cabin. He sprang through the trap
as quickly as possible, closed it, and threw open the door of his
stateroom. No sooner had he put his foot over the threshold than a
pistol flashed in his face, and he was knocked down, at the same moment,
by a blow from a handspike.

A strong hand held him on the cabin floor, with a tight grasp upon
his throat; still he was able to see what was going on around him.
His father was tied hand and foot, and lying along the steps of the
companion-way, with his head down, and a deep wound in the forehead,
from which the blood was flowing in a continued stream. He spoke not a
word, and was apparently dying. Over him stood the first mate, eyeing
him with an expression of fiendish derision, and deliberately searching
his pockets, from which he presently drew forth a large wallet and a
chronometer. Seven of the crew (among whom was the cook, a negro) were
rummaging the staterooms on the larboard for arms, where they soon
equipped themselves with muskets and ammunition. Besides Augustus and
Captain Barnard, there were nine men altogether in the cabin, and these
among the most ruffianly of the brig's company. The villains now went
upon deck, taking my friend with them after having secured his arms
behind his back. They proceeded straight to the forecastle, which was
fastened down--two of the mutineers standing by it with axes--two also
at the main hatch. The mate called out in a loud voice: "Do you hear
there below? tumble up with you, one by one--now, mark that--and no
grumbling!" It was some minutes before any one appeared:--at last an
Englishman, who had shipped as a raw hand, came up, weeping piteously,
and entreating the mate, in the most humble manner, to spare his life.
The only reply was a blow on the forehead from an axe. The poor fellow
fell to the deck without a groan, and the black cook lifted him up in
his arms as he would a child, and tossed him deliberately into the sea.
Hearing the blow and the plunge of the body, the men below could now
be induced to venture on deck neither by threats nor promises, until a
proposition was made to smoke them out. A general rush then ensued,
and for a moment it seemed possible that the brig might be retaken.
The mutineers, however, succeeded at last in closing the forecastle
effectually before more than six of their opponents could get up.
These six, finding themselves so greatly outnumbered and without arms,
submitted after a brief struggle. The mate gave them fair words--no
doubt with a view of inducing those below to yield, for they had no
difficulty in hearing all that was said on deck. The result proved his
sagacity, no less than his diabolical villainy. All in the forecastle
presently signified their intention of submitting, and, ascending one
by one, were pinioned and then thrown on their backs, together with the
first six--there being in all, of the crew who were not concerned in the
mutiny, twenty-seven.

A scene of the most horrible butchery ensued. The bound seamen were
dragged to the gangway. Here the cook stood with an axe, striking each
victim on the head as he was forced over the side of the vessel by the
other mutineers. In this manner twenty-two perished, and Augustus had
given himself up for lost, expecting every moment his own turn to come
next. But it seemed that the villains were now either weary, or in
some measure disgusted with their bloody labour; for the four remaining
prisoners, together with my friend, who had been thrown on the deck with
the rest, were respited while the mate sent below for rum, and the whole
murderous party held a drunken carouse, which lasted until sunset. They
now fell to disputing in regard to the fate of the survivors, who lay
not more than four paces off, and could distinguish every word said.
Upon some of the mutineers the liquor appeared to have a softening
effect, for several voices were heard in favor of releasing the captives
altogether, on condition of joining the mutiny and sharing the profits.
The black cook, however (who in all respects was a perfect demon,
and who seemed to exert as much influence, if not more, than the
mate himself), would listen to no proposition of the kind, and rose
repeatedly for the purpose of resuming his work at the gangway.
Fortunately he was so far overcome by intoxication as to be easily
restrained by the less bloodthirsty of the party, among whom was a
line-manager, who went by the name of Dirk Peters. This man was the
son of an Indian squaw of the tribe of Upsarokas, who live among the
fastnesses of the Black Hills, near the source of the Missouri. His
father was a fur-trader, I believe, or at least connected in some manner
with the Indian trading-posts on Lewis river. Peter himself was one of
the most ferocious-looking men I ever beheld. He was short in stature,
not more than four feet eight inches high, but his limbs were of
Herculean mould. His hands, especially, were so enormously thick and
broad as hardly to retain a human shape. His arms, as well as legs,
were bowed in the most singular manner, and appeared to possess no
flexibility whatever. His head was equally deformed, being of immense
size, with an indentation on the crown (like that on the head of most
negroes), and entirely bald. To conceal this latter deficiency, which
did not proceed from old age, he usually wore a wig formed of any
hair-like material which presented itself--occasionally the skin of a
Spanish dog or American grizzly bear. At the time spoken of, he had on a
portion of one of these bearskins; and it added no little to the natural
ferocity of his countenance, which betook of the Upsaroka character. The
mouth extended nearly from ear to ear, the lips were thin, and seemed,
like some other portions of his frame, to be devoid of natural pliancy,
so that the ruling expression never varied under the influence of any
emotion whatever. This ruling expression may be conceived when it is
considered that the teeth were exceedingly long and protruding, and
never even partially covered, in any instance, by the lips. To pass this
man with a casual glance, one might imagine him to be convulsed with
laughter, but a second look would induce a shuddering acknowledgment,
that if such an expression were indicative of merriment, the merriment
must be that of a demon. Of this singular being many anecdotes were
prevalent among the seafaring men of Nantucket. These anecdotes went to
prove his prodigious strength when under excitement, and some of them
had given rise to a doubt of his sanity. But on board the Grampus, it
seems, he was regarded, at the time of the mutiny, with feelings more of
derision than of anything else. I have been thus particular in speaking
of Dirk Peters, because, ferocious as he appeared, he proved the main
instrument in preserving the life of Augustus, and because I shall
have frequent occasion to mention him hereafter in the course of my
narrative--a narrative, let me here say, which, in its latter portions,
will be found to include incidents of a nature so entirely out of the
range of human experience, and for this reason so far beyond the limits
of human credulity, that I proceed in utter hopelessness of obtaining
credence for all that I shall tell, yet confidently trusting in time
and progressing science to verify some of the most important and most
improbable of my statements.

After much indecision and two or three violent quarrels, it was
determined at last that all the prisoners (with the exception of
Augustus, whom Peters insisted in a jocular manner upon keeping as his
clerk) should be set adrift in one of the smallest whaleboats. The
mate went down into the cabin to see if Captain Barnard was still
living--for, it will be remembered, he was left below when the mutineers
came up. Presently the two made their appearance, the captain pale as
death, but somewhat recovered from the effects of his wound. He spoke
to the men in a voice hardly articulate, entreated them not to set him
adrift, but to return to their duty, and promising to land them wherever
they chose, and to take no steps for bringing them to justice. He might
as well have spoken to the winds. Two of the ruffians seized him by the
arms and hurled him over the brig's side into the boat, which had been
lowered while the mate went below. The four men who were lying on the
deck were then untied and ordered to follow, which they did without
attempting any resistance--Augustus being still left in his painful
position, although he struggled and prayed only for the poor
satisfaction of being permitted to bid his father farewell. A handful of
sea-biscuit and a jug of water were now handed down; but neither mast,
sail, oar, nor compass. The boat was towed astern for a few minutes,
during which the mutineers held another consultation--it was then
finally cut adrift. By this time night had come on--there were neither
moon nor stars visible--and a short and ugly sea was running, although
there was no great deal of wind. The boat was instantly out of sight,
and little hope could be entertained for the unfortunate sufferers who
were in it. This event happened, however, in latitude 35 degrees 30'
north, longitude 61 degrees 20' west, and consequently at no very great
distance from the Bermuda Islands. Augustus therefore endeavored to
console himself with the idea that the boat might either succeed in
reaching the land, or come sufficiently near to be fallen in with by
vessels off the coast.

All sail was now put upon the brig, and she continued her original
course to the southwest--the mutineers being bent upon some piratical
expedition, in which, from all that could be understood, a ship was to
be intercepted on her way from the Cape Verd Islands to Porto Rico. No
attention was paid to Augustus, who was untied and suffered to go about
anywhere forward of the cabin companion-way. Dirk Peters treated him
with some degree of kindness, and on one occasion saved him from
the brutality of the cook. His situation was still one of the most
precarious, as the men were continually intoxicated, and there was no
relying upon their continued good-humor or carelessness in regard to
himself. His anxiety on my account be represented, however, as the most
distressing result of his condition; and, indeed, I had never reason to
doubt the sincerity of his friendship. More than once he had resolved
to acquaint the mutineers with the secret of my being on board, but was
restrained from so doing, partly through recollection of the atrocities
he had already beheld, and partly through a hope of being able soon to
bring me relief. For the latter purpose he was constantly on the watch;
but, in spite of the most constant vigilance, three days elapsed after
the boat was cut adrift before any chance occurred. At length, on the
night of the third day, there came on a heavy blow from the eastward,
and all hands were called up to take in sail. During the confusion which
ensued, he made his way below unobserved, and into the stateroom.
What was his grief and horror in discovering that the latter had
been rendered a place of deposit for a variety of sea-stores and
ship-furniture, and that several fathoms of old chain-cable, which had
been stowed away beneath the companion-ladder, had been dragged thence
to make room for a chest, and were now lying immediately upon the trap!
To remove it without discovery was impossible, and he returned on
deck as quickly as he could. As he came up, the mate seized him by the
throat, and demanding what he had been doing in the cabin, was about
flinging him over the larboard bulwark, when his life was again
preserved through the interference of Dirk Peters. Augustus was now put
in handcuffs (of which there were several pairs on board), and his feet
lashed tightly together. He was then taken into the steerage, and thrown
into a lower berth next to the forecastle bulkheads, with the assurance
that he should never put his foot on deck again "until the brig was no
longer a brig." This was the expression of the cook, who threw him into
the berth--it is hardly possible to say what precise meaning intended by
the phrase. The whole affair, however, proved the ultimate means of my
relief, as will presently appear.




CHAPTER 5

FOR some minutes after the cook had left the forecastle, Augustus
abandoned himself to despair, never hoping to leave the berth alive.
He now came to the resolution of acquainting the first of the men who
should come down with my situation, thinking it better to let me take my
chance with the mutineers than perish of thirst in the hold,--for it had
been ten days since I was first imprisoned, and my jug of water was not
a plentiful supply even for four. As he was thinking on this subject,
the idea came all at once into his head that it might be possible
to communicate with me by the way of the main hold. In any other
circumstances, the difficulty and hazard of the undertaking would have
prevented him from attempting it; but now he had, at all events, little
prospect of life, and consequently little to lose, he bent his whole
mind, therefore, upon the task.

His handcuffs were the first consideration. At first he saw no method
of removing them, and feared that he should thus be baffled in the very
outset; but upon a closer scrutiny he discovered that the irons could
be slipped off and on at pleasure, with very little effort or
inconvenience, merely by squeezing his hands through them,--this species
of manacle being altogether ineffectual in confining young persons,
in whom the smaller bones readily yield to pressure. He now untied his
feet, and, leaving the cord in such a manner that it could easily
be readjusted in the event of any person's coming down, proceeded to
examine the bulkhead where it joined the berth. The partition here was
of soft pine board, an inch thick, and he saw that he should have
little trouble in cutting his way through. A voice was now heard at the
forecastle companion-way, and he had just time to put his right hand
into its handcuff (the left had not been removed) and to draw the rope
in a slipknot around his ankle, when Dirk Peters came below, followed by
Tiger, who immediately leaped into the berth and lay down. The dog had
been brought on board by Augustus, who knew my attachment to the animal,
and thought it would give me pleasure to have him with me during the
voyage. He went up to our house for him immediately after first taking
me into the hold, but did not think of mentioning the circumstance upon
his bringing the watch. Since the mutiny, Augustus had not seen him
before his appearance with Dirk Peters, and had given him up for lost,
supposing him to have been thrown overboard by some of the malignant
villains belonging to the mate's gang. It appeared afterward that he had
crawled into a hole beneath a whale-boat, from which, not having room to
turn round, he could not extricate himself. Peters at last let him out,
and, with a species of good feeling which my friend knew well how to
appreciate, had now brought him to him in the forecastle as a companion,
leaving at the same time some salt junk and potatoes, with a can of
water, he then went on deck, promising to come down with something more
to eat on the next day.

When he had gone, Augustus freed both hands from the manacles and
unfastened his feet. He then turned down the head of the mattress on
which he had been lying, and with his penknife (for the ruffians had
not thought it worth while to search him) commenced cutting vigorously
across one of the partition planks, as closely as possible to the floor
of the berth. He chose to cut here, because, if suddenly interrupted, he
would be able to conceal what had been done by letting the head of the
mattress fall into its proper position. For the remainder of the day,
however, no disturbance occurred, and by night he had completely divided
the plank. It should here be observed that none of the crew occupied the
forecastle as a sleeping-place, living altogether in the cabin since
the mutiny, drinking the wines and feasting on the sea-stores of Captain
Barnard, and giving no more heed than was absolutely necessary to the
navigation of the brig. These circumstances proved fortunate both for
myself and Augustus; for, had matters been otherwise, he would have
found it impossible to reach me. As it was, he proceeded with confidence
in his design. It was near daybreak, however, before he completed the
second division of the board (which was about a foot above the first
cut), thus making an aperture quite large enough to admit his passage
through with facility to the main orlop deck. Having got here, he made
his way with but little trouble to the lower main hatch, although in so
doing he had to scramble over tiers of oil-casks piled nearly as high as
the upper deck, there being barely room enough left for his body. Upon
reaching the hatch he found that Tiger had followed him below, squeezing
between two rows of the casks. It was now too late, however, to attempt
getting to me before dawn, as the chief difficulty lay in passing
through the close stowage in the lower hold. He therefore resolved to
return, and wait till the next night. With this design, he proceeded to
loosen the hatch, so that he might have as little detention as possible
when he should come again. No sooner had he loosened it than Tiger
sprang eagerly to the small opening produced, snuffed for a moment, and
then uttered a long whine, scratching at the same time, as if anxious
to remove the covering with his paws. There could be no doubt, from
his behaviour, that he was aware of my being in the hold, and Augustus
thought it possible that he would be able to get to me if he put him
down. He now hit upon the expedient of sending the note, as it was
especially desirable that I should make no attempt at forcing my way out
at least under existing circumstances, and there could be no certainty
of his getting to me himself on the morrow as he intended. After-events
proved how fortunate it was that the idea occurred to him as it did;
for, had it not been for the receipt of the note, I should undoubtedly
have fallen upon some plan, however desperate, of alarming the crew, and
both our lives would most probably have been sacrificed in consequence.

Having concluded to write, the difficulty was now to procure the
materials for so doing. An old toothpick was soon made into a pen; and
this by means of feeling altogether, for the between-decks was as
dark as pitch. Paper enough was obtained from the back of a letter--a
duplicate of the forged letter from Mr. Ross. This had been the original
draught; but the handwriting not being sufficiently well imitated,
Augustus had written another, thrusting the first, by good fortune, into
his coat-pocket, where it was now most opportunely discovered. Ink alone
was thus wanting, and a substitute was immediately found for this by
means of a slight incision with the pen-knife on the back of a finger
just above the nail--a copious flow of blood ensuing, as usual, from
wounds in that vicinity. The note was now written, as well as it could
be in the dark and under the circumstances. It briefly explained that a
mutiny had taken place; that Captain Barnard was set adrift; and that I
might expect immediate relief as far as provisions were concerned, but
must not venture upon making any disturbance. It concluded with these
words: "_I have scrawled this with blood--your life depends upon lying
close._"

This slip of paper being tied upon the dog, he was now put down the
hatchway, and Augustus made the best of his way back to the forecastle,
where he found no reason to believe that any of the crew had been in
his absence. To conceal the hole in the partition, he drove his knife in
just above it, and hung up a pea-jacket which he found in the berth. His
handcuffs were then replaced, and also the rope around his ankles.

These arrangements were scarcely completed when Dirk Peters came below,
very drunk, but in excellent humour, and bringing with him my friend's
allowance of provision for the day. This consisted of a dozen large
Irish potatoes roasted, and a pitcher of water. He sat for some time on
a chest by the berth, and talked freely about the mate and the general
concerns of the brig. His demeanour was exceedingly capricious, and
even grotesque. At one time Augustus was much alarmed by odd conduct.
At last, however, he went on deck, muttering a promise to bring his
prisoner a good dinner on the morrow. During the day two of the crew
(harpooners) came down, accompanied by the cook, all three in nearly the
last stage of intoxication. Like Peters, they made no scruple of talking
unreservedly about their plans. It appeared that they were much divided
among themselves as to their ultimate course, agreeing in no point,
except the attack on the ship from the Cape Verd Islands, with
which they were in hourly expectation of meeting. As far as could be
ascertained, the mutiny had not been brought about altogether for the
sake of booty; a private pique of the chief mate's against Captain
Barnard having been the main instigation. There now seemed to be two
principal factions among the crew--one headed by the mate, the other by
the cook. The former party were for seizing the first suitable vessel
which should present itself, and equipping it at some of the West India
Islands for a piratical cruise. The latter division, however, which was
the stronger, and included Dirk Peters among its partisans, were bent
upon pursuing the course originally laid out for the brig into the South
Pacific; there either to take whale, or act otherwise, as circumstances
should suggest. The representations of Peters, who had frequently
visited these regions, had great weight, apparently, with the mutineers,
wavering, as they were, between half-engendered notions of profit and
pleasure. He dwelt on the world of novelty and amusement to be found
among the innumerable islands of the Pacific, on the perfect security
and freedom from all restraint to be enjoyed, but, more particularly, on
the deliciousness of the climate, on the abundant means of good living,
and on the voluptuous beauty of the women. As yet, nothing had been
absolutely determined upon; but the pictures of the hybrid line-manager
were taking strong hold upon the ardent imaginations of the seamen, and
there was every possibility that his intentions would be finally carried
into effect.

The three men went away in about an hour, and no one else entered the
forecastle all day. Augustus lay quiet until nearly night. He then freed
himself from the rope and irons, and prepared for his attempt. A bottle
was found in one of the berths, and this he filled with water from the
pitcher left by Peters, storing his pockets at the same time with cold
potatoes. To his great joy he also came across a lantern, with a small
piece of tallow candle in it. This he could light at any moment, as he
had in his possession a box of phosphorus matches. When it was quite
dark, he got through the hole in the bulkhead, having taken the
precaution to arrange the bedclothes in the berth so as to convey the
idea of a person covered up. When through, he hung up the pea-jacket
on his knife, as before, to conceal the aperture--this manoeuvre being
easily effected, as he did not readjust the piece of plank taken out
until afterward. He was now on the main orlop deck, and proceeded to
make his way, as before, between the upper deck and the oil-casks to
the main hatchway. Having reached this, he lit the piece of candle, and
descended, groping with extreme difficulty among the compact stowage of
the hold. In a few moments he became alarmed at the insufferable stench
and the closeness of the atmosphere. He could not think it possible
that I had survived my confinement for so long a period breathing so
oppressive an air. He called my name repeatedly, but I made him no
reply, and his apprehensions seemed thus to be confirmed. The brig was
rolling violently, and there was so much noise in consequence, that it
was useless to listen for any weak sound, such as those of my breathing
or snoring. He threw open the lantern, and held it as high as possible,
whenever an opportunity occurred, in order that, by observing the light,
I might, if alive, be aware that succor was approaching. Still nothing
was heard from me, and the supposition of my death began to assume the
character of certainty. He determined, nevertheless, to force a passage,
if possible, to the box, and at least ascertain beyond a doubt the truth
of his surmises. He pushed on for some time in a most pitiable state of
anxiety, until, at length, he found the pathway utterly blocked up, and
that there was no possibility of making any farther way by the course
in which he had set out. Overcome now by his feelings, he threw himself
among the lumber in despair, and wept like a child. It was at this
period that he heard the crash occasioned by the bottle which I had
thrown down. Fortunate, indeed, was it that the incident occurred--for,
upon this incident, trivial as it appears, the thread of my destiny
depended. Many years elapsed, however, before I was aware of this fact.
A natural shame and regret for his weakness and indecision prevented
Augustus from confiding to me at once what a more intimate and
unreserved communion afterward induced him to reveal. Upon finding his
further progress in the hold impeded by obstacles which he could not
overcome, he had resolved to abandon his attempt at reaching me, and
return at once to the forecastle. Before condemning him entirely on this
head, the harassing circumstances which embarrassed him should be taken
into consideration. The night was fast wearing away, and his absence
from the forecastle might be discovered; and indeed would necessarily be
so, if he should fail to get back to the berth by daybreak. His candle
was expiring in the socket, and there would be the greatest difficulty
in retracing his way to the hatchway in the dark. It must be allowed,
too, that he had every good reason to believe me dead; in which event
no benefit could result to me from his reaching the box, and a world of
danger would be encountered to no purpose by himself. He had repeatedly
called, and I had made him no answer. I had been now eleven days and
nights with no more water than that contained in the jug which he had
left with me--a supply which it was not at all probable I had boarded in
the beginning of my confinement, as I had every cause to expect a speedy
release. The atmosphere of the hold, too, must have appeared to him,
coming from the comparatively open air of the steerage, of a nature
absolutely poisonous, and by far more intolerable than it had seemed to
me upon my first taking up my quarters in the box--the hatchways at that
time having been constantly open for many months previous. Add to these
considerations that of the scene of bloodshed and terror so lately
witnessed by my friend; his confinement, privations, and narrow escapes
from death, together with the frail and equivocal tenure by which he
still existed--circumstances all so well calculated to prostrate every
energy of mind--and the reader will be easily brought, as I have been,
to regard his apparent falling off in friendship and in faith with
sentiments rather of sorrow than of anger.

The crash of the bottle was distinctly heard, yet Augustus was not sure
that it proceeded from the hold. The doubt, however, was sufficient
inducement to persevere. He clambered up nearly to the orlop deck by
means of the stowage, and then, watching for a lull in the pitchings of
the vessel, he called out to me in as loud a tone as he could command,
regardless, for the moment, of being overheard by the crew. It will
be remembered that on this occasion the voice reached me, but I was
so entirely overcome by violent agitation as to be incapable of reply.
Confident, now, that his worst apprehensions were well founded, he
descended, with a view of getting back to the forecastle without loss
of time. In his haste some small boxes were thrown down, the noise
occasioned by which I heard, as will be recollected. He had made
considerable progress on his return when the fall of the knife again
caused him to hesitate. He retraced his steps immediately, and,
clambering up the stowage a second time, called out my name, loudly as
before, having watched for a lull. This time I found voice to answer.
Overjoyed at discovering me to be still alive, he now resolved to brave
every difficulty and danger in reaching me. Having extricated himself as
quickly as possible from the labyrinth of lumber by which he was hemmed
in, he at length struck into an opening which promised better, and
finally, after a series of struggles, arrived at the box in a state of
utter exhaustion.




CHAPTER 6

THE leading particulars of this narration were all that Augustus
communicated to me while we remained near the box. It was not
until afterward that he entered fully into all the details. He was
apprehensive of being missed, and I was wild with impatience to leave
my detested place of confinement. We resolved to make our way at once
to the hole in the bulkhead, near which I was to remain for the present,
while he went through to reconnoiter. To leave Tiger in the box was what
neither of us could endure to think of, yet, how to act otherwise was
the question. He now seemed to be perfectly quiet, and we could not even
distinguish the sound of his breathing upon applying our ears closely
to the box. I was convinced that he was dead, and determined to open the
door. We found him lying at full length, apparently in a deep stupor,
yet still alive. No time was to be lost, yet I could not bring myself to
abandon an animal who had now been twice instrumental in saving my life,
without some attempt at preserving him. We therefore dragged him along
with us as well as we could, although with the greatest difficulty and
fatigue; Augustus, during part of the time, being forced to clamber
over the impediments in our way with the huge dog in his arms--a feat
to which the feebleness of my frame rendered me totally inadequate. At
length we succeeded in reaching the hole, when Augustus got through, and
Tiger was pushed in afterward. All was found to be safe, and we did
not fail to return sincere thanks to God for our deliverance from the
imminent danger we had escaped. For the present, it was agreed that I
should remain near the opening, through which my companion could readily
supply me with a part of his daily provision, and where I could have the
advantages of breathing an atmosphere comparatively pure.

In explanation of some portions of this narrative, wherein I have spoken
of the stowage of the brig, and which may appear ambiguous to some of my
readers who may have seen a proper or regular stowage, I must here state
that the manner in which this most important duty had been per formed
on board the Grampus was a most shameful piece of neglect on the part
of Captain Barnard, who was by no means as careful or as experienced a
seaman as the hazardous nature of the service on which he was
employed would seem necessarily to demand. A proper stowage cannot be
accomplished in a careless manner, and many most disastrous accidents,
even within the limits of my own experience, have arisen from neglect
or ignorance in this particular. Coasting vessels, in the frequent hurry
and bustle attendant upon taking in or discharging cargo, are the most
liable to mishap from the want of a proper attention to stowage. The
great point is to allow no possibility of the cargo or ballast shifting
position even in the most violent rollings of the vessel. With this end,
great attention must be paid, not only to the bulk taken in, but to the
nature of the bulk, and whether there be a full or only a partial cargo.
In most kinds of freight the stowage is accomplished by means of a
screw. Thus, in a load of tobacco or flour, the whole is screwed so
tightly into the hold of the vessel that the barrels or hogsheads, upon
discharging, are found to be completely flattened, and take some time
to regain their original shape. This screwing, however, is resorted to
principally with a view of obtaining more room in the hold; for in a
full load of any such commodities as flour or tobacco, there can be no
danger of any shifting whatever, at least none from which inconvenience
can result. There have been instances, indeed, where this method of
screwing has resulted in the most lamentable consequences, arising from
a cause altogether distinct from the danger attendant upon a shifting of
cargo. A load of cotton, for example, tightly screwed while in certain
conditions, has been known, through the expansion of its bulk, to rend a
vessel asunder at sea. There can be no doubt either that the same result
would ensue in the case of tobacco, while undergoing its usual course
of fermentation, were it not for the interstices consequent upon the
rotundity of the hogsheads.

It is when a partial cargo is received that danger is chiefly to be
apprehended from shifting, and that precautions should be always taken
to guard against such misfortune. Only those who have encountered a
violent gale of wind, or rather who have experienced the rolling of
a vessel in a sudden calm after the gale, can form an idea of the
tremendous force of the plunges, and of the consequent terrible impetus
given to all loose articles in the vessel. It is then that the necessity
of a cautious stowage, when there is a partial cargo, becomes obvious.
When lying-to (especially with a small bead sail), a vessel which is not
properly modelled in the bows is frequently thrown upon her beam-ends;
this occurring even every fifteen or twenty minutes upon an average, yet
without any serious consequences resulting, provided there be a proper
stowage. If this, however, has not been strictly attended to, in the
first of these heavy lurches the whole of the cargo tumbles over to the
side of the vessel which lies upon the water, and, being thus prevented
from regaining her equilibrium, as she would otherwise necessarily do,
she is certain to fill in a few seconds and go down. It is not too much
to say that at least one-half of the instances in which vessels have
foundered in heavy gales at sea may be attributed to a shifting of cargo
or of ballast.

When a partial cargo of any kind is taken on board, the whole, after
being first stowed as compactly as may be, should be covered with a
layer of stout shifting-boards, extending completely across the vessel.
Upon these boards strong temporary stanchions should be erected,
reaching to the timbers above, and thus securing every thing in its
place. In cargoes consisting of grain, or any similar matter, additional
precautions are requisite. A hold filled entirely with grain upon
leaving port will be found not more than three fourths full upon
reaching its destination--this, too, although the freight, when measured
bushel by bushel by the consignee, will overrun by a vast deal (on
account of the swelling of the grain) the quantity consigned. This
result is occasioned by settling during the voyage, and is the more
perceptible in proportion to the roughness of the weather experienced.
If grain loosely thrown in a vessel, then, is ever so well secured by
shifting-boards and stanchions, it will be liable to shift in a long
passage so greatly as to bring about the most distressing calamities.
To prevent these, every method should be employed before leaving port
to settle the cargo as much as possible; and for this there are many
contrivances, among which may be mentioned the driving of wedges into
the grain. Even after all this is done, and unusual pains taken to
secure the shifting-boards, no seaman who knows what he is about will
feel altogether secure in a gale of any violence with a cargo of
grain on board, and, least of all, with a partial cargo. Yet there are
hundreds of our coasting vessels, and, it is likely, many more from the
ports of Europe, which sail daily with partial cargoes, even of the most
dangerous species, and without any precaution whatever. The wonder
is that no more accidents occur than do actually happen. A lamentable
instance of this heedlessness occurred to my knowledge in the case of
Captain Joel Rice of the schooner Firefly, which sailed from Richmond,
Virginia, to Madeira, with a cargo of corn, in the year 1825. The
captain had gone many voyages without serious accident, although he was
in the habit of paying no attention whatever to his stowage, more than
to secure it in the ordinary manner. He had never before sailed with
a cargo of grain, and on this occasion had the corn thrown on board
loosely, when it did not much more than half fill the vessel. For the
first portion of the voyage he met with nothing more than light breezes;
but when within a day's sail of Madeira there came on a strong gale from
the N. N. E. which forced him to lie-to. He brought the schooner to the
wind under a double-reefed foresail alone, when she rode as well as any
vessel could be expected to do, and shipped not a drop of water. Toward
night the gale somewhat abated, and she rolled with more unsteadiness
than before, but still did very well, until a heavy lurch threw her upon
her beam-ends to starboard. The corn was then heard to shift bodily, the
force of the movement bursting open the main hatchway. The vessel
went down like a shot. This happened within hail of a small sloop from
Madeira, which picked up one of the crew (the only person saved), and
which rode out the gale in perfect security, as indeed a jolly boat
might have done under proper management.

The stowage on board the Grampus was most clumsily done, if stowage
that could be called which was little better than a promiscuous huddling
together of oil-casks {*1} and ship furniture. I have already spoken of
the condition of articles in the hold. On the orlop deck there was space
enough for my body (as I have stated) between the oil-casks and the
upper deck; a space was left open around the main hatchway; and several
other large spaces were left in the stowage. Near the hole cut through
the bulkhead by Augustus there was room enough for an entire cask, and
in this space I found myself comfortably situated for the present.

By the time my friend had got safely into the berth, and readjusted
his handcuffs and the rope, it was broad daylight. We had made a narrow
escape indeed; for scarcely had he arranged all matters, when the mate
came below, with Dirk Peters and the cook. They talked for some time
about the vessel from the Cape Verds, and seemed to be excessively
anxious for her appearance. At length the cook came to the berth in
which Augustus was lying, and seated himself in it near the head. I
could see and hear every thing from my hiding-place, for the piece cut
out had not been put back, and I was in momentary expectation that the
negro would fall against the pea-jacket, which was hung up to conceal
the aperture, in which case all would have been discovered, and our
lives would, no doubt, have been instantly sacrificed. Our good fortune
prevailed, however; and although he frequently touched it as the vessel
rolled, he never pressed against it sufficiently to bring about a
discovery. The bottom of the jacket had been carefully fastened to the
bulkhead, so that the hole might not be seen by its swinging to one
side. All this time Tiger was lying in the foot of the berth, and
appeared to have recovered in some measure his faculties, for I could
see him occasionally open his eyes and draw a long breath.

After a few minutes the mate and cook went above, leaving Dirk Peters
behind, who, as soon as they were gone, came and sat himself down in
the place just occupied by the mate. He began to talk very sociably with
Augustus, and we could now see that the greater part of his apparent
intoxication, while the two others were with him, was a feint. He
answered all my companion's questions with perfect freedom; told him
that he had no doubt of his father's having been picked up, as there
were no less than five sail in sight just before sundown on the day he
was cut adrift; and used other language of a consolatory nature,
which occasioned me no less surprise than pleasure. Indeed, I began to
entertain hopes, that through the instrumentality of Peters we might
be finally enabled to regain possession of the brig, and this idea I
mentioned to Augustus as soon as I found an opportunity. He thought
the matter possible, but urged the necessity of the greatest caution
in making the attempt, as the conduct of the hybrid appeared to be
instigated by the most arbitrary caprice alone; and, indeed, it was
difficult to say if he was at any moment of sound mind. Peters went
upon deck in about an hour, and did not return again until noon, when he
brought Augustus a plentiful supply of junk beef and pudding. Of this,
when we were left alone, I partook heartily, without returning through
the hole. No one else came down into the forecastle during the day, and
at night, I got into Augustus' berth, where I slept soundly and sweetly
until nearly daybreak, when he awakened me upon hearing a stir upon
deck, and I regained my hiding-place as quickly as possible. When the
day was fully broke, we found that Tiger had recovered his strength
almost entirely, and gave no indications of hydrophobia, drinking a
little water that was offered him with great apparent eagerness. During
the day he regained all his former vigour and appetite. His strange
conduct had been brought on, no doubt, by the deleterious quality of the
air of the hold, and had no connexion with canine madness. I could not
sufficiently rejoice that I had persisted in bringing him with me from
the box. This day was the thirtieth of June, and the thirteenth since
the Grampus made sad from Nantucket.

On the second of July the mate came below drunk as usual, and in an
excessively good-humor. He came to Augustus's berth, and, giving him a
slap on the back, asked him if he thought he could behave himself if
he let him loose, and whether he would promise not to be going into the
cabin again. To this, of course, my friend answered in the affirmative,
when the ruffian set him at liberty, after making him drink from a flask
of rum which he drew from his coat-pocket. Both now went on deck, and I
did not see Augustus for about three hours. He then came below with the
good news that he had obtained permission to go about the brig as he
pleased anywhere forward of the mainmast, and that he had been ordered
to sleep, as usual, in the forecastle. He brought me, too, a good
dinner, and a plentiful supply of water. The brig was still cruising for
the vessel from the Cape Verds, and a sail was now in sight, which was
thought to be the one in question. As the events of the ensuing eight
days were of little importance, and had no direct bearing upon the main
incidents of my narrative, I will here throw them into the form of a
journal, as I do not wish to omit them altogether.

July 3. Augustus furnished me with three blankets, with which I
contrived a comfortable bed in my hiding-place. No one came below,
except my companion, during the day. Tiger took his station in the
berth just by the aperture, and slept heavily, as if not yet entirely
recovered from the effects of his sickness. Toward night a flaw of wind
struck the brig before sail could be taken in, and very nearly capsized
her. The puff died away immediately, however, and no damage was done
beyond the splitting of the foretopsail. Dirk Peters treated Augustus
all this day with great kindness and entered into a long conversation
with him respecting the Pacific Ocean, and the islands he had visited
in that region. He asked him whether he would not like to go with the
mutineers on a kind of exploring and pleasure voyage in those quarters,
and said that the men were gradually coming over to the mate's views.
To this Augustus thought it best to reply that he would be glad to go
on such an adventure, since nothing better could be done, and that any
thing was preferable to a piratical life.

July 4th. The vessel in sight proved to be a small brig from Liverpool,
and was allowed to pass unmolested. Augustus spent most of his time
on deck, with a view of obtaining all the information in his power
respecting the intentions of the mutineers. They had frequent and
violent quarrels among themselves, in one of which a harpooner, Jim
Bonner, was thrown overboard. The party of the mate was gaining ground.
Jim Bonner belonged to the cook's gang, of which Peters was a partisan.

July 5th. About daybreak there came on a stiff breeze from the west,
which at noon freshened into a gale, so that the brig could carry
nothing more than her trysail and foresail. In taking in the
foretopsail, Simms, one of the common hands, and belonging also to
the cook's gang, fell overboard, being very much in liquor, and was
drowned--no attempt being made to save him. The whole number of persons
on board was now thirteen, to wit: Dirk Peters; Seymour, the black
cook; Jones, Greely, Hartman Rogers and William Allen, all of the
cook's party; of the cook's party; the mate, whose name I never
learned; Absalom Hicks, Wilson, John Hunty Richard Parker, of the mate's
party;--besides Augustus and myself.

July 6th. The gale lasted all this day, blowing in heavy squalls,
accompanied with rain. The brig took in a good deal of water through her
seams, and one of the pumps was kept continually going, Augustus being
forced to take his turn. Just at twilight a large ship passed close
by us, without having been discovered until within hail. The ship was
supposed to be the one for which the mutineers were on the lookout. The
mate hailed her, but the reply was drowned in the roaring of the gale.
At eleven, a sea was shipped amidships, which tore away a great portion
of the larboard bulwarks, and did some other slight damage. Toward
morning the weather moderated, and at sunrise there was very little
wind.

July 7th. There was a heavy swell running all this day, during which the
brig, being light, rolled excessively, and many articles broke loose in
the hold, as I could hear distinctly from my hiding-place. I suffered
a great deal from sea-sickness. Peters had a long conversation this day
with Augustus, and told him that two of his gang, Greely and Allen, had
gone over to the mate, and were resolved to turn pirates. He put several
questions to Augustus which he did not then exactly understand. During
a part of this evening the leak gained upon the vessel; and little could
be done to remedy it, as it was occasioned by the brigs straining, and
taking in the water through her seams. A sail was thrummed, and got
under the bows, which aided us in some measure, so that we began to gain
upon the leak.

July 8th. A light breeze sprang up at sunrise from the eastward, when
the mate headed the brig to the southwest, with the intention of making
some of the West India islands in pursuance of his piratical designs. No
opposition was made by Peters or the cook--at least none in the hearing
of Augustus. All idea of taking the vessel from the Cape Verds was
abandoned. The leak was now easily kept under by one pump going every
three quarters of an hour. The sail was drawn from beneath the bows.
Spoke two small schooners during the day.

July 9th. Fine weather. All hands employed in repairing bulwarks. Peters
had again a long conversation with Augustus, and spoke more plainly than
he had done heretofore. He said nothing should induce him to come into
the mate's views, and even hinted his intention of taking the brig out
of his hands. He asked my friend if he could depend upon his aid in such
case, to which Augustus said, "Yes," without hesitation. Peters then
said he would sound the others of his party upon the subject, and went
away. During the remainder of the day Augustus had no opportunity of
speaking with him privately.




CHAPTER 7

JULY 10. Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk. Weather hazy, with
a light baffling wind from the eastward. To-day Hartman Rogers died,
having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of
grog. This man was of the cook's party, and one upon whom Peters placed
his main reliance. He told Augustus that he believed the mate had
poisoned him, and that he expected, if he did not be on the look-out,
his own turn would come shortly. There were now only himself, Jones, and
the cook belonging to his own gang--on the other side there were five.
He had spoken to Jones about taking the command from the mate; but the
project having been coolly received, he had been deterred from pressing
the matter any further, or from saying any thing to the cook. It was
well, as it happened, that he was so prudent, for in the afternoon the
cook expressed his determination of siding with the mate, and went over
formally to that party; while Jones took an opportunity of quarrelling
with Peters, and hinted that he would let the mate know of the plan
in agitation. There was now, evidently, no time to be lost, and Peters
expressed his determination of attempting to take the vessel at all
hazards, provided Augustus would lend him his aid. My friend at once
assured him of his willingness to enter into any plan for that purpose,
and, thinking the opportunity a favourable one, made known the fact
of my being on board. At this the hybrid was not more astonished than
delighted, as he had no reliance whatever upon Jones, whom he already
considered as belonging to the party of the mate. They went below
immediately, when Augustus called to me by name, and Peters and myself
were soon made acquainted. It was agreed that we should attempt to
retake the vessel upon the first good opportunity, leaving Jones
altogether out of our councils. In the event of success, we were to
run the brig into the first port that offered, and deliver her up. The
desertion of his party had frustrated Peters' design of going into the
Pacific--an adventure which could not be accomplished without a crew,
and he depended upon either getting acquitted upon trial, on the score
of insanity (which he solemnly avowed had actuated him in lending his
aid to the mutiny), or upon obtaining a pardon, if found guilty, through
the representations of Augustus and myself. Our deliberations were
interrupted for the present by the cry of, "All hands take in sail," and
Peters and Augustus ran up on deck.

As usual, the crew were nearly all drunk; and, before sail could be
properly taken in, a violent squall laid the brig on her beam-ends. By
keeping her away, however, she righted, having shipped a good deal of
water. Scarcely was everything secure, when another squall took the
vessel, and immediately afterward another--no damage being done. There
was every appearance of a gale of wind, which, indeed, shortly came on,
with great fury, from the northward and westward. All was made as snug
as possible, and we laid-to, as usual, under a close-reefed foresail. As
night drew on, the wind increased in violence, with a remarkably heavy
sea. Peters now came into the forecastle with Augustus, and we resumed
our deliberations.

We agreed that no opportunity could be more favourable than the present
for carrying our designs into effect, as an attempt at such a moment
would never be anticipated. As the brig was snugly laid-to, there would
be no necessity of manoeuvring her until good weather, when, if we
succeeded in our attempt, we might liberate one, or perhaps two of the
men, to aid us in taking her into port. The main difficulty was the
great disproportion in our forces. There were only three of us, and in
the cabin there were nine. All the arms on board, too, were in their
possession, with the exception of a pair of small pistols which Peters
had concealed about his person, and the large seaman's knife which
he always wore in the waistband of his pantaloons. From certain
indications, too--such, for example, as there being no such thing as
an axe or a handspike lying in their customary places--we began to fear
that the mate had his suspicions, at least in regard to Peters, and that
he would let slip no opportunity of getting rid of him. It was clear,
indeed, that what we should determine to do could not be done too soon.
Still the odds were too much against us to allow of our proceeding
without the greatest caution.

Peters proposed that he should go up on deck, and enter into
conversation with the watch (Allen), when he would be able to throw him
into the sea without trouble, and without making any disturbance, by
seizing a good opportunity, that Augustus and myself should then come
up, and endeavour to provide ourselves with some kind of weapons from
the deck, and that we should then make a rush together, and secure the
companion-way before any opposition could be offered. I objected to
this, because I could not believe that the mate (who was a cunning
fellow in all matters which did not affect his superstitious prejudices)
would suffer himself to be so easily entrapped. The very fact of there
being a watch on deck at all was sufficient proof that he was upon the
alert,--it not being usual except in vessels where discipline is most
rigidly enforced, to station a watch on deck when a vessel is lying-to
in a gale of wind. As I address myself principally, if not altogether,
to persons who have never been to sea, it may be as well to state the
exact condition of a vessel under such circumstances. Lying-to, or,
in sea-parlance, "laying-to," is a measure resorted to for various
purposes, and effected in various manners. In moderate weather it
is frequently done with a view of merely bringing the vessel to a
stand-still, to wait for another vessel or any similar object. If
the vessel which lies-to is under full sail, the manoeuvre is usually
accomplished by throwing round some portion of her sails, so as to let
the wind take them aback, when she becomes stationary. But we are now
speaking of lying-to in a gale of wind. This is done when the wind
is ahead, and too violent to admit of carrying sail without danger of
capsizing; and sometimes even when the wind is fair, but the sea too
heavy for the vessel to be put before it. If a vessel be suffered to
scud before the wind in a very heavy sea, much damage is usually done
her by the shipping of water over her stern, and sometimes by the
violent plunges she makes forward. This manoeuvre, then, is seldom
resorted to in such case, unless through necessity. When the vessel
is in a leaky condition she is often put before the wind even in the
heaviest seas; for, when lying-to, her seams are sure to be greatly
opened by her violent straining, and it is not so much the case when
scudding. Often, too, it becomes necessary to scud a vessel, either when
the blast is so exceedingly furious as to tear in pieces the sail which
is employed with a view of bringing her head to the wind, or when,
through the false modelling of the frame or other causes, this main
object cannot be effected.

Vessels in a gale of wind are laid-to in different manners, according
to their peculiar construction. Some lie-to best under a foresail, and
this, I believe, is the sail most usually employed. Large square-rigged
vessels have sails for the express purpose, called storm-staysails.
But the jib is occasionally employed by itself,--sometimes the jib
and foresail, or a double-reefed foresail, and not unfrequently the
after-sails, are made use of. Foretopsails are very often found to
answer the purpose better than any other species of sail. The Grampus
was generally laid-to under a close-reefed foresail.

When a vessel is to be laid-to, her head is brought up to the wind just
so nearly as to fill the sail under which she lies when hauled flat aft,
that is, when brought diagonally across the vessel. This being done,
the bows point within a few degrees of the direction from which the wind
issues, and the windward bow of course receives the shock of the waves.
In this situation a good vessel will ride out a very heavy gale of wind
without shipping a drop of water, and without any further attention
being requisite on the part of the crew. The helm is usually lashed
down, but this is altogether unnecessary (except on account of the noise
it makes when loose), for the rudder has no effect upon the vessel when
lying-to. Indeed, the helm had far better be left loose than lashed very
fast, for the rudder is apt to be torn off by heavy seas if there be no
room for the helm to play. As long as the sail holds, a well modelled
vessel will maintain her situation, and ride every sea, as if instinct
with life and reason. If the violence of the wind, however, should tear
the sail into pieces (a feat which it requires a perfect hurricane to
accomplish under ordinary circumstances), there is then imminent danger.
The vessel falls off from the wind, and, coming broadside to the sea,
is completely at its mercy: the only resource in this case is to put her
quietly before the wind, letting her scud until some other sail can be
set. Some vessels will lie-to under no sail whatever, but such are not
to be trusted at sea.

But to return from this digression. It had never been customary with the
mate to have any watch on deck when lying-to in a gale of wind, and the
fact that he had now one, coupled with the circumstance of the missing
axes and handspikes, fully convinced us that the crew were too well on
the watch to be taken by surprise in the manner Peters had suggested.
Something, however, was to be done, and that with as little delay as
practicable, for there could be no doubt that a suspicion having
been once entertained against Peters, he would be sacrificed upon the
earliest occasion, and one would certainly be either found or made upon
the breaking of the gale.

Augustus now suggested that if Peters could contrive to remove, under
any pretext, the piece of chain-cable which lay over the trap in the
stateroom, we might possibly be able to come upon them unawares by means
of the hold; but a little reflection convinced us that the vessel rolled
and pitched too violently for any attempt of that nature.

By good fortune I at length hit upon the idea of working upon the
superstitious terrors and guilty conscience of the mate. It will be
remembered that one of the crew, Hartman Rogers, had died during the
morning, having been attacked two days before with spasms after drinking
some spirits and water. Peters had expressed to us his opinion that this
man had been poisoned by the mate, and for this belief he had reasons,
so he said, which were incontrovertible, but which he could not be
prevailed upon to explain to us--this wayward refusal being only in
keeping with other points of his singular character. But whether or not
he had any better grounds for suspecting the mate than we had ourselves,
we were easily led to fall in with his suspicion, and determined to act
accordingly.

Rogers had died about eleven in the forenoon, in violent convulsions;
and the corpse presented in a few minutes after death one of the most
horrid and loathsome spectacles I ever remember to have seen. The
stomach was swollen immensely, like that of a man who has been drowned
and lain under water for many weeks. The hands were in the same
condition, while the face was shrunken, shrivelled, and of a chalky
whiteness, except where relieved by two or three glaring red blotches
like those occasioned by the erysipelas: one of these blotches extended
diagonally across the face, completely covering up an eye as if with
a band of red velvet. In this disgusting condition the body had been
brought up from the cabin at noon to be thrown overboard, when the mate
getting a glimpse of it (for he now saw it for the first time), and
being either touched with remorse for his crime or struck with terror at
so horrible a sight, ordered the men to sew the body up in its
hammock, and allow it the usual rites of sea-burial. Having given these
directions, he went below, as if to avoid any further sight of his
victim. While preparations were making to obey his orders, the gale came
on with great fury, and the design was abandoned for the present. The
corpse, left to itself, was washed into the larboard scuppers, where
it still lay at the time of which I speak, floundering about with the
furious lurches of the brig.

Having arranged our plan, we set about putting it in execution as
speedily as possible. Peters went upon deck, and, as he had anticipated,
was immediately accosted by Allen, who appeared to be stationed more as
a watch upon the forecastle than for any other purpose. The fate of
this villain, however, was speedily and silently decided; for Peters,
approaching him in a careless manner, as if about to address him, seized
him by the throat, and, before he could utter a single cry, tossed
him over the bulwarks. He then called to us, and we came up. Our first
precaution was to look about for something with which to arm ourselves,
and in doing this we had to proceed with great care, for it was
impossible to stand on deck an instant without holding fast, and
violent seas broke over the vessel at every plunge forward. It was
indispensable, too, that we should be quick in our operations, for every
minute we expected the mate to be up to set the pumps going, as it was
evident the brig must be taking in water very fast. After searching
about for some time, we could find nothing more fit for our purpose
than the two pump-handles, one of which Augustus took, and I the other.
Having secured these, we stripped off the shirt of the corpse and
dropped the body overboard. Peters and myself then went below, leaving
Augustus to watch upon deck, where he took his station just where Allen
had been placed, and with his back to the cabin companionway, so that,
if any of the mates gang should come up, he might suppose it was the
watch.

As soon as I got below I commenced disguising myself so as to represent
the corpse of Rogers. The shirt which we had taken from the body aided
us very much, for it was of singular form and character, and easily
recognizable--a kind of smock, which the deceased wore over his other
clothing. It was a blue stockinett, with large white stripes running
across. Having put this on, I proceeded to equip myself with a false
stomach, in imitation of the horrible deformity of the swollen corpse.
This was soon effected by means of stuffing with some bedclothes. I
then gave the same appearance to my hands by drawing on a pair of white
woollen mittens, and filling them in with any kind of rags that offered
themselves. Peters then arranged my face, first rubbing it well over
with white chalk, and afterward blotching it with blood, which he took
from a cut in his finger. The streak across the eye was not forgotten
and presented a most shocking appearance.




CHAPTER 8

AS I viewed myself in a fragment of looking-glass which hung up in
the cabin, and by the dim light of a kind of battle-lantern, I was
so impressed with a sense of vague awe at my appearance, and at the
recollection of the terrific reality which I was thus representing,
that I was seized with a violent tremour, and could scarcely summon
resolution to go on with my part. It was necessary, however, to act with
decision, and Peters and myself went upon deck.

We there found everything safe, and, keeping close to the bulwarks,
the three of us crept to the cabin companion-way. It was only partially
closed, precautions having been taken to prevent its being suddenly
pushed to from without, by means of placing billets of wood on the upper
step so as to interfere with the shutting. We found no difficulty in
getting a full view of the interior of the cabin through the cracks
where the hinges were placed. It now proved to have been very fortunate
for us that we had not attempted to take them by surprise, for they were
evidently on the alert. Only one was asleep, and he lying just at the
foot of the companion-ladder, with a musket by his side. The rest were
seated on several mattresses, which had been taken from the berths and
thrown on the floor. They were engaged in earnest conversation; and
although they had been carousing, as appeared from two empty jugs, with
some tin tumblers which lay about, they were not as much intoxicated
as usual. All had knives, one or two of them pistols, and a great many
muskets were lying in a berth close at hand.

We listened to their conversation for some time before we could make
up our minds how to act, having as yet resolved on nothing determinate,
except that we would attempt to paralyze their exertions, when we should
attack them, by means of the apparition of Rogers. They were discussing
their piratical plans, in which all we could hear distinctly was, that
they would unite with the crew of a schooner _Hornet_, and, if possible,
get the schooner herself into their possession preparatory to some
attempt on a large scale, the particulars of which could not be made out
by either of us.

One of the men spoke of Peters, when the mate replied to him in a low
voice which could not be distinguished, and afterward added more
loudly, that "he could not understand his being so much forward with the
captain's brat in the forecastle, and he thought the sooner both of them
were overboard the better." To this no answer was made, but we could
easily perceive that the hint was well received by the whole party, and
more particularly by Jones. At this period I was excessively agitated,
the more so as I could see that neither Augustus nor Peters could
determine how to act. I made up my mind, however, to sell my life as
dearly as possible, and not to suffer myself to be overcome by any
feelings of trepidation.

The tremendous noise made by the roaring of the wind in the rigging, and
the washing of the sea over the deck, prevented us from hearing what was
said, except during momentary lulls. In one of these, we all distinctly
heard the mate tell one of the men to "go forward, have an eye upon
them, for he wanted no such secret doings on board the brig." It was
well for us that the pitching of the vessel at this moment was so
violent as to prevent this order from being carried into instant
execution. The cook got up from his mattress to go for us, when a
tremendous lurch, which I thought would carry away the masts, threw him
headlong against one of the larboard stateroom doors, bursting it open,
and creating a good deal of other confusion. Luckily, neither of
our party was thrown from his position, and we had time to make a
precipitate retreat to the forecastle, and arrange a hurried plan of
action before the messenger made his appearance, or rather before he put
his head out of the companion-hatch, for he did not come on deck.
From this station he could not notice the absence of Allen, and he
accordingly bawled out, as if to him, repeating the orders of the
mate. Peters cried out, "Ay, ay," in a disguised voice, and the cook
immediately went below, without entertaining a suspicion that all was
not right.

My two companions now proceeded boldly aft and down into the cabin,
Peters closing the door after him in the same manner he had found it.
The mate received them with feigned cordiality, and told Augustus that,
since he had behaved himself so well of late, he might take up his
quarters in the cabin and be one of them for the future. He then poured
him out a tumbler half full of rum, and made him drink it. All this I
saw and heard, for I followed my friends to the cabin as soon as the
door was shut, and took up my old point of observation. I had
brought with me the two pump-handles, one of which I secured near the
companion-way, to be ready for use when required.

I now steadied myself as well as possible so as to have a good view of
all that was passing within, and endeavoured to nerve myself to the task
of descending among the mutineers when Peters should make a signal to
me, as agreed upon. Presently he contrived to turn the conversation upon
the bloody deeds of the mutiny, and by degrees led the men to talk
of the thousand superstitions which are so universally current among
seamen. I could not make out all that was said, but I could plainly see
the effects of the conversation in the countenances of those present.
The mate was evidently much agitated, and presently, when some one
mentioned the terrific appearance of Rogers' corpse, I thought he was
upon the point of swooning. Peters now asked him if he did not think it
would be better to have the body thrown overboard at once as it was too
horrible a sight to see it floundering about in the scuppers. At this
the villain absolutely gasped for breath, and turned his head slowly
round upon his companions, as if imploring some one to go up and perform
the task. No one, however, stirred, and it was quite evident that the
whole party were wound up to the highest pitch of nervous excitement.
Peters now made me the signal. I immediately threw open the door of the
companion-way, and, descending, without uttering a syllable, stood erect
in the midst of the party.

The intense effect produced by this sudden apparition is not at all
to be wondered at when the various circumstances are taken into
consideration. Usually, in cases of a similar nature, there is left in
the mind of the spectator some glimmering of doubt as to the reality of
the vision before his eyes; a degree of hope, however feeble, that he
is the victim of chicanery, and that the apparition is not actually a
visitant from the old world of shadows. It is not too much to say that
such remnants of doubt have been at the bottom of almost every such
visitation, and that the appalling horror which has sometimes been
brought about, is to be attributed, even in the cases most in point,
and where most suffering has been experienced, more to a kind of
anticipative horror, lest the apparition might possibly be real, than
to an unwavering belief in its reality. But, in the present instance, it
will be seen immediately, that in the minds of the mutineers there
was not even the shadow of a basis upon which to rest a doubt that
the apparition of Rogers was indeed a revivification of his disgusting
corpse, or at least its spiritual image. The isolated situation of the
brig, with its entire inaccessibility on account of the gale, confined
the apparently possible means of deception within such narrow and
definite limits, that they must have thought themselves enabled to
survey them all at a glance. They had now been at sea twenty-four days,
without holding more than a speaking communication with any vessel
whatever. The whole of the crew, too--at least all whom they had the
most remote reason for suspecting to be on board--were assembled in the
cabin, with the exception of Allen, the watch; and his gigantic stature
(he was six feet six inches high) was too familiar in their eyes to
permit the notion that he was the apparition before them to enter their
minds even for an instant. Add to these considerations the awe-inspiring
nature of the tempest, and that of the conversation brought about by
Peters; the deep impression which the loathsomeness of the actual corpse
had made in the morning upon the imaginations of the men; the excellence
of the imitation in my person, and the uncertain and wavering light
in which they beheld me, as the glare of the cabin lantern, swinging
violently to and fro, fell dubiously and fitfully upon my figure, and
there will be no reason to wonder that the deception had even more than
the entire effect which we had anticipated. The mate sprang up from the
mattress on which he was lying, and, without uttering a syllable, fell
back, stone dead, upon the cabin floor, and was hurled to the leeward
like a log by a heavy roll of the brig. Of the remaining seven, there
were but three who had at first any degree of presence of mind. The
four others sat for some time rooted apparently to the floor, the most
pitiable objects of horror and utter despair my eyes ever encountered.
The only opposition we experienced at all was from the cook, John Hunt,
and Richard Parker; but they made but a feeble and irresolute defence.
The two former were shot instantly by Peters, and I felled Parker with
a blow on the head from the pump-handle which I had brought with me. In
the meantime, Augustus seized one of the muskets lying on the floor
and shot another mutineer Wilson through the breast. There were now but
three remaining; but by this time they had become aroused from their
lethargy, and perhaps began to see that a deception had been practised
upon them, for they fought with great resolution and fury, and, but for
the immense muscular strength of Peters, might have ultimately got the
better of us. These three men were--Jones, Greely, and Absolom Hicks.
Jones had thrown Augustus to the floor, stabbed him in several places
along the right arm, and would no doubt have soon dispatched him
(as neither Peters nor myself could immediately get rid of our own
antagonists), had it not been for the timely aid of a friend, upon whose
assistance we, surely, had never depended. This friend was no other than
Tiger. With a low growl, he bounded into the cabin, at a most critical
moment for Augustus, and throwing himself upon Jones, pinned him to the
floor in an instant. My friend, however, was now too much injured to
render us any aid whatever, and I was so encumbered with my disguise
that I could do but little. The dog would not leave his hold upon the
throat of Jones--Peters, nevertheless, was far more than a match for the
two men who remained, and would, no doubt, have dispatched them sooner,
had it not been for the narrow space in which he had to act, and the
tremendous lurches of the vessel. Presently he was enabled to get hold
of a heavy stool, several of which lay about the floor. With this he
beat out the brains of Greely as he was in the act of discharging a
musket at me, and immediately afterward a roll of the brig throwing
him in contact with Hicks, he seized him by the throat, and, by dint of
sheer strength, strangled him instantaneously. Thus, in far less time
than I have taken to tell it, we found ourselves masters of the brig.

The only person of our opponents who was left alive was Richard Parker.
This man, it will be remembered, I had knocked down with a blow from the
pump-handle at the commencement of the attack. He now lay motionless by
the door of the shattered stateroom; but, upon Peters touching him with
his foot, he spoke, and entreated for mercy. His head was only slightly
cut, and otherwise he had received no injury, having been merely stunned
by the blow. He now got up, and, for the present, we secured his hands
behind his back. The dog was still growling over Jones; but, upon
examination, we found him completely dead, the blood issuing in a stream
from a deep wound in the throat, inflicted, no doubt, by the sharp teeth
of the animal.

It was now about one o'clock in the morning, and the wind was still
blowing tremendously. The brig evidently laboured much more than usual,
and it became absolutely necessary that something should be done with a
view of easing her in some measure. At almost every roll to leeward
she shipped a sea, several of which came partially down into the cabin
during our scuffle, the hatchway having been left open by myself when I
descended. The entire range of bulwarks to larboard had been swept away,
as well as the caboose, together with the jollyboat from the counter.
The creaking and working of the mainmast, too, gave indication that it
was nearly sprung. To make room for more stowage in the afterhold, the
heel of this mast had been stepped between decks (a very reprehensible
practice, occasionally resorted to by ignorant ship-builders), so that
it was in imminent danger of working from its step. But, to crown all
our difficulties, we plummed the well, and found no less than seven feet
of water.

Leaving the bodies of the crew lying in the cabin, we got to work
immediately at the pumps--Parker, of course, being set at liberty to
assist us in the labour. Augustus's arm was bound up as well as we could
effect it, and he did what he could, but that was not much. However, we
found that we could just manage to keep the leak from gaining upon us
by having one pump constantly going. As there were only four of us, this
was severe labour; but we endeavoured to keep up our spirits, and looked
anxiously for daybreak, when we hoped to lighten the brig by cutting
away the mainmast.

In this manner we passed a night of terrible anxiety and fatigue, and,
when the day at length broke, the gale had neither abated in the least,
nor were there any signs of its abating. We now dragged the bodies
on deck and threw them overboard. Our next care was to get rid of the
mainmast. The necessary preparations having been made, Peters cut away
at the mast (having found axes in the cabin), while the rest of us stood
by the stays and lanyards. As the brig gave a tremendous lee-lurch, the
word was given to cut away the weather-lanyards, which being done, the
whole mass of wood and rigging plunged into the sea, clear of the brig,
and without doing any material injury. We now found that the vessel
did not labour quite as much as before, but our situation was still
exceedingly precarious, and in spite of the utmost exertions, we
could not gain upon the leak without the aid of both pumps. The
little assistance which Augustus could render us was not really of any
importance. To add to our distress, a heavy sea, striking the brig to
the windward, threw her off several points from the wind, and, before
she could regain her position, another broke completely over her, and
hurled her full upon her beam-ends. The ballast now shifted in a mass
to leeward (the stowage had been knocking about perfectly at random for
some time), and for a few moments we thought nothing could save us from
capsizing. Presently, however, we partially righted; but the ballast
still retaining its place to larboard, we lay so much along that it was
useless to think of working the pumps, which indeed we could not have
done much longer in any case, as our hands were entirely raw with
the excessive labour we had undergone, and were bleeding in the most
horrible manner.

Contrary to Parker's advice, we now proceeded to cut away the foremast,
and at length accomplished it after much difficulty, owing to the
position in which we lay. In going overboard the wreck took with it the
bowsprit, and left us a complete hulk.

So far we had had reason to rejoice in the escape of our longboat,
which had received no damage from any of the huge seas which had come on
board. But we had not long to congratulate ourselves; for the foremast
having gone, and, of course, the foresail with it, by which the brig had
been steadied, every sea now made a complete breach over us, and in
five minutes our deck was swept from stern to stern, the longboat
and starboard bulwarks torn off, and even the windlass shattered into
fragments. It was, indeed, hardly possible for us to be in a more
pitiable condition.

At noon there seemed to be some slight appearance of the gale's abating,
but in this we were sadly disappointed, for it only lulled for a few
minutes to blow with redoubled fury. About four in the afternoon it was
utterly impossible to stand up against the violence of the blast; and,
as the night closed in upon us, I had not a shadow of hope that the
vessel would hold together until morning.

By midnight we had settled very deep in the water, which was now up to
the orlop deck. The rudder went soon afterward, the sea which tore it
away lifting the after portion of the brig entirely from the water,
against which she thumped in her descent with such a concussion as would
be occasioned by going ashore. We had all calculated that the rudder
would hold its own to the last, as it was unusually strong, being rigged
as I have never seen one rigged either before or since. Down its main
timber there ran a succession of stout iron hooks, and others in the
same manner down the stern-post. Through these hooks there extended
a very thick wrought-iron rod, the rudder being thus held to the
stern-post and swinging freely on the rod. The tremendous force of the
sea which tore it off may be estimated by the fact, that the hooks in
the stern-post, which ran entirely through it, being clinched on the
inside, were drawn every one of them completely out of the solid wood.

We had scarcely time to draw breath after the violence of this shock,
when one of the most tremendous waves I had then ever known broke right
on board of us, sweeping the companion-way clear off, bursting in the
hatchways, and filling every inch of the vessel with water.




CHAPTER 9

LUCKILY, just before night, all four of us had lashed ourselves firmly
to the fragments of the windlass, lying in this manner as flat upon the
deck as possible. This precaution alone saved us from destruction. As
it was, we were all more or less stunned by the immense weight of water
which tumbled upon us, and which did not roll from above us until we
were nearly exhausted. As soon as I could recover breath, I called aloud
to my companions. Augustus alone replied, saying: "It is all over with
us, and may God have mercy upon our souls!" By-and-by both the others
were enabled to speak, when they exhorted us to take courage, as there
was still hope; it being impossible, from the nature of the cargo, that
the brig could go down, and there being every chance that the gale would
blow over by the morning. These words inspired me with new life; for,
strange as it may seem, although it was obvious that a vessel with a
cargo of empty oil-casks would not sink, I had been hitherto so confused
in mind as to have overlooked this consideration altogether; and the
danger which I had for some time regarded as the most imminent was
that of foundering. As hope revived within me, I made use of every
opportunity to strengthen the lashings which held me to the remains
of the windlass, and in this occupation I soon discovered that my
companions were also busy. The night was as dark as it could possibly
be, and the horrible shrieking din and confusion which surrounded us it
is useless to attempt describing. Our deck lay level with the sea, or
rather we were encircled with a towering ridge of foam, a portion of
which swept over us even instant. It is not too much to say that our
heads were not fairly out of the water more than one second in three.
Although we lay close together, no one of us could see the other,
or, indeed, any portion of the brig itself, upon which we were so
tempestuously hurled about. At intervals we called one to the other,
thus endeavouring to keep alive hope, and render consolation and
encouragement to such of us as stood most in need of it. The feeble
condition of Augustus made him an object of solicitude with us all; and
as, from the lacerated condition of his right arm, it must have been
impossible for him to secure his lashings with any degree of
firmness, we were in momentary expectation of finding that he had gone
overboard--yet to render him aid was a thing altogether out of the
question. Fortunately, his station was more secure than that of any
of the rest of us; for the upper part of his body lying just beneath
a portion of the shattered windlass, the seas, as they tumbled in upon
him, were greatly broken in their violence. In any other situation than
this (into which he had been accidentally thrown after having lashed
himself in a very exposed spot) he must inevitably have perished before
morning. Owing to the brig's lying so much along, we were all less
liable to be washed off than otherwise would have been the case. The
heel, as I have before stated, was to larboard, about one half of the
deck being constantly under water. The seas, therefore, which struck us
to starboard were much broken, by the vessel's side, only reaching us
in fragments as we lay flat on our faces; while those which came from
larboard being what are called back-water seas, and obtaining little
hold upon us on account of our posture, had not sufficient force to drag
us from our fastenings.

In this frightful situation we lay until the day broke so as to show
us more fully the horrors which surrounded us. The brig was a mere
log, rolling about at the mercy of every wave; the gale was upon the
increase, if any thing, blowing indeed a complete hurricane, and there
appeared to us no earthly prospect of deliverance. For several hours
we held on in silence, expecting every moment that our lashings would
either give way, that the remains of the windlass would go by the board,
or that some of the huge seas, which roared in every direction around
us and above us, would drive the hulk so far beneath the water that we
should be drowned before it could regain the surface. By the mercy of
God, however, we were preserved from these imminent dangers, and about
midday were cheered by the light of the blessed sun. Shortly afterward
we could perceive a sensible diminution in the force of the wind, when,
now for the first time since the latter part of the evening before,
Augustus spoke, asking Peters, who lay closest to him, if he thought
there was any possibility of our being saved. As no reply was at first
made to this question, we all concluded that the hybrid had been drowned
where he lay; but presently, to our great joy, he spoke, although very
feebly, saying that he was in great pain, being so cut by the tightness
of his lashings across the stomach, that he must either find means of
loosening them or perish, as it was impossible that he could endure
his misery much longer. This occasioned us great distress, as it was
altogether useless to think of aiding him in any manner while the
sea continued washing over us as it did. We exhorted him to bear his
sufferings with fortitude, and promised to seize the first opportunity
which should offer itself to relieve him. He replied that it would soon
be too late; that it would be all over with him before we could help
him; and then, after moaning for some minutes, lay silent, when we
concluded that he had perished.

As the evening drew on, the sea had fallen so much that scarcely more
than one wave broke over the hulk from windward in the course of five
minutes, and the wind had abated a great deal, although still blowing a
severe gale. I had not heard any of my companions speak for hours, and
now called to Augustus. He replied, although very feebly, so that
I could not distinguish what he said. I then spoke to Peters and to
Parker, neither of whom returned any answer.

Shortly after this period I fell into a state of partial insensibility,
during which the most pleasing images floated in my imagination; such as
green trees, waving meadows of ripe grain, processions of dancing girls,
troops of cavalry, and other phantasies. I now remember that, in all
which passed before my mind's eye, motion was a predominant idea. Thus,
I never fancied any stationary object, such as a house, a mountain, or
any thing of that kind; but windmills, ships, large birds, balloons,
people on horseback, carriages driving furiously, and similar moving
objects, presented themselves in endless succession. When I recovered
from this state, the sun was, as near as I could guess, an hour high.
I had the greatest difficulty in bringing to recollection the various
circumstances connected with my situation, and for some time remained
firmly convinced that I was still in the hold of the brig, near the box,
and that the body of Parker was that of Tiger.

When I at length completely came to my senses, I found that the wind
blew no more than a moderate breeze, and that the sea was comparatively
calm; so much so that it only washed over the brig amidships. My left
arm had broken loose from its lashings, and was much cut about the
elbow; my right was entirely benumbed, and the hand and wrist swollen
prodigiously by the pressure of the rope, which had worked from the
shoulder downward. I was also in great pain from another rope which
went about my waist, and had been drawn to an insufferable degree of
tightness. Looking round upon my companions, I saw that Peters still
lived, although a thick line was pulled so forcibly around his loins as
to give him the appearance of being cut nearly in two; as I stirred, he
made a feeble motion to me with his hand, pointing to the rope. Augustus
gave no indication of life whatever, and was bent nearly double across a
splinter of the windlass. Parker spoke to me when he saw me moving,
and asked me if I had not sufficient strength to release him from his
situation, saying that if I would summon up what spirits I could, and
contrive to untie him, we might yet save our lives; but that otherwise
we must all perish. I told him to take courage, and I would endeavor to
free him. Feeling in my pantaloons' pocket, I got hold of my penknife,
and, after several ineffectual attempts, at length succeeded in opening
it. I then, with my left hand, managed to free my right from its
fastenings, and afterward cut the other ropes which held me. Upon
attempting, however, to move from my position, I found that my legs
failed me altogether, and that I could not get up; neither could I
move my right arm in any direction. Upon mentioning this to Parker, he
advised me to lie quiet for a few minutes, holding on to the windlass
with my left hand, so as to allow time for the blood to circulate. Doing
this, the numbness presently began to die away so that I could move
first one of my legs, and then the other, and, shortly afterward I
regained the partial use of my right arm. I now crawled with great
caution toward Parker, without getting on my legs, and soon cut loose
all the lashings about him, when, after a short delay, he also recovered
the partial use of his limbs. We now lost no time in getting loose the
rope from Peters. It had cut a deep gash through the waistband of his
woollen pantaloons, and through two shirts, and made its way into his
groin, from which the blood flowed out copiously as we removed the
cordage. No sooner had we removed it, however, than he spoke, and seemed
to experience instant relief--being able to move with much greater ease
than either Parker or myself--this was no doubt owing to the discharge
of blood.

We had little hopes that Augustus would recover, as he evinced no signs
of life; but, upon getting to him, we discovered that he had merely
swooned from the loss of blood, the bandages we had placed around his
wounded arm having been torn off by the water; none of the ropes which
held him to the windlass were drawn sufficiently tight to occasion his
death. Having relieved him from the fastenings, and got him clear of
the broken wood about the windlass, we secured him in a dry place to
windward, with his head somewhat lower than his body, and all three of
us busied ourselves in chafing his limbs. In about half an hour he came
to himself, although it was not until the next morning that he gave
signs of recognizing any of us, or had sufficient strength to speak. By
the time we had thus got clear of our lashings it was quite dark, and it
began to cloud up, so that we were again in the greatest agony lest it
should come on to blow hard, in which event nothing could have saved us
from perishing, exhausted as we were. By good fortune it continued very
moderate during the night, the sea subsiding every minute, which gave
us great hopes of ultimate preservation. A gentle breeze still blew
from the N. W., but the weather was not at all cold. Augustus was lashed
carefully to windward in such a manner as to prevent him from slipping
overboard with the rolls of the vessel, as he was still too weak to
hold on at all. For ourselves there was no such necessity. We sat close
together, supporting each other with the aid of the broken ropes
about the windlass, and devising methods of escape from our frightful
situation. We derived much comfort from taking off our clothes and
wringing the water from them. When we put them on after this, they felt
remarkably warm and pleasant, and served to invigorate us in no little
degree. We helped Augustus off with his, and wrung them for him, when he
experienced the same comfort.

Our chief sufferings were now those of hunger and thirst, and when we
looked forward to the means of relief in this respect, our hearts sunk
within us, and we were induced to regret that we had escaped the
less dreadful perils of the sea. We endeavoured, however, to console
ourselves with the hope of being speedily picked up by some vessel
and encouraged each other to bear with fortitude the evils that might
happen.

The morning of the fourteenth at length dawned, and the weather still
continued clear and pleasant, with a steady but very light breeze from
the N. W. The sea was now quite smooth, and as, from some cause which we
could not determine, the brig did not lie so much along as she had done
before, the deck was comparatively dry, and we could move about with
freedom. We had now been better than three entire days and nights
without either food or drink, and it became absolutely necessary that we
should make an attempt to get up something from below. As the brig was
completely full of water, we went to this work despondently, and with
but little expectation of being able to obtain anything. We made a kind
of drag by driving some nails which we broke out from the remains of the
companion-hatch into two pieces of wood. Tying these across each other,
and fastening them to the end of a rope, we threw them into the cabin,
and dragged them to and fro, in the faint hope of being thus able to
entangle some article which might be of use to us for food, or which
might at least render us assistance in getting it. We spent the greater
part of the morning in this labour without effect, fishing up nothing
more than a few bedclothes, which were readily caught by the nails.
Indeed, our contrivance was so very clumsy that any greater success was
hardly to be anticipated.

We now tried the forecastle, but equally in vain, and were upon the
brink of despair, when Peters proposed that we should fasten a rope to
his body, and let him make an attempt to get up something by diving
into the cabin. This proposition we hailed with all the delight which
reviving hope could inspire. He proceeded immediately to strip off his
clothes with the exception of his pantaloons; and a strong rope was
then carefully fastened around his middle, being brought up over
his shoulders in such a manner that there was no possibility of its
slipping. The undertaking was one of great difficulty and danger; for,
as we could hardly expect to find much, if any, provision in the cabin
itself, it was necessary that the diver, after letting himself down,
should make a turn to the right, and proceed under water a distance of
ten or twelve feet, in a narrow passage, to the storeroom, and return,
without drawing breath.

Everything being ready, Peters now descended in the cabin, going down
the companion-ladder until the water reached his chin. He then plunged
in, head first, turning to the right as he plunged, and endeavouring to
make his way to the storeroom. In this first attempt, however, he was
altogether unsuccessful. In less than half a minute after his going down
we felt the rope jerked violently (the signal we had agreed upon when
he desired to be drawn up). We accordingly drew him up instantly, but so
incautiously as to bruise him badly against the ladder. He had brought
nothing with him, and had been unable to penetrate more than a very
little way into the passage, owing to the constant exertions he found it
necessary to make in order to keep himself from floating up against the
deck. Upon getting out he was very much exhausted, and had to rest full
fifteen minutes before he could again venture to descend.

The second attempt met with even worse success; for he remained so long
under water without giving the signal, that, becoming alarmed for his
safety, we drew him out without it, and found that he was almost at the
last gasp, having, as he said, repeatedly jerked at the rope without
our feeling it. This was probably owing to a portion of it having become
entangled in the balustrade at the foot of the ladder. This balustrade
was, indeed, so much in the way, that we determined to remove it, if
possible, before proceeding with our design. As we had no means of
getting it away except by main force, we all descended into the water
as far as we could on the ladder, and giving a pull against it with our
united strength, succeeded in breaking it down.

The third attempt was equally unsuccessful with the two first, and it
now became evident that nothing could be done in this manner without the
aid of some weight with which the diver might steady himself, and keep
to the floor of the cabin while making his search. For a long time we
looked about in vain for something which might answer this purpose; but
at length, to our great joy, we discovered one of the weather-forechains
so loose that we had not the least difficulty in wrenching it off.
Having fastened this securely to one of his ankles, Peters now made his
fourth descent into the cabin, and this time succeeded in making his way
to the door of the steward's room. To his inexpressible grief, however,
he found it locked, and was obliged to return without effecting an
entrance, as, with the greatest exertion, he could remain under water
not more, at the utmost extent, than a single minute. Our affairs now
looked gloomy indeed, and neither Augustus nor myself could refrain from
bursting into tears, as we thought of the host of difficulties which
encompassed us, and the slight probability which existed of our finally
making an escape. But this weakness was not of long duration. Throwing
ourselves on our knees to God, we implored His aid in the many dangers
which beset us; and arose with renewed hope and vigor to think what
could yet be done by mortal means toward accomplishing our deliverance.




CHAPTER 10

SHORTLY afterward an incident occurred which I am induced to look upon
as more intensely productive of emotion, as far more replete with the
extremes first of delight and then of horror, than even any of the
thousand chances which afterward befell me in nine long years, crowded
with events of the most startling and, in many cases, of the most
unconceived and unconceivable character. We were lying on the deck near
the companion-way, and debating the possibility of yet making our way
into the storeroom, when, looking toward Augustus, who lay fronting
myself, I perceived that he had become all at once deadly pale, and that
his lips were quivering in the most singular and unaccountable manner.
Greatly alarmed, I spoke to him, but he made me no reply, and I was
beginning to think that he was suddenly taken ill, when I took notice
of his eyes, which were glaring apparently at some object behind me. I
turned my head, and shall never forget the ecstatic joy which thrilled
through every particle of my frame, when I perceived a large brig
bearing down upon us, and not more than a couple of miles off. I sprung
to my feet as if a musket bullet had suddenly struck me to the heart;
and, stretching out my arms in the direction of the vessel, stood in
this manner, motionless, and unable to articulate a syllable. Peters
and Parker were equally affected, although in different ways. The former
danced about the deck like a madman, uttering the most extravagant
rhodomontades, intermingled with howls and imprecations, while the
latter burst into tears, and continued for many minutes weeping like a
child.

The vessel in sight was a large hermaphrodite brig, of a Dutch build,
and painted black, with a tawdry gilt figure-head. She had evidently
seen a good deal of rough weather, and, we supposed, had suffered
much in the gale which had proved so disastrous to ourselves; for her
foretopmast was gone, and some of her starboard bulwarks. When we first
saw her, she was, as I have already said, about two miles off and to
windward, bearing down upon us. The breeze was very gentle, and what
astonished us chiefly was, that she had no other sails set than her
foremast and mainsail, with a flying jib--of course she came down but
slowly, and our impatience amounted nearly to phrensy. The awkward
manner in which she steered, too, was remarked by all of us, even
excited as we were. She yawed about so considerably, that once or twice
we thought it impossible she could see us, or imagined that, having seen
us, and discovered no person on board, she was about to tack and make
off in another direction. Upon each of these occasions we screamed and
shouted at the top of our voices, when the stranger would appear to
change for a moment her intention, and again hold on toward us--this
singular conduct being repeated two or three times, so that at last we
could think of no other manner of accounting for it than by supposing
the helmsman to be in liquor.

No person was seen upon her decks until she arrived within about a
quarter of a mile of us. We then saw three seamen, whom by their dress
we took to be Hollanders. Two of these were lying on some old sails near
the forecastle, and the third, who appeared to be looking at us with
great curiosity, was leaning over the starboard bow near the bowsprit.
This last was a stout and tall man, with a very dark skin. He seemed
by his manner to be encouraging us to have patience, nodding to us in
a cheerful although rather odd way, and smiling constantly, so as to
display a set of the most brilliantly white teeth. As his vessel drew
nearer, we saw a red flannel cap which he had on fall from his head into
the water; but of this he took little or no notice, continuing his
odd smiles and gesticulations. I relate these things and circumstances
minutely, and I relate them, it must be understood, precisely as they
_appeared _to us.

The brig came on slowly, and now more steadily than before, and--I
cannot speak calmly of this event--our hearts leaped up wildly within
us, and we poured out our whole souls in shouts and thanksgiving to
God for the complete, unexpected, and glorious deliverance that was so
palpably at hand. Of a sudden, and all at once, there came wafted over
the ocean from the strange vessel (which was now close upon us) a
smell, a stench, such as the whole world has no name for--no conception
of--hellish--utterly suffocating--insufferable, inconceivable. I gasped
for breath, and turning to my companions, perceived that they were paler
than marble. But we had now no time left for question or surmise--the
brig was within fifty feet of us, and it seemed to be her intention to
run under our counter, that we might board her without putting out a
boat. We rushed aft, when, suddenly, a wide yaw threw her off full five
or six points from the course she had been running, and, as she passed
under our stern at the distance of about twenty feet, we had a full view
of her decks. Shall I ever forget the triple horror of that spectacle?
Twenty-five or thirty human bodies, among whom were several females, lay
scattered about between the counter and the galley in the last and most
loathsome state of putrefaction. We plainly saw that not a soul lived in
that fated vessel! Yet we could not help shouting to the dead for help!
Yes, long and loudly did we beg, in the agony of the moment, that those
silent and disgusting images would stay for us, would not abandon us to
become like them, would receive us among their goodly company! We were
raving with horror and despair--thoroughly mad through the anguish of
our grievous disappointment.

As our first loud yell of terror broke forth, it was replied to by
something, from near the bowsprit of the stranger, so closely resembling
the scream of a human voice that the nicest ear might have been startled
and deceived. At this instant another sudden yaw brought the region of
the forecastle for a moment into view, and we beheld at once the origin
of the sound. We saw the tall stout figure still leaning on the bulwark,
and still nodding his head to and fro, but his face was now turned from
us so that we could not behold it. His arms were extended over the rail,
and the palms of his hands fell outward. His knees were lodged upon
a stout rope, tightly stretched, and reaching from the heel of the
bowsprit to a cathead. On his back, from which a portion of the shirt
had been torn, leaving it bare, there sat a huge sea-gull, busily
gorging itself with the horrible flesh, its bill and talons deep buried,
and its white plumage spattered all over with blood. As the brig moved
farther round so as to bring us close in view, the bird, with much
apparent difficulty, drew out its crimsoned head, and, after eyeing us
for a moment as if stupefied, arose lazily from the body upon which it
had been feasting, and, flying directly above our deck, hovered there
a while with a portion of clotted and liver-like substance in its beak.
The horrid morsel dropped at length with a sullen splash immediately
at the feet of Parker. May God forgive me, but now, for the first time,
there flashed through my mind a thought, a thought which I will not
mention, and I felt myself making a step toward the ensanguined spot.
I looked upward, and the eyes of Augustus met my own with a degree of
intense and eager meaning which immediately brought me to my senses. I
sprang forward quickly, and, with a deep shudder, threw the frightful
thing into the sea.

The body from which it had been taken, resting as it did upon the rope,
had been easily swayed to and fro by the exertions of the carnivorous
bird, and it was this motion which had at first impressed us with the
belief of its being alive. As the gull relieved it of its weight,
it swung round and fell partially over, so that the face was fully
discovered. Never, surely, was any object so terribly full of awe! The
eyes were gone, and the whole flesh around the mouth, leaving the teeth
utterly naked. This, then, was the smile which had cheered us on to
hope! this the--but I forbear. The brig, as I have already told, passed
under our stern, and made its way slowly but steadily to leeward. With
her and with her terrible crew went all our gay visions of deliverance
and joy. Deliberately as she went by, we might possibly have found means
of boarding her, had not our sudden disappointment and the appalling
nature of the discovery which accompanied it laid entirely prostrate
every active faculty of mind and body. We had seen and felt, but
we could neither think nor act, until, alas! too late. How much our
intellects had been weakened by this incident may be estimated by the
fact, that when the vessel had proceeded so far that we could perceive
no more than the half of her hull, the proposition was seriously
entertained of attempting to overtake her by swimming!

I have, since this period, vainly endeavoured to obtain some clew to the
hideous uncertainty which enveloped the fate of the stranger. Her build
and general appearance, as I have before stated, led us to the belief
that she was a Dutch trader, and the dresses of the crew also sustained
this opinion. We might have easily seen the name upon her stern, and,
indeed, taken other observations, which would have guided us in making
out her character; but the intense excitement of the moment blinded us
to every thing of that nature. From the saffron-like hue of such of the
corpses as were not entirely decayed, we concluded that the whole of her
company had perished by the yellow fever, or some other virulent disease
of the same fearful kind. If such were the case (and I know not what
else to imagine), death, to judge from the positions of the bodies, must
have come upon them in a manner awfully sudden and overwhelming, in a
way totally distinct from that which generally characterizes even
the most deadly pestilences with which mankind are acquainted. It is
possible, indeed, that poison, accidentally introduced into some of
their sea-stores, may have brought about the disaster, or that the
eating of some unknown venomous species of fish, or other marine animal,
or oceanic bird, might have induced it--but it is utterly useless to
form conjectures where all is involved, and will, no doubt, remain for
ever involved, in the most appalling and unfathomable mystery.




CHAPTER 11

WE spent the remainder of the day in a condition of stupid lethargy,
gazing after the retreating vessel until the darkness, hiding her from
our sight, recalled us in some measure to our senses. The pangs
of hunger and thirst then returned, absorbing all other cares and
considerations. Nothing, however, could be done until the morning,
and, securing ourselves as well as possible, we endeavoured to snatch
a little repose. In this I succeeded beyond my expectations, sleeping
until my companions, who had not been so fortunate, aroused me at
daybreak to renew our attempts at getting up provisions from the hull.

It was now a dead calm, with the sea as smooth as have ever known
it,--the weather warm and pleasant. The brig was out of sight. We
commenced our operations by wrenching off, with some trouble, another of
the forechains; and having fastened both to Peters' feet, he again made
an endeavour to reach the door of the storeroom, thinking it possible
that he might be able to force it open, provided he could get at it
in sufficient time; and this he hoped to do, as the hulk lay much more
steadily than before.

He succeeded very quickly in reaching the door, when, loosening one of
the chains from his ankle, he made every exertion to force the passage
with it, but in vain, the framework of the room being far stronger than
was anticipated. He was quite exhausted with his long stay under water,
and it became absolutely necessary that some other one of us should take
his place. For this service Parker immediately volunteered; but, after
making three ineffectual efforts, found that he could never even succeed
in getting near the door. The condition of Augustus's wounded arm
rendered it useless for him to attempt going down, as he would be
unable to force the room open should he reach it, and it accordingly now
devolved upon me to exert myself for our common deliverance.

Peters had left one of the chains in the passage, and I found, upon
plunging in, that I had not sufficient balance to keep me firmly down.
I determined, therefore, to attempt no more, in my first effort, than
merely to recover the other chain. In groping along the floor of the
passage for this, I felt a hard substance, which I immediately grasped,
not having time to ascertain what it was, but returning and ascending
instantly to the surface. The prize proved to be a bottle, and our joy
may be conceived when I say that it was found to be full of port
wine. Giving thanks to God for this timely and cheering assistance, we
immediately drew the cork with my penknife, and, each taking a moderate
sup, felt the most indescribable comfort from the warmth, strength,
and spirits with which it inspired us. We then carefully recorked the
bottle, and, by means of a handkerchief, swung it in such a manner that
there was no possibility of its getting broken.

Having rested a while after this fortunate discovery, I again descended,
and now recovered the chain, with which I instantly came up. I then
fastened it on and went down for the third time, when I became fully
satisfied that no exertions whatever, in that situation, would enable
me to force open the door of the storeroom. I therefore returned in
despair.

There seemed now to be no longer any room for hope, and I could perceive
in the countenances of my companions that they had made up their
minds to perish. The wine had evidently produced in them a species
of delirium, which, perhaps, I had been prevented from feeling by the
immersion I had undergone since drinking it. They talked incoherently,
and about matters unconnected with our condition, Peters repeatedly
asking me questions about Nantucket. Augustus, too, I remember,
approached me with a serious air, and requested me to lend him a
pocket-comb, as his hair was full of fish-scales, and he wished to get
them out before going on shore. Parker appeared somewhat less affected,
and urged me to dive at random into the cabin, and bring up any article
which might come to hand. To this I consented, and, in the first
attempt, after staying under a full minute, brought up a small leather
trunk belonging to Captain Barnard. This was immediately opened in the
faint hope that it might contain something to eat or drink. We found
nothing, however, except a box of razors and two linen shirts. I now
went down again, and returned without any success. As my head came
above water I heard a crash on deck, and, upon getting up, saw that my
companions had ungratefully taken advantage of my absence to drink the
remainder of the wine, having let the bottle fall in the endeavour
to replace it before I saw them. I remonstrated with them on the
heartlessness of their conduct, when Augustus burst into tears. The
other two endeavoured to laugh the matter off as a joke, but I hope
never again to behold laughter of such a species: the distortion of
countenance was absolutely frightful. Indeed, it was apparent that the
stimulus, in the empty state of their stomachs, had taken instant and
violent effect, and that they were all exceedingly intoxicated. With
great difficulty I prevailed upon them to lie down, when they fell very
soon into a heavy slumber, accompanied with loud stertorous breathing.

I now found myself, as it were, alone in the brig, and my reflections,
to be sure, were of the most fearful and gloomy nature. No prospect
offered itself to my view but a lingering death by famine, or, at the
best, by being overwhelmed in the first gale which should spring up,
for in our present exhausted condition we could have no hope of living
through another.

The gnawing hunger which I now experienced was nearly insupportable, and
I felt myself capable of going to any lengths in order to appease
it. With my knife I cut off a small portion of the leather trunk, and
endeavoured to eat it, but found it utterly impossible to swallow a
single morsel, although I fancied that some little alleviation of my
suffering was obtained by chewing small pieces of it and spitting
them out. Toward night my companions awoke, one by one, each in an
indescribable state of weakness and horror, brought on by the wine,
whose fumes had now evaporated. They shook as if with a violent ague,
and uttered the most lamentable cries for water. Their condition
affected me in the most lively degree, at the same time causing me to
rejoice in the fortunate train of circumstances which had prevented
me from indulging in the wine, and consequently from sharing their
melancholy and most distressing sensations. Their conduct, however,
gave me great uneasiness and alarm; for it was evident that, unless
some favourable change took place, they could afford me no assistance in
providing for our common safety. I had not yet abandoned all idea being
able to get up something from below; but the attempt could not possibly
be resumed until some one of them was sufficiently master of himself to
aid me by holding the end of the rope while I went down. Parker appeared
to be somewhat more in possession of his senses than the others, and I
endeavoured, by every means in my power, to rouse him. Thinking that a
plunge in the sea-water might have a beneficial effect, I contrived to
fasten the end of a rope around his body, and then, leading him to the
companion-way (he remaining quite passive all the while), pushed him in,
and immediately drew him out. I had good reason to congratulate myself
upon having made this experiment; for he appeared much revived and
invigorated, and, upon getting out, asked me, in a rational manner, why
I had so served him. Having explained my object, he expressed himself
indebted to me, and said that he felt greatly better from the immersion,
afterward conversing sensibly upon our situation. We then resolved to
treat Augustus and Peters in the same way, which we immediately did,
when they both experienced much benefit from the shock. This idea of
sudden immersion had been suggested to me by reading in some medical
work the good effect of the shower-bath in a case where the patient was
suffering from _mania a potu_.

Finding that I could now trust my companions to hold the end of the
rope, I again made three or four plunges into the cabin, although it was
now quite dark, and a gentle but long swell from the northward rendered
the hulk somewhat unsteady. In the course of these attempts I succeeded
in bringing up two case-knives, a three-gallon jug, empty, and a
blanket, but nothing which could serve us for food. I continued my
efforts, after getting these articles, until I was completely exhausted,
but brought up nothing else. During the night Parker and Peters occupied
themselves by turns in the same manner; but nothing coming to hand, we
now gave up this attempt in despair, concluding that we were exhausting
ourselves in vain.

We passed the remainder of this night in a state of the most intense
mental and bodily anguish that can possibly be imagined. The morning of
the sixteenth at length dawned, and we looked eagerly around the horizon
for relief, but to no purpose. The sea was still smooth, with only a
long swell from the northward, as on yesterday. This was the sixth day
since we had tasted either food or drink, with the exception of the
bottle of port wine, and it was clear that we could hold out but a very
little while longer unless something could be obtained. I never saw
before, nor wish to see again, human beings so utterly emaciated as
Peters and Augustus. Had I met them on shore in their present condition
I should not have had the slightest suspicion that I had ever beheld
them. Their countenances were totally changed in character, so that I
could not bring myself to believe them really the same individuals with
whom I had been in company but a few days before. Parker, although sadly
reduced, and so feeble that he could not raise his head from his bosom,
was not so far gone as the other two. He suffered with great patience,
making no complaint, and endeavouring to inspire us with hope in every
manner he could devise. For myself, although at the commencement of
the voyage I had been in bad health, and was at all times of a delicate
constitution, I suffered less than any of us, being much less reduced in
frame, and retaining my powers of mind in a surprising degree, while the
rest were completely prostrated in intellect, and seemed to be
brought to a species of second childhood, generally simpering in
their expressions, with idiotic smiles, and uttering the most absurd
platitudes. At intervals, however, they would appear to revive suddenly,
as if inspired all at once with a consciousness of their condition, when
they would spring upon their feet in a momentary flash of vigour, and
speak, for a short period, of their prospects, in a manner altogether
rational, although full of the most intense despair. It is possible,
however, that my companions may have entertained the same opinion of
their own condition as I did of mine, and that I may have
unwittingly been guilty of the same extravagances and imbecilities as
themselves--this is a matter which cannot be determined.

About noon Parker declared that he saw land off the larboard quarter,
and it was with the utmost difficulty I could restrain him from plunging
into the sea with the view of swimming toward it. Peters and Augustus
took little notice of what he said, being apparently wrapped up in moody
contemplation. Upon looking in the direction pointed out, I could not
perceive the faintest appearance of the shore--indeed, I was too well
aware that we were far from any land to indulge in a hope of that
nature. It was a long time, nevertheless, before I could convince Parker
of his mistake. He then burst into a flood of tears, weeping like a
child, with loud cries and sobs, for two or three hours, when becoming
exhausted, he fell asleep.

Peters and Augustus now made several ineffectual efforts to swallow
portions of the leather. I advised them to chew it and spit it out; but
they were too excessively debilitated to be able to follow my advice. I
continued to chew pieces of it at intervals, and found some relief from
so doing; my chief distress was for water, and I was only prevented from
taking a draught from the sea by remembering the horrible consequences
which thus have resulted to others who were similarly situated with
ourselves.

The day wore on in this manner, when I suddenly discovered a sail to the
eastward, and on our larboard bow. She appeared to be a large ship, and
was coming nearly athwart us, being probably twelve or fifteen miles
distant. None of my companions had as yet discovered her, and I forbore
to tell them of her for the present, lest we might again be disappointed
of relief. At length upon her getting nearer, I saw distinctly that she
was heading immediately for us, with her light sails filled. I could now
contain myself no longer, and pointed her out to my fellow-sufferers.
They immediately sprang to their feet, again indulging in the most
extravagant demonstrations of joy, weeping, laughing in an idiotic
manner, jumping, stamping upon the deck, tearing their hair, and praying
and cursing by turns. I was so affected by their conduct, as well as
by what I considered a sure prospect of deliverance, that I could not
refrain from joining in with their madness, and gave way to the impulses
of my gratitude and ecstasy by lying and rolling on the deck, clapping
my hands, shouting, and other similar acts, until I was suddenly called
to my recollection, and once more to the extreme human misery and
despair, by perceiving the ship all at once with her stern fully
presented toward us, and steering in a direction nearly opposite to that
in which I had at first perceived her.

It was some time before I could induce my poor companions to believe
that this sad reverse in our prospects had actually taken place. They
replied to all my assertions with a stare and a gesture implying that
they were not to be deceived by such misrepresentations. The conduct of
Augustus most sensibly affected me. In spite of all I could say or do to
the contrary, he persisted in saying that the ship was rapidly nearing
us, and in making preparations to go on board of her. Some seaweed
floating by the brig, he maintained that it was the ship's boat, and
endeavoured to throw himself upon it, howling and shrieking in the most
heartrending manner, when I forcibly restrained him from thus casting
himself into the sea.

Having become in some degree pacified, we continued to watch the ship
until we finally lost sight of her, the weather becoming hazy, with
a light breeze springing up. As soon as she was entirely gone, Parker
turned suddenly toward me with an expression of countenance which made
me shudder. There was about him an air of self-possession which I had
not noticed in him until now, and before he opened his lips my heart
told me what he would say. He proposed, in a few words, that one of us
should die to preserve the existence of the others.




CHAPTER 12

I had for some time past, dwelt upon the prospect of our being reduced
to this last horrible extremity, and had secretly made up my mind to
suffer death in any shape or under any circumstances rather than resort
to such a course. Nor was this resolution in any degree weakened by the
present intensity of hunger under which I laboured. The proposition had
not been heard by either Peters or Augustus. I therefore took Parker
aside; and mentally praying to God for power to dissuade him from the
horrible purpose he entertained, I expostulated with him for a long
time, and in the most supplicating manner, begging him in the name of
every thing which he held sacred, and urging him by every species of
argument which the extremity of the case suggested, to abandon the idea,
and not to mention it to either of the other two.

He heard all I said without attempting to controvert any of my
arguments, and I had begun to hope that he would be prevailed upon to do
as I desired. But when I had ceased speaking, he said that he knew very
well all I had said was true, and that to resort to such a course was
the most horrible alternative which could enter into the mind of man;
but that he had now held out as long as human nature could be sustained;
that it was unnecessary for all to perish, when, by the death of one,
it was possible, and even probable, that the rest might be finally
preserved; adding that I might save myself the trouble of trying to turn
him from his purpose, his mind having been thoroughly made up on the
subject even before the appearance of the ship, and that only her
heaving in sight had prevented him from mentioning his intention at an
earlier period.

I now begged him, if he would not be prevailed upon to abandon his
design, at least to defer it for another day, when some vessel might
come to our relief; again reiterating every argument I could devise, and
which I thought likely to have influence with one of his rough nature.
He said, in reply, that he had not spoken until the very last possible
moment, that he could exist no longer without sustenance of some kind,
and that therefore in another day his suggestion would be too late, as
regarded himself at least.

Finding that he was not to be moved by anything I could say in a mild
tone, I now assumed a different demeanor, and told him that he must be
aware I had suffered less than any of us from our calamities; that my
health and strength, consequently, were at that moment far better than
his own, or than that either of Peters or Augustus; in short, that I was
in a condition to have my own way by force if I found it necessary;
and that if he attempted in any manner to acquaint the others with his
bloody and cannibal designs, I would not hesitate to throw him into the
sea. Upon this he immediately seized me by the throat, and drawing a
knife, made several ineffectual efforts to stab me in the stomach;
an atrocity which his excessive debility alone prevented him from
accomplishing. In the meantime, being roused to a high pitch of anger, I
forced him to the vessel's side, with the full intention of throwing him
overboard. He was saved from his fate, however, by the interference of
Peters, who now approached and separated us, asking the cause of the
disturbance. This Parker told before I could find means in any manner to
prevent him.

The effect of his words was even more terrible than what I had
anticipated. Both Augustus and Peters, who, it seems, had long secretly
entertained the same fearful idea which Parker had been merely the
first to broach, joined with him in his design and insisted upon its
immediately being carried into effect. I had calculated that one at
least of the two former would be found still possessed of sufficient
strength of mind to side with myself in resisting any attempt to execute
so dreadful a purpose, and, with the aid of either one of them, I had no
fear of being able to prevent its accomplishment. Being disappointed in
this expectation, it became absolutely necessary that I should attend
to my own safety, as a further resistance on my part might possibly be
considered by men in their frightful condition a sufficient excuse
for refusing me fair play in the tragedy that I knew would speedily be
enacted.

I now told them I was willing to submit to the proposal, merely
requesting a delay of about one hour, in order that the fog which had
gathered around us might have an opportunity of lifting, when it was
possible that the ship we had seen might be again in sight. After great
difficulty I obtained from them a promise to wait thus long; and, as I
had anticipated (a breeze rapidly coming in), the fog lifted before the
hour had expired, when, no vessel appearing in sight, we prepared to
draw lots.

It is with extreme reluctance that I dwell upon the appalling scene
which ensued; a scene which, with its minutest details, no after events
have been able to efface in the slightest degree from my memory,
and whose stern recollection will embitter every future moment of my
existence. Let me run over this portion of my narrative with as much
haste as the nature of the events to be spoken of will permit. The only
method we could devise for the terrific lottery, in which we were to
take each a chance, was that of drawing straws. Small splinters of wood
were made to answer our purpose, and it was agreed that I should be
the holder. I retired to one end of the hulk, while my poor companions
silently took up their station in the other with their backs turned
toward me. The bitterest anxiety which I endured at any period of this
fearful drama was while I occupied myself in the arrangement of the
lots. There are few conditions into which man can possibly fall where he
will not feel a deep interest in the preservation of his existence;
an interest momentarily increasing with the frailness of the tenure by
which that existence may be held. But now that the silent, definite, and
stern nature of the business in which I was engaged (so different from
the tumultuous dangers of the storm or the gradually approaching horrors
of famine) allowed me to reflect on the few chances I had of escaping
the most appalling of deaths--a death for the most appalling of
purposes--every particle of that energy which had so long buoyed me up
departed like feathers before the wind, leaving me a helpless prey to
the most abject and pitiable terror. I could not, at first, even summon
up sufficient strength to tear and fit together the small splinters of
wood, my fingers absolutely refusing their office, and my knees knocking
violently against each other. My mind ran over rapidly a thousand absurd
projects by which to avoid becoming a partner in the awful speculation.
I thought of falling on my knees to my companions, and entreating them
to let me escape this necessity; of suddenly rushing upon them, and,
by putting one of them to death, of rendering the decision by lot
useless--in short, of every thing but of going through with the matter
I had in hand. At last, after wasting a long time in this imbecile
conduct, I was recalled to my senses by the voice of Parker, who urged
me to relieve them at once from the terrible anxiety they were enduring.
Even then I could not bring myself to arrange the splinters upon the
spot, but thought over every species of finesse by which I could trick
some one of my fellow-sufferers to draw the short straw, as it had been
agreed that whoever drew the shortest of four splinters from my hand was
to die for the preservation of the rest. Before any one condemn me for
this apparent heartlessness, let him be placed in a situation precisely
similar to my own.

At length delay was no longer possible, and, with a heart almost
bursting from my bosom, I advanced to the region of the forecastle,
where my companions were awaiting me. I held out my hand with the
splinters, and Peters immediately drew. He was free--his, at least, was
not the shortest; and there was now another chance against my escape.
I summoned up all my strength, and passed the lots to Augustus. He also
drew immediately, and he also was free; and now, whether I should live
or die, the chances were no more than precisely even. At this moment
all the fierceness of the tiger possessed my bosom, and I felt toward
my poor fellow-creature, Parker, the most intense, the most diabolical
hatred. But the feeling did not last; and, at length, with a convulsive
shudder and closed eyes, I held out the two remaining splinters toward
him. It was fully five minutes before he could summon resolution to
draw, during which period of heartrending suspense I never once opened
my eyes. Presently one of the two lots was quickly drawn from my hand.
The decision was then over, yet I knew not whether it was for me or
against me. No one spoke, and still I dared not satisfy myself by
looking at the splinter I held. Peters at length took me by the
hand, and I forced myself to look up, when I immediately saw by the
countenance of Parker that I was safe, and that he it was who had been
doomed to suffer. Gasping for breath, I fell senseless to the deck.

I recovered from my swoon in time to behold the consummation of the
tragedy in the death of him who had been chiefly instrumental in
bringing it about. He made no resistance whatever, and was stabbed in
the back by Peters, when he fell instantly dead. I must not dwell
upon the fearful repast which immediately ensued. Such things may be
imagined, but words have no power to impress the mind with the exquisite
horror of their reality. Let it suffice to say that, having in some
measure appeased the raging thirst which consumed us by the blood of
the victim, and having by common consent taken off the hands, feet,
and head, throwing them together with the entrails, into the sea, we
devoured the rest of the body, piecemeal, during the four ever memorable
days of the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth of the
month.

On the nineteenth, there coming on a smart shower which lasted fifteen
or twenty minutes, we contrived to catch some water by means of a sheet
which had been fished up from the cabin by our drag just after the gale.
The quantity we took in all did not amount to more than half a gallon;
but even this scanty allowance supplied us with comparative strength and
hope.

On the twenty-first we were again reduced to the last necessity. The
weather still remained warm and pleasant, with occasional fogs and light
breezes, most usually from N. to W.

On the twenty-second, as we were sitting close huddled together,
gloomily revolving over our lamentable condition, there flashed through
my mind all at once an idea which inspired me with a bright gleam of
hope. I remembered that, when the foremast had been cut away, Peters,
being in the windward chains, passed one of the axes into my hand,
requesting me to put it, if possible, in a place of security, and that
a few minutes before the last heavy sea struck the brig and filled her
I had taken this axe into the forecastle and laid it in one of the
larboard berths. I now thought it possible that, by getting at this
axe, we might cut through the deck over the storeroom, and thus readily
supply ourselves with provisions.

When I communicated this object to my companions, they uttered a feeble
shout of joy, and we all proceeded forthwith to the forecastle. The
difficulty of descending here was greater than that of going down in the
cabin, the opening being much smaller, for it will be remembered that
the whole framework about the cabin companion-hatch had been carried
away, whereas the forecastle-way, being a simple hatch of only about
three feet square, had remained uninjured. I did not hesitate, however,
to attempt the descent; and a rope being fastened round my body as
before, I plunged boldly in, feet foremost, made my way quickly to the
berth, and at the first attempt brought up the axe. It was hailed with
the most ecstatic joy and triumph, and the ease with which it had been
obtained was regarded as an omen of our ultimate preservation.

We now commenced cutting at the deck with all the energy of rekindled
hope, Peters and myself taking the axe by turns, Augustus's wounded arm
not permitting him to aid us in any degree. As we were still so feeble
as to be scarcely able to stand unsupported, and could consequently work
but a minute or two without resting, it soon became evident that many
long hours would be necessary to accomplish our task--that is, to cut an
opening sufficiently large to admit of a free access to the storeroom.
This consideration, however, did not discourage us; and, working all
night by the light of the moon, we succeeded in effecting our purpose by
daybreak on the morning of the twenty-third.

Peters now volunteered to go down; and, having made all arrangements
as before, he descended, and soon returned bringing up with him a small
jar, which, to our great joy, proved to be full of olives. Having
shared these among us, and devoured them with the greatest avidity,
we proceeded to let him down again. This time he succeeded beyond our
utmost expectations, returning instantly with a large ham and a bottle
of Madeira wine. Of the latter we each took a moderate sup, having
learned by experience the pernicious consequences of indulging too
freely. The ham, except about two pounds near the bone, was not in a
condition to be eaten, having been entirely spoiled by the salt water.
The sound part was divided among us. Peters and Augustus, not being able
to restrain their appetite, swallowed theirs upon the instant; but I was
more cautious, and ate but a small portion of mine, dreading the thirst
which I knew would ensue. We now rested a while from our labors, which
had been intolerably severe.

By noon, feeling somewhat strengthened and refreshed, we again renewed
our attempt at getting up provisions, Peters and myself going down
alternately, and always with more or less success, until sundown. During
this interval we had the good fortune to bring up, altogether, four
more small jars of olives, another ham, a carboy containing nearly three
gallons of excellent Cape Madeira wine, and, what gave us still more
delight, a small tortoise of the Gallipago breed, several of which had
been taken on board by Captain Barnard, as the _Grampus_ was leaving
port, from the schooner _Mary Pitts_, just returned from a sealing
voyage in the Pacific.

In a subsequent portion of this narrative I shall have frequent occasion
to mention this species of tortoise. It is found principally, as most
of my readers may know, in the group of islands called the Gallipagos,
which, indeed, derive their name from the animal--the Spanish word
Gallipago meaning a fresh-water terrapin. From the peculiarity of their
shape and action they have been sometimes called the elephant tortoise.
They are frequently found of an enormous size. I have myself seen
several which would weigh from twelve to fifteen hundred pounds,
although I do not remember that any navigator speaks of having seen them
weighing more than eight hundred. Their appearance is singular, and even
disgusting. Their steps are very slow, measured, and heavy, their bodies
being carried about a foot from the ground. Their neck is long, and
exceedingly slender, from eighteen inches to two feet is a very common
length, and I killed one, where the distance from the shoulder to the
extremity of the head was no less than three feet ten inches. The head
has a striking resemblance to that of a serpent. They can exist without
food for an almost incredible length of time, instances having been
known where they have been thrown into the hold of a vessel and lain
two years without nourishment of any kind--being as fat, and, in every
respect, in as good order at the expiration of the time as when they
were first put in. In one particular these extraordinary animals bear
a resemblance to the dromedary, or camel of the desert. In a bag at the
root of the neck they carry with them a constant supply of water. In
some instances, upon killing them after a full year's deprivation of all
nourishment, as much as three gallons of perfectly sweet and fresh water
have been found in their bags. Their food is chiefly wild parsley and
celery, with purslain, sea-kelp, and prickly pears, upon which latter
vegetable they thrive wonderfully, a great quantity of it being usually
found on the hillsides near the shore wherever the animal itself is
discovered. They are excellent and highly nutritious food, and have,
no doubt, been the means of preserving the lives of thousands of seamen
employed in the whale-fishery and other pursuits in the Pacific.

The one which we had the good fortune to bring up from the storeroom was
not of a large size, weighing probably sixty-five or seventy pounds.
It was a female, and in excellent condition, being exceedingly fat, and
having more than a quart of limpid and sweet water in its bag. This
was indeed a treasure; and, falling on our knees with one accord, we
returned fervent thanks to God for so seasonable a relief.

We had great difficulty in getting the animal up through the opening, as
its struggles were fierce and its strength prodigious. It was upon the
point of making its escape from Peter's grasp, and slipping back into
the water, when Augustus, throwing a rope with a slipknot around its
throat, held it up in this manner until I jumped into the hole by the
side of Peters, and assisted him in lifting it out.

The water we drew carefully from the bag into the jug; which, it will be
remembered, had been brought up before from the cabin. Having done this,
we broke off the neck of a bottle so as to form, with the cork, a kind
of glass, holding not quite half a gill. We then each drank one of these
measures full, and resolved to limit ourselves to this quantity per day
as long as it should hold out.

During the last two or three days, the weather having been dry and
pleasant, the bedding we had obtained from the cabin, as well as our
clothing, had become thoroughly dry, so that we passed this night (that
of the twenty-third) in comparative comfort, enjoying a tranquil
repose, after having supped plentifully on olives and ham, with a
small allowance of the wine. Being afraid of losing some of our stores
overboard during the night, in the event of a breeze springing up, we
secured them as well as possible with cordage to the fragments of the
windlass. Our tortoise, which we were anxious to preserve alive as long
as we could, we threw on its back, and otherwise carefully fastened.




CHAPTER 13

JULY 24. This morning saw us wonderfully recruited in spirits and
strength. Notwithstanding the perilous situation in which we were still
placed, ignorant of our position, although certainly at a great distance
from land, without more food than would last us for a fortnight even
with great care, almost entirely without water, and floating about at
the mercy of every wind and wave on the merest wreck in the world, still
the infinitely more terrible distresses and dangers from which we had so
lately and so providentially been delivered caused us to regard what
we now endured as but little more than an ordinary evil--so strictly
comparative is either good or ill.

At sunrise we were preparing to renew our attempts at getting up
something from the storeroom, when, a smart shower coming on, with some
lightning, we turn our attention to the catching of water by means of
the sheet we had used before for this purpose. We had no other means of
collecting the rain than by holding the sheet spread out with one of the
forechain-plates in the middle of it. The water, thus conducted to the
centre, was drained through into our jug. We had nearly filled it in
this manner, when, a heavy squall coming on from the northward, obliged
us to desist, as the hulk began once more to roll so violently that
we could no longer keep our feet. We now went forward, and, lashing
ourselves securely to the remnant of the windlass as before, awaited the
event with far more calmness than could have been anticipated or would
have been imagined possible under the circumstances. At noon the wind
had freshened into a two-reef breeze, and by night into a stiff gale,
accompanied with a tremendously heavy swell. Experience having taught
us, however, the best method of arranging our lashings, we weathered
this dreary night in tolerable security, although thoroughly drenched at
almost every instant by the sea, and in momentary dread of being washed
off. Fortunately, the weather was so warm as to render the water rather
grateful than otherwise.

July 25. This morning the gale had diminished to a mere ten-knot breeze,
and the sea had gone down with it so considerably that we were able to
keep ourselves dry upon the deck. To our great grief, however, we found
that two jars of our olives, as well as the whole of our ham, had been
washed overboard, in spite of the careful manner in which they had been
fastened. We determined not to kill the tortoise as yet, and contented
ourselves for the present with a breakfast on a few of the olives, and
a measure of water each, which latter we mixed half and half, with
wine, finding great relief and strength from the mixture, without the
distressing intoxication which had ensued upon drinking the port. The
sea was still far too rough for the renewal of our efforts at getting up
provision from the storeroom. Several articles, of no importance to us
in our present situation, floated up through the opening during the day,
and were immediately washed overboard. We also now observed that the
hulk lay more along than ever, so that we could not stand an instant
without lashing ourselves. On this account we passed a gloomy and
uncomfortable day. At noon the sun appeared to be nearly vertical, and
we had no doubt that we had been driven down by the long succession of
northward and northwesterly winds into the near vicinity of the equator.
Toward evening we saw several sharks, and were somewhat alarmed by the
audacious manner in which an enormously large one approached us. At one
time, a lurch throwing the deck very far beneath the water, the monster
actually swam in upon us, floundering for some moments just over the
companion-hatch, and striking Peters violently with his tail. A heavy
sea at length hurled him overboard, much to our relief. In moderate
weather we might have easily captured him.

July 26. This morning, the wind having greatly abated, and the sea not
being very rough, we determined to renew our exertions in the storeroom.
After a great deal of hard labor during the whole day, we found that
nothing further was to be expected from this quarter, the partitions of
the room having been stove during the night, and its contents swept into
the hold. This discovery, as may be supposed, filled us with despair.

July 27. The sea nearly smooth, with a light wind, and still from the
northward and westward. The sun coming out hotly in the afternoon,
we occupied ourselves in drying our clothes. Found great relief from
thirst, and much comfort otherwise, by bathing in the sea; in this,
however, we were forced to use great caution, being afraid of sharks,
several of which were seen swimming around the brig during the day.

July 28. Good weather still. The brig now began to lie along so
alarmingly that we feared she would eventually roll bottom up. Prepared
ourselves as well as we could for this emergency, lashing our tortoise,
waterjug, and two remaining jars of olives as far as possible over to
the windward, placing them outside the hull below the main-chains. The
sea very smooth all day, with little or no wind.

July 29. A continuance of the same weather. Augustus's wounded arm began
to evince symptoms of mortification. He complained of drowsiness and
excessive thirst, but no acute pain. Nothing could be done for his
relief beyond rubbing his wounds with a little of the vinegar from the
olives, and from this no benefit seemed to be experienced. We did every
thing in our power for his comfort, and trebled his allowance of water.

July 30. An excessively hot day, with no wind. An enormous shark kept
close by the hulk during the whole of the forenoon. We made several
unsuccessful attempts to capture him by means of a noose. Augustus much
worse, and evidently sinking as much from want of proper nourishment as
from the effect of his wounds. He constantly prayed to be relieved from
his sufferings, wishing for nothing but death. This evening we ate the
last of our olives, and found the water in our jug so putrid that we
could not swallow it at all without the addition of wine. Determined to
kill our tortoise in the morning.

July 31. After a night of excessive anxiety and fatigue, owing to the
position of the hulk, we set about killing and cutting up our tortoise.
He proved to be much smaller than we had supposed, although in good
condition,--the whole meat about him not amounting to more than ten
pounds. With a view of preserving a portion of this as long as possible,
we cut it into fine pieces, and filled with them our three remaining
olive jars and the wine-bottle (all of which had been kept), pouring in
afterward the vinegar from the olives. In this manner we put away about
three pounds of the tortoise, intending not to touch it until we had
consumed the rest. We concluded to restrict ourselves to about four
ounces of the meat per day; the whole would thus last us thirteen days.
A brisk shower, with severe thunder and lightning, came on about dusk,
but lasted so short a time that we only succeeded in catching about
half a pint of water. The whole of this, by common consent, was given
to Augustus, who now appeared to be in the last extremity. He drank the
water from the sheet as we caught it (we holding it above him as he lay
so as to let it run into his mouth), for we had now nothing left capable
of holding water, unless we had chosen to empty out our wine from the
carboy, or the stale water from the jug. Either of these expedients
would have been resorted to had the shower lasted.

The sufferer seemed to derive but little benefit from the draught. His
arm was completely black from the wrist to the shoulder, and his feet
were like ice. We expected every moment to see him breathe his last.
He was frightfully emaciated; so much so that, although he weighed a
hundred and twenty-seven pounds upon his leaving Nantucket, he now did
not weigh more than forty or fifty at the farthest. His eyes were sunk
far in his head, being scarcely perceptible, and the skin of his
cheeks hung so loosely as to prevent his masticating any food, or even
swallowing any liquid, without great difficulty.

August 1. A continuance of the same calm weather, with an oppressively
hot sun. Suffered exceedingly from thirst, the water in the jug being
absolutely putrid and swarming with vermin. We contrived, nevertheless,
to swallow a portion of it by mixing it with wine; our thirst, however,
was but little abated. We found more relief by bathing in the sea, but
could not avail ourselves of this expedient except at long intervals,
on account of the continual presence of sharks. We now saw clearly that
Augustus could not be saved; that he was evidently dying. We could do
nothing to relieve his sufferings, which appeared to be great. About
twelve o'clock he expired in strong convulsions, and without having
spoken for several hours. His death filled us with the most gloomy
forebodings, and had so great an effect upon our spirits that we sat
motionless by the corpse during the whole day, and never addressed each
other except in a whisper. It was not until some time after dark that
we took courage to get up and throw the body overboard. It was then
loathsome beyond expression, and so far decayed that, as Peters
attempted to lift it, an entire leg came off in his grasp. As the mass
of putrefaction slipped over the vessel's side into the water, the glare
of phosphoric light with which it was surrounded plainly discovered to
us seven or eight large sharks, the clashing of whose horrible teeth, as
their prey was torn to pieces among them, might have been heard at
the distance of a mile. We shrunk within ourselves in the extremity of
horror at the sound.

August 2. The same fearfully calm and hot weather. The dawn found us in
a state of pitiable dejection as well as bodily exhaustion. The water
in the jug was now absolutely useless, being a thick gelatinous mass;
nothing but frightful-looking worms mingled with slime. We threw it out,
and washed the jug well in the sea, afterward pouring a little vinegar
in it from our bottles of pickled tortoise. Our thirst could now
scarcely be endured, and we tried in vain to relieve it by wine, which
seemed only to add fuel to the flame, and excited us to a high degree
of intoxication. We afterward endeavoured to relieve our sufferings by
mixing the wine with seawater; but this instantly brought about the most
violent retchings, so that we never again attempted it. During the whole
day we anxiously sought an opportunity of bathing, but to no purpose;
for the hulk was now entirely besieged on all sides with sharks--no
doubt the identical monsters who had devoured our poor companion on the
evening before, and who were in momentary expectation of another similar
feast. This circumstance occasioned us the most bitter regret and
filled us with the most depressing and melancholy forebodings. We had
experienced indescribable relief in bathing, and to have this resource
cut off in so frightful a manner was more than we could bear. Nor,
indeed, were we altogether free from the apprehension of immediate
danger, for the least slip or false movement would have thrown us
at once within reach of those voracious fish, who frequently thrust
themselves directly upon us, swimming up to leeward. No shouts or
exertions on our part seemed to alarm them. Even when one of the largest
was struck with an axe by Peters and much wounded, he persisted in his
attempts to push in where we were. A cloud came up at dusk, but, to our
extreme anguish, passed over without discharging itself. It is quite
impossible to conceive our sufferings from thirst at this period. We
passed a sleepless night, both on this account and through dread of the
sharks.

August 3. No prospect of relief, and the brig lying still more and more
along, so that now we could not maintain a footing upon deck at all.
Busied ourselves in securing our wine and tortoise-meat, so that we
might not lose them in the event of our rolling over. Got out two stout
spikes from the forechains, and, by means of the axe, drove them into
the hull to windward within a couple of feet of the water, this not
being very far from the keel, as we were nearly upon our beam-ends. To
these spikes we now lashed our provisions, as being more secure than
their former position beneath the chains. Suffered great agony from
thirst during the whole day--no chance of bathing on account of the
sharks, which never left us for a moment. Found it impossible to sleep.

August 4. A little before daybreak we perceived that the hulk was
heeling over, and aroused ourselves to prevent being thrown off by the
movement. At first the roll was slow and gradual, and we contrived to
clamber over to windward very well, having taken the precaution to leave
ropes hanging from the spikes we had driven in for the provision. But
we had not calculated sufficiently upon the acceleration of the impetus;
for, presently the heel became too violent to allow of our keeping pace
with it; and, before either of us knew what was to happen, we found
ourselves hurled furiously into the sea, and struggling several fathoms
beneath the surface, with the huge hull immediately above us.

In going under the water I had been obliged to let go my hold upon
the rope; and finding that I was completely beneath the vessel, and
my strength nearly exhausted, I scarcely made a struggle for life,
and resigned myself, in a few seconds, to die. But here again I was
deceived, not having taken into consideration the natural rebound of
the hull to windward. The whirl of the water upward, which the vessel
occasioned in rolling partially back, brought me to the surface still
more violently than I had been plunged beneath. Upon coming up I found
myself about twenty yards from the hulk, as near as I could judge. She
was lying keel up, rocking furiously from side to side, and the sea in
all directions around was much agitated, and full of strong whirlpools.
I could see nothing of Peters. An oil-cask was floating within a few
feet of me, and various other articles from the brig were scattered
about.

My principal terror was now on account of the sharks, which I knew to be
in my vicinity. In order to deter these, if possible, from approaching
me, I splashed the water vigorously with both hands and feet as I swam
towards the hulk, creating a body of foam. I have no doubt that to this
expedient, simple as it was, I was indebted for my preservation; for
the sea all round the brig, just before her rolling over, was so crowded
with these monsters, that I must have been, and really was, in actual
contact with some of them during my progress. By great good fortune,
however, I reached the side of the vessel in safety, although so utterly
weakened by the violent exertion I had used that I should never have
been able to get upon it but for the timely assistance of Peters, who,
now, to my great joy, made his appearance (having scrambled up to the
keel from the opposite side of the hull), and threw me the end of a
rope--one of those which had been attached to the spikes.

Having barely escaped this danger, our attention was now directed to the
dreadful imminency of another--that of absolute starvation. Our whole
stock of provision had been swept overboard in spite of all our care in
securing it; and seeing no longer the remotest possibility of obtaining
more, we gave way both of us to despair, weeping aloud like children,
and neither of us attempting to offer consolation to the other. Such
weakness can scarcely be conceived, and to those who have never been
similarly situated will, no doubt, appear unnatural; but it must be
remembered that our intellects were so entirely disordered by the long
course of privation and terror to which we had been subjected, that we
could not justly be considered, at that period, in the light of rational
beings. In subsequent perils, nearly as great, if not greater, I bore
up with fortitude against all the evils of my situation, and Peters, it
will be seen, evinced a stoical philosophy nearly as incredible as his
present childlike supineness and imbecility--the mental condition made
the difference.

The overturning of the brig, even with the consequent loss of the
wine and turtle, would not, in fact, have rendered our situation more
deplorable than before, except for the disappearance of the bedclothes
by which we had been hitherto enabled to catch rainwater, and of the jug
in which we had kept it when caught; for we found the whole bottom, from
within two or three feet of the bends as far as the keel, together with
the keel itself, thickly covered with large barnacles, which proved
to be excellent and highly nutritious food. Thus, in two important
respects, the accident we had so greatly dreaded proved to be a benefit
rather than an injury; it had opened to us a supply of provisions which
we could not have exhausted, using it moderately, in a month; and it had
greatly contributed to our comfort as regards position, we being much
more at ease, and in infinitely less danger, than before.

The difficulty, however, of now obtaining water blinded us to all the
benefits of the change in our condition. That we might be ready to avail
ourselves, as far as possible, of any shower which might fall we took
off our shirts, to make use of them as we had of the sheets--not hoping,
of course, to get more in this way, even under the most favorable
circumstances, than half a gill at a time. No signs of a cloud appeared
during the day, and the agonies of our thirst were nearly intolerable.
At night, Peters obtained about an hour's disturbed sleep, but my
intense sufferings would not permit me to close my eyes for a single
moment.

August 5. To-day, a gentle breeze springing up carried us through a vast
quantity of seaweed, among which we were so fortunate as to find eleven
small crabs, which afforded us several delicious meals. Their shells
being quite soft, we ate them entire, and found that they irritated our
thirst far less than the barnacles. Seeing no trace of sharks among the
seaweed, we also ventured to bathe, and remained in the water for four
or five hours, during which we experienced a very sensible diminution
of our thirst. Were greatly refreshed, and spent the night somewhat more
comfortably than before, both of us snatching a little sleep.

August 6. This day we were blessed by a brisk and continual rain,
lasting from about noon until after dark. Bitterly did we now regret the
loss of our jug and carboy; for, in spite of the little means we had of
catching the water, we might have filled one, if not both of them. As
it was, we contrived to satisfy the cravings of thirst by suffering
the shirts to become saturated, and then wringing them so as to let the
grateful fluid trickle into our mouths. In this occupation we passed the
entire day.

August 7. Just at daybreak we both at the same instant descried a
sail to the eastward, and _evidently coming towards us!_ We hailed the
glorious sight with a long, although feeble shout of rapture; and began
instantly to make every signal in our power, by flaring the shirts in
the air, leaping as high as our weak condition would permit, and even by
hallooing with all the strength of our lungs, although the vessel
could not have been less than fifteen miles distant. However, she
still continued to near our hulk, and we felt that, if she but held her
present course, she must eventually come so close as to perceive us. In
about an hour after we first discovered her, we could clearly see the
people on her decks. She was a long, low, and rakish-looking topsail
schooner, with a black ball in her foretopsail, and had, apparently,
a full crew. We now became alarmed, for we could hardly imagine it
possible that she did not observe us, and were apprehensive that she
meant to leave us to perish as we were--an act of fiendish barbarity,
which, however incredible it may appear, has been repeatedly perpetuated
at sea, under circumstances very nearly similar, and by beings who
were regarded as belonging to the human species. {*2} In this instance,
however, by the mercy of God, we were destined to be most happily
deceived; for, presently we were aware of a sudden commotion on the deck
of the stranger, who immediately afterward ran up a British flag, and,
hauling her wind, bore up directly upon us. In half an hour more
we found ourselves in her cabin. She proved to be the Jane Guy, of
Liverpool, Captain Guy, bound on a sealing and trading voyage to the
South Seas and Pacific.




CHAPTER 14

THE _Jane Guy_ was a fine-looking topsail schooner of a hundred and
eighty tons burden. She was unusually sharp in the bows, and on a wind,
in moderate weather, the fastest sailer I have ever seen. Her qualities,
however, as a rough sea-boat, were not so good, and her draught of water
was by far too great for the trade to which she was destined. For this
peculiar service, a larger vessel, and one of a light proportionate
draught, is desirable--say a vessel of from three hundred to three
hundred and fifty tons. She should be bark-rigged, and in other respects
of a different construction from the usual South Sea ships. It is
absolutely necessary that she should be well armed. She should have, say
ten or twelve twelve-pound carronades, and two or three long twelves,
with brass blunderbusses, and water-tight arm-chests for each top. Her
anchors and cables should be of far greater strength than is required
for any other species of trade, and, above all, her crew should be
numerous and efficient--not less, for such a vessel as I have described,
than fifty or sixty able-bodied men. The Jane Guy had a crew of
thirty-five, all able seamen, besides the captain and mate, but she
was not altogether as well armed or otherwise equipped, as a navigator
acquainted with the difficulties and dangers of the trade could have
desired.

Captain Guy was a gentleman of great urbanity of manner, and of
considerable experience in the southern traffic, to which he had devoted
a great portion of his life. He was deficient, however, in energy, and,
consequently, in that spirit of enterprise which is here so absolutely
requisite. He was part owner of the vessel in which he sailed, and was
invested with discretionary powers to cruise in the South Seas for any
cargo which might come most readily to hand. He had on board, as usual
in such voyages, beads, looking-glasses, tinder-works, axes, hatchets,
saws, adzes, planes, chisels, gouges, gimlets, files, spokeshaves,
rasps, hammers, nails, knives, scissors, razors, needles, thread,
crockery-ware, calico, trinkets, and other similar articles.

The schooner sailed from Liverpool on the tenth of July, crossed the
Tropic of Cancer on the twenty-fifth, in longitude twenty degrees west,
and reached Sal, one of the Cape Verd islands, on the twenty-ninth,
where she took in salt and other necessaries for the voyage. On
the third of August, she left the Cape Verds and steered southwest,
stretching over toward the coast of Brazil, so as to cross the equator
between the meridians of twenty-eight and thirty degrees west longitude.
This is the course usually taken by vessels bound from Europe to the
Cape of Good Hope, or by that route to the East Indies. By proceeding
thus they avoid the calms and strong contrary currents which continually
prevail on the coast of Guinea, while, in the end, it is found to be the
shortest track, as westerly winds are never wanting afterward by which
to reach the Cape. It was Captain Guy's intention to make his first
stoppage at Kerguelen's Land--I hardly know for what reason. On the
day we were picked up the schooner was off Cape St. Roque, in longitude
thirty-one degrees west; so that, when found, we had drifted probably,
from north to south, _not less than five-and-twenty degrees!_

On board the Jane Guy we were treated with all the kindness our
distressed situation demanded. In about a fortnight, during which time
we continued steering to the southeast, with gentle breezes and fine
weather, both Peters and myself recovered entirely from the effects of
our late privation and dreadful sufferings, and we began to remember
what had passed rather as a frightful dream from which we had been
happily awakened, than as events which had taken place in sober and
naked reality. I have since found that this species of partial oblivion
is usually brought about by sudden transition, whether from joy
to sorrow or from sorrow to joy--the degree of forgetfulness being
proportioned to the degree of difference in the exchange. Thus, in my
own case, I now feel it impossible to realize the full extent of
the misery which I endured during the days spent upon the hulk. The
incidents are remembered, but not the feelings which the incidents
elicited at the time of their occurrence. I only know, that when they
did occur, I then thought human nature could sustain nothing more of
agony.

We continued our voyage for some weeks without any incidents of
greater moment than the occasional meeting with whaling-ships, and more
frequently with the black or right whale, so called in contradistinction
to the spermaceti. These, however, were chiefly found south of the
twenty-fifth parallel. On the sixteenth of September, being in the
vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope, the schooner encountered her first
gale of any violence since leaving Liverpool. In this neighborhood, but
more frequently to the south and east of the promontory (we were to
the westward), navigators have often to contend with storms from the
northward, which rage with great fury. They always bring with them a
heavy sea, and one of their most dangerous features is the instantaneous
chopping round of the wind, an occurrence almost certain to take place
during the greatest force of the gale. A perfect hurricane will be
blowing at one moment from the northward or northeast, and in the next
not a breath of wind will be felt in that direction, while from
the southwest it will come out all at once with a violence almost
inconceivable. A bright spot to the southward is the sure forerunner of
the change, and vessels are thus enabled to take the proper precautions.

It was about six in the morning when the blow came on with a white
squall, and, as usual, from the northward. By eight it had increased
very much, and brought down upon us one of the most tremendous seas I
had then ever beheld. Every thing had been made as snug as possible,
but the schooner laboured excessively, and gave evidence of her bad
qualities as a seaboat, pitching her forecastle under at every plunge
and with the greatest difficulty struggling up from one wave before she
was buried in another. Just before sunset the bright spot for which we
had been on the look-out made its appearance in the southwest, and in
an hour afterward we perceived the little headsail we carried flapping
listlessly against the mast. In two minutes more, in spite of every
preparation, we were hurled on our beam-ends, as if by magic, and a
perfect wilderness of foam made a clear breach over us as we lay. The
blow from the southwest, however, luckily proved to be nothing more than
a squall, and we had the good fortune to right the vessel without the
loss of a spar. A heavy cross sea gave us great trouble for a few hours
after this, but toward morning we found ourselves in nearly as good
condition as before the gale. Captain Guy considered that he had made an
escape little less than miraculous.

On the thirteenth of October we came in sight of Prince Edward's Island,
in latitude 46 degrees 53' S., longitude 37 degrees 46' E. Two days
afterward we found ourselves near Possession Island, and presently
passed the islands of Crozet, in latitude 42 degrees 59' S., longitude
48 degrees E. On the eighteenth we made Kerguelen's or Desolation
Island, in the Southern Indian Ocean, and came to anchor in Christmas
Harbour, having four fathoms of water.

This island, or rather group of islands, bears southeast from the Cape
of Good Hope, and is distant therefrom nearly eight hundred leagues. It
was first discovered in 1772, by the Baron de Kergulen, or Kerguelen,
a Frenchman, who, thinking the land to form a portion of an extensive
southern continent carried home information to that effect, which
produced much excitement at the time. The government, taking the matter
up, sent the baron back in the following year for the purpose of
giving his new discovery a critical examination, when the mistake was
discovered. In 1777, Captain Cook fell in with the same group, and gave
to the principal one the name of Desolation Island, a title which
it certainly well deserves. Upon approaching the land, however, the
navigator might be induced to suppose otherwise, as the sides of most
of the hills, from September to March, are clothed with very brilliant
verdure. This deceitful appearance is caused by a small plant resembling
saxifrage, which is abundant, growing in large patches on a species
of crumbling moss. Besides this plant there is scarcely a sign of
vegetation on the island, if we except some coarse rank grass near the
harbor, some lichen, and a shrub which bears resemblance to a cabbage
shooting into seed, and which has a bitter and acrid taste.

The face of the country is hilly, although none of the hills can be
called lofty. Their tops are perpetually covered with snow. There are
several harbors, of which Christmas Harbour is the most convenient. It
is the first to be met with on the northeast side of the island after
passing Cape Francois, which forms the northern shore, and, by its
peculiar shape, serves to distinguish the harbour. Its projecting point
terminates in a high rock, through which is a large hole, forming a
natural arch. The entrance is in latitude 48 degrees 40' S., longitude
69 degrees 6' E. Passing in here, good anchorage may be found under the
shelter of several small islands, which form a sufficient protection
from all easterly winds. Proceeding on eastwardly from this anchorage
you come to Wasp Bay, at the head of the harbour. This is a small basin,
completely landlocked, into which you can go with four fathoms, and find
anchorage in from ten to three, hard clay bottom. A ship might lie
here with her best bower ahead all the year round without risk. To the
westward, at the head of Wasp Bay, is a small stream of excellent water,
easily procured.

Some seal of the fur and hair species are still to be found on
Kerguelen's Island, and sea elephants abound. The feathered tribes are
discovered in great numbers. Penguins are very plenty, and of these
there are four different kinds. The royal penguin, so called from its
size and beautiful plumage, is the largest. The upper part of the body
is usually gray, sometimes of a lilac tint; the under portion of the
purest white imaginable. The head is of a glossy and most brilliant
black, the feet also. The chief beauty of plumage, however, consists in
two broad stripes of a gold color, which pass along from the head to the
breast. The bill is long, and either pink or bright scarlet. These birds
walk erect; with a stately carriage. They carry their heads high with
their wings drooping like two arms, and, as their tails project from
their body in a line with the legs, the resemblance to a human figure
is very striking, and would be apt to deceive the spectator at a casual
glance or in the gloom of the evening. The royal penguins which we met
with on Kerguelen's Land were rather larger than a goose. The other
kinds are the macaroni, the jackass, and the rookery penguin. These
are much smaller, less beautiful in plumage, and different in other
respects.

Besides the penguin many other birds are here to be found, among which
may be mentioned sea-hens, blue peterels, teal, ducks, Port Egmont hens,
shags, Cape pigeons, the nelly, sea swallows, terns, sea gulls, Mother
Carey's chickens, Mother Carey's geese, or the great peterel, and,
lastly, the albatross.

The great peterel is as large as the common albatross, and is
carnivorous. It is frequently called the break-bones, or osprey peterel.
They are not at all shy, and, when properly cooked, are palatable food.
In flying they sometimes sail very close to the surface of the water,
with the wings expanded, without appearing to move them in the least
degree, or make any exertion with them whatever.

The albatross is one of the largest and fiercest of the South Sea birds.
It is of the gull species, and takes its prey on the wing, never coming
on land except for the purpose of breeding. Between this bird and the
penguin the most singular friendship exists. Their nests are
constructed with great uniformity upon a plan concerted between the two
species--that of the albatross being placed in the centre of a little
square formed by the nests of four penguins. Navigators have agreed in
calling an assemblage of such encampments a rookery. These rookeries
have been often described, but as my readers may not all have seen these
descriptions, and as I shall have occasion hereafter to speak of the
penguin and albatross, it will not be amiss to say something here of
their mode of building and living.

When the season for incubation arrives, the birds assemble in vast
numbers, and for some days appear to be deliberating upon the proper
course to be pursued. At length they proceed to action. A level piece of
ground is selected, of suitable extent, usually comprising three or four
acres, and situated as near the sea as possible, being still beyond its
reach. The spot is chosen with reference to its evenness of surface, and
that is preferred which is the least encumbered with stones. This
matter being arranged, the birds proceed, with one accord, and actuated
apparently by one mind, to trace out, with mathematical accuracy, either
a square or other parallelogram, as may best suit the nature of the
ground, and of just sufficient size to accommodate easily all the birds
assembled, and no more--in this particular seeming determined upon
preventing the access of future stragglers who have not participated in
the labor of the encampment. One side of the place thus marked out runs
parallel with the water's edge, and is left open for ingress or egress.

Having defined the limits of the rookery, the colony now begin to clear
it of every species of rubbish, picking up stone by stone, and carrying
them outside of the lines, and close by them, so as to form a wall on
the three inland sides. Just within this wall a perfectly level and
smooth walk is formed, from six to eight feet wide, and extending around
the encampment--thus serving the purpose of a general promenade.

The next process is to partition out the whole area into small squares
exactly equal in size. This is done by forming narrow paths, very
smooth, and crossing each other at right angles throughout the entire
extent of the rookery. At each intersection of these paths the nest of
an albatross is constructed, and a penguin's nest in the centre of each
square--thus every penguin is surrounded by four albatrosses, and each
albatross by a like number of penguins. The penguin's nest consists of a
hole in the earth, very shallow, being only just of sufficient depth to
keep her single egg from rolling. The albatross is somewhat less simple
in her arrangements, erecting a hillock about a foot high and two in
diameter. This is made of earth, seaweed, and shells. On its summit she
builds her nest.

The birds take especial care never to leave their nests unoccupied for
an instant during the period of incubation, or, indeed, until the young
progeny are sufficiently strong to take care of themselves. While the
male is absent at sea in search of food, the female remains on duty, and
it is only upon the return of her partner that she ventures abroad. The
eggs are never left uncovered at all--while one bird leaves the nest the
other nestling in by its side. This precaution is rendered necessary
by the thieving propensities prevalent in the rookery, the inhabitants
making no scruple to purloin each other's eggs at every good
opportunity.

Although there are some rookeries in which the penguin and albatross are
the sole population, yet in most of them a variety of oceanic birds
are to be met with, enjoying all the privileges of citizenship, and
scattering their nests here and there, wherever they can find room,
never interfering, however, with the stations of the larger species.
The appearance of such encampments, when seen from a distance, is
exceedingly singular. The whole atmosphere just above the settlement
is darkened with the immense number of the albatross (mingled with the
smaller tribes) which are continually hovering over it, either going to
the ocean or returning home. At the same time a crowd of penguins are
to be observed, some passing to and fro in the narrow alleys, and some
marching with the military strut so peculiar to them, around the general
promenade ground which encircles the rookery. In short, survey it as
we will, nothing can be more astonishing than the spirit of reflection
evinced by these feathered beings, and nothing surely can be better
calculated to elicit reflection in every well-regulated human intellect.

On the morning after our arrival in Christmas Harbour the chief mate,
Mr. Patterson, took the boats, and (although it was somewhat early in
the season) went in search of seal, leaving the captain and a young
relation of his on a point of barren land to the westward, they having
some business, whose nature I could not ascertain, to transact in the
interior of the island. Captain Guy took with him a bottle, in which was
a sealed letter, and made his way from the point on which he was set on
shore toward one of the highest peaks in the place. It is probable that
his design was to leave the letter on that height for some vessel
which he expected to come after him. As soon as we lost sight of him
we proceeded (Peters and myself being in the mate's boat) on our cruise
around the coast, looking for seal. In this business we were occupied
about three weeks, examining with great care every nook and corner,
not only of Kerguelen's Land, but of the several small islands in the
vicinity. Our labours, however, were not crowned with any important
success. We saw a great many fur seal, but they were exceedingly shy,
and with the greatest exertions, we could only procure three hundred
and fifty skins in all. Sea elephants were abundant, especially on the
western coast of the mainland, but of these we killed only twenty, and
this with great difficulty. On the smaller islands we discovered a
good many of the hair seal, but did not molest them. We returned to the
schooner: on the eleventh, where we found Captain Guy and his nephew,
who gave a very bad account of the interior, representing it as one
of the most dreary and utterly barren countries in the world. They had
remained two nights on the island, owing to some misunderstanding, on
the part of the second mate, in regard to the sending a jollyboat from
the schooner to take them off.




CHAPTER 15

ON the twelfth we made sail from Christmas Harbour retracing our way to
the westward, and leaving Marion's Island, one of Crozet's group, on the
larboard. We afterward passed Prince Edward's Island, leaving it also on
our left, then, steering more to the northward, made, in fifteen days,
the islands of Tristan d'Acunha, in latitude 37 degrees 8' S, longitude
12 degrees 8' W.

This group, now so well known, and which consists of three circular
islands, was first discovered by the Portuguese, and was visited
afterward by the Dutch in 1643, and by the French in 1767. The three
islands together form a triangle, and are distant from each other about
ten miles, there being fine open passages between. The land in all of
them is very high, especially in Tristan d'Acunha, properly so called.
This is the largest of the group, being fifteen miles in circumference,
and so elevated that it can be seen in clear weather at the distance of
eighty or ninety miles. A part of the land toward the north rises more
than a thousand feet perpendicularly from the sea. A tableland at this
height extends back nearly to the centre of the island, and from this
tableland arises a lofty cone like that of Teneriffe. The lower half of
this cone is clothed with trees of good size, but the upper region is
barren rock, usually hidden among the clouds, and covered with snow
during the greater part of the year. There are no shoals or other
dangers about the island, the shores being remarkably bold and the water
deep. On the northwestern coast is a bay, with a beach of black sand
where a landing with boats can be easily effected, provided there be a
southerly wind. Plenty of excellent water may here be readily procured;
also cod and other fish may be taken with hook and line.

The next island in point of size, and the most westwardly of the group,
is that called the Inaccessible. Its precise situation is 37 degrees 17'
S. latitude, longitude 12 degrees 24' W. It is seven or eight miles in
circumference, and on all sides presents a forbidding and precipitous
aspect. Its top is perfectly flat, and the whole region is sterile,
nothing growing upon it except a few stunted shrubs.

Nightingale Island, the smallest and most southerly, is in latitude 37
degrees 26' S., longitude 12 degrees 12' W. Off its southern extremity
is a high ledge of rocky islets; a few also of a similar appearance are
seen to the northeast. The ground is irregular and sterile, and a deep
valley partially separates it.

The shores of these islands abound, in the proper season, with sea
lions, sea elephants, the hair and fur seal, together with a great
variety of oceanic birds. Whales are also plenty in their vicinity.
Owing to the ease with which these various animals were here formerly
taken, the group has been much visited since its discovery. The Dutch
and French frequented it at a very early period. In 1790, Captain
Patten, of the ship Industry, of Philadelphia, made Tristan d'Acunha,
where he remained seven months (from August, 1790, to April, 1791) for
the purpose of collecting sealskins. In this time he gathered no less
than five thousand six hundred, and says that he would have had no
difficulty in loading a large ship with oil in three weeks. Upon his
arrival he found no quadrupeds, with the exception of a few wild goats;
the island now abounds with all our most valuable domestic animals,
which have been introduced by subsequent navigators.

I believe it was not long after Captain Patten's visit that Captain
Colquhoun, of the American brig Betsey, touched at the largest of the
islands for the purpose of refreshment. He planted onions, potatoes,
cabbages, and a great many other vegetables, an abundance of all which
is now to be met with.

In 1811, a Captain Haywood, in the Nereus, visited Tristan. He found
there three Americans, who were residing upon the island to prepare
sealskins and oil. One of these men was named Jonathan Lambert, and
he called himself the sovereign of the country. He had cleared and
cultivated about sixty acres of land, and turned his attention to
raising the coffee-plant and sugar-cane, with which he had been
furnished by the American Minister at Rio Janeiro. This settlement,
however, was finally abandoned, and in 1817 the islands were taken
possession of by the British Government, who sent a detachment for that
purpose from the Cape of Good Hope. They did not, however, retain them
long; but, upon the evacuation of the country as a British possession,
two or three English families took up their residence there
independently of the Government. On the twenty-fifth of March, 1824, the
Berwick, Captain Jeffrey, from London to Van Diemen's Land, arrived at
the place, where they found an Englishman of the name of Glass, formerly
a corporal in the British artillery. He claimed to be supreme governor
of the islands, and had under his control twenty-one men and three
women. He gave a very favourable account of the salubrity of the
climate and of the productiveness of the soil. The population occupied
themselves chiefly in collecting sealskins and sea elephant oil,
with which they traded to the Cape of Good Hope, Glass owning a
small schooner. At the period of our arrival the governor was still a
resident, but his little community had multiplied, there being
fifty-six persons upon Tristan, besides a smaller settlement of seven on
Nightingale Island. We had no difficulty in procuring almost every
kind of refreshment which we required--sheep, hogs, bullocks, rabbits,
poultry, goats, fish in great variety, and vegetables were abundant.
Having come to anchor close in with the large island, in eighteen
fathoms, we took all we wanted on board very conveniently. Captain
Guy also purchased of Glass five hundred sealskins and some ivory. We
remained here a week, during which the prevailing winds were from the
northward and westward, and the weather somewhat hazy. On the fifth of
November we made sail to the southward and westward, with the intention
of having a thorough search for a group of islands called the Auroras,
respecting whose existence a great diversity of opinion has existed.

These islands are said to have been discovered as early as 1762, by the
commander of the ship Aurora. In 1790, Captain Manuel de Oyarvido,, in
the ship Princess, belonging to the Royal Philippine Company, sailed, as
he asserts, directly among them. In 1794, the Spanish corvette Atrevida
went with the determination of ascertaining their precise situation,
and, in a paper published by the Royal Hydrographical Society of
Madrid in the year 1809, the following language is used respecting
this expedition: "The corvette Atrevida practised, in their immediate
vicinity, from the twenty-first to the twenty-seventh of January, all
the necessary observations, and measured by chronometers the difference
of longitude between these islands and the port of Soledad in the
Manillas. The islands are three, they are very nearly in the same
meridian; the centre one is rather low, and the other two may be seen
at nine leagues' distance." The observations made on board the Atrevida
give the following results as the precise situation of each island.
The most northern is in latitude 52 degrees 37' 24" S., longitude 47
degrees, 43' 15" W.; the middle one in latitude 53 degrees 2' 40" S.,
longitude 47 degrees 55' 15" W.; and the most southern in latitude 53
degrees 15' 22" S., longitude 47 degrees 57' 15" W.

On the twenty-seventh of January, 1820, Captain James Weddel, of the
British navy, sailed from Staten Land also in search of the Auroras. He
reports that, having made the most diligent search and passed not only
immediately over the spots indicated by the commander of the Atrevida,
but in every direction throughout the vicinity of these spots, he
could discover no indication of land. These conflicting statements have
induced other navigators to look out for the islands; and, strange to
say, while some have sailed through every inch of sea where they are
supposed to lie without finding them, there have been not a few who
declare positively that they have seen them; and even been close in
with their shores. It was Captain Guy's intention to make every exertion
within his power to settle the question so oddly in dispute. {*3}

We kept on our course, between the south and west, with variable
weather, until the twentieth of the month, when we found ourselves on
the debated ground, being in latitude 53 degrees 15' S., longitude 47
degrees 58' W.--that is to say, very nearly upon the spot indicated as
the situation of the most southern of the group. Not perceiving any sign
of land, we continued to the westward of the parallel of fifty-three
degrees south, as far as the meridian of fifty degrees west. We then
stood to the north as far as the parallel of fifty-two degrees south,
when we turned to the eastward, and kept our parallel by double
altitudes, morning and evening, and meridian altitudes of the planets
and moon. Having thus gone eastwardly to the meridian of the western
coast of Georgia, we kept that meridian until we were in the latitude
from which we set out. We then took diagonal courses throughout the
entire extent of sea circumscribed, keeping a lookout constantly at the
masthead, and repeating our examination with the greatest care for a
period of three weeks, during which the weather was remarkably pleasant
and fair, with no haze whatsoever. Of course we were thoroughly
satisfied that, whatever islands might have existed in this vicinity at
any former period, no vestige of them remained at the present day. Since
my return home I find that the same ground was traced over, with equal
care, in 1822, by Captain Johnson, of the American schooner Henry, and
by Captain Morrell in the American schooner Wasp--in both cases with the
same result as in our own.




CHAPTER 16

It had been Captain Guy's original intention, after satisfying himself
about the Auroras, to proceed through the Strait of Magellan, and
up along the western coast of Patagonia; but information received at
Tristan d'Acunha induced him to steer to the southward, in the hope of
falling in with some small islands said to lie about the parallel of
60 degrees S., longitude 41 degrees 20' W. In the event of his
not discovering these lands, he designed, should the season prove
favourable, to push on toward the pole. Accordingly, on the twelfth of
December, we made sail in that direction. On the eighteenth we found
ourselves about the station indicated by Glass, and cruised for three
days in that neighborhood without finding any traces of the islands
he had mentioned. On the twenty-first, the weather being unusually
pleasant, we again made sail to the southward, with the resolution of
penetrating in that course as far as possible. Before entering upon this
portion of my narrative, it may be as well, for the information of those
readers who have paid little attention to the progress of discovery in
these regions, to give some brief account of the very few attempts at
reaching the southern pole which have hitherto been made.

That of Captain Cook was the first of which we have any distinct
account. In 1772 he sailed to the south in the Resolution, accompanied
by Lieutenant Furneaux in the Adventure. In December he found himself as
far as the fifty-eighth parallel of south latitude, and in longitude 26
degrees 57' E. Here he met with narrow fields of ice, about eight or ten
inches thick, and running northwest and southeast. This ice was in large
cakes, and usually it was packed so closely that the vessel had great
difficulty in forcing a passage. At this period Captain Cook supposed,
from the vast number of birds to be seen, and from other indications,
that he was in the near vicinity of land. He kept on to the southward,
the weather being exceedingly cold, until he reached the sixty-fourth
parallel, in longitude 38 degrees 14' E.. Here he had mild weather, with
gentle breezes, for five days, the thermometer being at thirty-six. In
January, 1773, the vessels crossed the Antarctic circle, but did not
succeed in penetrating much farther; for upon reaching latitude 67
degrees 15' they found all farther progress impeded by an immense body
of ice, extending all along the southern horizon as far as the eye could
reach. This ice was of every variety--and some large floes of it, miles
in extent, formed a compact mass, rising eighteen or twenty feet above
the water. It being late in the season, and no hope entertained of
rounding these obstructions, Captain Cook now reluctantly turned to the
northward.

In the November following he renewed his search in the Antarctic. In
latitude 59 degrees 40' he met with a strong current setting to the
southward. In December, when the vessels were in latitude 67 degrees
31', longitude 142 degrees 54' W., the cold was excessive, with heavy
gales and fog. Here also birds were abundant; the albatross, the
penguin, and the peterel especially. In latitude 70 degrees 23' some
large islands of ice were encountered, and shortly afterward the clouds
to the southward were observed to be of a snowy whiteness, indicating
the vicinity of field ice. In latitude 71 degrees 10', longitude 106
degrees 54' W., the navigators were stopped, as before, by an immense
frozen expanse, which filled the whole area of the southern horizon. The
northern edge of this expanse was ragged and broken, so firmly wedged
together as to be utterly impassible, and extending about a mile to the
southward. Behind it the frozen surface was comparatively smooth for
some distance, until terminated in the extreme background by gigantic
ranges of ice mountains, the one towering above the other. Captain Cook
concluded that this vast field reached the southern pole or was
joined to a continent. Mr. J. N. Reynolds, whose great exertions and
perseverance have at length succeeded in getting set on foot a national
expedition, partly for the purpose of exploring these regions, thus
speaks of the attempt of the Resolution. "We are not surprised that
Captain Cook was unable to go beyond 71 degrees 10', but we are
astonished that he did attain that point on the meridian of 106 degrees
54' west longitude. Palmer's Land lies south of the Shetland, latitude
sixty-four degrees, and tends to the southward and westward farther than
any navigator has yet penetrated. Cook was standing for this land when
his progress was arrested by the ice; which, we apprehend, must always
be the case in that point, and so early in the season as the sixth
of January--and we should not be surprised if a portion of the icy
mountains described was attached to the main body of Palmer's Land,
or to some other portions of land lying farther to the southward and
westward."

In 1803, Captains Kreutzenstern and Lisiausky were dispatched by
Alexander of Russia for the purpose of circumnavigating the globe. In
endeavouring to get south, they made no farther than 59 degrees 58', in
longitude 70 degrees 15' W. They here met with strong currents setting
eastwardly. Whales were abundant, but they saw no ice. In regard to this
voyage, Mr. Reynolds observes that, if Kreutzenstern had arrived where
he did earlier in the season, he must have encountered ice--it was March
when he reached the latitude specified. The winds, prevailing, as they
do, from the southward and westward, had carried the floes, aided by
currents, into that icy region bounded on the north by Georgia, east
by Sandwich Land and the South Orkneys, and west by the South Shetland
islands.

In 1822, Captain James Weddell, of the British navy, with two very small
vessels, penetrated farther to the south than any previous navigator,
and this, too, without encountering extraordinary difficulties. He
states that although he was frequently hemmed in by ice before reaching
the seventy-second parallel, yet, upon attaining it, not a particle was
to be discovered, and that, upon arriving at the latitude of 74 degrees
15', no fields, and only three islands of ice were visible. It is
somewhat remarkable that, although vast flocks of birds were seen, and
other usual indications of land, and although, south of the Shetlands,
unknown coasts were observed from the masthead tending southwardly,
Weddell discourages the idea of land existing in the polar regions of
the south.

On the 11th of January, 1823, Captain Benjamin Morrell, of the American
schooner Wasp, sailed from Kerguelen's Land with a view of penetrating
as far south as possible. On the first of February he found himself in
latitude 64 degrees 52' S., longitude 118 degrees 27' E. The following
passage is extracted from his journal of that date. "The wind soon
freshened to an eleven-knot breeze, and we embraced this opportunity
of making to the west; being however convinced that the farther we
went south beyond latitude sixty-four degrees, the less ice was to be
apprehended, we steered a little to the southward, until we crossed
the Antarctic circle, and were in latitude 69 degrees 15' E. In this
latitude there was no field ice, and very few ice islands in sight."

Under the date of March fourteenth I find also this entry. "The sea was
now entirely free of field ice, and there were not more than a dozen ice
islands in sight. At the same time the temperature of the air and water
was at least thirteen degrees higher (more mild) than we had ever found
it between the parallels of sixty and sixty-two south. We were now
in latitude 70 degrees 14' S., and the temperature of the air was
forty-seven, and that of the water forty-four. In this situation I found
the variation to be 14 degrees 27' easterly, per azimuth.... I
have several times passed within the Antarctic circle, on different
meridians, and have uniformly found the temperature, both of the air and
the water, to become more and more mild the farther I advanced beyond
the sixty-fifth degree of south latitude, and that the variation
decreases in the same proportion. While north of this latitude, say
between sixty and sixty-five south, we frequently had great difficulty
in finding a passage for the vessel between the immense and almost
innumerable ice islands, some of which were from one to two miles in
circumference, and more than five hundred feet above the surface of the
water."

Being nearly destitute of fuel and water, and without proper
instruments, it being also late in the season, Captain Morrell was now
obliged to put back, without attempting any further progress to the
westward, although an entirely open, sea lay before him. He expresses
the opinion that, had not these overruling considerations obliged him to
retreat, he could have penetrated, if not to the pole itself, at least
to the eighty-fifth parallel. I have given his ideas respecting these
matters somewhat at length, that the reader may have an opportunity of
seeing how far they were borne out by my own subsequent experience.

In 1831, Captain Briscoe, in the employ of the Messieurs Enderby,
whale-ship owners of London, sailed in the brig Lively for the South
Seas, accompanied by the cutter Tula. On the twenty-eighth of February,
being in latitude 66 degrees 30' S., longitude 47 degrees 31' E., he
descried land, and "clearly discovered through the snow the black
peaks of a range of mountains running E. S. E." He remained in this
neighbourhood during the whole of the following month, but was unable
to approach the coast nearer than within ten leagues, owing to the
boisterous state of the weather. Finding it impossible to make further
discovery during this season, he returned northward to winter in Van
Diemen's Land.

In the beginning of 1832 he again proceeded southwardly, and on the
fourth of February was seen to the southeast in latitude 67 degrees 15'
longitude 69 degrees 29' W. This was soon found to be an island near the
headland of the country he had first discovered. On the twenty-first of
the month he succeeded in landing on the latter, and took possession of
it in the name of William IV, calling it Adelaide's Island, in honour
of the English queen. These particulars being made known to the Royal
Geographical Society of London, the conclusion was drawn by that body
"that there is a continuous tract of land extending from 47 degrees
30' E. to 69 degrees 29' W. longitude, running the parallel of from
sixty-six to sixty-seven degrees south latitude." In respect to this
conclusion Mr. Reynolds observes: "In the correctness of it we by
no means concur; nor do the discoveries of Briscoe warrant any such
indifference. It was within these limits that Weddel proceeded south on
a meridian to the east of Georgia, Sandwich Land, and the South Orkney
and Shetland islands." My own experience will be found to testify most
directly to the falsity of the conclusion arrived at by the society.

These are the principal attempts which have been made at penetrating to
a high southern latitude, and it will now be seen that there remained,
previous to the voyage of the Jane, nearly three hundred degrees of
longitude in which the Antarctic circle had not been crossed at all.
Of course a wide field lay before us for discovery, and it was with
feelings of most intense interest that I heard Captain Guy express his
resolution of pushing boldly to the southward.




CHAPTER 17

We kept our course southwardly for four days after giving up the
search for Glass's islands, without meeting with any ice at all. On the
twenty-sixth, at noon, we were in latitude 63 degrees 23' S., longitude
41 degrees 25' W. We now saw several large ice islands, and a floe of
field ice, not, however, of any great extent. The winds generally blew
from the southeast, or the northeast, but were very light. Whenever we
had a westerly wind, which was seldom, it was invariably attended with a
rain squall. Every day we had more or less snow. The thermometer, on the
twenty-seventh stood at thirty-five.

January 1, 1828.--This day we found ourselves completely hemmed in by
the ice, and our prospects looked cheerless indeed. A strong gale blew,
during the whole forenoon, from the northeast, and drove large cakes of
the drift against the rudder and counter with such violence that we all
trembled for the consequences. Toward evening, the gale still blowing
with fury, a large field in front separated, and we were enabled, by
carrying a press of sail to force a passage through the smaller flakes
into some open water beyond. As we approached this space we took in sail
by degrees, and having at length got clear, lay-to under a single reefed
foresail.

January 2.--We had now tolerably pleasant weather. At noon we found
ourselves in latitude 69 degrees 10' S, longitude 42 degrees 20' W,
having crossed the Antarctic circle. Very little ice was to be seen to
the southward, although large fields of it lay behind us. This day we
rigged some sounding gear, using a large iron pot capable of holding
twenty gallons, and a line of two hundred fathoms. We found the
current setting to the north, about a quarter of a mile per hour. The
temperature of the air was now about thirty-three. Here we found the
variation to be 14 degrees 28' easterly, per azimuth.

January 5.--We had still held on to the southward without any very great
impediments. On this morning, however, being in latitude 73 degrees 15'
E., longitude 42 degrees 10' W, we were again brought to a stand by an
immense expanse of firm ice. We saw, nevertheless, much open water to
the southward, and felt no doubt of being able to reach it eventually.
Standing to the eastward along the edge of the floe, we at length came
to a passage of about a mile in width, through which we warped our way
by sundown. The sea in which we now were was thickly covered with ice
islands, but had no field ice, and we pushed on boldly as before. The
cold did not seem to increase, although we had snow very frequently,
and now and then hail squalls of great violence. Immense flocks of
the albatross flew over the schooner this day, going from southeast to
northwest.

January 7.--The sea still remained pretty well open, so that we had
no difficulty in holding on our course. To the westward we saw some
icebergs of incredible size, and in the afternoon passed very near one
whose summit could not have been less than four hundred fathoms from
the surface of the ocean. Its girth was probably, at the base,
three-quarters of a league, and several streams of water were running
from crevices in its sides. We remained in sight of this island two
days, and then only lost it in a fog.

January 10.--Early this morning we had the misfortune to lose a man
overboard. He was an American named Peter Vredenburgh, a native of New
York, and was one of the most valuable hands on board the schooner. In
going over the bows his foot slipped, and he fell between two cakes
of ice, never rising again. At noon of this day we were in latitude 78
degrees 30', longitude 40 degrees 15' W. The cold was now excessive, and
we had hail squalls continually from the northward and eastward. In
this direction also we saw several more immense icebergs, and the whole
horizon to the eastward appeared to be blocked up with field ice, rising
in tiers, one mass above the other. Some driftwood floated by during
the evening, and a great quantity of birds flew over, among which were
nellies, peterels, albatrosses, and a large bird of a brilliant blue
plumage. The variation here, per azimuth, was less than it had been
previously to our passing the Antarctic circle.

January 12.-Our passage to the south again looked doubtful, as nothing
was to be seen in the direction of the pole but one apparently limitless
floe, backed by absolute mountains of ragged ice, one precipice of which
arose frowningly above the other. We stood to the westward until the
fourteenth, in the hope of finding an entrance.

January 14.-This morning we reached the western extremity of the field
which had impeded us, and, weathering it, came to an open sea, without a
particle of ice. Upon sounding with two hundred fathoms, we here found
a current setting southwardly at the rate of half a mile per hour. The
temperature of the air was forty-seven, that of the water thirtyfour. We
now sailed to the southward without meeting any interruption of moment
until the sixteenth, when, at noon, we were in latitude 81 degrees
21', longitude 42 degrees W. We here again sounded, and found a current
setting still southwardly, and at the rate of three quarters of a mile
per hour. The variation per azimuth had diminished, and the temperature
of the air was mild and pleasant, the thermometer being as high as
fifty-one. At this period not a particle of ice was to be discovered.
All hands on board now felt certain of attaining the pole.

January 17.--This day was full of incident. Innumerable flights of birds
flew over us from the southward, and several were shot from the deck,
one of them, a species of pelican, proved to be excellent eating. About
midday a small floe of ice was seen from the masthead off the larboard
bow, and upon it there appeared to be some large animal. As the weather
was good and nearly calm, Captain Guy ordered out two of the boats to
see what it was. Dirk Peters and myself accompanied the mate in the
larger boat. Upon coming up with the floe, we perceived that it was in
the possession of a gigantic creature of the race of the Arctic bear,
but far exceeding in size the largest of these animals. Being well
armed, we made no scruple of attacking it at once. Several shots were
fired in quick succession, the most of which took effect, apparently,
in the head and body. Nothing discouraged, however, the monster threw
himself from the ice, and swam with open jaws, to the boat in which were
Peters and myself. Owing to the confusion which ensued among us at this
unexpected turn of the adventure, no person was ready immediately with
a second shot, and the bear had actually succeeded in getting half his
vast bulk across our gunwale, and seizing one of the men by the small
of his back, before any efficient means were taken to repel him. In this
extremity nothing but the promptness and agility of Peters saved us from
destruction. Leaping upon the back of the huge beast, he plunged the
blade of a knife behind the neck, reaching the spinal marrow at a blow.
The brute tumbled into the sea lifeless, and without a struggle, rolling
over Peters as he fell. The latter soon recovered himself, and a rope
being thrown him, he secured the carcass before entering the boat. We
then returned in triumph to the schooner, towing our trophy behind us.
This bear, upon admeasurement, proved to be full fifteen feet in his
greatest length. His wool was perfectly white, and very coarse, curling
tightly. The eyes were of a blood red, and larger than those of the
Arctic bear, the snout also more rounded, rather resembling the snout
of the bulldog. The meat was tender, but excessively rank and fishy,
although the men devoured it with avidity, and declared it excellent
eating.

Scarcely had we got our prize alongside, when the man at the masthead
gave the joyful shout of "land on the starboard bow!" All hands were
now upon the alert, and, a breeze springing up very opportunely from the
northward and eastward, we were soon close in with the coast. It
proved to be a low rocky islet, of about a league in circumference, and
altogether destitute of vegetation, if we except a species of prickly
pear. In approaching it from the northward, a singular ledge of rock is
seen projecting into the sea, and bearing a strong resemblance to corded
bales of cotton. Around this ledge to the westward is a small bay, at
the bottom of which our boats effected a convenient landing.

It did not take us long to explore every portion of the island, but,
with one exception, we found nothing worthy of our observation. In the
southern extremity, we picked up near the shore, half buried in a pile
of loose stones, a piece of wood, which seemed to have formed the prow
of a canoe. There had been evidently some attempt at carving upon it,
and Captain Guy fancied that he made out the figure of a tortoise, but
the resemblance did not strike me very forcibly. Besides this prow, if
such it were, we found no other token that any living creature had ever
been here before. Around the coast we discovered occasional small floes
of ice--but these were very few. The exact situation of the islet (to
which Captain Guy gave the name of Bennet's Islet, in honour of his
partner in the ownership of the schooner) is 82 degrees 50' S. latitude,
42 degrees 20' W. longitude.

We had now advanced to the southward more than eight degrees farther
than any previous navigators, and the sea still lay perfectly open
before us. We found, too, that the variation uniformly decreased as we
proceeded, and, what was still more surprising, that the temperature
of the air, and latterly of the water, became milder. The weather might
even be called pleasant, and we had a steady but very gentle breeze
always from some northern point of the compass. The sky was usually
clear, with now and then a slight appearance of thin vapour in the
southern horizon--this, however, was invariably of brief duration. Two
difficulties alone presented themselves to our view; we were getting
short of fuel, and symptoms of scurvy had occurred among several of
the crew. These considerations began to impress upon Captain Guy the
necessity of returning, and he spoke of it frequently. For my own part,
confident as I was of soon arriving at land of some description upon
the course we were pursuing, and having every reason to believe, from
present appearances, that we should not find it the sterile soil met
with in the higher Arctic latitudes, I warmly pressed upon him the
expediency of persevering, at least for a few days longer, in the
direction we were now holding. So tempting an opportunity of solving
the great problem in regard to an Antarctic continent had never yet
been afforded to man, and I confess that I felt myself bursting with
indignation at the timid and ill-timed suggestions of our commander.
I believe, indeed, that what I could not refrain from saying to him on
this head had the effect of inducing him to push on. While, therefore,
I cannot but lament the most unfortunate and bloody events which
immediately arose from my advice, I must still be allowed to feel some
degree of gratification at having been instrumental, however remotely,
in opening to the eye of science one of the most intensely exciting
secrets which has ever engrossed its attention.




CHAPTER 18

January 18.--This morning {*4} we continued to the southward, with the
same pleasant weather as before. The sea was entirely smooth, the air
tolerably warm and from the northeast, the temperature of the water
fifty-three. We now again got our sounding-gear in order, and, with a
hundred and fifty fathoms of line, found the current setting toward
the pole at the rate of a mile an hour. This constant tendency to
the southward, both in the wind and current, caused some degree of
speculation, and even of alarm, in different quarters of the schooner,
and I saw distinctly that no little impression had been made upon the
mind of Captain Guy. He was exceedingly sensitive to ridicule, however,
and I finally succeeded in laughing him out of his apprehensions. The
variation was now very trivial. In the course of the day we saw several
large whales of the right species, and innumerable flights of the
albatross passed over the vessel. We also picked up a bush, full of
red berries, like those of the hawthorn, and the carcass of a
singular-looking land-animal. It was three feet in length, and but six
inches in height, with four very short legs, the feet armed with long
claws of a brilliant scarlet, and resembling coral in substance. The
body was covered with a straight silky hair, perfectly white. The tail
was peaked like that of a rat, and about a foot and a half long. The
head resembled a cat's, with the exception of the ears--these were
flopped like the ears of a dog. The teeth were of the same brilliant
scarlet as the claws.

January 19.--To-day, being in latitude 83 degrees 20', longitude 43
degrees 5' W. (the sea being of an extraordinarily dark colour), we
again saw land from the masthead, and, upon a closer scrutiny, found it
to be one of a group of very large islands. The shore was precipitous,
and the interior seemed to be well wooded, a circumstance which
occasioned us great joy. In about four hours from our first discovering
the land we came to anchor in ten fathoms, sandy bottom, a league from
the coast, as a high surf, with strong ripples here and there, rendered
a nearer approach of doubtful expediency. The two largest boats were
now ordered out, and a party, well armed (among whom were Peters and
myself), proceeded to look for an opening in the reef which appeared to
encircle the island. After searching about for some time, we discovered
an inlet, which we were entering, when we saw four large canoes put off
from the shore, filled with men who seemed to be well armed. We waited
for them to come up, and, as they moved with great rapidity, they were
soon within hail. Captain Guy now held up a white handkerchief on the
blade of an oar, when the strangers made a full stop, and commenced
a loud jabbering all at once, intermingled with occasional shouts, in
which we could distinguish the words Anamoo-moo! and Lama-Lama! They
continued this for at least half an hour, during which we had a good
opportunity of observing their appearance.

In the four canoes, which might have been fifty feet long and five
broad, there were a hundred and ten savages in all. They were about the
ordinary stature of Europeans, but of a more muscular and brawny frame.
Their complexion a jet black, with thick and long woolly hair. They were
clothed in skins of an unknown black animal, shaggy and silky, and made
to fit the body with some degree of skill, the hair being inside,
except where turned out about the neck, wrists, and ankles. Their arms
consisted principally of clubs, of a dark, and apparently very heavy
wood. Some spears, however, were observed among them, headed with flint,
and a few slings. The bottoms of the canoes were full of black stones
about the size of a large egg.

When they had concluded their harangue (for it was clear they intended
their jabbering for such), one of them who seemed to be the chief stood
up in the prow of his canoe, and made signs for us to bring our boats
alongside of him. This hint we pretended not to understand, thinking
it the wiser plan to maintain, if possible, the interval between us, as
their number more than quadrupled our own. Finding this to be the case,
the chief ordered the three other canoes to hold back, while he advanced
toward us with his own. As soon as he came up with us he leaped on board
the largest of our boats, and seated himself by the side of Captain
Guy, pointing at the same time to the schooner, and repeating the word
Anamoo-moo! and Lama-Lama! We now put back to the vessel, the four
canoes following at a little distance.

Upon getting alongside, the chief evinced symptoms of extreme surprise
and delight, clapping his hands, slapping his thighs and breast, and
laughing obstreperously. His followers behind joined in his merriment,
and for some minutes the din was so excessive as to be absolutely
deafening. Quiet being at length restored, Captain Guy ordered the boats
to be hoisted up, as a necessary precaution, and gave the chief (whose
name we soon found to be Too-wit) to understand that we could admit no
more than twenty of his men on deck at one time. With this arrangement
he appeared perfectly satisfied, and gave some directions to the canoes,
when one of them approached, the rest remaining about fifty yards off.
Twenty of the savages now got on board, and proceeded to ramble over
every part of the deck, and scramble about among the rigging, making
themselves much at home, and examining every article with great
inquisitiveness.

It was quite evident that they had never before seen any of the white
race--from whose complexion, indeed, they appeared to recoil. They
believed the Jane to be a living creature, and seemed to be afraid of
hurting it with the points of their spears, carefully turning them up.
Our crew were much amused with the conduct of Too-wit in one instance.
The cook was splitting some wood near the galley, and, by accident,
struck his axe into the deck, making a gash of considerable depth.
The chief immediately ran up, and pushing the cook on one side rather
roughly, commenced a half whine, half howl, strongly indicative of
sympathy in what he considered the sufferings of the schooner, patting
and smoothing the gash with his hand, and washing it from a bucket of
seawater which stood by. This was a degree of ignorance for which we
were not prepared, and for my part I could not help thinking some of it
affected.

When the visitors had satisfied, as well as they could, their curiosity
in regard to our upper works, they were admitted below, when their
amazement exceeded all bounds. Their astonishment now appeared to be far
too deep for words, for they roamed about in silence, broken only by low
ejaculations. The arms afforded them much food for speculation, and they
were suffered to handle and examine them at leisure. I do not believe
that they had the least suspicion of their actual use, but rather took
them for idols, seeing the care we had of them, and the attention with
which we watched their movements while handling them. At the great guns
their wonder was redoubled. They approached them with every mark of the
profoundest reverence and awe, but forbore to examine them minutely.
There were two large mirrors in the cabin, and here was the acme of
their amazement. Too-wit was the first to approach them, and he had got
in the middle of the cabin, with his face to one and his back to the
other, before he fairly perceived them. Upon raising his eyes and seeing
his reflected self in the glass, I thought the savage would go mad;
but, upon turning short round to make a retreat, and beholding himself a
second time in the opposite direction, I was afraid he would expire upon
the spot. No persuasion could prevail upon him to take another look;
throwing himself upon the floor, with his face buried in his hands, he
remained thus until we were obliged to drag him upon deck.

The whole of the savages were admitted on board in this manner, twenty
at a time, Too-wit being suffered to remain during the entire period.
We saw no disposition to thievery among them, nor did we miss a single
article after their departure. Throughout the whole of their visit they
evinced the most friendly manner. There were, however, some points in
their demeanour which we found it impossible to understand; for example,
we could not get them to approach several very harmless objects--such
as the schooner's sails, an egg, an open book, or a pan of flour. We
endeavoured to ascertain if they had among them any articles which might
be turned to account in the way of traffic, but found great difficulty
in being comprehended. We made out, nevertheless, what greatly
astonished us, that the islands abounded in the large tortoise of the
Gallipagos, one of which we saw in the canoe of Too-wit. We saw also
some biche de mer in the hands of one of the savages, who was greedily
devouring it in its natural state. These anomalies--for they were such
when considered in regard to the latitude--induced Captain Guy to wish
for a thorough investigation of the country, in the hope of making a
profitable speculation in his discovery. For my own part, anxious as I
was to know something more of these islands, I was still more earnestly
bent on prosecuting the voyage to the southward without delay. We had
now fine weather, but there was no telling how long it would last; and
being already in the eighty-fourth parallel, with an open sea before us,
a current setting strongly to the southward, and the wind fair, I could
not listen with any patience to a proposition of stopping longer than
was absolutely necessary for the health of the crew and the taking on
board a proper supply of fuel and fresh provisions. I represented to the
captain that we might easily make this group on our return, and winter
here in the event of being blocked up by the ice. He at length came into
my views (for in some way, hardly known to myself, I had acquired much
influence over him), and it was finally resolved that, even in the event
of our finding biche de mer, we should only stay here a week to recruit,
and then push on to the southward while we might. Accordingly we made
every necessary preparation, and, under the guidance of Too-wit, got the
Jane through the reef in safety, coming to anchor about a mile from the
shore, in an excellent bay, completely landlocked, on the southeastern
coast of the main island, and in ten fathoms of water, black sandy
bottom. At the head of this bay there were three fine springs (we were
told) of good water, and we saw abundance of wood in the vicinity. The
four canoes followed us in, keeping, however, at a respectful distance.
Too-wit himself remained on board, and, upon our dropping anchor,
invited us to accompany him on shore, and visit his village in the
interior. To this Captain Guy consented; and ten savages being left on
board as hostages, a party of us, twelve in all, got in readiness to
attend the chief. We took care to be well armed, yet without evincing
any distrust. The schooner had her guns run out, her boarding-nettings
up, and every other proper precaution was taken to guard against
surprise. Directions were left with the chief mate to admit no person
on board during our absence, and, in the event of our not appearing in
twelve hours, to send the cutter, with a swivel, around the island in
search of us.

At every step we took inland the conviction forced itself upon us that
we were in a country differing essentially from any hitherto visited
by civilized men. We saw nothing with which we had been formerly
conversant. The trees resembled no growth of either the torrid, the
temperate, of the northern frigid zones, and were altogether unlike
those of the lower southern latitudes we had already traversed. The very
rocks were novel in their mass, their color, and their stratification;
and the streams themselves, utterly incredible as it may appear, had so
little in common with those of other climates, that we were scrupulous
of tasting them, and, indeed, had difficulty in bringing ourselves to
believe that their qualities were purely those of nature. At a small
brook which crossed our path (the first we had reached) Too-wit and his
attendants halted to drink. On account of the singular character of the
water, we refused to taste it, supposing it to be polluted; and it was
not until some time afterward we came to understand that such was the
appearance of the streams throughout the whole group. I am at a loss
to give a distinct idea of the nature of this liquid, and cannot do so
without many words. Although it flowed with rapidity in all declivities
where common water would do so, yet never, except when falling in
a cascade, had it the customary appearance of limpidity. It was,
nevertheless, in point of fact, as perfectly limpid as any limestone
water in existence, the difference being only in appearance. At first
sight, and especially in cases where little declivity was found, it bore
resemblance, as regards consistency, to a thick infusion of gum
arabic in common water. But this was only the least remarkable of its
extraordinary qualities. It was not colourless, nor was it of any one
uniform colour--presenting to the eye, as it flowed, every possible
shade of purple; like the hues of a changeable silk. This variation in
shade was produced in a manner which excited as profound astonishment
in the minds of our party as the mirror had done in the case of Too-wit.
Upon collecting a basinful, and allowing it to settle thoroughly, we
perceived that the whole mass of liquid was made up of a number of
distinct veins, each of a distinct hue; that these veins did not
commingle; and that their cohesion was perfect in regard to their own
particles among themselves, and imperfect in regard to neighbouring
veins. Upon passing the blade of a knife athwart the veins, the water
closed over it immediately, as with us, and also, in withdrawing it,
all traces of the passage of the knife were instantly obliterated. If,
however, the blade was passed down accurately between the two veins,
a perfect separation was effected, which the power of cohesion did
not immediately rectify. The phenomena of this water formed the first
definite link in that vast chain of apparent miracles with which I was
destined to be at length encircled.




CHAPTER 19

We were nearly three hours in reaching the village, it being more than
nine miles in the interior, and the path lying through a rugged country.
As we passed along, the party of Too-wit (the whole hundred and
ten savages of the canoes) was momentarily strengthened by smaller
detachments, of from two to six or seven, which joined us, as if by
accident, at different turns of the road. There appeared so much of
system in this that I could not help feeling distrust, and I spoke
to Captain Guy of my apprehensions. It was now too late, however,
to recede, and we concluded that our best security lay in evincing a
perfect confidence in the good faith of Too-wit. We accordingly went
on, keeping a wary eye upon the manoeuvres of the savages, and not
permitting them to divide our numbers by pushing in between. In this
way, passing through a precipitous ravine, we at length reached what we
were told was the only collection of habitations upon the island. As we
came in sight of them, the chief set up a shout, and frequently repeated
the word Klock-klock, which we supposed to be the name of the village,
or perhaps the generic name for villages.

The dwellings were of the most miserable description imaginable, and,
unlike those of even the lowest of the savage races with which mankind
are acquainted, were of no uniform plan. Some of them (and these we
found belonged to the Wampoos or Yampoos, the great men of the land)
consisted of a tree cut down at about four feet from the root, with a
large black skin thrown over it, and hanging in loose folds upon the
ground. Under this the savage nestled. Others were formed by means
of rough limbs of trees, with the withered foliage upon them, made to
recline, at an angle of forty-five degrees, against a bank of clay,
heaped up, without regular form, to the height of five or six feet.
Others, again, were mere holes dug in the earth perpendicularly, and
covered over with similar branches, these being removed when the tenant
was about to enter, and pulled on again when he had entered. A few were
built among the forked limbs of trees as they stood, the upper limbs
being partially cut through, so as to bend over upon the lower, thus
forming thicker shelter from the weather. The greater number, however,
consisted of small shallow caverns, apparently scratched in the face of
a precipitous ledge of dark stone, resembling fuller's earth, with which
three sides of the village were bounded. At the door of each of these
primitive caverns was a small rock, which the tenant carefully placed
before the entrance upon leaving his residence, for what purpose I could
not ascertain, as the stone itself was never of sufficient size to close
up more than a third of the opening.

This village, if it were worthy of the name, lay in a valley of some
depth, and could only be approached from the southward, the precipitous
ledge of which I have already spoken cutting off all access in other
directions. Through the middle of the valley ran a brawling stream of
the same magical-looking water which has been described. We saw several
strange animals about the dwellings, all appearing to be thoroughly
domesticated. The largest of these creatures resembled our common hog in
the structure of the body and snout; the tail, however, was bushy, and
the legs slender as those of the antelope. Its motion was exceedingly
awkward and indecisive, and we never saw it attempt to run. We noticed
also several animals very similar in appearance, but of a greater length
of body, and covered with a black wool. There were a great variety of
tame fowls running about, and these seemed to constitute the chief food
of the natives. To our astonishment we saw black albatross among these
birds in a state of entire domestication, going to sea periodically
for food, but always returning to the village as a home, and using the
southern shore in the vicinity as a place of incubation. There they were
joined by their friends the pelicans as usual, but these latter never
followed them to the dwellings of the savages. Among the other kinds of
tame fowls were ducks, differing very little from the canvass-back of
our own country, black gannets, and a large bird not unlike the buzzard
in appearance, but not carnivorous. Of fish there seemed to be a great
abundance. We saw, during our visit, a quantity of dried salmon,
rock cod, blue dolphins, mackerel, blackfish, skate, conger eels,
elephantfish, mullets, soles, parrotfish, leather-jackets, gurnards,
hake, flounders, paracutas, and innumerable other varieties. We noticed,
too, that most of them were similar to the fish about the group of Lord
Auckland Islands, in a latitude as low as fifty-one degrees south. The
Gallipago tortoise was also very plentiful. We saw but few wild animals,
and none of a large size, or of a species with which we were familiar.
One or two serpents of a formidable aspect crossed our path, but the
natives paid them little attention, and we concluded that they were not
venomous.

As we approached the village with Too-wit and his party, a vast crowd of
the people rushed out to meet us, with loud shouts, among which we could
only distinguish the everlasting Anamoo-moo! and Lama-Lama! We were
much surprised at perceiving that, with one or two exceptions, these new
comers were entirely naked, and skins being used only by the men of
the canoes. All the weapons of the country seemed also to be in the
possession of the latter, for there was no appearance of any among the
villagers. There were a great many women and children, the former not
altogether wanting in what might be termed personal beauty. They were
straight, tall, and well formed, with a grace and freedom of carriage
not to be found in civilized society. Their lips, however, like those of
the men, were thick and clumsy, so that, even when laughing, the teeth
were never disclosed. Their hair was of a finer texture than that of the
males. Among these naked villagers there might have been ten or twelve
who were clothed, like the party of Too-wit, in dresses of black skin,
and armed with lances and heavy clubs. These appeared to have great
influence among the rest, and were always addressed by the title Wampoo.
These, too, were the tenants of the black skin palaces. That of Too-wit
was situated in the centre of the village, and was much larger and
somewhat better constructed than others of its kind. The tree which
formed its support was cut off at a distance of twelve feet or
thereabouts from the root, and there were several branches left just
below the cut, these serving to extend the covering, and in this way
prevent its flapping about the trunk. The covering, too, which consisted
of four very large skins fastened together with wooden skewers, was
secured at the bottom with pegs driven through it and into the ground.
The floor was strewed with a quantity of dry leaves by way of carpet.

To this hut we were conducted with great solemnity, and as many of the
natives crowded in after us as possible. Too-wit seated himself on the
leaves, and made signs that we should follow his example. This we did,
and presently found ourselves in a situation peculiarly uncomfortable,
if not indeed critical. We were on the ground, twelve in number, with
the savages, as many as forty, sitting on their hams so closely
around us that, if any disturbance had arisen, we should have found it
impossible to make use of our arms, or indeed to have risen to our feet.
The pressure was not only inside the tent, but outside, where probably
was every individual on the whole island, the crowd being prevented from
trampling us to death only by the incessant exertions and vociferations
of Too-wit. Our chief security lay, however, in the presence of Too-wit
himself among us, and we resolved to stick by him closely, as the
best chance of extricating ourselves from the dilemma, sacrificing him
immediately upon the first appearance of hostile design.

After some trouble a certain degree of quiet was restored, when
the chief addressed us in a speech of great length, and very nearly
resembling the one delivered in the canoes, with the exception that the
Anamoo-moos! were now somewhat more strenuously insisted upon than the
Lama-Lamas! We listened in profound silence until the conclusion of this
harangue, when Captain Guy replied by assuring the chief of his eternal
friendship and goodwill, concluding what he had to say be a present of
several strings of blue beads and a knife. At the former the monarch,
much to our surprise, turned up his nose with some expression of
contempt, but the knife gave him the most unlimited satisfaction, and he
immediately ordered dinner. This was handed into the tent over the
heads of the attendants, and consisted of the palpitating entrails of a
specials of unknown animal, probably one of the slim-legged hogs which
we had observed in our approach to the village. Seeing us at a loss how
to proceed, he began, by way of setting us an example, to devour yard
after yard of the enticing food, until we could positively stand it no
longer, and evinced such manifest symptoms of rebellion of stomach as
inspired his majesty with a degree of astonishment only inferior to that
brought about by the looking-glasses. We declined, however, partaking of
the delicacies before us, and endeavoured to make him understand that we
had no appetite whatever, having just finished a hearty dejeuner.

When the monarch had made an end of his meal, we commenced a series of
cross-questioning in every ingenious manner we could devise, with a
view of discovering what were the chief productions of the country, and
whether any of them might be turned to profit. At length he seemed to
have some idea of our meaning, and offered to accompany us to a part of
coast where he assured us the biche de mer (pointing to a specimen of
that animal) was to be found in great abundance. We were glad of this
early opportunity of escaping from the oppression of the crowd,
and signified our eagerness to proceed. We now left the tent, and,
accompanied by the whole population of the village, followed the chief
to the southeastern extremity of the island, nor far from the bay where
our vessel lay at anchor. We waited here for about an hour, until the
four canoes were brought around by some of the savages to our station.
The whole of our party then getting into one of them, we were paddled
along the edge of the reef before mentioned, and of another still
farther out, where we saw a far greater quantity of biche de mer than
the oldest seamen among us had ever seen in those groups of the lower
latitudes most celebrated for this article of commerce. We stayed near
these reefs only long enough to satisfy ourselves that we could easily
load a dozen vessels with the animal if necessary, when we were taken
alongside the schooner, and parted with Too-wit, after obtaining from
him a promise that he would bring us, in the course of twenty-four
hours, as many of the canvass-back ducks and Gallipago tortoises as his
canoes would hold. In the whole of this adventure we saw nothing in the
demeanour of the natives calculated to create suspicion, with the single
exception of the systematic manner in which their party was strengthened
during our route from the schooner to the village.




CHAPTER 20

THE chief was as good as his word, and we were soon plentifully supplied
with fresh provisions. We found the tortoises as fine as we had ever
seen, and the ducks surpassed our best species of wild fowl, being
exceedingly tender, juicy, and well-flavoured. Besides these, the
savages brought us, upon our making them comprehend our wishes, a vast
quantity of brown celery and scurvy grass, with a canoe-load of fresh
fish and some dried. The celery was a treat indeed, and the scurvy grass
proved of incalculable benefit in restoring those of our men who had
shown symptoms of disease. In a very short time we had not a single
person on the sick-list. We had also plenty of other kinds of fresh
provisions, among which may be mentioned a species of shellfish
resembling the mussel in shape, but with the taste of an oyster.
Shrimps, too, and prawns were abundant, and albatross and other birds'
eggs with dark shells. We took in, too, a plentiful stock of the flesh
of the hog which I have mentioned before. Most of the men found it a
palatable food, but I thought it fishy and otherwise disagreeable. In
return for these good things we presented the natives with blue beads,
brass trinkets, nails, knives, and pieces of red cloth, they being fully
delighted in the exchange. We established a regular market on shore,
just under the guns of the schooner, where our barterings were carried
on with every appearance of good faith, and a degree of order which
their conduct at the village of _Klock-klock_ had not led us to expect
from the savages.

Matters went on thus very amicably for several days, during which
parties of the natives were frequently on board the schooner, and
parties of our men frequently on shore, making long excursions into the
interior, and receiving no molestation whatever. Finding the ease with
which the vessel might be loaded with _biche de mer_, owing to the
friendly disposition of the islanders, and the readiness with which they
would render us assistance in collecting it, Captain Guy resolved to
enter into negotiations with Too-wit for the erection of suitable houses
in which to cure the article, and for the services of himself and tribe
in gathering as much as possible, while he himself took advantage of the
fine weather to prosecute his voyage to the southward. Upon mentioning
this project to the chief he seemed very willing to enter into an
agreement. A bargain was accordingly struck, perfectly satisfactory to
both parties, by which it was arranged that, after making the necessary
preparations, such as laying off the proper grounds, erecting a portion
of the buildings, and doing some other work in which the whole of
our crew would be required, the schooner should proceed on her route,
leaving three of her men on the island to superintend the fulfilment of
the project, and instruct the natives in drying the _biche de mer_. In
regard to terms, these were made to depend upon the exertions of the
savages in our absence. They were to receive a stipulated quantity of
blue beads, knives, red cloth, and so forth, for every certain number of
piculs of the _biche de mer_ which should be ready on our return.

A description of the nature of this important article of commerce, and
the method of preparing it, may prove of some interest to my readers,
and I can find no more suitable place than this for introducing an
account of it. The following comprehensive notice of the substance is
taken from a modern history of a voyage to the South Seas.

"It is that _mollusca_ from the Indian Seas which is known to commerce
by the French name _bouche de mer_ (a nice morsel from the sea). If I
am not much mistaken, the celebrated Cuvier calls it _gasteropeda
pulmonifera_. It is abundantly gathered in the coasts of the Pacific
islands, and gathered especially for the Chinese market, where it
commands a great price, perhaps as much as their much-talked-of edible
birds' nests, which are properly made up of the gelatinous matter picked
up by a species of swallow from the body of these molluscae. They have
no shell, no legs, nor any prominent part, except an _absorbing_ and
an _excretory_, opposite organs; but, by their elastic wings, like
caterpillars or worms, they creep in shallow waters, in which, when low,
they can be seen by a kind of swallow, the sharp bill of which, inserted
in the soft animal, draws a gummy and filamentous substance, which, by
drying, can be wrought into the solid walls of their nest. Hence the
name of _gasteropeda pulmonifera_.

"This mollusca is oblong, and of different sizes, from three to eighteen
inches in length; and I have seen a few that were not less than two feet
long. They were nearly round, a little flattish on one side, which lies
next to the bottom of the sea; and they are from one to eight inches
thick. They crawl up into shallow water at particular seasons of the
year, probably for the purpose of gendering, as we often find them in
pairs. It is when the sun has the most power on the water, rendering it
tepid, that they approach the shore; and they often go up into places so
shallow that, on the tide's receding, they are left dry, exposed to
the beat of the sun. But they do not bring forth their young in shallow
water, as we never see any of their progeny, and full-grown ones are
always observed coming in from deep water. They feed principally on that
class of zoophytes which produce the coral.

"The _biche de mer_ is generally taken in three or four feet of water;
after which they are brought on shore, and split at one end with a
knife, the incision being one inch or more, according to the size of the
mollusca. Through this opening the entrails are forced out by pressure,
and they are much like those of any other small tenant of the deep. The
article is then washed, and afterward boiled to a certain degree, which
must not be too much or too little. They are then buried in the ground
for four hours, then boiled again for a short time, after which they are
dried, either by the fire or the sun. Those cured by the sun are worth
the most; but where one picul (133 1/3 lbs.) can be cured that way, I
can cure thirty piculs by the fire. When once properly cured, they can
be kept in a dry place for two or three years without any risk; but they
should be examined once in every few months, say four times a year, to
see if any dampness is likely to affect them.

"The Chinese, as before stated, consider _biche de mer_ a very great
luxury, believing that it wonderfully strengthens and nourishes the
system, and renews the exhausted system of the immoderate voluptuary.
The first quality commands a high price in Canton, being worth ninety
dollars a picul; the second quality, seventy-five dollars; the third,
fifty dollars; the fourth, thirty dollars; the fifth, twenty dollars;
the sixth, twelve dollars; the seventh, eight dollars; and the eighth,
four dollars; small cargoes, however, will often bring more in Manilla,
Singapore, and Batavia."

An agreement having been thus entered into, we proceeded immediately to
land everything necessary for preparing the buildings and clearing
the ground. A large flat space near the eastern shore of the bay was
selected, where there was plenty of both wood and water, and within a
convenient distance of the principal reefs on which the _biche de mer_
was to be procured. We now all set to work in good earnest, and soon, to
the great astonishment of the savages, had felled a sufficient number of
trees for our purpose, getting them quickly in order for the framework
of the houses, which in two or three days were so far under way that
we could safely trust the rest of the work to the three men whom we
intended to leave behind. These were John Carson, Alfred Harris, and
___ Peterson (all natives of London, I believe), who volunteered their
services in this respect.

By the last of the month we had everything in readiness for departure.
We had agreed, however, to pay a formal visit of leave-taking to the
village, and Too-wit insisted so pertinaciously upon our keeping the
promise that we did not think it advisable to run the risk of offending
him by a final refusal. I believe that not one of us had at this time
the slightest suspicion of the good faith of the savages. They had
uniformly behaved with the greatest decorum, aiding us with alacrity in
our work, offering us their commodities, frequently without price, and
never, in any instance, pilfering a single article, although the
high value they set upon the goods we had with us was evident by the
extravagant demonstrations of joy always manifested upon our making them
a present. The women especially were most obliging in every respect,
and, upon the whole, we should have been the most suspicious of human
beings had we entertained a single thought of perfidy on the part of a
people who treated us so well. A very short while sufficed to prove that
this apparent kindness of disposition was only the result of a deeply
laid plan for our destruction, and that the islanders for whom we
entertained such inordinate feelings of esteem, were among the most
barbarous, subtle, and bloodthirsty wretches that ever contaminated the
face of the globe.

It was on the first of February that we went on shore for the purpose of
visiting the village. Although, as said before, we entertained not the
slightest suspicion, still no proper precaution was neglected. Six
men were left in the schooner, with instructions to permit none of the
savages to approach the vessel during our absence, under any pretence
whatever, and to remain constantly on deck. The boarding-nettings were
up, the guns double-shotted with grape and canister, and the swivels
loaded with canisters of musket-balls. She lay, with her anchor apeak,
about a mile from the shore, and no canoe could approach her in any
direction without being distinctly seen and exposed to the full fire of
our swivels immediately.

The six men being left on board, our shore-party consisted of thirty-two
persons in all. We were armed to the teeth, having with us muskets,
pistols, and cutlasses; besides, each had a long kind of seaman's knife,
somewhat resembling the bowie knife now so much used throughout our
western and southern country. A hundred of the black skin warriors met
us at the landing for the purpose of accompanying us on our way. We
noticed, however, with some surprise, that they were now entirely
without arms; and, upon questioning Too-wit in relation to this
circumstance, he merely answered that _Mattee non we pa pa si_--meaning
that there was no need of arms where all were brothers. We took this in
good part, and proceeded.

We had passed the spring and rivulet of which I before spoke, and were
now entering upon a narrow gorge leading through the chain of soapstone
hills among which the village was situated. This gorge was very
rocky and uneven, so much so that it was with no little difficulty we
scrambled through it on our first visit to Klock-klock. The whole length
of the ravine might have been a mile and a half, or probably two
miles. It wound in every possible direction through the hills (having
apparently formed, at some remote period, the bed of a torrent), in no
instance proceeding more than twenty yards without an abrupt turn. The
sides of this dell would have averaged, I am sure, seventy or eighty
feet in perpendicular altitude throughout the whole of their extent, and
in some portions they arose to an astonishing height, overshadowing the
pass so completely that but little of the light of day could penetrate.
The general width was about forty feet, and occasionally it diminished
so as not to allow the passage of more than five or six persons abreast.
In short, there could be no place in the world better adapted for the
consummation of an ambuscade, and it was no more than natural that we
should look carefully to our arms as we entered upon it. When I now
think of our egregious folly, the chief subject of astonishment seems
to be, that we should have ever ventured, under any circumstances, so
completely into the power of unknown savages as to permit them to march
both before and behind us in our progress through this ravine. Yet such
was the order we blindly took up, trusting foolishly to the force of
our party, the unarmed condition of Too-wit and his men, the certain
efficacy of our firearms (whose effect was yet a secret to the natives),
and, more than all, to the long-sustained pretension of friendship kept
up by these infamous wretches. Five or six of them went on before, as
if to lead the way, ostentatiously busying themselves in removing the
larger stones and rubbish from the path. Next came our own party. We
walked closely together, taking care only to prevent separation. Behind
followed the main body of the savages, observing unusual order and
decorum.

Dirk Peters, a man named Wilson Allen, and myself were on the right of
our companions, examining, as we went along, the singular stratification
of the precipice which overhung us. A fissure in the soft rock attracted
our attention. It was about wide enough for one person to enter without
squeezing, and extended back into the hill some eighteen or twenty feet
in a straight course, sloping afterward to the left. The height of the
opening, is far as we could see into it from the main gorge, was perhaps
sixty or seventy feet. There were one or two stunted shrubs growing from
the crevices, bearing a species of filbert which I felt some curiosity
to examine, and pushed in briskly for that purpose, gathering five or
six of the nuts at a grasp, and then hastily retreating. As I turned, I
found that Peters and Allen had followed me. I desired them to go back,
as there was not room for two persons to pass, saying they should have
some of my nuts. They accordingly turned, and were scrambling back,
Allen being close to the mouth of the fissure, when I was suddenly aware
of a concussion resembling nothing I had ever before experienced, and
which impressed me with a vague conception, if indeed I then thought of
anything, that the whole foundations of the solid globe were suddenly
rent asunder, and that the day of universal dissolution was at hand.




CHAPTER 21

AS soon as I could collect my scattered senses, I found myself nearly
suffocated, and grovelling in utter darkness among a quantity of loose
earth, which was also falling upon me heavily in every direction,
threatening to bury me entirely. Horribly alarmed at this idea, I
struggled to gain my feet, and at last succeeded. I then remained
motionless for some moments, endeavouring to conceive what had happened
to me, and where I was. Presently I heard a deep groan just at my ear,
and afterward the smothered voice of Peters calling to me for aid in the
name of God. I scrambled one or two paces forward, when I fell directly
over the head and shoulders of my companion, who, I soon discovered,
was buried in a loose mass of earth as far as his middle, and struggling
desperately to free himself from the pressure. I tore the dirt from
around him with all the energy I could command, and at length succeeded
in getting him out.

As soon as we sufficiently recovered from our fright and surprise to be
capable of conversing rationally, we both came to the conclusion
that the walls of the fissure in which we had ventured had, by some
convulsion of nature, or probably from their own weight, caved in
overhead, and that we were consequently lost for ever, being thus
entombed alive. For a long time we gave up supinely to the most intense
agony and despair, such as cannot be adequately imagined by those
who have never been in a similar position. I firmly believed that no
incident ever occurring in the course of human events is more adapted to
inspire the supremeness of mental and bodily distress than a case like
our own, of living inhumation. The blackness of darkness which envelops
the victim, the terrific oppression of lungs, the stifling fumes from
the damp earth, unite with the ghastly considerations that we are beyond
the remotest confines of hope, and that such is the allotted portion of
the dead, to carry into the human heart a degree of appalling awe and
horror not to be tolerated--never to be conceived.

At length Peters proposed that we should endeavour to ascertain
precisely the extent of our calamity, and grope about our prison; it
being barely possible, he observed, that some opening might yet be left
us for escape. I caught eagerly at this hope, and, arousing myself to
exertion, attempted to force my way through the loose earth. Hardly had
I advanced a single step before a glimmer of light became perceptible,
enough to convince me that, at all events, we should not immediately
perish for want of air. We now took some degree of heart, and encouraged
each other to hope for the best. Having scrambled over a bank of rubbish
which impeded our farther progress in the direction of the light, we
found less difficulty in advancing and also experienced some relief from
the excessive oppression of lungs which had tormented us. Presently we
were enabled to obtain a glimpse of the objects around, and discovered
that we were near the extremity of the straight portion of the fissure,
where it made a turn to the left. A few struggles more, and we reached
the bend, when to our inexpressible joy, there appeared a long seam or
crack extending upward a vast distance, generally at an angle of about
forty-five degrees, although sometimes much more precipitous. We could
not see through the whole extent of this opening; but, as a good deal of
light came down it, we had little doubt of finding at the top of it (if
we could by any means reach the top) a clear passage into the open air.

I now called to mind that three of us had entered the fissure from
the main gorge, and that our companion, Allen, was still missing; we
determined at once to retrace our steps and look for him. After a long
search, and much danger from the farther caving in of the earth above
us, Peters at length cried out to me that he had hold of our companion's
foot, and that his whole body was deeply buried beneath the rubbish
beyond the possibility of extricating him. I soon found that what he
said was too true, and that, of course, life had been long extinct. With
sorrowful hearts, therefore, we left the corpse to its fate, and again
made our way to the bend.

The breadth of the seam was barely sufficient to admit us, and, after
one or two ineffectual efforts at getting up, we began once more to
despair. I have before said that the chain of hills through which
ran the main gorge was composed of a species of soft rock resembling
soapstone. The sides of the cleft we were now attempting to ascend were
of the same material, and so excessively slippery, being wet, that we
could get but little foothold upon them even in their least precipitous
parts; in some places, where the ascent was nearly perpendicular, the
difficulty was, of course, much aggravated; and, indeed, for some time
we thought insurmountable. We took courage, however, from despair, and
what, by dint of cutting steps in the soft stone with our bowie knives,
and swinging at the risk of our lives, to small projecting points of
a harder species of slaty rock which now and then protruded from the
general mass, we at length reached a natural platform, from which was
perceptible a patch of blue sky, at the extremity of a thickly-wooded
ravine. Looking back now, with somewhat more leisure, at the passage
through which we had thus far proceeded, we clearly saw from the
appearance of its sides, that it was of late formation, and we concluded
that the concussion, whatever it was, which had so unexpectedly
overwhelmed us, had also, at the same moment, laid open this path for
escape. Being quite exhausted with exertion, and indeed, so weak that we
were scarcely able to stand or articulate, Peters now proposed that we
should endeavour to bring our companions to the rescue by firing the
pistols which still remained in our girdles--the muskets as well as
cutlasses had been lost among the loose earth at the bottom of the
chasm. Subsequent events proved that, had we fired, we should have
sorely repented it, but luckily a half suspicion of foul play had by
this time arisen in my mind, and we forbore to let the savages know of
our whereabouts.

After having reposed for about an hour, we pushed on slowly up the
ravine, and had gone no great way before we heard a succession of
tremendous yells. At length we reached what might be called the surface
of the ground; for our path hitherto, since leaving the platform, had
lain beneath an archway of high rock and foliage, at a vast distance
overhead. With great caution we stole to a narrow opening, through which
we had a clear sight of the surrounding country, when the whole dreadful
secret of the concussion broke upon us in one moment and at one view.

The spot from which we looked was not far from the summit of the highest
peak in the range of the soapstone hills. The gorge in which our party
of thirty-two had entered ran within fifty feet to the left of us. But,
for at least one hundred yards, the channel or bed of this gorge was
entirely filled up with the chaotic ruins of more than a million tons of
earth and stone that had been artificially tumbled within it. The means
by which the vast mass had been precipitated were not more simple than
evident, for sure traces of the murderous work were yet remaining. In
several spots along the top of the eastern side of the gorge (we were
now on the western) might be seen stakes of wood driven into the earth.
In these spots the earth had not given way, but throughout the whole
extent of the face of the precipice from which the mass had fallen,
it was clear, from marks left in the soil resembling those made by the
drill of the rock blaster, that stakes similar to those we saw standing
had been inserted, at not more than a yard apart, for the length of
perhaps three hundred feet, and ranging at about ten feet back from the
edge of the gulf. Strong cords of grape vine were attached to the stakes
still remaining on the hill, and it was evident that such cords had also
been attached to each of the other stakes. I have already spoken of the
singular stratification of these soapstone hills; and the description
just given of the narrow and deep fissure through which we effected our
escape from inhumation will afford a further conception of its nature.
This was such that almost every natural convulsion would be sure to
split the soil into perpendicular layers or ridges running parallel with
one another, and a very moderate exertion of art would be sufficient
for effecting the same purpose. Of this stratification the savages had
availed themselves to accomplish their treacherous ends. There can be no
doubt that, by the continuous line of stakes, a partial rupture of the
soil had been brought about probably to the depth of one or two feet,
when by means of a savage pulling at the end of each of the cords (these
cords being attached to the tops of the stakes, and extending back from
the edge of the cliff), a vast leverage power was obtained, capable of
hurling the whole face of the hill, upon a given signal, into the bosom
of the abyss below. The fate of our poor companions was no longer a
matter of uncertainty. We alone had escaped from the tempest of that
overwhelming destruction. We were the only living white men upon the
island.




CHAPTER 22

OUR situation, as it now appeared, was scarcely less dreadful than
when we had conceived ourselves entombed forever. We saw before us no
prospect but that of being put to death by the savages, or of dragging
out a miserable existence in captivity among them. We might, to be sure,
conceal ourselves for a time from their observation among the fastnesses
of the hills, and, as a final resort, in the chasm from which we had
just issued; but we must either perish in the long polar winter through
cold and famine, or be ultimately discovered in our efforts to obtain
relief.

The whole country around us seemed to be swarming with savages, crowds
of whom, we now perceived, had come over from the islands to the
southward on flat rafts, doubtless with a view of lending their aid
in the capture and plunder of the Jane. The vessel still lay calmly at
anchor in the bay, those on board being apparently quite unconscious of
any danger awaiting them. How we longed at that moment to be with them!
either to aid in effecting their escape, or to perish with them in
attempting a defence. We saw no chance even of warning them of their
danger without bringing immediate destruction upon our own heads, with
but a remote hope of benefit to them. A pistol fired might suffice to
apprise them that something wrong had occurred; but the report could not
possibly inform them that their only prospect of safety lay in getting
out of the harbour forthwith--it could not tell them that no principles
of honour now bound them to remain, that their companions were no longer
among the living. Upon hearing the discharge they could not be more
thoroughly prepared to meet the foe, who were now getting ready to
attack, than they already were, and always had been. No good, therefore,
and infinite harm, would result from our firing, and after mature
deliberation, we forbore.

Our next thought was to attempt to rush toward the vessel, to seize one
of the four canoes which lay at the head of the bay, and endeavour to
force a passage on board. But the utter impossibility of succeeding in
this desperate task soon became evident. The country, as I said before,
was literally swarming with the natives, skulking among the bushes and
recesses of the hills, so as not to be observed from the schooner. In
our immediate vicinity especially, and blockading the sole path by which
we could hope to attain the shore at the proper point were stationed the
whole party of the black skin warriors, with Too-wit at their head, and
apparently only waiting for some re-enforcement to commence his onset
upon the Jane. The canoes, too, which lay at the head of the bay, were
manned with savages, unarmed, it is true, but who undoubtedly had arms
within reach. We were forced, therefore, however unwillingly, to remain
in our place of concealment, mere spectators of the conflict which
presently ensued.

In about half an hour we saw some sixty or seventy rafts, or flatboats,
without riggers, filled with savages, and coming round the southern
bight of the harbor. They appeared to have no arms except short clubs,
and stones which lay in the bottom of the rafts. Immediately afterward
another detachment, still larger, appeared in an opposite direction, and
with similar weapons. The four canoes, too, were now quickly filled with
natives, starting up from the bushes at the head of the bay, and put off
swiftly to join the other parties. Thus, in less time than I have taken
to tell it, and as if by magic, the Jane saw herself surrounded by an
immense multitude of desperadoes evidently bent upon capturing her at
all hazards.

That they would succeed in so doing could not be doubted for an instant.
The six men left in the vessel, however resolutely they might engage
in her defence, were altogether unequal to the proper management of the
guns, or in any manner to sustain a contest at such odds. I could
hardly imagine that they would make resistance at all, but in this was
deceived; for presently I saw them get springs upon the cable, and bring
the vessel's starboard broadside to bear upon the canoes, which by this
time were within pistol range, the rafts being nearly a quarter of a
mile to windward. Owing to some cause unknown, but most probably to
the agitation of our poor friends at seeing themselves in so hopeless a
situation, the discharge was an entire failure. Not a canoe was hit or
a single savage injured, the shots striking short and ricocheting over
their heads. The only effect produced upon them was astonishment at
the unexpected report and smoke, which was so excessive that for some
moments I almost thought they would abandon their design entirely, and
return to the shore. And this they would most likely have done had our
men followed up their broadside by a discharge of small arms, in which,
as the canoes were now so near at hand, they could not have failed in
doing some execution, sufficient, at least, to deter this party from a
farther advance, until they could have given the rafts also a broadside.
But, in place of this, they left the canoe party to recover from their
panic, and, by looking about them, to see that no injury had been
sustained, while they flew to the larboard to get ready for the rafts.

The discharge to larboard produced the most terrible effect. The star
and double-headed shot of the large guns cut seven or eight of the rafts
completely asunder, and killed, perhaps, thirty or forty of the savages
outright, while a hundred of them, at least, were thrown into the water,
the most of them dreadfully wounded. The remainder, frightened out of
their senses, commenced at once a precipitate retreat, not even waiting
to pick up their maimed companions, who were swimming about in every
direction, screaming and yelling for aid. This great success, however,
came too late for the salvation of our devoted people. The canoe party
were already on board the schooner to the number of more than a hundred
and fifty, the most of them having succeeded in scrambling up the chains
and over the boarding-netting even before the matches had been applied
to the larboard guns. Nothing now could withstand their brute rage.
Our men were borne down at once, overwhelmed, trodden under foot, and
absolutely torn to pieces in an instant.

Seeing this, the savages on the rafts got the better of their fears,
and came up in shoals to the plunder. In five minutes the Jane was a
pitiable scene indeed of havoc and tumultuous outrage. The decks were
split open and ripped up; the cordage, sails, and everything movable on
deck demolished as if by magic, while, by dint of pushing at the stern,
towing with the canoes, and hauling at the sides, as they swam in
thousands around the vessel, the wretches finally forced her on shore
(the cable having been slipped), and delivered her over to the good
offices of Too-wit, who, during the whole of the engagement,
had maintained, like a skilful general, his post of security and
reconnaissance among the hills, but, now that the victory was completed
to his satisfaction, condescended to scamper down with his warriors of
the black skin, and become a partaker in the spoils.

Too-wit's descent left us at liberty to quit our hiding place and
reconnoitre the hill in the vicinity of the chasm. At about fifty yards
from the mouth of it we saw a small spring of water, at which we slaked
the burning thirst that now consumed us. Not far from the spring we
discovered several of the filbert-bushes which I mentioned before. Upon
tasting the nuts we found them palatable, and very nearly resembling
in flavour the common English filbert. We collected our hats full
immediately, deposited them within the ravine, and returned for more.
While we were busily employed in gathering these, a rustling in the
bushes alarmed us, and we were upon the point of stealing back to our
covert, when a large black bird of the bittern species strugglingly and
slowly arose above the shrubs. I was so much startled that I could do
nothing, but Peters had sufficient presence of mind to run up to it
before it could make its escape, and seize it by the neck. Its struggles
and screams were tremendous, and we had thoughts of letting it go, lest
the noise should alarm some of the savages who might be still lurking in
the neighbourhood. A stab with a bowie knife, however, at length brought
it to the ground, and we dragged it into the ravine, congratulating
ourselves that, at all events, we had thus obtained a supply of food
enough to last us for a week.

We now went out again to look about us, and ventured a considerable
distance down the southern declivity of the hill, but met with nothing
else which could serve us for food. We therefore collected a quantity of
dry wood and returned, seeing one or two large parties of the natives on
their way to the village, laden with the plunder of the vessel, and who,
we were apprehensive, might discover us in passing beneath the hill.

Our next care was to render our place of concealment as secure as
possible, and with this object, we arranged some brushwood over the
aperture which I have before spoken of as the one through which we saw
the patch of blue sky, on reaching the platform from the interior of the
chasm. We left only a very small opening just wide enough to admit of
our seeing the bay, without the risk of being discovered from below.
Having done this, we congratulated ourselves upon the security of the
position; for we were now completely excluded from observation, as long
as we chose to remain within the ravine itself, and not venture out upon
the hill, We could perceive no traces of the savages having ever been
within this hollow; but, indeed, when we came to reflect upon the
probability that the fissure through which we attained it had been only
just now created by the fall of the cliff opposite, and that no other
way of attaining it could be perceived, we were not so much rejoiced
at the thought of being secure from molestation as fearful lest there
should be absolutely no means left us for descent. We resolved to
explore the summit of the hill thoroughly, when a good opportunity
should offer. In the meantime we watched the motions of the savages
through our loophole.

They had already made a complete wreck of the vessel, and were now
preparing to set her on fire. In a little while we saw the smoke
ascending in huge volumes from her main hatchway, and, shortly
afterward, a dense mass of flame burst up from the forecastle. The
rigging, masts and what remained of the sails caught immediately, and
the fire spread rapidly along the decks. Still a great many of the
savages retained their stations about her, hammering with large stones,
axes, and cannon balls at the bolts and other iron and copper work. On
the beach, and in canoes and rafts, there were not less, altogether,
in the immediate vicinity of the schooner, than ten thousand natives,
besides the shoals of them who, laden with booty, were making their
way inland and over to the neighbouring islands. We now anticipated a
catastrophe, and were not disappointed. First of all there came a smart
shock (which we felt as distinctly where we were as if we had been
slightly galvanized), but unattended with any visible signs of an
explosion. The savages were evidently startled, and paused for an
instant from their labours and yellings. They were upon the point of
recommencing, when suddenly a mass of smoke puffed up from the decks,
resembling a black and heavy thundercloud--then, as if from its bowels,
arose a tall stream of vivid fire to the height, apparently, of a
quarter of a mile--then there came a sudden circular expansion of the
flame--then the whole atmosphere was magically crowded, in a single
instant, with a wild chaos of wood, and metal, and human limbs-and,
lastly, came the concussion in its fullest fury, which hurled us
impetuously from our feet, while the hills echoed and re-echoed the
tumult, and a dense shower of the minutest fragments of the ruins
tumbled headlong in every direction around us.

The havoc among the savages far exceeded our utmost expectation, and
they had now, indeed, reaped the full and perfect fruits of their
treachery. Perhaps a thousand perished by the explosion, while at least
an equal number were desperately mangled. The whole surface of the bay
was literally strewn with the struggling and drowning wretches, and
on shore matters were even worse. They seemed utterly appalled by the
suddenness and completeness of their discomfiture, and made no efforts
at assisting one another. At length we observed a total change in their
demeanour. From absolute stupor, they appeared to be, all at once,
aroused to the highest pitch of excitement, and rushed wildly about,
going to and from a certain point on the beach, with the strangest
expressions of mingled horror, rage, and intense curiosity depicted
on their countenances, and shouting, at the top of their voices,
"Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"

Presently we saw a large body go off into the hills, whence they
returned in a short time, carrying stakes of wood. These they brought to
the station where the crowd was the thickest, which now separated so as
to afford us a view of the object of all this excitement. We perceived
something white lying upon the ground, but could not immediately make
out what it was. At length we saw that it was the carcass of the strange
animal with the scarlet teeth and claws which the schooner had picked
up at sea on the eighteenth of January. Captain Guy had had the body
preserved for the purpose of stuffing the skin and taking it to England.
I remember he had given some directions about it just before our making
the island, and it had been brought into the cabin and stowed away in
one of the lockers. It had now been thrown on shore by the explosion;
but why it had occasioned so much concern among the savages was more
than we could comprehend. Although they crowded around the carcass at
a little distance, none of them seemed willing to approach it closely.
By-and-by the men with the stakes drove them in a circle around it, and
no sooner was this arrangement completed, than the whole of the vast
assemblage rushed into the interior of the island, with loud screams of
"Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"




CHAPTER 23

DURING the six or seven days immediately following we remained in our
hiding-place upon the hill, going out only occasionally, and then with
the greatest precaution, for water and filberts. We had made a kind of
penthouse on the platform, furnishing it with a bed of dry leaves,
and placing in it three large flat stones, which served us for both
fireplace and table. We kindled a fire without difficulty by rubbing two
pieces of dry wood together, the one soft, the other hard. The bird we
had taken in such good season proved excellent eating, although somewhat
tough. It was not an oceanic fowl, but a species of bittern, with jet
black and grizzly plumage, and diminutive wings in proportion to its
bulk. We afterward saw three of the same kind in the vicinity of the
ravine, apparently seeking for the one we had captured; but, as they
never alighted, we had no opportunity of catching them.

As long as this fowl lasted we suffered nothing from our situation, but
it was now entirely consumed, and it became absolutely necessary that
we should look out for provision. The filberts would not satisfy the
cravings of hunger, afflicting us, too, with severe gripings of the
bowels, and, if freely indulged in, with violent headache. We had seen
several large tortoises near the seashore to the eastward of the hill,
and perceived they might be easily taken, if we could get at them
without the observation of the natives. It was resolved, therefore, to
make an attempt at descending.

We commenced by going down the southern declivity, which seemed to offer
the fewest difficulties, but had not proceeded a hundred yards before
(as we had anticipated from appearances on the hilltop) our progress was
entirely arrested by a branch of the gorge in which our companions had
perished. We now passed along the edge of this for about a quarter of a
mile, when we were again stopped by a precipice of immense depth, and,
not being able to make our way along the brink of it, we were forced to
retrace our steps by the main ravine.

We now pushed over to the eastward, but with precisely similar fortune.
After an hour's scramble, at the risk of breaking our necks, we
discovered that we had merely descended into a vast pit of black
granite, with fine dust at the bottom, and whence the only egress was by
the rugged path in which we had come down. Toiling again up this path,
we now tried the northern edge of the hill. Here we were obliged to
use the greatest possible caution in our maneuvers, as the least
indiscretion would expose us to the full view of the savages in the
village. We crawled along, therefore, on our hands and knees, and,
occasionally, were even forced to throw ourselves at full length,
dragging our bodies along by means of the shrubbery. In this careful
manner we had proceeded but a little way, when we arrived at a chasm
far deeper than any we had yet seen, and leading directly into the main
gorge. Thus our fears were fully confirmed, and we found ourselves cut
off entirely from access to the world below. Thoroughly exhausted by
our exertions, we made the best of our way back to the platform, and
throwing ourselves upon the bed of leaves, slept sweetly and soundly for
some hours.

For several days after this fruitless search we were occupied in
exploring every part of the summit of the hill, in order to inform
ourselves of its actual resources. We found that it would afford us no
food, with the exception of the unwholesome filberts, and a rank species
of scurvy grass, which grew in a little patch of not more than four rods
square, and would be soon exhausted. On the fifteenth of February, as
near as I can remember, there was not a blade of this left, and the
nuts were growing scarce; our situation, therefore, could hardly be more
lamentable. {*5} On the sixteenth we again went round the walls of our
prison, in hope of finding some avenue of escape; but to no purpose.
We also descended the chasm in which we had been overwhelmed, with the
faint expectation of discovering, through this channel, some opening to
the main ravine. Here, too, we were disappointed, although we found and
brought up with us a musket.

On the seventeenth we set out with the determination of examining more
thoroughly the chasm of black granite into which we had made our way in
the first search. We remembered that one of the fissures in the sides
of this pit had been but partially looked into, and we were anxious
to explore it, although with no expectation of discovering here any
opening.

We found no great difficulty in reaching the bottom of the hollow as
before, and were now sufficiently calm to survey it with some attention.
It was, indeed, one of the most singular-looking places imaginable, and
we could scarcely bring ourselves to believe it altogether the work of
nature. The pit, from its eastern to its western extremity, was about
five hundred yards in length, when all its windings were threaded; the
distance from east to west in a straight line not being more (I should
suppose, having no means of accurate examination) than forty or fifty
yards. Upon first descending into the chasm, that is to say, for a
hundred feet downward from the summit of the hill, the sides of the
abyss bore little resemblance to each other, and, apparently, had at
no time been connected, the one surface being of the soapstone, and the
other of marl, granulated with some metallic matter. The average breadth
or interval between the two cliffs was probably here sixty feet, but
there seemed to be no regularity of formation. Passing down, however,
beyond the limit spoken of, the interval rapidly contracted, and the
sides began to run parallel, although, for some distance farther,
they were still dissimilar in their material and form of surface.
Upon arriving within fifty feet of the bottom, a perfect regularity
commenced. The sides were now entirely uniform in substance, in colour,
and in lateral direction, the material being a very black and shining
granite, and the distance between the two sides, at all points facing
each other, exactly twenty yards. The precise formation of the chasm
will be best understood by means of a delineation taken upon the spot;
for I had luckily with me a pocketbook and pencil, which I preserved
with great care through a long series of subsequent adventure, and to
which I am indebted for memoranda of many subjects which would otherwise
have been crowded from my remembrance.

This figure [No figures in text] gives the general outlines of the
chasm, without the minor cavities in the sides, of which there were
several, each cavity having a corresponding protuberance opposite. The
bottom of the gulf was covered to the depth of three or four inches with
a powder almost impalpable, beneath which we found a continuation of the
black granite. To the right, at the lower extremity, will be noticed the
appearance of a small opening; this is the fissure alluded to above, and
to examine which more minutely than before was the object of our second
visit. We now pushed into it with vigor, cutting away a quantity of
brambles which impeded us, and removing a vast heap of sharp flints
somewhat resembling arrowheads in shape. We were encouraged to
persevere, however, by perceiving some little light proceeding from the
farther end. We at length squeezed our way for about thirty feet, and
found that the aperture was a low and regularly formed arch, having a
bottom of the same impalpable powder as that in the main chasm. A strong
light now broke upon us, and, turning a short bend, we found ourselves
in another lofty chamber, similar to the one we had left in every
respect but longitudinal form. Its general figure is here given.

The total length of this chasm, commencing at the opening a and
proceeding round the curve _b_ to the extremity _d_, is five hundred and
fifty yards. At _c_ we discovered a small aperture similar to the one
through which we had issued from the other chasm, and this was choked up
in the same manner with brambles and a quantity of the white arrowhead
flints. We forced our way through it, finding it about forty feet long,
and emerged into a third chasm. This, too, was precisely like the
first, except in its longitudinal shape, which was thus.

We found the entire length of the third chasm three hundred and
twenty yards. At the point _a_ was an opening about six feet wide, and
extending fifteen feet into the rock, where it terminated in a bed of
marl, there being no other chasm beyond, as we had expected. We were
about leaving this fissure, into which very little light was admitted,
when Peters called my attention to a range of singular-looking
indentures in the surface of the marl forming the termination of the
_cul-de-sac_. With a very slight exertion of the imagination, the left,
or most northern of these indentures might have been taken for the
intentional, although rude, representation of a human figure standing
erect, with outstretched arm. The rest of them bore also some little
resemblance to alphabetical characters, and Peters was willing, at
all events, to adopt the idle opinion that they were really such. I
convinced him of his error, finally, by directing his attention to the
floor of the fissure, where, among the powder, we picked up, piece by
piece, several large flakes of the marl, which had evidently been broken
off by some convulsion from the surface where the indentures were found,
and which had projecting points exactly fitting the indentures; thus
proving them to have been the work of nature.

After satisfying ourselves that these singular caverns afforded us no
means of escape from our prison, we made our way back, dejected and
dispirited, to the summit of the hill. Nothing worth mentioning occurred
during the next twenty-four hours, except that, in examining the ground
to the eastward of the third chasm, we found two triangular holes of
great depth, and also with black granite sides. Into these holes we
did not think it worth while to attempt descending, as they had the
appearance of mere natural wells, without outlet. They were each about
twenty yards in circumference, and their shape, as well as relative
position in regard to the third chasm, is shown in figure 5. {image}




CHAPTER 24

ON the twentieth of the month, finding it altogether impossible to
subsist any longer upon the filberts, the use of which occasioned us the
most excruciating torment, we resolved to make a desperate attempt at
descending the southern declivity of the hill. The face of the
precipice was here of the softest species of soapstone, although nearly
perpendicular throughout its whole extent (a depth of a hundred and
fifty feet at the least), and in many places even overarching. After
a long search we discovered a narrow ledge about twenty feet below
the brink of the gulf; upon this Peters contrived to leap, with what
assistance I could render him by means of our pocket-handkerchiefs tied
together. With somewhat more difficulty I also got down; and we then saw
the possibility of descending the whole way by the process in which we
had clambered up from the chasm when we had been buried by the fall of
the hill-that is, by cutting steps in the face of the soapstone with
our knives. The extreme hazard of the attempt can scarcely be conceived;
but, as there was no other resource, we determined to undertake it.

Upon the ledge where we stood there grew some filbert-bushes; and to one
of these we made fast an end of our rope of handkerchiefs. The other end
being tied round Peters' waist, I lowered him down over the edge of the
precipice until the handkerchiefs were stretched tight. He now proceeded
to dig a deep hole in the soapstone (as far in as eight or ten inches),
sloping away the rock above to the height of a foot, or thereabout,
so as to allow of his driving, with the butt of a pistol, a tolerably
strong peg into the levelled surface. I then drew him up for about four
feet, when he made a hole similar to the one below, driving in a peg as
before, and having thus a resting-place for both feet and hands. I now
unfastened the handkerchiefs from the bush, throwing him the end, which
he tied to the peg in the uppermost hole, letting himself down gently
to a station about three feet lower than he had yet been that is, to the
full extent of the handkerchiefs. Here he dug another hole, and drove
another peg. He then drew himself up, so as to rest his feet in the hole
just cut, taking hold with his hands upon the peg in the one above. It
was now necessary to untie the handkerchiefs from the topmost peg, with
the view of fastening them to the second; and here he found that an
error had been committed in cutting the holes at so great a distance
apart. However, after one or two unsuccessful and dangerous attempts at
reaching the knot (having to hold on with his left hand while he labored
to undo the fastening with his right), he at length cut the string,
leaving six inches of it affixed to the peg. Tying the handkerchiefs
now to the second peg, he descended to a station below the third, taking
care not to go too far down. By these means (means which I should never
have conceived of myself, and for which we were indebted altogether to
Peters' ingenuity and resolution) my companion finally succeeded, with
the occasional aid of projections in the cliff, in reaching the bottom
without accident.

It was some time before I could summon sufficient resolution to follow
him; but I did at length attempt it. Peters had taken off his shirt
before descending, and this, with my own, formed the rope necessary
for the adventure. After throwing down the musket found in the chasm, I
fastened this rope to the bushes, and let myself down rapidly, striving,
by the vigor of my movements, to banish the trepidation which I could
overcome in no other manner. This answered sufficiently well for the
first four or five steps; but presently I found my imagination growing
terribly excited by thoughts of the vast depths yet to be descended, and
the precarious nature of the pegs and soapstone holes which were my only
support. It was in vain I endeavored to banish these reflections, and to
keep my eyes steadily bent upon the flat surface of the cliff before me.
The more earnestly I struggled _not to think, _the more intensely vivid
became my conceptions, and the more horribly distinct. At length arrived
that crisis of fancy, so fearful in all similar cases, the crisis in
which we began to anticipate the feelings with which we _shall _fall-to
picture to ourselves the sickness, and dizziness, and the last struggle,
and the half swoon, and the final bitterness of the rushing and headlong
descent. And now I found these fancies creating their own realities, and
all imagined horrors crowding upon me in fact. I felt my knees strike
violently together, while my fingers were gradually but certainly
relaxing their grasp. There was a ringing in my ears, and I said, "This
is my knell of death!" And now I was consumed with the irrepressible
desire of looking below. I could not, I would not, confine my glances to
the cliff; and, with a wild, indefinable emotion, half of horror, half
of a relieved oppression, I threw my vision far down into the abyss. For
one moment my fingers clutched convulsively upon their hold, while, with
the movement, the faintest possible idea of ultimate escape wandered,
like a shadow, through my mind--in the next my whole soul was pervaded
with a longing to fall; a desire, a yearning, a passion utterly
uncontrollable. I let go at once my grasp upon the peg, and, turning
half round from the precipice, remained tottering for an instant
against its naked face. But now there came a spinning of the brain;
a shrill-sounding and phantom voice screamed within my ears; a dusky,
fiendish, and filmy figure stood immediately beneath me; and, sighing, I
sunk down with a bursting heart, and plunged within its arms.

I had swooned, and Peters had caught me as I fell. He had observed my
proceedings from his station at the bottom of the cliff; and perceiving
my imminent danger, had endeavored to inspire me with courage by every
suggestion he could devise; although my confusion of mind had been so
great as to prevent my hearing what he said, or being conscious that he
had even spoken to me at all. At length, seeing me totter, he hastened
to ascend to my rescue, and arrived just in time for my preservation.
Had I fallen with my full weight, the rope of linen would inevitably
have snapped, and I should have been precipitated into the abyss; as
it was, he contrived to let me down gently, so as to remain suspended
without danger until animation returned. This was in about fifteen
minutes. On recovery, my trepidation had entirely vanished; I felt a new
being, and, with some little further aid from my companion, reached the
bottom also in safety.

We now found ourselves not far from the ravine which had proved the
tomb of our friends, and to the southward of the spot where the hill had
fallen. The place was one of singular wildness, and its aspect brought
to my mind the descriptions given by travellers of those dreary regions
marking the site of degraded Babylon. Not to speak of the ruins of the
disrupted cliff, which formed a chaotic barrier in the vista to the
northward, the surface of the ground in every other direction was strewn
with huge tumuli, apparently the wreck of some gigantic structures of
art; although, in detail, no semblance of art could be detected.
Scoria were abundant, and large shapeless blocks of the black granite,
intermingled with others of marl, {*6} and both granulated with metal.
Of vegetation there were no traces whatsoever throughout the whole of
the desolate area within sight. Several immense scorpions were seen,
and various reptiles not elsewhere to be found in the high latitudes. As
food was our most immediate object, we resolved to make our way to the
seacoast, distant not more than half a mile, with a view of catching
turtle, several of which we had observed from our place of concealment
on the hill. We had proceeded some hundred yards, threading our route
cautiously between the huge rocks and tumuli, when, upon turning a
corner, five savages sprung upon us from a small cavern, felling Peters
to the ground with a blow from a club. As he fell the whole party rushed
upon him to secure their victim, leaving me time to recover from my
astonishment. I still had the musket, but the barrel had received so
much injury in being thrown from the precipice that I cast it aside
as useless, preferring to trust my pistols, which had been carefully
preserved in order. With these I advanced upon the assailants, firing
one after the other in quick succession. Two savages fell, and one,
who was in the act of thrusting a spear into Peters, sprung to his feet
without accomplishing his purpose. My companion being thus released,
we had no further difficulty. He had his pistols also, but prudently
declined using them, confiding in his great personal strength, which far
exceeded that of any person I have ever known. Seizing a club from one
of the savages who had fallen, he dashed out the brains of the three who
remained, killing each instantaneously with a single blow of the weapon,
and leaving us completely masters of the field.

So rapidly bad these events passed, that we could scarcely believe
in their reality, and were standing over the bodies of the dead in a
species of stupid contemplation, when we were brought to recollection by
the sound of shouts in the distance. It was clear that the savages had
been alarmed by the firing, and that we had little chance of avoiding
discovery. To regain the cliff, it would be necessary to proceed in the
direction of the shouts, and even should we succeed in arriving at
its base, we should never be able to ascend it without being seen. Our
situation was one of the greatest peril, and we were hesitating in which
path to commence a flight, when one of the savages _whom _I had shot,
and supposed dead, sprang briskly to his feet, and attempted to make his
escape. We overtook _him, _however, before he had advanced many paces,
and were about to put him to death, when Peters suggested that we might
derive some benefit from forcing him to accompany us in our attempt to
escape. We therefore dragged him with us, making him understand that
we would shoot him if he offered resistance. In a few minutes he was
perfectly submissive, and ran by our sides as we pushed in among the
rocks, making for the seashore.

So far, the irregularities of the ground we had been traversing hid
the sea, except at intervals, from our sight, and, when we first had it
fairly in view, it was perhaps two hundred yards distant. As we emerged
into the open beach we saw, to our great dismay, an immense crowd of the
natives pouring from the village, and from all visible quarters of
the island, making toward us with gesticulations of extreme fury, and
howling like wild beasts. We were upon the point of turning upon our
steps, and trying to secure a retreat among the fastnesses of the
rougher ground, when I discovered the bows of two canoes projecting from
behind a large rock which ran out into the water. Toward these we
now ran with all speed, and, reaching them, found them unguarded, and
without any other freight than three of the large Gallipago turtles
and the usual supply of paddles for sixty rowers. We instantly took
possession of one of them, and, forcing our captive on board, pushed out
to sea with all the strength we could command.

We had not made, however, more than fifty yards from the shore before we
became sufficiently calm to perceive the great oversight of which we had
been guilty in leaving the other canoe in the power of the savages,
who, by this time, were not more than twice as far from the beach as
ourselves, and were rapidly advancing to the pursuit. No time was now to
be lost. Our hope was, at best, a forlorn one, but we had none other. It
was very doubtful whether, with the utmost exertion, we could get back
in time to anticipate them in taking possession of the canoe; but
yet there was a chance that we could. We might save ourselves if we
succeeded, while not to make the attempt was to resign ourselves to
inevitable butchery.

The canoe was modelled with the bow and stern alike, and, in place of
turning it around, we merely changed our position in paddling. As soon
as the savages perceived this they redoubled their yells, as well as
their speed, and approached with inconceivable rapidity. We pulled,
however, with all the energy of desperation, and arrived at the
contested point before more than one of the natives had attained it.
This man paid dearly for his superior agility, Peters shooting him
through the head with a pistol as he approached the shore. The foremost
among the rest of his party were probably some twenty or thirty paces
distant as we seized upon the canoe. We at first endeavored to pull her
into the deep water, beyond the reach of the savages, but, finding her
too firmly aground, and there being no time to spare, Peters, with one
or two heavy strokes from the butt of the musket, succeeded in dashing
out a large portion of the bow and of one side. We then pushed off.
Two of the natives by this time had got hold of our boat, obstinately
refusing to let go, until we were forced to despatch them with our
knives. We were now clear off, and making great way out to sea. The main
body of the savages, upon reaching the broken canoe, set up the most
tremendous yell of rage and disappointment conceivable. In truth, from
everything I could see of these wretches, they appeared to be the most
wicked, hypocritical, vindictive, bloodthirsty, and altogether fiendish
race of men upon the face of the globe. It is clear we should have had
no mercy had we fallen into their hands. They made a mad attempt at
following us in the fractured canoe, but, finding it useless, again
vented their rage in a series of hideous vociferations, and rushed up
into the hills.

We were thus relieved from immediate danger, but our situation was still
sufficiently gloomy. We knew that four canoes of the kind we had were
at one time in the possession of the savages, and were not aware of the
fact (afterward ascertained from our captive) that two of these had
been blown to pieces in the explosion of the _Jane Guy. _We calculated,
therefore, upon being yet pursued, as soon as our enemies could get
round to the bay (distant about three miles) where the boats were
usually laid up. Fearing this, we made every exertion to leave the
island behind us, and went rapidly through the water, forcing the
prisoner to take a paddle. In about half an hour, when we had gained
probably five or six miles to the southward, a large fleet of the
flat-bottomed canoes or rafts were seen to emerge from the bay evidently
with the design of pursuit. Presently they put back, despairing to
overtake us.




CHAPTER 25

WE now found ourselves in the wide and desolate Antarctic Ocean, in a
latitude exceeding eighty-four degrees, in a frail canoe, and with no
provision but the three turtles. The long polar winter, too, could not
be considered as far distant, and it became necessary that we should
deliberate well upon the course to be pursued. There were six or seven
islands in sight belonging to the same group, and distant from each
other about five or six leagues; but upon neither of these had we any
intention to venture. In coming from the northward in the _Jane Guy_ we
had been gradually leaving behind us the severest regions of ice-this,
however little it maybe in accordance with the generally received
notions respecting the Antarctic, was a fact--experience would not
permit us to deny. To attempt, therefore, getting back would be
folly--especially at so late a period of the season. Only one course
seemed to be left open for hope. We resolved to steer boldly to the
southward, where there was at least a probability of discovering other
lands, and more than a probability of finding a still milder climate.

So far we had found the Antarctic, like the Arctic Ocean, peculiarly
free from violent storms or immoderately rough water; but our canoe was,
at best, of frail structure, although large, and we set busily to
work with a view of rendering her as safe as the limited means in our
possession would admit. The body of the boat was of no better material
than bark--the bark of a tree unknown. The ribs were of a tough osier,
well adapted to the purpose for which it was used. We had fifty feet
room from stem to stern, from four to six in breadth, and in depth
throughout four feet and a half-the boats thus differing vastly in shape
from those of any other inhabitants of the Southern Ocean with whom
civilized nations are acquainted. We never did believe them the
workmanship of the ignorant islanders who owned them; and some days
after this period discovered, by questioning our captive, that they were
in fact made by the natives of a group to the southwest of the country
where we found them, having fallen accidentally into the hands of our
barbarians. What we could do for the security of our boat was very
little indeed. Several wide rents were discovered near both ends, and
these we contrived to patch up with pieces of woollen jacket. With the
help of the superfluous paddles, of which there were a great many, we
erected a kind of framework about the bow, so as to break the force of
any seas which might threaten to fill us in that quarter. We also set
up two paddle-blades for masts, placing them opposite each other, one
by each gunwale, thus saving the necessity of a yard. To these masts we
attached a sail made of our shirts-doing this with some difficulty, as
here we could get no assistance from our prisoner whatever, although he
bad been willing enough to labor in all the other operations. The sight
of the linen seemed to affect him in a very singular manner. He could
not be prevailed upon to touch it or go near it, shuddering when we
attempted to force him, and shrieking out, _"Tekeli-li!"_

Having completed our arrangements in regard to the security of the
canoe, we now set sail to the south-southeast for the present, with the
view of weathering the most southerly of the group in sight. This being
done, we turned the bow full to the southward. The weather could by no
means be considered disagreeable. We had a prevailing and very gentle
wind from the northward, a smooth sea, and continual daylight. No ice
whatever was to be seen; _nor did I ever see one particle of this after
leaving the parallel of Bennet's Islet. _Indeed, the temperature of the
water was here far too warm for its existence in any quantity. Having
killed the largest of our tortoises, and obtained from him not only food
but a copious supply of water, we continued on our course, without any
incident of moment, for perhaps seven or eight days, during which period
we must have proceeded a vast distance to the southward, as the wind
blew constantly with us, and a very strong current set continually in
the direction we were pursuing.

_March 1st_. {*7}-Many unusual phenomena now--indicated that we were
entering upon a region of novelty and wonder. A high range of light
gray vapor appeared constantly in the southern horizon, flaring up
occasionally in lofty streaks, now darting from east to west, now from
west to east, and again presenting a level and uniform summit-in short,
having all the wild variations of the Aurora Borealis. The average
height of this vapor, as apparent from our station, was about
twenty-five degrees. The temperature of the sea seemed to be increasing
momentarily, and there was a very perceptible alteration in its color.

_March 2d._-To-day by repeated questioning of our captive, we came
to the knowledge of many particulars in regard to the island of the
massacre, its inhabitants, and customs-but with these how can I now
detain the reader? I may say, however, that we learned there were eight
islands in the group-that they were governed by a common king, named
_Tsalemon _or _Psalemoun, _who resided in one of the smallest of the
islands; that the black skins forming the dress of the warriors came
from an animal of huge size to be found only in a valley near the court
of the king-that the inhabitants of the group fabricated no other boats
than the flat-bottomed rafts; the four canoes being all of the kind in
their possession, and, these having been obtained, by mere accident,
from some large island in the southwest-that his own name was Nu-Nu-that
he had no knowledge of Bennet's Islet-and that the appellation of the
island he had left was Tsalal. The commencement of the words _Tsalemon
_and Tsalal was given with a prolonged hissing sound, which 'we found
it impossible to imitate, even after repeated endeavors, and which was
precisely the same with the note of the black bittern we had eaten up on
the summit of the hill.

_March 3d._-The heat of the water was now truly remarkable, and in color
was undergoing a rapid change, being no longer transparent, but of a
milky consistency and hue. In our immediate vicinity it was usually
smooth, never so rough as to endanger the canoe-but we were frequently
surprised at perceiving, to our right and left, at different distances,
sudden and extensive agitations of the surface; these, we at length
noticed, were always preceded by wild flickerings in the region of vapor
to the southward.

_March 4th._-To-day, with the view of widening our sail, the breeze from
the northward dying away perceptibly, I took from my coat-pocket a white
handkerchief. Nu-Nu was seated at my elbow, and the linen accidentally
flaring in his face, he became violently affected with convulsions.
These were succeeded by drowsiness and stupor, and low murmurings of
_"'Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"_

_March _5th.-The wind had entirely ceased, but it was evident that
we were still hurrying on to the southward, under the influence of a
powerful current. And now,--indeed, it would seem reasonable that we
should experience some alarm at the turn events were taking-but we
felt none. The countenance of Peters indicated nothing of this nature,
although it wore at times an expression I could not fathom. The polar
winter appeared to be coming on--but coming without its terrors. I felt
a numbness of body and mind--a dreaminess of sensation but this was all.

_March 6th._-The gray vapor had now arisen many more degrees above the
horizon, and was gradually losing its grayness of tint. The heat of the
water was extreme, even unpleasant to the touch, and its milky hue was
more evident than ever. Today a violent agitation of the water occurred
very close to the canoe. It was attended, as usual, with a wild flaring
up of the vapor at its summit, and a momentary division at its base. A
fine white powder, resembling ashes-but certainly not such-fell over the
canoe and over a large surface of the water, as the flickering died away
among the vapor and the commotion subsided in the sea. Nu-Nu now threw
himself on his face in the bottom of the boat, and no persuasions could
induce him to arise.

_March 7th._-This day we questioned Nu-Nu concerning the motives of
his countrymen in destroying our companions; but he appeared to be too
utterly overcome by terror to afford us any rational reply. He still
obstinately lay in the bottom of the boat; and, upon reiterating the
questions as to the motive, made use only of idiotic gesticulations,
such as raising with his forefinger the upper lip, and displaying the
teeth which lay beneath it. These were black. We had never before seen
the teeth of an inhabitant of Tsalal.

_March 8th._-To-day there floated by us one of the white animals whose
appearance upon the beach at Tsalal had occasioned so wild a commotion
among the savages. I would have picked it up, but there came over me
a sudden listlessness, and I forbore. The heat of the water still
increased, and the hand could no longer be endured within it. Peters
spoke little, and I knew not what to think of his apathy. Nu-Nu
breathed, and no more.

_March 9th._-The whole ashy material fell now continually around us,
and in vast quantities. The range of vapor to the southward had arisen
prodigiously in the horizon, and began to assume more distinctness
of form. I can liken it to nothing but a limitless cataract, rolling
silently into the sea from some immense and far-distant rampart in
the heaven. The gigantic curtain ranged along the whole extent of the
southern horizon. It emitted no sound.

_March 21st._-A sullen darkness now hovered above us-but from out the
milky depths of the ocean a luminous glare arose, and stole up along
the bulwarks of the boat. We were nearly overwhelmed by the white ashy
shower which settled upon us and upon the canoe, but melted into the
water as it fell. The summit of the cataract was utterly lost in the
dimness and the distance. Yet we were evidently approaching it with a
hideous velocity. At intervals there were visible in it wide, yawning,
but momentary rents, and from out these rents, within which was a chaos
of flitting and indistinct images, there came rushing and mighty, but
soundless winds, tearing up the enkindled ocean in their course.

_March 22d._-The darkness had materially increased, relieved only by the
glare of the water thrown back from the white curtain before us. Many
gigantic and pallidly white birds flew continuously now from beyond the
veil, and their scream was the eternal _Tekeli-li! _as they retreated
from our vision. Hereupon Nu-Nu stirred in the bottom of the boat; but
upon touching him we found his spirit departed. And now we rushed into
the embraces of the cataract, where a chasm threw itself open to receive
us. But there arose in our pathway a shrouded human figure, very far
larger in its proportions than any dweller among men. And the hue of the
skin of the figure was of the perfect whiteness of the snow.

NOTE

THE circumstances connected with the late sudden and distressing death
of Mr. Pym are already well known to the public through the medium of
the daily press. It is feared that the few remaining chapters which were
to have completed his narrative, and which were retained by him,
while the above were in type, for the purpose of revision, have been
irrecoverably lost through the accident by which he perished himself.
This, however, may prove not to be the case, and the papers, if
ultimately found, will be given to the public.

No means have been left untried to remedy the deficiency. The gentleman
whose name is mentioned in the preface, and who, from the statement
there made, might be supposed able to fill the vacuum, has declined
the task-this, for satisfactory reasons connected with the general
inaccuracy of the details afforded him, and his disbelief in the entire
truth of the latter portions of the narration. Peters, from whom
some information might be expected, is still alive, and a resident of
Illinois, but cannot be met with at present. He may hereafter be found,
and will, no doubt, afford material for a conclusion of Mr. Pym's
account.

The loss of two or three final chapters (for there were but two or
three) is the more deeply to be regretted, as it can not be doubted they
contained matter relative to the Pole itself, or at least to regions in
its very near proximity; and as, too, the statements of the author in
relation to these regions may shortly be verified or contradicted by
means of the governmental expedition now preparing for the Southern
Ocean.

On one point in the narrative some remarks may well be offered; and it
would afford the writer of this appendix much pleasure if what he may
here observe should have a tendency to throw credit, in any degree, upon
the very singular pages now published. We allude to the chasms found in
the island of Tsalal, and to the whole of the figures upon pages 245-47
{of the printed edition--ed.}.

(Note: No figures were included with this text)

Mr. Pym has given the figures of the chasms without comment, and
speaks decidedly of the _indentures _found at the extremity of the
most easterly of these chasms as having but a fanciful resemblance to
alphabetical characters, and, in short, as being positively _not such.
_This assertion is made in a manner so simple, and sustained by a
species of demonstration so conclusive (viz., the fitting of the
projections of the fragments found among the dust into the indentures
upon the wall), that we are forced to believe the writer in earnest;
and no reasonable reader should suppose otherwise. But as the facts in
relation to all the figures are most singular (especially when taken in
connection with statements made in the body of the narrative), it may
be as well to say a word or two concerning them all-this, too, the more
especially as the facts in question have, beyond doubt, escaped the
attention of Mr. Poe.

Figure 1, then, figure 2, figure 3, and figure 5, when conjoined with
one another in the precise order which the chasms themselves presented,
and when deprived of the small lateral branches or arches (which, it
will be remembered, served only as a means of communication between the
main chambers, and were of totally distinct character), constitute an
Ethiopian verbal root-the root "To be shady,'--whence all the
inflections of shadow or darkness.

In regard to the "left or most northwardly" of the indentures in figure
4, it is more than probable that the opinion of Peters was correct,
and that the hieroglyphical appearance was really the work of art,
and intended as the representation of a human form. The delineation
is before the reader, and he may, or may not, perceive the resemblance
suggested; but the rest of the indentures afford strong confirmation
of Peters' idea. The upper range is evidently the Arabic verbal root
"To be white," whence all the inflections of brilliancy and
whiteness. The lower range is not so immediately perspicuous. The
characters are somewhat broken and disjointed; nevertheless, it can not
be doubted that, in their perfect state, they formed the full Egyptian
word. "The region of the south.' It should be observed that
these interpretations confirm the opinion of Peters in regard to the
"most northwardly" of the figures. The arm is outstretched toward the
south.

Conclusions such as these open a wide field for speculation and exciting
conjecture. They should be regarded, perhaps, in connection with some
of the most faintly detailed incidents of the narrative; although in no
visible manner is this chain of connection complete. Tekeli-li! was the
cry of the affrighted natives of Tsalal upon discovering the carcase
of the _white _animal picked up at sea. This also was the shuddering
exclamatives of Tsalal upon discovering the carcass of the _white
_materials in possession of Mr. Pym. This also was the shriek of the
swift-flying, _white, _and gigantic birds which issued from the vapory
_white _curtain of the South. Nothing _white _was to be found at Tsalal,
and nothing otherwise in the subsequent voyage to the region beyond. It
is not impossible that "Tsalal," the appellation of the island of the
chasms, may be found, upon minute philological scrutiny, to betray
either some alliance with the chasms themselves, or some reference to
the Ethiopian characters so mysteriously written in their windings.

_"I have graven it within the hills, and my vengeance upon the dust
within the rock."_


Notes

{*1} Whaling vessels are usually fitted with iron oil-tanks--why the
_Grampus_ was not I have never been able to ascertain.

{*2} The case of the brig _Polly_, of Boston, is one so much in point,
and her fate, in many respects, so remarkably similar to our own, that
I cannot forbear alluding to it here. This vessel, of one hundred and
thirty tons burden, sailed from Boston, with a cargo of lumber and
provisions, for Santa Croix, on the twelfth of December, 1811, under the
command of Captain Casneau. There were eight souls on board besides the
captain--the mate, four seamen, and the cook, together with a Mr. Hunt,
and a negro girl belonging to him. On the fifteenth, having cleared
the shoal of Georges, she sprung a leak in a gale of wind from the
southeast, and was finally capsized; but, the masts going by the board,
she afterward righted. They remained in this situation, without fire,
and with very little provision, for the period of one hundred and
ninety-one days (from December the fifteenth to June the twentieth),
when Captain Casneau and Samuel Badger, the only survivors, were taken
off the wreck by the Fame, of Hull, Captain Featherstone, bound home
from Rio Janeiro. When picked up, they were in latitude 28 degrees N.,
longitude 13 degrees W., having drifted above two thousand miles! On the
ninth of July the Fame fell in with the brig Dromero, Captain Perkins,
who landed the two sufferers in Kennebeck. The narrative from which we
gather these details ends in the following words:

"It is natural to inquire how they could float such a vast distance,
upon the most frequented part of the Atlantic, and not be discovered all
this time. They were passed by more than a dozen sail, one of which came
so nigh them that they could distinctly see the people on deck and on
the rigging looking at them; but, to the inexpressible disappointment of
the starving and freezing men, they stifled the dictates of compassion,
hoisted sail, and cruelly abandoned them to their fate."

{*3} Among the vessels which at various times have professed to meet
with the Auroras may be mentioned the ship San Miguel, in 1769; the ship
Aurora, in 1774; the brig Pearl, in 1779; and the ship Dolores, in 1790.
They all agree in giving the mean latitude fifty-three degrees south.

{*4} The terms morning and evening, which I have made use of to avoid
confusion in my narrative, as far as possible, must not, of course, be
taken in their ordinary sense. For a long time past we had had no night
at all, the daylight being continual. The dates throughout are according
to nautical time, and the bearing must be understood as per compass. I
would also remark, in this place, that I cannot, in the first portion of
what is here written, pretend to strict accuracy in respect to dates, or
latitudes and longitudes, having kept no regular journal until after
the period of which this first portion treats. In many instances I have
relied altogether upon memory.

{*5} This day was rendered remarkable by our observing in the south
several huge wreaths of the grayish vapour I have spoken of.

{*6} The marl was also black; indeed, we noticed no light colored
substances of any kind upon the island.

{*7}For obvious reasons I cannot pretend to strict accuracy in
these dates. They are given principally with a view to perspicity of
narrative, and as set down in my pencil memorandum..




LIGEIA

And the will therein lieth, which dieth not. Who knoweth the mysteries
of the will, with its vigor? For God is but a great will pervading all
things by nature of its intentness. Man doth not yield himself to the
angels, nor unto death utterly, save only through the weakness of his
feeble will.--Joseph Glanvill.

I cannot, for my soul, remember how, when, or even precisely where,
I first became acquainted with the lady Ligeia. Long years have since
elapsed, and my memory is feeble through much suffering. Or, perhaps, I
cannot now bring these points to mind, because, in truth, the character
of my beloved, her rare learning, her singular yet placid cast of
beauty, and the thrilling and enthralling eloquence of her low musical
language, made their way into my heart by paces so steadily and
stealthily progressive that they have been unnoticed and unknown. Yet
I believe that I met her first and most frequently in some large, old,
decaying city near the Rhine. Of her family--I have surely heard her
speak. That it is of a remotely ancient date cannot be doubted. Ligeia!
Ligeia! in studies of a nature more than all else adapted to deaden
impressions of the outward world, it is by that sweet word alone--by
Ligeia--that I bring before mine eyes in fancy the image of her who is
no more. And now, while I write, a recollection flashes upon me that
I have never known the paternal name of her who was my friend and my
betrothed, and who became the partner of my studies, and finally the
wife of my bosom. Was it a playful charge on the part of my Ligeia? or
was it a test of my strength of affection, that I should institute
no inquiries upon this point? or was it rather a caprice of my own--a
wildly romantic offering on the shrine of the most passionate devotion?
I but indistinctly recall the fact itself--what wonder that I have
utterly forgotten the circumstances which originated or attended it?
And, indeed, if ever she, the wan and the misty-winged Ashtophet of
idolatrous Egypt, presided, as they tell, over marriages ill-omened,
then most surely she presided over mine.

There is one dear topic, however, on which my memory falls me not. It is
the person of Ligeia. In stature she was tall, somewhat slender, and, in
her latter days, even emaciated. I would in vain attempt to portray
the majesty, the quiet ease, of her demeanor, or the incomprehensible
lightness and elasticity of her footfall. She came and departed as a
shadow. I was never made aware of her entrance into my closed study save
by the dear music of her low sweet voice, as she placed her marble hand
upon my shoulder. In beauty of face no maiden ever equalled her. It was
the radiance of an opium-dream--an airy and spirit-lifting vision
more wildly divine than the phantasies which hovered vision about the
slumbering souls of the daughters of Delos. Yet her features were not of
that regular mould which we have been falsely taught to worship in the
classical labors of the heathen. "There is no exquisite beauty," says
Bacon, Lord Verulam, speaking truly of all the forms and genera of
beauty, "without some strangeness in the proportion." Yet, although I saw
that the features of Ligeia were not of a classic regularity--although
I perceived that her loveliness was indeed "exquisite," and felt that
there was much of "strangeness" pervading it, yet I have tried in vain
to detect the irregularity and to trace home my own perception of "the
strange." I examined the contour of the lofty and pale forehead--it
was faultless--how cold indeed that word when applied to a majesty so
divine!--the skin rivalling the purest ivory, the commanding extent and
repose, the gentle prominence of the regions above the temples; and
then the raven-black, the glossy, the luxuriant and naturally-curling
tresses, setting forth the full force of the Homeric epithet,
"hyacinthine!" I looked at the delicate outlines of the nose--and
nowhere but in the graceful medallions of the Hebrews had I beheld a
similar perfection. There were the same luxurious smoothness of surface,
the same scarcely perceptible tendency to the aquiline, the same
harmoniously curved nostrils speaking the free spirit. I regarded the
sweet mouth. Here was indeed the triumph of all things heavenly--the
magnificent turn of the short upper lip--the soft, voluptuous slumber
of the under--the dimples which sported, and the color which spoke--the
teeth glancing back, with a brilliancy almost startling, every ray of
the holy light which fell upon them in her serene and placid, yet most
exultingly radiant of all smiles. I scrutinized the formation of the
chin--and here, too, I found the gentleness of breadth, the softness
and the majesty, the fullness and the spirituality, of the Greek--the
contour which the god Apollo revealed but in a dream, to Cleomenes, the
son of the Athenian. And then I peered into the large eves of Ligeia.

For eyes we have no models in the remotely antique. It might have been,
too, that in these eves of my beloved lay the secret to which Lord
Verulam alludes. They were, I must believe, far larger than the ordinary
eyes of our own race. They were even fuller than the fullest of the
gazelle eyes of the tribe of the valley of Nourjahad. Yet it was only
at intervals--in moments of intense excitement--that this peculiarity
became more than slightly noticeable in Ligeia. And at such moments was
her beauty--in my heated fancy thus it appeared perhaps--the beauty of
beings either above or apart from the earth--the beauty of the fabulous
Houri of the Turk. The hue of the orbs was the most brilliant of black,
and, far over them, hung jetty lashes of great length. The brows,
slightly irregular in outline, had the same tint. The "strangeness,"
however, which I found in the eyes, was of a nature distinct from the
formation, or the color, or the brilliancy of the features, and must,
after all, be referred to the expression. Ah, word of no meaning! behind
whose vast latitude of mere sound we intrench our ignorance of so much
of the spiritual. The expression of the eyes of Ligeia! How for long
hours have I pondered upon it! How have I, through the whole of a
midsummer night, struggled to fathom it! What was it--that something
more profound than the well of Democritus--which lay far within the
pupils of my beloved? What was it? I was possessed with a passion to
discover. Those eyes! those large, those shining, those divine orbs!
they became to me twin stars of Leda, and I to them devoutest of
astrologers.

There is no point, among the many incomprehensible anomalies of the
science of mind, more thrillingly exciting than the fact--never, I
believe, noticed in the schools--that, in our endeavors to recall to
memory something long forgotten, we often find ourselves upon the very
verge of remembrance, without being able, in the end, to remember. And
thus how frequently, in my intense scrutiny of Ligeia's eyes, have
I felt approaching the full knowledge of their expression--felt it
approaching--yet not quite be mine--and so at length entirely depart!
And (strange, oh strangest mystery of all!) I found, in the commonest
objects of the universe, a circle of analogies to theat expression. I
mean to say that, subsequently to the period when Ligeia's beauty passed
into my spirit, there dwelling as in a shrine, I derived, from many
existences in the material world, a sentiment such as I felt always
aroused within me by her large and luminous orbs. Yet not the more
could I define that sentiment, or analyze, or even steadily view it.
I recognized it, let me repeat, sometimes in the survey of a
rapidly-growing vine--in the contemplation of a moth, a butterfly, a
chrysalis, a stream of running water. I have felt it in the ocean; in
the falling of a meteor. I have felt it in the glances of unusually aged
people. And there are one or two stars in heaven--(one especially, a
star of the sixth magnitude, double and changeable, to be found near the
large star in Lyra) in a telescopic scrutiny of which I have been made
aware of the feeling. I have been filled with it by certain sounds from
stringed instruments, and not unfrequently by passages from books. Among
innumerable other instances, I well remember something in a volume of
Joseph Glanvill, which (perhaps merely from its quaintness--who shall
say?) never failed to inspire me with the sentiment;--"And the will
therein lieth, which dieth not. Who knoweth the mysteries of the will,
with its vigor? For God is but a great will pervading all things by
nature of its intentness. Man doth not yield him to the angels, nor unto
death utterly, save only through the weakness of his feeble will."

Length of years, and subsequent reflection, have enabled me to trace,
indeed, some remote connection between this passage in the English
moralist and a portion of the character of Ligeia. An intensity in
thought, action, or speech, was possibly, in her, a result, or at least
an index, of that gigantic volition which, during our long intercourse,
failed to give other and more immediate evidence of its existence.
Of all the women whom I have ever known, she, the outwardly calm, the
ever-placid Ligeia, was the most violently a prey to the tumultuous
vultures of stern passion. And of such passion I could form no estimate,
save by the miraculous expansion of those eyes which at once so
delighted and appalled me--by the almost magical melody, modulation,
distinctness and placidity of her very low voice--and by the fierce
energy (rendered doubly effective by contrast with her manner of
utterance) of the wild words which she habitually uttered.

I have spoken of the learning of Ligeia: it was immense--such as I
have never known in woman. In the classical tongues was she deeply
proficient, and as far as my own acquaintance extended in regard to the
modern dialects of Europe, I have never known her at fault. Indeed upon
any theme of the most admired, because simply the most abstruse of the
boasted erudition of the academy, have I ever found Ligeia at fault? How
singularly--how thrillingly, this one point in the nature of my wife has
forced itself, at this late period only, upon my attention! I said her
knowledge was such as I have never known in woman--but where breathes
the man who has traversed, and successfully, all the wide areas of
moral, physical, and mathematical science? I saw not then what I now
clearly perceive, that the acquisitions of Ligeia were gigantic, were
astounding; yet I was sufficiently aware of her infinite supremacy to
resign myself, with a child-like confidence, to her guidance through the
chaotic world of metaphysical investigation at which I was most busily
occupied during the earlier years of our marriage. With how vast a
triumph--with how vivid a delight--with how much of all that is
ethereal in hope--did I feel, as she bent over me in studies but little
sought--but less known--that delicious vista by slow degrees expanding
before me, down whose long, gorgeous, and all untrodden path, I might at
length pass onward to the goal of a wisdom too divinely precious not to
be forbidden!

How poignant, then, must have been the grief with which, after some
years, I beheld my well-grounded expectations take wings to themselves
and fly away! Without Ligeia I was but as a child groping benighted.
Her presence, her readings alone, rendered vividly luminous the many
mysteries of the transcendentalism in which we were immersed. Wanting
the radiant lustre of her eyes, letters, lambent and golden, grew duller
than Saturnian lead. And now those eyes shone less and less frequently
upon the pages over which I pored. Ligeia grew ill. The wild eyes blazed
with a too--too glorious effulgence; the pale fingers became of the
transparent waxen hue of the grave, and the blue veins upon the lofty
forehead swelled and sank impetuously with the tides of the gentle
emotion. I saw that she must die--and I struggled desperately in spirit
with the grim Azrael. And the struggles of the passionate wife were, to
my astonishment, even more energetic than my own. There had been much in
her stern nature to impress me with the belief that, to her, death would
have come without its terrors;--but not so. Words are impotent to convey
any just idea of the fierceness of resistance with which she wrestled
with the Shadow. I groaned in anguish at the pitiable spectacle. I would
have soothed--I would have reasoned; but, in the intensity of her wild
desire for life,--for life--but for life--solace and reason were
the uttermost folly. Yet not until the last instance, amid the most
convulsive writhings of her fierce spirit, was shaken the external
placidity of her demeanor. Her voice grew more gentle--grew more
low--yet I would not wish to dwell upon the wild meaning of the quietly
uttered words. My brain reeled as I hearkened entranced, to a melody
more than mortal--to assumptions and aspirations which mortality had
never before known.

That she loved me I should not have doubted; and I might have been
easily aware that, in a bosom such as hers, love would have reigned
no ordinary passion. But in death only, was I fully impressed with the
strength of her affection. For long hours, detaining my hand, would she
pour out before me the overflowing of a heart whose more than passionate
devotion amounted to idolatry. How had I deserved to be so blessed by
such confessions?--how had I deserved to be so cursed with the removal
of my beloved in the hour of her making them, But upon this subject
I cannot bear to dilate. Let me say only, that in Ligeia's more than
womanly abandonment to a love, alas! all unmerited, all unworthily
bestowed, I at length recognized the principle of her longing with so
wildly earnest a desire for the life which was now fleeing so rapidly
away. It is this wild longing--it is this eager vehemence of desire
for life--but for life--that I have no power to portray--no utterance
capable of expressing.

At high noon of the night in which she departed, beckoning me,
peremptorily, to her side, she bade me repeat certain verses composed by
herself not many days before. I obeyed her.--They were these:

     Lo! 'tis a gala night
       Within the lonesome latter years!
     An angel throng, bewinged, bedight
       In veils, and drowned in tears,
     Sit in a theatre, to see
       A play of hopes and fears,
     While the orchestra breathes fitfully
       The music of the spheres.

     Mimes, in the form of God on high,
       Mutter and mumble low,
     And hither and thither fly;
       Mere puppets they, who come and go
     At bidding of vast formless things
       That shift the scenery to and fro,
     Flapping from out their Condor wings
       Invisible Wo!

     That motley drama!--oh, be sure
       It shall not be forgot!
     With its Phantom chased forever more,
       By a crowd that seize it not,
     Through a circle that ever returneth in
       To the self-same spot,
     And much of Madness and more of Sin
       And Horror the soul of the plot.

     But see, amid the mimic rout,
       A crawling shape intrude!
     A blood-red thing that writhes from out
       The scenic solitude!
     It writhes!--it writhes!--with mortal pangs
       The mimes become its food,
     And the seraphs sob at vermin fangs
       In human gore imbued.

     Out--out are the lights--out all!
       And over each quivering form,
     The curtain, a funeral pall,
       Comes down with the rush of a storm,
     And the angels, all pallid and wan,
       Uprising, unveiling, affirm
     That the play is the tragedy, "Man,"
       And its hero the Conqueror Worm.

"O God!" half shrieked Ligeia, leaping to her feet and extending
her arms aloft with a spasmodic movement, as I made an end of these
lines--"O God! O Divine Father!--shall these things be undeviatingly
so?--shall this Conqueror be not once conquered? Are we not part and
parcel in Thee? Who--who knoweth the mysteries of the will with its
vigor? Man doth not yield him to the angels, nor unto death utterly,
save only through the weakness of his feeble will."

And now, as if exhausted with emotion, she suffered her white arms to
fall, and returned solemnly to her bed of death. And as she breathed her
last sighs, there came mingled with them a low murmur from her lips. I
bent to them my ear and distinguished, again, the concluding words of
the passage in Glanvill--"Man doth not yield him to the angels, nor unto
death utterly, save only through the weakness of his feeble will."

She died;--and I, crushed into the very dust with sorrow, could no
longer endure the lonely desolation of my dwelling in the dim and
decaying city by the Rhine. I had no lack of what the world calls
wealth. Ligeia had brought me far more, very far more than ordinarily
falls to the lot of mortals. After a few months, therefore, of weary and
aimless wandering, I purchased, and put in some repair, an abbey, which
I shall not name, in one of the wildest and least frequented portions of
fair England. The gloomy and dreary grandeur of the building, the
almost savage aspect of the domain, the many melancholy and time-honored
memories connected with both, had much in unison with the feelings of
utter abandonment which had driven me into that remote and unsocial
region of the country. Yet although the external abbey, with its verdant
decay hanging about it, suffered but little alteration, I gave way, with
a child-like perversity, and perchance with a faint hope of alleviating
my sorrows, to a display of more than regal magnificence within.--For
such follies, even in childhood, I had imbibed a taste and now they came
back to me as if in the dotage of grief. Alas, I feel how much even
of incipient madness might have been discovered in the gorgeous and
fantastic draperies, in the solemn carvings of Egypt, in the wild
cornices and furniture, in the Bedlam patterns of the carpets of tufted
gold! I had become a bounden slave in the trammels of opium, and my
labors and my orders had taken a coloring from my dreams. But these
absurdities must not pause to detail. Let me speak only of that one
chamber, ever accursed, whither in a moment of mental alienation, I
led from the altar as my bride--as the successor of the unforgotten
Ligeia--the fair-haired and blue-eyed Lady Rowena Trevanion, of
Tremaine.

There is no individual portion of the architecture and decoration of
that bridal chamber which is not now visibly before me. Where were the
souls of the haughty family of the bride, when, through thirst of gold,
they permitted to pass the threshold of an apartment so bedecked, a
maiden and a daughter so beloved? I have said that I minutely remember
the details of the chamber--yet I am sadly forgetful on topics of deep
moment--and here there was no system, no keeping, in the fantastic
display, to take hold upon the memory. The room lay in a high turret of
the castellated abbey, was pentagonal in shape, and of capacious
size. Occupying the whole southern face of the pentagon was the sole
window--an immense sheet of unbroken glass from Venice--a single pane,
and tinted of a leaden hue, so that the rays of either the sun or moon,
passing through it, fell with a ghastly lustre on the objects within.
Over the upper portion of this huge window, extended the trellice-work
of an aged vine, which clambered up the massy walls of the turret. The
ceiling, of gloomy-looking oak, was excessively lofty, vaulted, and
elaborately fretted with the wildest and most grotesque specimens of a
semi-Gothic, semi-Druidical device. From out the most central recess of
this melancholy vaulting, depended, by a single chain of gold with long
links, a huge censer of the same metal, Saracenic in pattern, and with
many perforations so contrived that there writhed in and out of them,
as if endued with a serpent vitality, a continual succession of
parti-colored fires.

Some few ottomans and golden candelabra, of Eastern figure, were in
various stations about--and there was the couch, too--bridal couch--of
an Indian model, and low, and sculptured of solid ebony, with a
pall-like canopy above. In each of the angles of the chamber stood on
end a gigantic sarcophagus of black granite, from the tombs of the kings
over against Luxor, with their aged lids full of immemorial sculpture.
But in the draping of the apartment lay, alas! the chief phantasy of
all. The lofty walls, gigantic in height--even unproportionably
so--were hung from summit to foot, in vast folds, with a heavy and
massive-looking tapestry--tapestry of a material which was found alike
as a carpet on the floor, as a covering for the ottomans and the
ebony bed, as a canopy for the bed, and as the gorgeous volutes of the
curtains which partially shaded the window. The material was the richest
cloth of gold. It was spotted all over, at irregular intervals, with
arabesque figures, about a foot in diameter, and wrought upon the cloth
in patterns of the most jetty black. But these figures partook of the
true character of the arabesque only when regarded from a single point
of view. By a contrivance now common, and indeed traceable to a very
remote period of antiquity, they were made changeable in aspect. To one
entering the room, they bore the appearance of simple monstrosities; but
upon a farther advance, this appearance gradually departed; and step by
step, as the visitor moved his station in the chamber, he saw himself
surrounded by an endless succession of the ghastly forms which belong to
the superstition of the Norman, or arise in the guilty slumbers of the
monk. The phantasmagoric effect was vastly heightened by the artificial
introduction of a strong continual current of wind behind the
draperies--giving a hideous and uneasy animation to the whole.

In halls such as these--in a bridal chamber such as this--I passed, with
the Lady of Tremaine, the unhallowed hours of the first month of our
marriage--passed them with but little disquietude. That my wife dreaded
the fierce moodiness of my temper--that she shunned me and loved me but
little--I could not help perceiving; but it gave me rather pleasure than
otherwise. I loathed her with a hatred belonging more to demon than
to man. My memory flew back, (oh, with what intensity of regret!) to
Ligeia, the beloved, the august, the beautiful, the entombed. I revelled
in recollections of her purity, of her wisdom, of her lofty, her
ethereal nature, of her passionate, her idolatrous love. Now, then, did
my spirit fully and freely burn with more than all the fires of her own.
In the excitement of my opium dreams (for I was habitually fettered in
the shackles of the drug) I would call aloud upon her name, during the
silence of the night, or among the sheltered recesses of the glens
by day, as if, through the wild eagerness, the solemn passion, the
consuming ardor of my longing for the departed, I could restore her to
the pathway she had abandoned--ah, could it be forever?--upon the earth.

About the commencement of the second month of the marriage, the Lady
Rowena was attacked with sudden illness, from which her recovery was
slow. The fever which consumed her rendered her nights uneasy; and
in her perturbed state of half-slumber, she spoke of sounds, and of
motions, in and about the chamber of the turret, which I concluded
had no origin save in the distemper of her fancy, or perhaps in the
phantasmagoric influences of the chamber itself. She became at length
convalescent--finally well. Yet but a brief period elapsed, ere a second
more violent disorder again threw her upon a bed of suffering; and from
this attack her frame, at all times feeble, never altogether recovered.
Her illnesses were, after this epoch, of alarming character, and of more
alarming recurrence, defying alike the knowledge and the great exertions
of her physicians. With the increase of the chronic disease which
had thus, apparently, taken too sure hold upon her constitution to
be eradicated by human means, I could not fall to observe a similar
increase in the nervous irritation of her temperament, and in her
excitability by trivial causes of fear. She spoke again, and now more
frequently and pertinaciously, of the sounds--of the slight sounds--and
of the unusual motions among the tapestries, to which she had formerly
alluded.

One night, near the closing in of September, she pressed this
distressing subject with more than usual emphasis upon my attention. She
had just awakened from an unquiet slumber, and I had been watching,
with feelings half of anxiety, half of vague terror, the workings of her
emaciated countenance. I sat by the side of her ebony bed, upon one of
the ottomans of India. She partly arose, and spoke, in an earnest low
whisper, of sounds which she then heard, but which I could not hear--of
motions which she then saw, but which I could not perceive. The wind was
rushing hurriedly behind the tapestries, and I wished to show her
(what, let me confess it, I could not all believe) that those almost
inarticulate breathings, and those very gentle variations of the figures
upon the wall, were but the natural effects of that customary rushing of
the wind. But a deadly pallor, overspreading her face, had proved to me
that my exertions to reassure her would be fruitless. She appeared to
be fainting, and no attendants were within call. I remembered where
was deposited a decanter of light wine which had been ordered by her
physicians, and hastened across the chamber to procure it. But, as
I stepped beneath the light of the censer, two circumstances of a
startling nature attracted my attention. I had felt that some palpable
although invisible object had passed lightly by my person; and I saw
that there lay upon the golden carpet, in the very middle of the rich
lustre thrown from the censer, a shadow--a faint, indefinite shadow of
angelic aspect--such as might be fancied for the shadow of a shade.
But I was wild with the excitement of an immoderate dose of opium, and
heeded these things but little, nor spoke of them to Rowena. Having
found the wine, I recrossed the chamber, and poured out a gobletful,
which I held to the lips of the fainting lady. She had now partially
recovered, however, and took the vessel herself, while I sank upon an
ottoman near me, with my eyes fastened upon her person. It was then that
I became distinctly aware of a gentle footfall upon the carpet, and
near the couch; and in a second thereafter, as Rowena was in the act
of raising the wine to her lips, I saw, or may have dreamed that I
saw, fall within the goblet, as if from some invisible spring in the
atmosphere of the room, three or four large drops of a brilliant and
ruby colored fluid. If this I saw--not so Rowena. She swallowed the wine
unhesitatingly, and I forbore to speak to her of a circumstance which
must, after all, I considered, have been but the suggestion of a vivid
imagination, rendered morbidly active by the terror of the lady, by the
opium, and by the hour.

Yet I cannot conceal it from my own perception that, immediately
subsequent to the fall of the ruby-drops, a rapid change for the worse
took place in the disorder of my wife; so that, on the third subsequent
night, the hands of her menials prepared her for the tomb, and on the
fourth, I sat alone, with her shrouded body, in that fantastic chamber
which had received her as my bride.--Wild visions, opium-engendered,
flitted, shadow-like, before me. I gazed with unquiet eye upon the
sarcophagi in the angles of the room, upon the varying figures of the
drapery, and upon the writhing of the parti-colored fires in the censer
overhead. My eyes then fell, as I called to mind the circumstances of
a former night, to the spot beneath the glare of the censer where I had
seen the faint traces of the shadow. It was there, however, no longer;
and breathing with greater freedom, I turned my glances to the pallid
and rigid figure upon the bed. Then rushed upon me a thousand memories
of Ligeia--and then came back upon my heart, with the turbulent violence
of a flood, the whole of that unutterable wo with which I had regarded
her thus enshrouded. The night waned; and still, with a bosom full of
bitter thoughts of the one only and supremely beloved, I remained gazing
upon the body of Rowena.

It might have been midnight, or perhaps earlier, or later, for I had
taken no note of time, when a sob, low, gentle, but very distinct,
startled me from my revery.--I felt that it came from the bed of
ebony--the bed of death. I listened in an agony of superstitious
terror--but there was no repetition of the sound. I strained my vision
to detect any motion in the corpse--but there was not the slightest
perceptible. Yet I could not have been deceived. I had heard the noise,
however faint, and my soul was awakened within me. I resolutely and
perseveringly kept my attention riveted upon the body. Many minutes
elapsed before any circumstance occurred tending to throw light upon the
mystery. At length it became evident that a slight, a very feeble, and
barely noticeable tinge of color had flushed up within the cheeks,
and along the sunken small veins of the eyelids. Through a species of
unutterable horror and awe, for which the language of mortality has no
sufficiently energetic expression, I felt my heart cease to beat, my
limbs grow rigid where I sat. Yet a sense of duty finally operated to
restore my self-possession. I could no longer doubt that we had been
precipitate in our preparations--that Rowena still lived. It was
necessary that some immediate exertion be made; yet turret was
altogether apart from the portion of the abbey tenanted by the
servants--there were none within call--I had no means of summoning them
to my aid without leaving the room for many minutes--and this I could
not venture to do. I therefore struggled alone in my endeavors to call
back the spirit ill hovering. In a short period it was certain, however,
that a relapse had taken place; the color disappeared from both eyelid
and cheek, leaving a wanness even more than that of marble; the lips
became doubly shrivelled and pinched up in the ghastly expression
of death; a repulsive clamminess and coldness overspread rapidly the
surface of the body; and all the usual rigorous illness immediately
supervened. I fell back with a shudder upon the couch from which I had
been so startlingly aroused, and again gave myself up to passionate
waking visions of Ligeia.

An hour thus elapsed when (could it be possible?) I was a second
time aware of some vague sound issuing from the region of the bed. I
listened--in extremity of horror. The sound came again--it was a sigh.
Rushing to the corpse, I saw--distinctly saw--a tremor upon the lips. In
a minute afterward they relaxed, disclosing a bright line of the pearly
teeth. Amazement now struggled in my bosom with the profound awe which
had hitherto reigned there alone. I felt that my vision grew dim, that
my reason wandered; and it was only by a violent effort that I at length
succeeded in nerving myself to the task which duty thus once more had
pointed out. There was now a partial glow upon the forehead and upon the
cheek and throat; a perceptible warmth pervaded the whole frame; there
was even a slight pulsation at the heart. The lady lived; and with
redoubled ardor I betook myself to the task of restoration. I chafed
and bathed the temples and the hands, and used every exertion which
experience, and no little medical reading, could suggest. But in vain.
Suddenly, the color fled, the pulsation ceased, the lips resumed the
expression of the dead, and, in an instant afterward, the whole
body took upon itself the icy chilliness, the livid hue, the intense
rigidity, the sunken outline, and all the loathsome peculiarities of
that which has been, for many days, a tenant of the tomb.

And again I sunk into visions of Ligeia--and again, (what marvel that I
shudder while I write,) again there reached my ears a low sob from the
region of the ebony bed. But why shall I minutely detail the unspeakable
horrors of that night? Why shall I pause to relate how, time after
time, until near the period of the gray dawn, this hideous drama of
revivification was repeated; how each terrific relapse was only into a
sterner and apparently more irredeemable death; how each agony wore the
aspect of a struggle with some invisible foe; and how each struggle was
succeeded by I know not what of wild change in the personal appearance
of the corpse? Let me hurry to a conclusion.

The greater part of the fearful night had worn away, and she who had
been dead, once again stirred--and now more vigorously than hitherto,
although arousing from a dissolution more appalling in its utter
hopelessness than any. I had long ceased to struggle or to move, and
remained sitting rigidly upon the ottoman, a helpless prey to a whirl of
violent emotions, of which extreme awe was perhaps the least terrible,
the least consuming. The corpse, I repeat, stirred, and now more
vigorously than before. The hues of life flushed up with unwonted energy
into the countenance--the limbs relaxed--and, save that the eyelids were
yet pressed heavily together, and that the bandages and draperies of the
grave still imparted their charnel character to the figure, I might
have dreamed that Rowena had indeed shaken off, utterly, the fetters of
Death. But if this idea was not, even then, altogether adopted, I could
at least doubt no longer, when, arising from the bed, tottering, with
feeble steps, with closed eyes, and with the manner of one bewildered in
a dream, the thing that was enshrouded advanced boldly and palpably into
the middle of the apartment.

I trembled not--I stirred not--for a crowd of unutterable fancies
connected with the air, the stature, the demeanor of the figure, rushing
hurriedly through my brain, had paralyzed--had chilled me into stone. I
stirred not--but gazed upon the apparition. There was a mad disorder
in my thoughts--a tumult unappeasable. Could it, indeed, be the
living Rowena who confronted me? Could it indeed be Rowena at all--the
fair-haired, the blue-eyed Lady Rowena Trevanion of Tremaine? Why, why
should I doubt it? The bandage lay heavily about the mouth--but then
might it not be the mouth of the breathing Lady of Tremaine? And the
cheeks-there were the roses as in her noon of life--yes, these might
indeed be the fair cheeks of the living Lady of Tremaine. And the chin,
with its dimples, as in health, might it not be hers?--but had she then
grown taller since her malady? What inexpressible madness seized me with
that thought? One bound, and I had reached her feet! Shrinking from my
touch, she let fall from her head, unloosened, the ghastly cerements
which had confined it, and there streamed forth, into the rushing
atmosphere of the chamber, huge masses of long and dishevelled hair; it
was blacker than the raven wings of the midnight! And now slowly opened
the eyes of the figure which stood before me. "Here then, at least,"
I shrieked aloud, "can I never--can I never be mistaken--these are the
full, and the black, and the wild eyes--of my lost love--of the lady--of
the LADY LIGEIA."




MORELLA

     Itself, by itself, solely, one everlasting, and single.

     PLATO: SYMPOS.

WITH a feeling of deep yet most singular affection I regarded my friend
Morella. Thrown by accident into her society many years ago, my soul
from our first meeting, burned with fires it had never before known; but
the fires were not of Eros, and bitter and tormenting to my spirit was
the gradual conviction that I could in no manner define their unusual
meaning or regulate their vague intensity. Yet we met; and fate bound us
together at the altar, and I never spoke of passion nor thought of
love. She, however, shunned society, and, attaching herself to me alone
rendered me happy. It is a happiness to wonder; it is a happiness to
dream.

Morella's erudition was profound. As I hope to live, her talents were of
no common order--her powers of mind were gigantic. I felt this, and, in
many matters, became her pupil. I soon, however, found that, perhaps
on account of her Presburg education, she placed before me a number of
those mystical writings which are usually considered the mere dross of
the early German literature. These, for what reason I could not imagine,
were her favourite and constant study--and that in process of time
they became my own, should be attributed to the simple but effectual
influence of habit and example.

In all this, if I err not, my reason had little to do. My convictions,
or I forget myself, were in no manner acted upon by the ideal, nor was
any tincture of the mysticism which I read to be discovered, unless I
am greatly mistaken, either in my deeds or in my thoughts. Persuaded
of this, I abandoned myself implicitly to the guidance of my wife, and
entered with an unflinching heart into the intricacies of her studies.
And then--then, when poring over forbidden pages, I felt a forbidden
spirit enkindling within me--would Morella place her cold hand upon my
own, and rake up from the ashes of a dead philosophy some low, singular
words, whose strange meaning burned themselves in upon my memory. And
then, hour after hour, would I linger by her side, and dwell upon the
music of her voice, until at length its melody was tainted with terror,
and there fell a shadow upon my soul, and I grew pale, and shuddered
inwardly at those too unearthly tones. And thus, joy suddenly faded into
horror, and the most beautiful became the most hideous, as Hinnon became
Ge-Henna.

It is unnecessary to state the exact character of those disquisitions
which, growing out of the volumes I have mentioned, formed, for so
long a time, almost the sole conversation of Morella and myself. By
the learned in what might be termed theological morality they will be
readily conceived, and by the unlearned they would, at all events,
be little understood. The wild Pantheism of Fichte; the modified
Paliggenedia of the Pythagoreans; and, above all, the doctrines of
Identity as urged by Schelling, were generally the points of discussion
presenting the most of beauty to the imaginative Morella. That identity
which is termed personal, Mr. Locke, I think, truly defines to consist
in the saneness of rational being. And since by person we understand an
intelligent essence having reason, and since there is a consciousness
which always accompanies thinking, it is this which makes us all to
be that which we call ourselves, thereby distinguishing us from
other beings that think, and giving us our personal identity. But the
principium indivduationis, the notion of that identity which at death
is or is not lost for ever, was to me, at all times, a consideration of
intense interest; not more from the perplexing and exciting nature of
its consequences, than from the marked and agitated manner in which
Morella mentioned them.

But, indeed, the time had now arrived when the mystery of my wife's
manner oppressed me as a spell. I could no longer bear the touch of her
wan fingers, nor the low tone of her musical language, nor the lustre
of her melancholy eyes. And she knew all this, but did not upbraid; she
seemed conscious of my weakness or my folly, and, smiling, called it
fate. She seemed also conscious of a cause, to me unknown, for the
gradual alienation of my regard; but she gave me no hint or token of
its nature. Yet was she woman, and pined away daily. In time the crimson
spot settled steadily upon the cheek, and the blue veins upon the pale
forehead became prominent; and one instant my nature melted into pity,
but in, next I met the glance of her meaning eyes, and then my soul
sickened and became giddy with the giddiness of one who gazes downward
into some dreary and unfathomable abyss.

Shall I then say that I longed with an earnest and consuming desire for
the moment of Morella's decease? I did; but the fragile spirit clung to
its tenement of clay for many days, for many weeks and irksome months,
until my tortured nerves obtained the mastery over my mind, and I grew
furious through delay, and, with the heart of a fiend, cursed the days
and the hours and the bitter moments, which seemed to lengthen and
lengthen as her gentle life declined, like shadows in the dying of the
day.

But one autumnal evening, when the winds lay still in heaven, Morella
called me to her bedside. There was a dim mist over all the earth, and
a warm glow upon the waters, and amid the rich October leaves of the
forest, a rainbow from the firmament had surely fallen.

"It is a day of days," she said, as I approached; "a day of all days
either to live or die. It is a fair day for the sons of earth and
life--ah, more fair for the daughters of heaven and death!"

I kissed her forehead, and she continued:

"I am dying, yet shall I live."

"Morella!"

"The days have never been when thou couldst love me--but her whom in
life thou didst abhor, in death thou shalt adore."

"Morella!"

"I repeat I am dying. But within me is a pledge of that affection--ah,
how little!--which thou didst feel for me, Morella. And when my spirit
departs shall the child live--thy child and mine, Morella's. But thy
days shall be days of sorrow--that sorrow which is the most lasting of
impressions, as the cypress is the most enduring of trees. For the hours
of thy happiness are over and joy is not gathered twice in a life, as
the roses of Paestum twice in a year. Thou shalt no longer, then, play
the Teian with time, but, being ignorant of the myrtle and the vine,
thou shalt bear about with thee thy shroud on the earth, as do the
Moslemin at Mecca."

"Morella!" I cried, "Morella! how knowest thou this?" but she turned
away her face upon the pillow and a slight tremor coming over her limbs,
she thus died, and I heard her voice no more.

Yet, as she had foretold, her child, to which in dying she had given
birth, which breathed not until the mother breathed no more, her child,
a daughter, lived. And she grew strangely in stature and intellect, and
was the perfect resemblance of her who had departed, and I loved her
with a love more fervent than I had believed it possible to feel for any
denizen of earth.

But, ere long the heaven of this pure affection became darkened, and
gloom, and horror, and grief swept over it in clouds. I said the child
grew strangely in stature and intelligence. Strange, indeed, was her
rapid increase in bodily size, but terrible, oh! terrible were the
tumultuous thoughts which crowded upon me while watching the development
of her mental being. Could it be otherwise, when I daily discovered
in the conceptions of the child the adult powers and faculties of the
woman? when the lessons of experience fell from the lips of infancy? and
when the wisdom or the passions of maturity I found hourly gleaming from
its full and speculative eye? When, I say, all this became evident to my
appalled senses, when I could no longer hide it from my soul, nor throw
it off from those perceptions which trembled to receive it, is it to be
wondered at that suspicions, of a nature fearful and exciting, crept in
upon my spirit, or that my thoughts fell back aghast upon the wild tales
and thrilling theories of the entombed Morella? I snatched from the
scrutiny of the world a being whom destiny compelled me to adore, and
in the rigorous seclusion of my home, watched with an agonizing anxiety
over all which concerned the beloved.

And as years rolled away, and I gazed day after day upon her holy, and
mild, and eloquent face, and poured over her maturing form, day after
day did I discover new points of resemblance in the child to her mother,
the melancholy and the dead. And hourly grew darker these shadows of
similitude, and more full, and more definite, and more perplexing, and
more hideously terrible in their aspect. For that her smile was like her
mother's I could bear; but then I shuddered at its too perfect identity,
that her eyes were like Morella's I could endure; but then they, too,
often looked down into the depths of my soul with Morella's own intense
and bewildering meaning. And in the contour of the high forehead, and
in the ringlets of the silken hair, and in the wan fingers which buried
themselves therein, and in the sad musical tones of her speech, and
above all--oh, above all, in the phrases and expressions of the dead on
the lips of the loved and the living, I found food for consuming thought
and horror, for a worm that would not die.

Thus passed away two lustra of her life, and as yet my daughter
remained nameless upon the earth. "My child," and "my love," were the
designations usually prompted by a father's affection, and the rigid
seclusion of her days precluded all other intercourse. Morella's name
died with her at her death. Of the mother I had never spoken to the
daughter, it was impossible to speak. Indeed, during the brief period of
her existence, the latter had received no impressions from the outward
world, save such as might have been afforded by the narrow limits of her
privacy. But at length the ceremony of baptism presented to my mind,
in its unnerved and agitated condition, a present deliverance from the
terrors of my destiny. And at the baptismal font I hesitated for a name.
And many titles of the wise and beautiful, of old and modern times, of
my own and foreign lands, came thronging to my lips, with many, many
fair titles of the gentle, and the happy, and the good. What prompted
me then to disturb the memory of the buried dead? What demon urged me to
breathe that sound, which in its very recollection was wont to make ebb
the purple blood in torrents from the temples to the heart? What fiend
spoke from the recesses of my soul, when amid those dim aisles, and in
the silence of the night, I whispered within the ears of the holy man
the syllables--Morella? What more than fiend convulsed the features of
my child, and overspread them with hues of death, as starting at that
scarcely audible sound, she turned her glassy eyes from the earth to
heaven, and falling prostrate on the black slabs of our ancestral vault,
responded--"I am here!"

Distinct, coldly, calmly distinct, fell those few simple sounds within
my ear, and thence like molten lead rolled hissingly into my brain.
Years--years may pass away, but the memory of that epoch never. Nor was
I indeed ignorant of the flowers and the vine--but the hemlock and the
cypress overshadowed me night and day. And I kept no reckoning of time
or place, and the stars of my fate faded from heaven, and therefore the
earth grew dark, and its figures passed by me like flitting shadows,
and among them all I beheld only--Morella. The winds of the firmament
breathed but one sound within my ears, and the ripples upon the sea
murmured evermore--Morella. But she died; and with my own hands I bore
her to the tomb; and I laughed with a long and bitter laugh as I found
no traces of the first in the channel where I laid the second.--Morella.




A TALE OF THE RAGGED MOUNTAINS

DURING the fall of the year 1827, while residing near Charlottesville,
Virginia, I casually made the acquaintance of Mr. Augustus Bedloe. This
young gentleman was remarkable in every respect, and excited in me a
profound interest and curiosity. I found it impossible to comprehend
him either in his moral or his physical relations. Of his family I could
obtain no satisfactory account. Whence he came, I never ascertained.
Even about his age--although I call him a young gentleman--there was
something which perplexed me in no little degree. He certainly seemed
young--and he made a point of speaking about his youth--yet there were
moments when I should have had little trouble in imagining him a hundred
years of age. But in no regard was he more peculiar than in his personal
appearance. He was singularly tall and thin. He stooped much. His limbs
were exceedingly long and emaciated. His forehead was broad and low. His
complexion was absolutely bloodless. His mouth was large and flexible,
and his teeth were more wildly uneven, although sound, than I had ever
before seen teeth in a human head. The expression of his smile,
however, was by no means unpleasing, as might be supposed; but it had
no variation whatever. It was one of profound melancholy--of a phaseless
and unceasing gloom. His eyes were abnormally large, and round like
those of a cat. The pupils, too, upon any accession or diminution of
light, underwent contraction or dilation, just such as is observed in
the feline tribe. In moments of excitement the orbs grew bright to a
degree almost inconceivable; seeming to emit luminous rays, not of a
reflected but of an intrinsic lustre, as does a candle or the sun; yet
their ordinary condition was so totally vapid, filmy, and dull as to
convey the idea of the eyes of a long-interred corpse.

These peculiarities of person appeared to cause him much annoyance, and
he was continually alluding to them in a sort of half explanatory,
half apologetic strain, which, when I first heard it, impressed me very
painfully. I soon, however, grew accustomed to it, and my uneasiness
wore off. It seemed to be his design rather to insinuate than directly
to assert that, physically, he had not always been what he was--that
a long series of neuralgic attacks had reduced him from a condition of
more than usual personal beauty, to that which I saw. For many years
past he had been attended by a physician, named Templeton--an old
gentleman, perhaps seventy years of age--whom he had first encountered
at Saratoga, and from whose attention, while there, he either received,
or fancied that he received, great benefit. The result was that Bedloe,
who was wealthy, had made an arrangement with Dr. Templeton, by
which the latter, in consideration of a liberal annual allowance, had
consented to devote his time and medical experience exclusively to the
care of the invalid.

Doctor Templeton had been a traveller in his younger days, and at Paris
had become a convert, in great measure, to the doctrines of Mesmer. It
was altogether by means of magnetic remedies that he had succeeded in
alleviating the acute pains of his patient; and this success had very
naturally inspired the latter with a certain degree of confidence in the
opinions from which the remedies had been educed. The Doctor, however,
like all enthusiasts, had struggled hard to make a thorough convert of
his pupil, and finally so far gained his point as to induce the sufferer
to submit to numerous experiments. By a frequent repetition of these, a
result had arisen, which of late days has become so common as to attract
little or no attention, but which, at the period of which I write, had
very rarely been known in America. I mean to say, that between Doctor
Templeton and Bedloe there had grown up, little by little, a very
distinct and strongly marked rapport, or magnetic relation. I am not
prepared to assert, however, that this rapport extended beyond the
limits of the simple sleep-producing power, but this power itself had
attained great intensity. At the first attempt to induce the magnetic
somnolency, the mesmerist entirely failed. In the fifth or sixth he
succeeded very partially, and after long continued effort. Only at the
twelfth was the triumph complete. After this the will of the patient
succumbed rapidly to that of the physician, so that, when I first became
acquainted with the two, sleep was brought about almost instantaneously
by the mere volition of the operator, even when the invalid was unaware
of his presence. It is only now, in the year 1845, when similar miracles
are witnessed daily by thousands, that I dare venture to record this
apparent impossibility as a matter of serious fact.

The temperature of Bedloe was, in the highest degree sensitive,
excitable, enthusiastic. His imagination was singularly vigorous and
creative; and no doubt it derived additional force from the habitual use
of morphine, which he swallowed in great quantity, and without which he
would have found it impossible to exist. It was his practice to take
a very large dose of it immediately after breakfast each morning--or,
rather, immediately after a cup of strong coffee, for he ate nothing in
the forenoon--and then set forth alone, or attended only by a dog, upon
a long ramble among the chain of wild and dreary hills that lie westward
and southward of Charlottesville, and are there dignified by the title
of the Ragged Mountains.

Upon a dim, warm, misty day, toward the close of November, and during
the strange interregnum of the seasons which in America is termed the
Indian Summer, Mr. Bedloe departed as usual for the hills. The day
passed, and still he did not return.

About eight o'clock at night, having become seriously alarmed at his
protracted absence, we were about setting out in search of him, when he
unexpectedly made his appearance, in health no worse than usual, and
in rather more than ordinary spirits. The account which he gave of his
expedition, and of the events which had detained him, was a singular one
indeed.

"You will remember," said he, "that it was about nine in the morning
when I left Charlottesville. I bent my steps immediately to the
mountains, and, about ten, entered a gorge which was entirely new to
me. I followed the windings of this pass with much interest. The scenery
which presented itself on all sides, although scarcely entitled to be
called grand, had about it an indescribable and to me a delicious aspect
of dreary desolation. The solitude seemed absolutely virgin. I could not
help believing that the green sods and the gray rocks upon which I trod
had been trodden never before by the foot of a human being. So
entirely secluded, and in fact inaccessible, except through a series
of accidents, is the entrance of the ravine, that it is by no means
impossible that I was indeed the first adventurer--the very first and
sole adventurer who had ever penetrated its recesses.

"The thick and peculiar mist, or smoke, which distinguishes the Indian
Summer, and which now hung heavily over all objects, served, no doubt,
to deepen the vague impressions which these objects created. So dense
was this pleasant fog that I could at no time see more than a dozen
yards of the path before me. This path was excessively sinuous, and
as the sun could not be seen, I soon lost all idea of the direction
in which I journeyed. In the meantime the morphine had its customary
effect--that of enduing all the external world with an intensity of
interest. In the quivering of a leaf--in the hue of a blade of grass--in
the shape of a trefoil--in the humming of a bee--in the gleaming of a
dew-drop--in the breathing of the wind--in the faint odors that came
from the forest--there came a whole universe of suggestion--a gay and
motley train of rhapsodical and immethodical thought.

"Busied in this, I walked on for several hours, during which the mist
deepened around me to so great an extent that at length I was reduced
to an absolute groping of the way. And now an indescribable uneasiness
possessed me--a species of nervous hesitation and tremor. I feared to
tread, lest I should be precipitated into some abyss. I remembered, too,
strange stories told about these Ragged Hills, and of the uncouth and
fierce races of men who tenanted their groves and caverns. A thousand
vague fancies oppressed and disconcerted me--fancies the more
distressing because vague. Very suddenly my attention was arrested by
the loud beating of a drum.

"My amazement was, of course, extreme. A drum in these hills was a thing
unknown. I could not have been more surprised at the sound of the trump
of the Archangel. But a new and still more astounding source of interest
and perplexity arose. There came a wild rattling or jingling sound, as
if of a bunch of large keys, and upon the instant a dusky-visaged and
half-naked man rushed past me with a shriek. He came so close to my
person that I felt his hot breath upon my face. He bore in one hand
an instrument composed of an assemblage of steel rings, and shook them
vigorously as he ran. Scarcely had he disappeared in the mist before,
panting after him, with open mouth and glaring eyes, there darted a huge
beast. I could not be mistaken in its character. It was a hyena.

"The sight of this monster rather relieved than heightened my
terrors--for I now made sure that I dreamed, and endeavored to arouse
myself to waking consciousness. I stepped boldly and briskly forward.
I rubbed my eyes. I called aloud. I pinched my limbs. A small spring of
water presented itself to my view, and here, stooping, I bathed my hands
and my head and neck. This seemed to dissipate the equivocal sensations
which had hitherto annoyed me. I arose, as I thought, a new man, and
proceeded steadily and complacently on my unknown way.

"At length, quite overcome by exertion, and by a certain oppressive
closeness of the atmosphere, I seated myself beneath a tree. Presently
there came a feeble gleam of sunshine, and the shadow of the leaves of
the tree fell faintly but definitely upon the grass. At this shadow
I gazed wonderingly for many minutes. Its character stupefied me with
astonishment. I looked upward. The tree was a palm.

"I now arose hurriedly, and in a state of fearful agitation--for the
fancy that I dreamed would serve me no longer. I saw--I felt that I had
perfect command of my senses--and these senses now brought to my soul
a world of novel and singular sensation. The heat became all at once
intolerable. A strange odor loaded the breeze. A low, continuous murmur,
like that arising from a full, but gently flowing river, came to my
ears, intermingled with the peculiar hum of multitudinous human voices.

"While I listened in an extremity of astonishment which I need not
attempt to describe, a strong and brief gust of wind bore off the
incumbent fog as if by the wand of an enchanter.

"I found myself at the foot of a high mountain, and looking down into a
vast plain, through which wound a majestic river. On the margin of this
river stood an Eastern-looking city, such as we read of in the Arabian
Tales, but of a character even more singular than any there described.
From my position, which was far above the level of the town, I could
perceive its every nook and corner, as if delineated on a map. The
streets seemed innumerable, and crossed each other irregularly in
all directions, but were rather long winding alleys than streets, and
absolutely swarmed with inhabitants. The houses were wildly picturesque.
On every hand was a wilderness of balconies, of verandas, of minarets,
of shrines, and fantastically carved oriels. Bazaars abounded; and
in these were displayed rich wares in infinite variety and
profusion--silks, muslins, the most dazzling cutlery, the most
magnificent jewels and gems. Besides these things, were seen, on all
sides, banners and palanquins, litters with stately dames close veiled,
elephants gorgeously caparisoned, idols grotesquely hewn, drums,
banners, and gongs, spears, silver and gilded maces. And amid the
crowd, and the clamor, and the general intricacy and confusion--amid
the million of black and yellow men, turbaned and robed, and of flowing
beard, there roamed a countless multitude of holy filleted bulls, while
vast legions of the filthy but sacred ape clambered, chattering and
shrieking, about the cornices of the mosques, or clung to the minarets
and oriels. From the swarming streets to the banks of the river, there
descended innumerable flights of steps leading to bathing places, while
the river itself seemed to force a passage with difficulty through the
vast fleets of deeply--burthened ships that far and wide encountered
its surface. Beyond the limits of the city arose, in frequent majestic
groups, the palm and the cocoa, with other gigantic and weird trees of
vast age, and here and there might be seen a field of rice, the thatched
hut of a peasant, a tank, a stray temple, a gypsy camp, or a solitary
graceful maiden taking her way, with a pitcher upon her head, to the
banks of the magnificent river.

"You will say now, of course, that I dreamed; but not so. What I
saw--what I heard--what I felt--what I thought--had about it nothing
of the unmistakable idiosyncrasy of the dream. All was rigorously
self-consistent. At first, doubting that I was really awake, I entered
into a series of tests, which soon convinced me that I really was.
Now, when one dreams, and, in the dream, suspects that he dreams, the
suspicion never fails to confirm itself, and the sleeper is almost
immediately aroused. Thus Novalis errs not in saying that 'we are near
waking when we dream that we dream.' Had the vision occurred to me as I
describe it, without my suspecting it as a dream, then a dream it might
absolutely have been, but, occurring as it did, and suspected and tested
as it was, I am forced to class it among other phenomena."

"In this I am not sure that you are wrong," observed Dr. Templeton, "but
proceed. You arose and descended into the city."

"I arose," continued Bedloe, regarding the Doctor with an air of
profound astonishment "I arose, as you say, and descended into the city.
On my way I fell in with an immense populace, crowding through every
avenue, all in the same direction, and exhibiting in every action the
wildest excitement. Very suddenly, and by some inconceivable impulse, I
became intensely imbued with personal interest in what was going on.
I seemed to feel that I had an important part to play, without exactly
understanding what it was. Against the crowd which environed me,
however, I experienced a deep sentiment of animosity. I shrank from amid
them, and, swiftly, by a circuitous path, reached and entered the city.
Here all was the wildest tumult and contention. A small party of men,
clad in garments half-Indian, half-European, and officered by gentlemen
in a uniform partly British, were engaged, at great odds, with the
swarming rabble of the alleys. I joined the weaker party, arming myself
with the weapons of a fallen officer, and fighting I knew not whom with
the nervous ferocity of despair. We were soon overpowered by numbers,
and driven to seek refuge in a species of kiosk. Here we barricaded
ourselves, and, for the present were secure. From a loop-hole near the
summit of the kiosk, I perceived a vast crowd, in furious agitation,
surrounding and assaulting a gay palace that overhung the river.
Presently, from an upper window of this place, there descended an
effeminate-looking person, by means of a string made of the turbans of
his attendants. A boat was at hand, in which he escaped to the opposite
bank of the river.

"And now a new object took possession of my soul. I spoke a few hurried
but energetic words to my companions, and, having succeeded in gaining
over a few of them to my purpose made a frantic sally from the kiosk.
We rushed amid the crowd that surrounded it. They retreated, at first,
before us. They rallied, fought madly, and retreated again. In the
mean time we were borne far from the kiosk, and became bewildered and
entangled among the narrow streets of tall, overhanging houses, into
the recesses of which the sun had never been able to shine. The rabble
pressed impetuously upon us, harrassing us with their spears, and
overwhelming us with flights of arrows. These latter were very
remarkable, and resembled in some respects the writhing creese of the
Malay. They were made to imitate the body of a creeping serpent, and
were long and black, with a poisoned barb. One of them struck me upon
the right temple. I reeled and fell. An instantaneous and dreadful
sickness seized me. I struggled--I gasped--I died." "You will hardly
persist now," said I smiling, "that the whole of your adventure was not
a dream. You are not prepared to maintain that you are dead?"

When I said these words, I of course expected some lively sally from
Bedloe in reply, but, to my astonishment, he hesitated, trembled, became
fearfully pallid, and remained silent. I looked toward Templeton. He
sat erect and rigid in his chair--his teeth chattered, and his eyes were
starting from their sockets. "Proceed!" he at length said hoarsely to
Bedloe.

"For many minutes," continued the latter, "my sole sentiment--my sole
feeling--was that of darkness and nonentity, with the consciousness of
death. At length there seemed to pass a violent and sudden shock through
my soul, as if of electricity. With it came the sense of elasticity and
of light. This latter I felt--not saw. In an instant I seemed to rise
from the ground. But I had no bodily, no visible, audible, or palpable
presence. The crowd had departed. The tumult had ceased. The city was
in comparative repose. Beneath me lay my corpse, with the arrow in my
temple, the whole head greatly swollen and disfigured. But all these
things I felt--not saw. I took interest in nothing. Even the corpse
seemed a matter in which I had no concern. Volition I had none, but
appeared to be impelled into motion, and flitted buoyantly out of the
city, retracing the circuitous path by which I had entered it. When I
had attained that point of the ravine in the mountains at which I had
encountered the hyena, I again experienced a shock as of a galvanic
battery, the sense of weight, of volition, of substance, returned. I
became my original self, and bent my steps eagerly homeward--but the
past had not lost the vividness of the real--and not now, even for an
instant, can I compel my understanding to regard it as a dream."

"Nor was it," said Templeton, with an air of deep solemnity, "yet it
would be difficult to say how otherwise it should be termed. Let us
suppose only, that the soul of the man of to-day is upon the verge of
some stupendous psychal discoveries. Let us content ourselves with this
supposition. For the rest I have some explanation to make. Here is a
watercolor drawing, which I should have shown you before, but which
an unaccountable sentiment of horror has hitherto prevented me from
showing."

We looked at the picture which he presented. I saw nothing in it of an
extraordinary character, but its effect upon Bedloe was prodigious. He
nearly fainted as he gazed. And yet it was but a miniature portrait--a
miraculously accurate one, to be sure--of his own very remarkable
features. At least this was my thought as I regarded it.

"You will perceive," said Templeton, "the date of this picture--it
is here, scarcely visible, in this corner--1780. In this year was the
portrait taken. It is the likeness of a dead friend--a Mr. Oldeb--to
whom I became much attached at Calcutta, during the administration of
Warren Hastings. I was then only twenty years old. When I first saw you,
Mr. Bedloe, at Saratoga, it was the miraculous similarity which existed
between yourself and the painting which induced me to accost you,
to seek your friendship, and to bring about those arrangements which
resulted in my becoming your constant companion. In accomplishing this
point, I was urged partly, and perhaps principally, by a regretful
memory of the deceased, but also, in part, by an uneasy, and not
altogether horrorless curiosity respecting yourself.

"In your detail of the vision which presented itself to you amid the
hills, you have described, with the minutest accuracy, the Indian city
of Benares, upon the Holy River. The riots, the combat, the massacre,
were the actual events of the insurrection of Cheyte Sing, which took
place in 1780, when Hastings was put in imminent peril of his life. The
man escaping by the string of turbans was Cheyte Sing himself. The party
in the kiosk were sepoys and British officers, headed by Hastings. Of
this party I was one, and did all I could to prevent the rash and fatal
sally of the officer who fell, in the crowded alleys, by the poisoned
arrow of a Bengalee. That officer was my dearest friend. It was Oldeb.
You will perceive by these manuscripts," (here the speaker produced a
note-book in which several pages appeared to have been freshly written,)
"that at the very period in which you fancied these things amid the
hills, I was engaged in detailing them upon paper here at home."

In about a week after this conversation, the following paragraphs
appeared in a Charlottesville paper:

"We have the painful duty of announcing the death of Mr. Augustus Bedlo,
a gentleman whose amiable manners and many virtues have long endeared
him to the citizens of Charlottesville.

"Mr. B., for some years past, has been subject to neuralgia, which has
often threatened to terminate fatally; but this can be regarded only
as the mediate cause of his decease. The proximate cause was one of
especial singularity. In an excursion to the Ragged Mountains, a few
days since, a slight cold and fever were contracted, attended with
great determination of blood to the head. To relieve this, Dr. Templeton
resorted to topical bleeding. Leeches were applied to the temples. In
a fearfully brief period the patient died, when it appeared that in the
jar containing the leeches, had been introduced, by accident, one of
the venomous vermicular sangsues which are now and then found in the
neighboring ponds. This creature fastened itself upon a small artery in
the right temple. Its close resemblance to the medicinal leech caused
the mistake to be overlooked until too late.

"N. B. The poisonous sangsue of Charlottesville may always be
distinguished from the medicinal leech by its blackness, and especially
by its writhing or vermicular motions, which very nearly resemble those
of a snake."

I was speaking with the editor of the paper in question, upon the
topic of this remarkable accident, when it occurred to me to ask how it
happened that the name of the deceased had been given as Bedlo.

"I presume," I said, "you have authority for this spelling, but I have
always supposed the name to be written with an e at the end."

"Authority?--no," he replied. "It is a mere typographical error. The
name is Bedlo with an e, all the world over, and I never knew it to be
spelt otherwise in my life."

"Then," said I mutteringly, as I turned upon my heel, "then indeed has
it come to pass that one truth is stranger than any fiction--for Bedloe,
without the e, what is it but Oldeb conversed! And this man tells me
that it is a typographical error."




THE SPECTACLES

MANY years ago, it was the fashion to ridicule the idea of "love at
first sight;" but those who think, not less than those who feel deeply,
have always advocated its existence. Modern discoveries, indeed, in what
may be termed ethical magnetism or magnetoesthetics, render it probable
that the most natural, and, consequently, the truest and most intense
of the human affections are those which arise in the heart as if by
electric sympathy--in a word, that the brightest and most enduring
of the psychal fetters are those which are riveted by a glance. The
confession I am about to make will add another to the already almost
innumerable instances of the truth of the position.

My story requires that I should be somewhat minute. I am still a very
young man--not yet twenty-two years of age. My name, at present, is a
very usual and rather plebeian one--Simpson. I say "at present;" for it
is only lately that I have been so called--having legislatively
adopted this surname within the last year in order to receive a large
inheritance left me by a distant male relative, Adolphus Simpson,
Esq. The bequest was conditioned upon my taking the name of the
testator,--the family, not the Christian name; my Christian name is
Napoleon Bonaparte--or, more properly, these are my first and middle
appellations.

I assumed the name, Simpson, with some reluctance, as in my true
patronym, Froissart, I felt a very pardonable pride--believing that
I could trace a descent from the immortal author of the "Chronicles."
While on the subject of names, by the bye, I may mention a singular
coincidence of sound attending the names of some of my immediate
predecessors. My father was a Monsieur Froissart, of Paris. His wife--my
mother, whom he married at fifteen--was a Mademoiselle Croissart, eldest
daughter of Croissart the banker, whose wife, again, being only sixteen
when married, was the eldest daughter of one Victor Voissart. Monsieur
Voissart, very singularly, had married a lady of similar name--a
Mademoiselle Moissart. She, too, was quite a child when married; and her
mother, also, Madame Moissart, was only fourteen when led to the altar.
These early marriages are usual in France. Here, however, are Moissart,
Voissart, Croissart, and Froissart, all in the direct line of descent.
My own name, though, as I say, became Simpson, by act of Legislature,
and with so much repugnance on my part, that, at one period, I actually
hesitated about accepting the legacy with the useless and annoying
proviso attached.

As to personal endowments, I am by no means deficient. On the contrary,
I believe that I am well made, and possess what nine tenths of the world
would call a handsome face. In height I am five feet eleven. My hair is
black and curling. My nose is sufficiently good. My eyes are large and
gray; and although, in fact they are weak a very inconvenient degree,
still no defect in this regard would be suspected from their appearance.
The weakness itself, however, has always much annoyed me, and I have
resorted to every remedy--short of wearing glasses. Being youthful and
good-looking, I naturally dislike these, and have resolutely refused to
employ them. I know nothing, indeed, which so disfigures the countenance
of a young person, or so impresses every feature with an air of
demureness, if not altogether of sanctimoniousness and of age. An
eyeglass, on the other hand, has a savor of downright foppery and
affectation. I have hitherto managed as well as I could without either.
But something too much of these merely personal details, which, after
all, are of little importance. I will content myself with saying,
in addition, that my temperament is sanguine, rash, ardent,
enthusiastic--and that all my life I have been a devoted admirer of the
women.

One night last winter I entered a box at the P---Theatre, in company
with a friend, Mr. Talbot. It was an opera night, and the bills
presented a very rare attraction, so that the house was excessively
crowded. We were in time, however, to obtain the front seats which had
been reserved for us, and into which, with some little difficulty, we
elbowed our way.

For two hours my companion, who was a musical fanatico, gave his
undivided attention to the stage; and, in the meantime, I amused myself
by observing the audience, which consisted, in chief part, of the very
elite of the city. Having satisfied myself upon this point, I was about
turning my eyes to the prima donna, when they were arrested and
riveted by a figure in one of the private boxes which had escaped my
observation.

If I live a thousand years, I can never forget the intense emotion
with which I regarded this figure. It was that of a female, the most
exquisite I had ever beheld. The face was so far turned toward the stage
that, for some minutes, I could not obtain a view of it--but the form
was divine; no other word can sufficiently express its magnificent
proportion--and even the term "divine" seems ridiculously feeble as I
write it.

The magic of a lovely form in woman--the necromancy of female
gracefulness--was always a power which I had found it impossible to
resist, but here was grace personified, incarnate, the beau ideal of my
wildest and most enthusiastic visions. The figure, almost all of which
the construction of the box permitted to be seen, was somewhat above the
medium height, and nearly approached, without positively reaching, the
majestic. Its perfect fullness and tournure were delicious. The head of
which only the back was visible, rivalled in outline that of the Greek
Psyche, and was rather displayed than concealed by an elegant cap of
gaze aerienne, which put me in mind of the ventum textilem of Apuleius.
The right arm hung over the balustrade of the box, and thrilled every
nerve of my frame with its exquisite symmetry. Its upper portion was
draperied by one of the loose open sleeves now in fashion. This extended
but little below the elbow. Beneath it was worn an under one of some
frail material, close-fitting, and terminated by a cuff of rich lace,
which fell gracefully over the top of the hand, revealing only the
delicate fingers, upon one of which sparkled a diamond ring, which I
at once saw was of extraordinary value. The admirable roundness of the
wrist was well set off by a bracelet which encircled it, and which also
was ornamented and clasped by a magnificent aigrette of jewels-telling,
in words that could not be mistaken, at once of the wealth and
fastidious taste of the wearer.

I gazed at this queenly apparition for at least half an hour, as if I
had been suddenly converted to stone; and, during this period, I felt
the full force and truth of all that has been said or sung concerning
"love at first sight." My feelings were totally different from any which
I had hitherto experienced, in the presence of even the most celebrated
specimens of female loveliness. An unaccountable, and what I am
compelled to consider a magnetic, sympathy of soul for soul, seemed to
rivet, not only my vision, but my whole powers of thought and feeling,
upon the admirable object before me. I saw--I felt--I knew that I was
deeply, madly, irrevocably in love--and this even before seeing the face
of the person beloved. So intense, indeed, was the passion that consumed
me, that I really believe it would have received little if any abatement
had the features, yet unseen, proved of merely ordinary character, so
anomalous is the nature of the only true love--of the love at first
sight--and so little really dependent is it upon the external conditions
which only seem to create and control it.

While I was thus wrapped in admiration of this lovely vision, a sudden
disturbance among the audience caused her to turn her head partially
toward me, so that I beheld the entire profile of the face. Its beauty
even exceeded my anticipations--and yet there was something about it
which disappointed me without my being able to tell exactly what it
was. I said "disappointed," but this is not altogether the word. My
sentiments were at once quieted and exalted. They partook less of
transport and more of calm enthusiasm of enthusiastic repose. This state
of feeling arose, perhaps, from the Madonna-like and matronly air of
the face; and yet I at once understood that it could not have arisen
entirely from this. There was something else--some mystery which I
could not develope--some expression about the countenance which slightly
disturbed me while it greatly heightened my interest. In fact, I was
just in that condition of mind which prepares a young and susceptible
man for any act of extravagance. Had the lady been alone, I should
undoubtedly have entered her box and accosted her at all hazards; but,
fortunately, she was attended by two companions--a gentleman, and a
strikingly beautiful woman, to all appearance a few years younger than
herself.

I revolved in my mind a thousand schemes by which I might obtain,
hereafter, an introduction to the elder lady, or, for the present, at
all events, a more distinct view of her beauty. I would have removed
my position to one nearer her own, but the crowded state of the theatre
rendered this impossible; and the stern decrees of Fashion had, of late,
imperatively prohibited the use of the opera-glass in a case such as
this, even had I been so fortunate as to have one with me--but I had
not--and was thus in despair.

At length I bethought me of applying to my companion.

"Talbot," I said, "you have an opera-glass. Let me have it."

"An opera--glass!--no!--what do you suppose I would be doing with an
opera-glass?" Here he turned impatiently toward the stage.

"But, Talbot," I continued, pulling him by the shoulder, "listen to me
will you? Do you see the stage--box?--there!--no, the next.--did you
ever behold as lovely a woman?"

"She is very beautiful, no doubt," he said.

"I wonder who she can be?"

"Why, in the name of all that is angelic, don't you know who she is?
'Not to know her argues yourself unknown.' She is the celebrated Madame
Lalande--the beauty of the day par excellence, and the talk of the
whole town. Immensely wealthy too--a widow, and a great match--has just
arrived from Paris."

"Do you know her?"

"Yes; I have the honor."

"Will you introduce me?"

"Assuredly, with the greatest pleasure; when shall it be?"

"To-morrow, at one, I will call upon you at B--'s.

"Very good; and now do hold your tongue, if you can."

In this latter respect I was forced to take Talbot's advice; for he
remained obstinately deaf to every further question or suggestion, and
occupied himself exclusively for the rest of the evening with what was
transacting upon the stage.

In the meantime I kept my eyes riveted on Madame Lalande, and at length
had the good fortune to obtain a full front view of her face. It was
exquisitely lovely--this, of course, my heart had told me before,
even had not Talbot fully satisfied me upon the point--but still the
unintelligible something disturbed me. I finally concluded that my
senses were impressed by a certain air of gravity, sadness, or, still
more properly, of weariness, which took something from the youth
and freshness of the countenance, only to endow it with a seraphic
tenderness and majesty, and thus, of course, to my enthusiastic and
romantic temperment, with an interest tenfold.

While I thus feasted my eyes, I perceived, at last, to my great
trepidation, by an almost imperceptible start on the part of the lady,
that she had become suddenly aware of the intensity of my gaze. Still,
I was absolutely fascinated, and could not withdraw it, even for an
instant. She turned aside her face, and again I saw only the chiselled
contour of the back portion of the head. After some minutes, as if urged
by curiosity to see if I was still looking, she gradually brought her
face again around and again encountered my burning gaze. Her large dark
eyes fell instantly, and a deep blush mantled her cheek. But what was my
astonishment at perceiving that she not only did not a second time
avert her head, but that she actually took from her girdle a double
eyeglass--elevated it--adjusted it--and then regarded me through it,
intently and deliberately, for the space of several minutes.

Had a thunderbolt fallen at my feet I could not have been more
thoroughly astounded--astounded only--not offended or disgusted in the
slightest degree; although an action so bold in any other woman would
have been likely to offend or disgust. But the whole thing was done with
so much quietude--so much nonchalance--so much repose--with so
evident an air of the highest breeding, in short--that nothing of
mere effrontery was perceptible, and my sole sentiments were those of
admiration and surprise.

I observed that, upon her first elevation of the glass, she had seemed
satisfied with a momentary inspection of my person, and was withdrawing
the instrument, when, as if struck by a second thought, she resumed
it, and so continued to regard me with fixed attention for the space of
several minutes--for five minutes, at the very least, I am sure.

This action, so remarkable in an American theatre, attracted very
general observation, and gave rise to an indefinite movement, or buzz,
among the audience, which for a moment filled me with confusion, but
produced no visible effect upon the countenance of Madame Lalande.

Having satisfied her curiosity--if such it was--she dropped the glass,
and quietly gave her attention again to the stage; her profile now being
turned toward myself, as before. I continued to watch her unremittingly,
although I was fully conscious of my rudeness in so doing. Presently I
saw the head slowly and slightly change its position; and soon I became
convinced that the lady, while pretending to look at the stage was, in
fact, attentively regarding myself. It is needless to say what effect
this conduct, on the part of so fascinating a woman, had upon my
excitable mind.

Having thus scrutinized me for perhaps a quarter of an hour, the fair
object of my passion addressed the gentleman who attended her, and
while she spoke, I saw distinctly, by the glances of both, that the
conversation had reference to myself.

Upon its conclusion, Madame Lalande again turned toward the stage, and,
for a few minutes, seemed absorbed in the performance. At the expiration
of this period, however, I was thrown into an extremity of agitation by
seeing her unfold, for the second time, the eye-glass which hung at her
side, fully confront me as before, and, disregarding the renewed buzz
of the audience, survey me, from head to foot, with the same miraculous
composure which had previously so delighted and confounded my soul.

This extraordinary behavior, by throwing me into a perfect fever of
excitement--into an absolute delirium of love-served rather to embolden
than to disconcert me. In the mad intensity of my devotion, I forgot
everything but the presence and the majestic loveliness of the vision
which confronted my gaze. Watching my opportunity, when I thought the
audience were fully engaged with the opera, I at length caught the eyes
of Madame Lalande, and, upon the instant, made a slight but unmistakable
bow.

She blushed very deeply--then averted her eyes--then slowly and
cautiously looked around, apparently to see if my rash action had been
noticed--then leaned over toward the gentleman who sat by her side.

I now felt a burning sense of the impropriety I had committed, and
expected nothing less than instant exposure; while a vision of pistols
upon the morrow floated rapidly and uncomfortably through my brain.
I was greatly and immediately relieved, however, when I saw the lady
merely hand the gentleman a play-bill, without speaking, but the reader
may form some feeble conception of my astonishment--of my profound
amazement--my delirious bewilderment of heart and soul--when, instantly
afterward, having again glanced furtively around, she allowed her bright
eyes to set fully and steadily upon my own, and then, with a faint
smile, disclosing a bright line of her pearly teeth, made two distinct,
pointed, and unequivocal affirmative inclinations of the head.

It is useless, of course, to dwell upon my joy--upon my transport--upon
my illimitable ecstasy of heart. If ever man was mad with excess of
happiness, it was myself at that moment. I loved. This was my first
love--so I felt it to be. It was love supreme-indescribable. It was
"love at first sight;" and at first sight, too, it had been appreciated
and returned.

Yes, returned. How and why should I doubt it for an instant. What other
construction could I possibly put upon such conduct, on the part of a
lady so beautiful--so wealthy--evidently so accomplished--of so high
breeding--of so lofty a position in society--in every regard so entirely
respectable as I felt assured was Madame Lalande? Yes, she loved me--she
returned the enthusiasm of my love, with an enthusiasm as blind--as
uncompromising--as uncalculating--as abandoned--and as utterly unbounded
as my own! These delicious fancies and reflections, however, were now
interrupted by the falling of the drop-curtain. The audience arose; and
the usual tumult immediately supervened. Quitting Talbot abruptly, I
made every effort to force my way into closer proximity with Madame
Lalande. Having failed in this, on account of the crowd, I at length
gave up the chase, and bent my steps homeward; consoling myself for
my disappointment in not having been able to touch even the hem of her
robe, by the reflection that I should be introduced by Talbot, in due
form, upon the morrow.

This morrow at last came, that is to say, a day finally dawned upon a
long and weary night of impatience; and then the hours until "one" were
snail-paced, dreary, and innumerable. But even Stamboul, it is said,
shall have an end, and there came an end to this long delay. The clock
struck. As the last echo ceased, I stepped into B--'s and inquired for
Talbot.

"Out," said the footman--Talbot's own.

"Out!" I replied, staggering back half a dozen paces--"let me tell
you, my fine fellow, that this thing is thoroughly impossible and
impracticable; Mr. Talbot is not out. What do you mean?"

"Nothing, sir; only Mr. Talbot is not in, that's all. He rode over to
S--, immediately after breakfast, and left word that he would not be in
town again for a week."

I stood petrified with horror and rage. I endeavored to reply, but my
tongue refused its office. At length I turned on my heel, livid with
wrath, and inwardly consigning the whole tribe of the Talbots to the
innermost regions of Erebus. It was evident that my considerate friend,
il fanatico, had quite forgotten his appointment with myself--had
forgotten it as soon as it was made. At no time was he a very scrupulous
man of his word. There was no help for it; so smothering my vexation as
well as I could, I strolled moodily up the street, propounding futile
inquiries about Madame Lalande to every male acquaintance I met. By
report she was known, I found, to all--to many by sight--but she had
been in town only a few weeks, and there were very few, therefore, who
claimed her personal acquaintance. These few, being still comparatively
strangers, could not, or would not, take the liberty of introducing me
through the formality of a morning call. While I stood thus in despair,
conversing with a trio of friends upon the all absorbing subject of my
heart, it so happened that the subject itself passed by.

"As I live, there she is!" cried one.

"Surprisingly beautiful!" exclaimed a second.

"An angel upon earth!" ejaculated a third.

I looked; and in an open carriage which approached us, passing slowly
down the street, sat the enchanting vision of the opera, accompanied by
the younger lady who had occupied a portion of her box.

"Her companion also wears remarkably well," said the one of my trio who
had spoken first.

"Astonishingly," said the second; "still quite a brilliant air, but art
will do wonders. Upon my word, she looks better than she did at
Paris five years ago. A beautiful woman still;--don't you think so,
Froissart?--Simpson, I mean."

"Still!" said I, "and why shouldn't she be? But compared with her friend
she is as a rush--light to the evening star--a glow--worm to Antares.

"Ha! ha! ha!--why, Simpson, you have an astonishing tact at making
discoveries--original ones, I mean." And here we separated, while one
of the trio began humming a gay vaudeville, of which I caught only the
lines--

Ninon, Ninon, Ninon a bas--

A bas Ninon De L'Enclos!

During this little scene, however, one thing had served greatly to
console me, although it fed the passion by which I was consumed. As the
carriage of Madame Lalande rolled by our group, I had observed that
she recognized me; and more than this, she had blessed me, by the
most seraphic of all imaginable smiles, with no equivocal mark of the
recognition.

As for an introduction, I was obliged to abandon all hope of it until
such time as Talbot should think proper to return from the country. In
the meantime I perseveringly frequented every reputable place of public
amusement; and, at length, at the theatre, where I first saw her, I had
the supreme bliss of meeting her, and of exchanging glances with her
once again. This did not occur, however, until the lapse of a fortnight.
Every day, in the interim, I had inquired for Talbot at his hotel, and
every day had been thrown into a spasm of wrath by the everlasting "Not
come home yet" of his footman.

Upon the evening in question, therefore, I was in a condition little
short of madness. Madame Lalande, I had been told, was a Parisian--had
lately arrived from Paris--might she not suddenly return?--return before
Talbot came back--and might she not be thus lost to me forever? The
thought was too terrible to bear. Since my future happiness was at
issue, I resolved to act with a manly decision. In a word, upon the
breaking up of the play, I traced the lady to her residence, noted the
address, and the next morning sent her a full and elaborate letter, in
which I poured out my whole heart.

I spoke boldly, freely--in a word, I spoke with passion. I concealed
nothing--nothing even of my weakness. I alluded to the romantic
circumstances of our first meeting--even to the glances which had passed
between us. I went so far as to say that I felt assured of her love;
while I offered this assurance, and my own intensity of devotion, as two
excuses for my otherwise unpardonable conduct. As a third, I spoke of my
fear that she might quit the city before I could have the opportunity of
a formal introduction. I concluded the most wildly enthusiastic epistle
ever penned, with a frank declaration of my worldly circumstances--of my
affluence--and with an offer of my heart and of my hand.

In an agony of expectation I awaited the reply. After what seemed the
lapse of a century it came.

Yes, actually came. Romantic as all this may appear, I really received
a letter from Madame Lalande--the beautiful, the wealthy, the idolized
Madame Lalande. Her eyes--her magnificent eyes, had not belied her
noble heart. Like a true Frenchwoman as she was she had obeyed the frank
dictates of her reason--the generous impulses of her nature--despising
the conventional pruderies of the world. She had not scorned my
proposals. She had not sheltered herself in silence. She had not
returned my letter unopened. She had even sent me, in reply, one penned
by her own exquisite fingers. It ran thus:

"Monsieur Simpson vill pardonne me for not compose de butefulle tong of
his contree so vell as might. It is only de late dat I am arrive, and
not yet ave do opportunite for to--l'etudier.

"Vid dis apologie for the maniere, I vill now say dat, helas!--Monsieur
Simpson ave guess but de too true. Need I say de more? Helas! am I not
ready speak de too moshe?

"EUGENIE LALAND."

This noble--spirited note I kissed a million times, and committed, no
doubt, on its account, a thousand other extravagances that have now
escaped my memory. Still Talbot would not return. Alas! could he have
formed even the vaguest idea of the suffering his absence had occasioned
his friend, would not his sympathizing nature have flown immediately
to my relief? Still, however, he came not. I wrote. He replied. He was
detained by urgent business--but would shortly return. He begged me not
to be impatient--to moderate my transports--to read soothing books--to
drink nothing stronger than Hock--and to bring the consolations of
philosophy to my aid. The fool! if he could not come himself, why, in
the name of every thing rational, could he not have enclosed me a
letter of presentation? I wrote him again, entreating him to forward one
forthwith. My letter was returned by that footman, with the following
endorsement in pencil. The scoundrel had joined his master in the
country:

"Left S---yesterday, for parts unknown--did not say where--or when be
back--so thought best to return letter, knowing your handwriting, and as
how you is always, more or less, in a hurry.

"Yours sincerely,

"STUBBS."

After this, it is needless to say, that I devoted to the infernal
deities both master and valet:--but there was little use in anger, and
no consolation at all in complaint.

But I had yet a resource left, in my constitutional audacity. Hitherto
it had served me well, and I now resolved to make it avail me to the
end. Besides, after the correspondence which had passed between us, what
act of mere informality could I commit, within bounds, that ought to
be regarded as indecorous by Madame Lalande? Since the affair of
the letter, I had been in the habit of watching her house, and thus
discovered that, about twilight, it was her custom to promenade,
attended only by a negro in livery, in a public square overlooked by
her windows. Here, amid the luxuriant and shadowing groves, in the
gray gloom of a sweet midsummer evening, I observed my opportunity and
accosted her.

The better to deceive the servant in attendance, I did this with the
assured air of an old and familiar acquaintance. With a presence of mind
truly Parisian, she took the cue at once, and, to greet me, held out the
most bewitchingly little of hands. The valet at once fell into the
rear, and now, with hearts full to overflowing, we discoursed long and
unreservedly of our love.

As Madame Lalande spoke English even less fluently than she wrote it,
our conversation was necessarily in French. In this sweet tongue, so
adapted to passion, I gave loose to the impetuous enthusiasm of my
nature, and, with all the eloquence I could command, besought her to
consent to an immediate marriage.

At this impatience she smiled. She urged the old story of decorum--that
bug-bear which deters so many from bliss until the opportunity for
bliss has forever gone by. I had most imprudently made it known among my
friends, she observed, that I desired her acquaintance--thus that I did
not possess it--thus, again, there was no possibility of concealing the
date of our first knowledge of each other. And then she adverted, with a
blush, to the extreme recency of this date. To wed immediately would be
improper--would be indecorous--would be outre. All this she said with a
charming air of naivete which enraptured while it grieved and convinced
me. She went even so far as to accuse me, laughingly, of rashness--of
imprudence. She bade me remember that I really even know not who she
was--what were her prospects, her connections, her standing in society.
She begged me, but with a sigh, to reconsider my proposal, and termed
my love an infatuation--a will o' the wisp--a fancy or fantasy of the
moment--a baseless and unstable creation rather of the imagination
than of the heart. These things she uttered as the shadows of the sweet
twilight gathered darkly and more darkly around us--and then, with a
gentle pressure of her fairy-like hand, overthrew, in a single sweet
instant, all the argumentative fabric she had reared.

I replied as best I could--as only a true lover can. I spoke at length,
and perseveringly of my devotion, of my passion--of her exceeding
beauty, and of my own enthusiastic admiration. In conclusion, I dwelt,
with a convincing energy, upon the perils that encompass the course
of love--that course of true love that never did run smooth--and thus
deduced the manifest danger of rendering that course unnecessarily long.

This latter argument seemed finally to soften the rigor of her
determination. She relented; but there was yet an obstacle, she said,
which she felt assured I had not properly considered. This was a
delicate point--for a woman to urge, especially so; in mentioning it,
she saw that she must make a sacrifice of her feelings; still, for me,
every sacrifice should be made. She alluded to the topic of age. Was I
aware--was I fully aware of the discrepancy between us? That the age
of the husband, should surpass by a few years--even by fifteen or
twenty--the age of the wife, was regarded by the world as admissible,
and, indeed, as even proper, but she had always entertained the belief
that the years of the wife should never exceed in number those of the
husband. A discrepancy of this unnatural kind gave rise, too frequently,
alas! to a life of unhappiness. Now she was aware that my own age did
not exceed two and twenty; and I, on the contrary, perhaps, was not
aware that the years of my Eugenie extended very considerably beyond
that sum.

About all this there was a nobility of soul--a dignity of candor--which
delighted--which enchanted me--which eternally riveted my chains. I
could scarcely restrain the excessive transport which possessed me.

"My sweetest Eugenie," I cried, "what is all this about which you are
discoursing? Your years surpass in some measure my own. But what then?
The customs of the world are so many conventional follies. To those who
love as ourselves, in what respect differs a year from an hour? I am
twenty-two, you say, granted: indeed, you may as well call me, at once,
twenty-three. Now you yourself, my dearest Eugenie, can have
numbered no more than--can have numbered no more than--no more
than--than--than--than--"

Here I paused for an instant, in the expectation that Madame Lalande
would interrupt me by supplying her true age. But a Frenchwoman is
seldom direct, and has always, by way of answer to an embarrassing
query, some little practical reply of her own. In the present instance,
Eugenie, who for a few moments past had seemed to be searching for
something in her bosom, at length let fall upon the grass a miniature,
which I immediately picked up and presented to her.

"Keep it!" she said, with one of her most ravishing smiles. "Keep it
for my sake--for the sake of her whom it too flatteringly represents.
Besides, upon the back of the trinket you may discover, perhaps, the
very information you seem to desire. It is now, to be sure, growing
rather dark--but you can examine it at your leisure in the morning. In
the meantime, you shall be my escort home to-night. My friends are
about holding a little musical levee. I can promise you, too, some good
singing. We French are not nearly so punctilious as you Americans, and I
shall have no difficulty in smuggling you in, in the character of an old
acquaintance."

With this, she took my arm, and I attended her home. The mansion was
quite a fine one, and, I believe, furnished in good taste. Of this
latter point, however, I am scarcely qualified to judge; for it was just
dark as we arrived; and in American mansions of the better sort lights
seldom, during the heat of summer, make their appearance at this, the
most pleasant period of the day. In about an hour after my arrival,
to be sure, a single shaded solar lamp was lit in the principal
drawing-room; and this apartment, I could thus see, was arranged with
unusual good taste and even splendor; but two other rooms of the suite,
and in which the company chiefly assembled, remained, during the whole
evening, in a very agreeable shadow. This is a well-conceived custom,
giving the party at least a choice of light or shade, and one which our
friends over the water could not do better than immediately adopt.

The evening thus spent was unquestionably the most delicious of my life.
Madame Lalande had not overrated the musical abilities of her friends;
and the singing I here heard I had never heard excelled in any private
circle out of Vienna. The instrumental performers were many and of
superior talents. The vocalists were chiefly ladies, and no individual
sang less than well. At length, upon a peremptory call for "Madame
Lalande," she arose at once, without affectation or demur, from the
chaise longue upon which she had sat by my side, and, accompanied by
one or two gentlemen and her female friend of the opera, repaired to the
piano in the main drawing-room. I would have escorted her myself, but
felt that, under the circumstances of my introduction to the house, I
had better remain unobserved where I was. I was thus deprived of the
pleasure of seeing, although not of hearing, her sing.

The impression she produced upon the company seemed electrical but the
effect upon myself was something even more. I know not how adequately to
describe it. It arose in part, no doubt, from the sentiment of love
with which I was imbued; but chiefly from my conviction of the extreme
sensibility of the singer. It is beyond the reach of art to endow either
air or recitative with more impassioned expression than was hers. Her
utterance of the romance in Otello--the tone with which she gave the
words "Sul mio sasso," in the Capuletti--is ringing in my memory yet.
Her lower tones were absolutely miraculous. Her voice embraced three
complete octaves, extending from the contralto D to the D upper soprano,
and, though sufficiently powerful to have filled the San Carlos,
executed, with the minutest precision, every difficulty of vocal
composition-ascending and descending scales, cadences, or fiorituri. In
the final of the Somnambula, she brought about a most remarkable effect
at the words:

     Ah! non guinge uman pensiero

     Al contento ond 'io son piena.

Here, in imitation of Malibran, she modified the original phrase of
Bellini, so as to let her voice descend to the tenor G, when, by a rapid
transition, she struck the G above the treble stave, springing over an
interval of two octaves.

Upon rising from the piano after these miracles of vocal execution, she
resumed her seat by my side; when I expressed to her, in terms of the
deepest enthusiasm, my delight at her performance. Of my surprise I
said nothing, and yet was I most unfeignedly surprised; for a certain
feebleness, or rather a certain tremulous indecision of voice in
ordinary conversation, had prepared me to anticipate that, in singing,
she would not acquit herself with any remarkable ability.

Our conversation was now long, earnest, uninterrupted, and totally
unreserved. She made me relate many of the earlier passages of my life,
and listened with breathless attention to every word of the narrative. I
concealed nothing--felt that I had a right to conceal nothing--from her
confiding affection. Encouraged by her candor upon the delicate point of
her age, I entered, with perfect frankness, not only into a detail of
my many minor vices, but made full confession of those moral and even
of those physical infirmities, the disclosure of which, in demanding so
much higher a degree of courage, is so much surer an evidence of love.
I touched upon my college indiscretions--upon my extravagances--upon my
carousals--upon my debts--upon my flirtations. I even went so far as
to speak of a slightly hectic cough with which, at one time, I had been
troubled--of a chronic rheumatism--of a twinge of hereditary gout--and,
in conclusion, of the disagreeable and inconvenient, but hitherto
carefully concealed, weakness of my eyes.

"Upon this latter point," said Madame Lalande, laughingly, "you have
been surely injudicious in coming to confession; for, without the
confession, I take it for granted that no one would have accused you of
the crime. By the by," she continued, "have you any recollection-" and
here I fancied that a blush, even through the gloom of the apartment,
became distinctly visible upon her cheek--"have you any recollection,
mon cher ami of this little ocular assistant, which now depends from my
neck?"

As she spoke she twirled in her fingers the identical double eye-glass
which had so overwhelmed me with confusion at the opera.

"Full well--alas! do I remember it," I exclaimed, pressing passionately
the delicate hand which offered the glasses for my inspection. They
formed a complex and magnificent toy, richly chased and filigreed, and
gleaming with jewels, which, even in the deficient light, I could not
help perceiving were of high value.

"Eh bien! mon ami" she resumed with a certain empressment of manner that
rather surprised me--"Eh bien! mon ami, you have earnestly besought of
me a favor which you have been pleased to denominate priceless. You
have demanded of me my hand upon the morrow. Should I yield to your
entreaties--and, I may add, to the pleadings of my own bosom--would I
not be entitled to demand of you a very--a very little boon in return?"

"Name it!" I exclaimed with an energy that had nearly drawn upon us the
observation of the company, and restrained by their presence alone
from throwing myself impetuously at her feet. "Name it, my beloved, my
Eugenie, my own!--name it!--but, alas! it is already yielded ere named."

"You shall conquer, then, mon ami," said she, "for the sake of the
Eugenie whom you love, this little weakness which you have at last
confessed--this weakness more moral than physical--and which, let
me assure you, is so unbecoming the nobility of your real nature--so
inconsistent with the candor of your usual character--and which, if
permitted further control, will assuredly involve you, sooner or later,
in some very disagreeable scrape. You shall conquer, for my sake, this
affectation which leads you, as you yourself acknowledge, to the tacit
or implied denial of your infirmity of vision. For, this infirmity
you virtually deny, in refusing to employ the customary means for its
relief. You will understand me to say, then, that I wish you to wear
spectacles;--ah, hush!--you have already consented to wear them, for my
sake. You shall accept the little toy which I now hold in my hand,
and which, though admirable as an aid to vision, is really of no very
immense value as a gem. You perceive that, by a trifling modification
thus--or thus--it can be adapted to the eyes in the form of spectacles,
or worn in the waistcoat pocket as an eye-glass. It is in the former
mode, however, and habitually, that you have already consented to wear
it for my sake."

This request--must I confess it?--confused me in no little degree. But
the condition with which it was coupled rendered hesitation, of course,
a matter altogether out of the question.

"It is done!" I cried, with all the enthusiasm that I could muster at
the moment. "It is done--it is most cheerfully agreed. I sacrifice
every feeling for your sake. To-night I wear this dear eye-glass, as an
eye-glass, and upon my heart; but with the earliest dawn of that morning
which gives me the pleasure of calling you wife, I will place it
upon my--upon my nose,--and there wear it ever afterward, in the less
romantic, and less fashionable, but certainly in the more serviceable,
form which you desire."

Our conversation now turned upon the details of our arrangements for the
morrow. Talbot, I learned from my betrothed, had just arrived in town.
I was to see him at once, and procure a carriage. The soiree would
scarcely break up before two; and by this hour the vehicle was to be
at the door, when, in the confusion occasioned by the departure of the
company, Madame L. could easily enter it unobserved. We were then to
call at the house of a clergyman who would be in waiting; there be
married, drop Talbot, and proceed on a short tour to the East, leaving
the fashionable world at home to make whatever comments upon the matter
it thought best.

Having planned all this, I immediately took leave, and went in search of
Talbot, but, on the way, I could not refrain from stepping into a hotel,
for the purpose of inspecting the miniature; and this I did by the
powerful aid of the glasses. The countenance was a surpassingly
beautiful one! Those large luminous eyes!--that proud Grecian
nose!--those dark luxuriant curls!--"Ah!" said I, exultingly to myself,
"this is indeed the speaking image of my beloved!" I turned the reverse,
and discovered the words--"Eugenie Lalande--aged twenty-seven years and
seven months."

I found Talbot at home, and proceeded at once to acquaint him with
my good fortune. He professed excessive astonishment, of course, but
congratulated me most cordially, and proffered every assistance in his
power. In a word, we carried out our arrangement to the letter, and, at
two in the morning, just ten minutes after the ceremony, I found myself
in a close carriage with Madame Lalande--with Mrs. Simpson, I should
say--and driving at a great rate out of town, in a direction Northeast
by North, half-North.

It had been determined for us by Talbot, that, as we were to be up all
night, we should make our first stop at C--, a village about twenty
miles from the city, and there get an early breakfast and some repose,
before proceeding upon our route. At four precisely, therefore, the
carriage drew up at the door of the principal inn. I handed my adored
wife out, and ordered breakfast forthwith. In the meantime we were shown
into a small parlor, and sat down.

It was now nearly if not altogether daylight; and, as I gazed,
enraptured, at the angel by my side, the singular idea came, all at
once, into my head, that this was really the very first moment since my
acquaintance with the celebrated loveliness of Madame Lalande, that I
had enjoyed a near inspection of that loveliness by daylight at all.

"And now, mon ami," said she, taking my hand, and so interrupting this
train of reflection, "and now, mon cher ami, since we are indissolubly
one--since I have yielded to your passionate entreaties, and performed
my portion of our agreement--I presume you have not forgotten that you
also have a little favor to bestow--a little promise which it is your
intention to keep. Ah! let me see! Let me remember! Yes; full easily do
I call to mind the precise words of the dear promise you made to Eugenie
last night. Listen! You spoke thus: 'It is done!--it is most cheerfully
agreed! I sacrifice every feeling for your sake. To-night I wear this
dear eye-glass as an eye-glass, and upon my heart; but with the earliest
dawn of that morning which gives me the privilege of calling you wife, I
will place it upon my--upon my nose,--and there wear it ever afterward,
in the less romantic, and less fashionable, but certainly in the more
serviceable, form which you desire.' These were the exact words, my
beloved husband, were they not?"

"They were," I said; "you have an excellent memory; and assuredly,
my beautiful Eugenie, there is no disposition on my part to evade the
performance of the trivial promise they imply. See! Behold! they are
becoming--rather--are they not?" And here, having arranged the glasses
in the ordinary form of spectacles, I applied them gingerly in their
proper position; while Madame Simpson, adjusting her cap, and folding
her arms, sat bolt upright in her chair, in a somewhat stiff and prim,
and indeed, in a somewhat undignified position.

"Goodness gracious me!" I exclaimed, almost at the very instant that the
rim of the spectacles had settled upon my nose--"My goodness gracious
me!--why, what can be the matter with these glasses?" and taking them
quickly off, I wiped them carefully with a silk handkerchief, and
adjusted them again.

But if, in the first instance, there had occurred something which
occasioned me surprise, in the second, this surprise became
elevated into astonishment; and this astonishment was profound--was
extreme--indeed I may say it was horrific. What, in the name of
everything hideous, did this mean? Could I believe my eyes?--could
I?--that was the question. Was that--was that--was that rouge? And were
those--and were those--were those wrinkles, upon the visage of Eugenie
Lalande? And oh! Jupiter, and every one of the gods and goddesses,
little and big! what--what--what--what had become of her teeth? I dashed
the spectacles violently to the ground, and, leaping to my feet, stood
erect in the middle of the floor, confronting Mrs. Simpson, with my arms
set a-kimbo, and grinning and foaming, but, at the same time, utterly
speechless with terror and with rage.

Now I have already said that Madame Eugenie Lalande--that is to say,
Simpson--spoke the English language but very little better than she
wrote it, and for this reason she very properly never attempted to speak
it upon ordinary occasions. But rage will carry a lady to any
extreme; and in the present care it carried Mrs. Simpson to the very
extraordinary extreme of attempting to hold a conversation in a tongue
that she did not altogether understand.

"Vell, Monsieur," said she, after surveying me, in great apparent
astonishment, for some moments--"Vell, Monsieur?--and vat den?--vat de
matter now? Is it de dance of de Saint itusse dat you ave? If not like
me, vat for vy buy de pig in the poke?"

"You wretch!" said I, catching my breath--"you--you--you villainous old
hag!"

"Ag?--ole?--me not so ver ole, after all! Me not one single day more dan
de eighty-doo."

"Eighty-two!" I ejaculated, staggering to the wall--"eighty-two hundred
thousand baboons! The miniature said twenty-seven years and seven
months!"

"To be sure!--dat is so!--ver true! but den de portraite has been take
for dese fifty-five year. Ven I go marry my segonde usbande, Monsieur
Lalande, at dat time I had de portraite take for my daughter by my first
usbande, Monsieur Moissart!"

"Moissart!" said I.

"Yes, Moissart," said she, mimicking my pronunciation, which, to speak
the truth, was none of the best,--"and vat den? Vat you know about de
Moissart?"

"Nothing, you old fright!--I know nothing about him at all; only I had
an ancestor of that name, once upon a time."

"Dat name! and vat you ave for say to dat name? 'Tis ver goot name;
and so is Voissart--dat is ver goot name too. My daughter, Mademoiselle
Moissart, she marry von Monsieur Voissart,--and de name is bot ver
respectaable name."

"Moissart?" I exclaimed, "and Voissart! Why, what is it you mean?"

"Vat I mean?--I mean Moissart and Voissart; and for de matter of dat, I
mean Croissart and Froisart, too, if I only tink proper to mean it.
My daughter's daughter, Mademoiselle Voissart, she marry von Monsieur
Croissart, and den again, my daughter's grande daughter, Mademoiselle
Croissart, she marry von Monsieur Froissart; and I suppose you say dat
dat is not von ver respectaable name.-"

"Froissart!" said I, beginning to faint, "why, surely you don't say
Moissart, and Voissart, and Croissart, and Froissart?"

"Yes," she replied, leaning fully back in her chair, and stretching
out her lower limbs at great length; "yes, Moissart, and Voissart, and
Croissart, and Froissart. But Monsieur Froissart, he vas von ver big vat
you call fool--he vas von ver great big donce like yourself--for he lef
la belle France for come to dis stupide Amerique--and ven he get here
he went and ave von ver stupide, von ver, ver stupide sonn, so I hear,
dough I not yet av ad de plaisir to meet vid him--neither me nor my
companion, de Madame Stephanie Lalande. He is name de Napoleon
Bonaparte Froissart, and I suppose you say dat dat, too, is not von ver
respectable name."

Either the length or the nature of this speech, had the effect of
working up Mrs. Simpson into a very extraordinary passion indeed; and
as she made an end of it, with great labor, she lumped up from her chair
like somebody bewitched, dropping upon the floor an entire universe
of bustle as she lumped. Once upon her feet, she gnashed her gums,
brandished her arms, rolled up her sleeves, shook her fist in my face,
and concluded the performance by tearing the cap from her head, and with
it an immense wig of the most valuable and beautiful black hair,
the whole of which she dashed upon the ground with a yell, and there
trammpled and danced a fandango upon it, in an absolute ecstasy and
agony of rage.

Meantime I sank aghast into the chair which she had vacated. "Moissart
and Voissart!" I repeated, thoughtfully, as she cut one of her
pigeon-wings, and "Croissart and Froissart!" as she completed
another--"Moissart and Voissart and Croissart and Napoleon Bonaparte
Froissart!--why, you ineffable old serpent, that's me--that's me--d'ye
hear? that's me"--here I screamed at the top of my voice--"that's
me-e-e! I am Napoleon Bonaparte Froissart! and if I havn't married my
great, great, grandmother, I wish I may be everlastingly confounded!"

Madame Eugenie Lalande, quasi Simpson--formerly Moissart--was, in sober
fact, my great, great, grandmother. In her youth she had been beautiful,
and even at eighty-two, retained the majestic height, the sculptural
contour of head, the fine eyes and the Grecian nose of her girlhood. By
the aid of these, of pearl-powder, of rouge, of false hair, false teeth,
and false tournure, as well as of the most skilful modistes of Paris,
she contrived to hold a respectable footing among the beauties en peu
passees of the French metropolis. In this respect, indeed, she might
have been regarded as little less than the equal of the celebrated Ninon
De L'Enclos.

She was immensely wealthy, and being left, for the second time, a widow
without children, she bethought herself of my existence in America,
and for the purpose of making me her heir, paid a visit to the United
States, in company with a distant and exceedingly lovely relative of her
second husband's--a Madame Stephanie Lalande.

At the opera, my great, great, grandmother's attention was arrested by
my notice; and, upon surveying me through her eye-glass, she was struck
with a certain family resemblance to herself. Thus interested, and
knowing that the heir she sought was actually in the city, she made
inquiries of her party respecting me. The gentleman who attended her
knew my person, and told her who I was. The information thus obtained
induced her to renew her scrutiny; and this scrutiny it was which so
emboldened me that I behaved in the absurd manner already detailed.
She returned my bow, however, under the impression that, by some odd
accident, I had discovered her identity. When, deceived by my weakness
of vision, and the arts of the toilet, in respect to the age and charms
of the strange lady, I demanded so enthusiastically of Talbot who
she was, he concluded that I meant the younger beauty, as a matter
of course, and so informed me, with perfect truth, that she was "the
celebrated widow, Madame Lalande."

In the street, next morning, my great, great, grandmother encountered
Talbot, an old Parisian acquaintance; and the conversation, very
naturally turned upon myself. My deficiencies of vision were then
explained; for these were notorious, although I was entirely ignorant
of their notoriety, and my good old relative discovered, much to
her chagrin, that she had been deceived in supposing me aware of her
identity, and that I had been merely making a fool of myself in making
open love, in a theatre, to an old woman unknown. By way of punishing me
for this imprudence, she concocted with Talbot a plot. He purposely kept
out of my way to avoid giving me the introduction. My street inquiries
about "the lovely widow, Madame Lalande," were supposed to refer to
the younger lady, of course, and thus the conversation with the three
gentlemen whom I encountered shortly after leaving Talbot's hotel will
be easily explained, as also their allusion to Ninon De L'Enclos. I had
no opportunity of seeing Madame Lalande closely during daylight; and,
at her musical soiree, my silly weakness in refusing the aid of glasses
effectually prevented me from making a discovery of her age. When
"Madame Lalande" was called upon to sing, the younger lady was intended;
and it was she who arose to obey the call; my great, great, grandmother,
to further the deception, arising at the same moment and accompanying
her to the piano in the main drawing-room. Had I decided upon escorting
her thither, it had been her design to suggest the propriety of my
remaining where I was; but my own prudential views rendered this
unnecessary. The songs which I so much admired, and which so confirmed
my impression of the youth of my mistress, were executed by Madame
Stephanie Lalande. The eyeglass was presented by way of adding a reproof
to the hoax--a sting to the epigram of the deception. Its presentation
afforded an opportunity for the lecture upon affectation with which
I was so especially edified. It is almost superfluous to add that the
glasses of the instrument, as worn by the old lady, had been exchanged
by her for a pair better adapted to my years. They suited me, in fact,
to a T.

The clergyman, who merely pretended to tie the fatal knot, was a boon
companion of Talbot's, and no priest. He was an excellent "whip,"
however; and having doffed his cassock to put on a great-coat, he drove
the hack which conveyed the "happy couple" out of town. Talbot took a
seat at his side. The two scoundrels were thus "in at the death,"
and through a half-open window of the back parlor of the inn, amused
themselves in grinning at the denouement of the drama. I believe I shall
be forced to call them both out.

Nevertheless, I am not the husband of my great, great, grandmother; and
this is a reflection which affords me infinite relief,--but I am the
husband of Madame Lalande--of Madame Stephanie Lalande--with whom my
good old relative, besides making me her sole heir when she dies--if
she ever does--has been at the trouble of concocting me a match. In
conclusion: I am done forever with billets doux and am never to be met
without SPECTACLES.




KING PEST.

A Tale Containing an Allegory.

     The gods do bear and will allow in kings
     The things which they abhor in rascal routes.

         _Buckhurst's Tragedy of Ferrex and Porrex._

ABOUT twelve o'clock, one night in the month of October, and during the
chivalrous reign of the third Edward, two seamen belonging to the crew
of the "Free and Easy," a trading schooner plying between Sluys and the
Thames, and then at anchor in that river, were much astonished to find
themselves seated in the tap-room of an ale-house in the parish of St.
Andrews, London--which ale-house bore for sign the portraiture of a
"Jolly Tar."

The room, although ill-contrived, smoke-blackened, low-pitched, and in
every other respect agreeing with the general character of such places
at the period--was, nevertheless, in the opinion of the grotesque groups
scattered here and there within it, sufficiently well adapted to its
purpose.

Of these groups our two seamen formed, I think, the most interesting, if
not the most conspicuous.

The one who appeared to be the elder, and whom his companion addressed
by the characteristic appellation of "Legs," was at the same time much
the taller of the two. He might have measured six feet and a half, and
an habitual stoop in the shoulders seemed to have been the necessary
consequence of an altitude so enormous.--Superfluities in height were,
however, more than accounted for by deficiencies in other respects.
He was exceedingly thin; and might, as his associates asserted, have
answered, when drunk, for a pennant at the mast-head, or, when sober,
have served for a jib-boom. But these jests, and others of a similar
nature, had evidently produced, at no time, any effect upon the
cachinnatory muscles of the tar. With high cheek-bones, a large
hawk-nose, retreating chin, fallen under-jaw, and huge protruding white
eyes, the expression of his countenance, although tinged with a species
of dogged indifference to matters and things in general, was not the
less utterly solemn and serious beyond all attempts at imitation or
description.

The younger seaman was, in all outward appearance, the converse of his
companion. His stature could not have exceeded four feet. A pair
of stumpy bow-legs supported his squat, unwieldy figure, while his
unusually short and thick arms, with no ordinary fists at their
extremities, swung off dangling from his sides like the fins of a
sea-turtle. Small eyes, of no particular color, twinkled far back in his
head. His nose remained buried in the mass of flesh which enveloped his
round, full, and purple face; and his thick upper-lip rested upon the
still thicker one beneath with an air of complacent self-satisfaction,
much heightened by the owner's habit of licking them at intervals.
He evidently regarded his tall shipmate with a feeling half-wondrous,
half-quizzical; and stared up occasionally in his face as the red
setting sun stares up at the crags of Ben Nevis.

Various and eventful, however, had been the peregrinations of the worthy
couple in and about the different tap-houses of the neighbourhood during
the earlier hours of the night. Funds even the most ample, are not
always everlasting: and it was with empty pockets our friends had
ventured upon the present hostelrie.

At the precise period, then, when this history properly commences, Legs,
and his fellow Hugh Tarpaulin, sat, each with both elbows resting upon
the large oaken table in the middle of the floor, and with a hand upon
either cheek. They were eyeing, from behind a huge flagon of unpaid-for
"humming-stuff," the portentous words, "No Chalk," which to their
indignation and astonishment were scored over the doorway by means of
that very mineral whose presence they purported to deny. Not that the
gift of decyphering written characters--a gift among the commonalty
of that day considered little less cabalistical than the art of
inditing--could, in strict justice, have been laid to the charge of
either disciple of the sea; but there was, to say the truth, a certain
twist in the formation of the letters--an indescribable lee-lurch about
the whole---which foreboded, in the opinion of both seamen, a long run
of dirty weather; and determined them at once, in the allegorical words
of Legs himself, to "pump ship, clew up all sail, and scud before the
wind."

Having accordingly disposed of what remained of the ale, and looped up
the points of their short doublets, they finally made a bolt for the
street. Although Tarpaulin rolled twice into the fire-place, mistaking
it for the door, yet their escape was at length happily effected--and
half after twelve o'clock found our heroes ripe for mischief, and
running for life down a dark alley in the direction of St. Andrew's
Stair, hotly pursued by the landlady of the "Jolly Tar."

At the epoch of this eventful tale, and periodically, for many years
before and after, all England, but more especially the metropolis,
resounded with the fearful cry of "Plague!" The city was in a great
measure depopulated--and in those horrible regions, in the vicinity of
the Thames, where amid the dark, narrow, and filthy lanes and alleys,
the Demon of Disease was supposed to have had his nativity, Awe, Terror,
and Superstition were alone to be found stalking abroad.

By authority of the king such districts were placed under ban, and all
persons forbidden, under pain of death, to intrude upon their dismal
solitude. Yet neither the mandate of the monarch, nor the huge barriers
erected at the entrances of the streets, nor the prospect of that
loathsome death which, with almost absolute certainty, overwhelmed
the wretch whom no peril could deter from the adventure, prevented the
unfurnished and untenanted dwellings from being stripped, by the hand
of nightly rapine, of every article, such as iron, brass, or lead-work,
which could in any manner be turned to a profitable account.

Above all, it was usually found, upon the annual winter opening of the
barriers, that locks, bolts, and secret cellars, had proved but
slender protection to those rich stores of wines and liquors which, in
consideration of the risk and trouble of removal, many of the numerous
dealers having shops in the neighbourhood had consented to trust, during
the period of exile, to so insufficient a security.

But there were very few of the terror-stricken people who attributed
these doings to the agency of human hands. Pest-spirits, plague-goblins,
and fever-demons, were the popular imps of mischief; and tales so
blood-chilling were hourly told, that the whole mass of forbidden
buildings was, at length, enveloped in terror as in a shroud, and
the plunderer himself was often scared away by the horrors his own
depreciations had created; leaving the entire vast circuit of prohibited
district to gloom, silence, pestilence, and death.

It was by one of the terrific barriers already mentioned, and which
indicated the region beyond to be under the Pest-ban, that, in
scrambling down an alley, Legs and the worthy Hugh Tarpaulin found their
progress suddenly impeded. To return was out of the question, and no
time was to be lost, as their pursuers were close upon their heels. With
thorough-bred seamen to clamber up the roughly fashioned plank-work
was a trifle; and, maddened with the twofold excitement of exercise
and liquor, they leaped unhesitatingly down within the enclosure, and
holding on their drunken course with shouts and yellings, were soon
bewildered in its noisome and intricate recesses.

Had they not, indeed, been intoxicated beyond moral sense, their reeling
footsteps must have been palsied by the horrors of their situation. The
air was cold and misty. The paving-stones, loosened from their beds, lay
in wild disorder amid the tall, rank grass, which sprang up around the
feet and ankles. Fallen houses choked up the streets. The most fetid and
poisonous smells everywhere prevailed;--and by the aid of that ghastly
light which, even at midnight, never fails to emanate from a vapory and
pestilential at atmosphere, might be discerned lying in the by-paths and
alleys, or rotting in the windowless habitations, the carcass of many
a nocturnal plunderer arrested by the hand of the plague in the very
perpetration of his robbery.

--But it lay not in the power of images, or sensations, or impediments
such as these, to stay the course of men who, naturally brave, and at
that time especially, brimful of courage and of "humming-stuff!" would
have reeled, as straight as their condition might have permitted,
undauntedly into the very jaws of Death. Onward--still onward stalked
the grim Legs, making the desolate solemnity echo and re-echo with yells
like the terrific war-whoop of the Indian: and onward, still onward
rolled the dumpy Tarpaulin, hanging on to the doublet of his more active
companion, and far surpassing the latter's most strenuous exertions in
the way of vocal music, by bull-roarings in basso, from the profundity
of his stentorian lungs.

They had now evidently reached the strong hold of the pestilence. Their
way at every step or plunge grew more noisome and more horrible--the
paths more narrow and more intricate. Huge stones and beams falling
momently from the decaying roofs above them, gave evidence, by their
sullen and heavy descent, of the vast height of the surrounding houses;
and while actual exertion became necessary to force a passage through
frequent heaps of rubbish, it was by no means seldom that the hand fell
upon a skeleton or rested upon a more fleshly corpse.

Suddenly, as the seamen stumbled against the entrance of a tall and
ghastly-looking building, a yell more than usually shrill from the
throat of the excited Legs, was replied to from within, in a rapid
succession of wild, laughter-like, and fiendish shrieks. Nothing daunted
at sounds which, of such a nature, at such a time, and in such a place,
might have curdled the very blood in hearts less irrevocably on fire,
the drunken couple rushed headlong against the door, burst it open, and
staggered into the midst of things with a volley of curses.

The room within which they found themselves proved to be the shop of
an undertaker; but an open trap-door, in a corner of the floor near the
entrance, looked down upon a long range of wine-cellars, whose depths
the occasional sound of bursting bottles proclaimed to be well stored
with their appropriate contents. In the middle of the room stood a
table--in the centre of which again arose a huge tub of what appeared
to be punch. Bottles of various wines and cordials, together with
jugs, pitchers, and flagons of every shape and quality, were scattered
profusely upon the board. Around it, upon coffin-tressels, was seated a
company of six. This company I will endeavor to delineate one by one.

Fronting the entrance, and elevated a little above his companions, sat a
personage who appeared to be the president of the table. His stature was
gaunt and tall, and Legs was confounded to behold in him a figure
more emaciated than himself. His face was as yellow as saffron--but
no feature excepting one alone, was sufficiently marked to merit a
particular description. This one consisted in a forehead so unusually
and hideously lofty, as to have the appearance of a bonnet or crown
of flesh superadded upon the natural head. His mouth was puckered and
dimpled into an expression of ghastly affability, and his eyes, as
indeed the eyes of all at table, were glazed over with the fumes
of intoxication. This gentleman was clothed from head to foot in a
richly-embroidered black silk-velvet pall, wrapped negligently around
his form after the fashion of a Spanish cloak.--His head was stuck full
of sable hearse-plumes, which he nodded to and fro with a jaunty and
knowing air; and, in his right hand, he held a huge human thigh-bone,
with which he appeared to have been just knocking down some member of
the company for a song.

Opposite him, and with her back to the door, was a lady of no whit the
less extraordinary character. Although quite as tall as the person just
described, she had no right to complain of his unnatural emaciation. She
was evidently in the last stage of a dropsy; and her figure resembled
nearly that of the huge puncheon of October beer which stood, with the
head driven in, close by her side, in a corner of the chamber. Her
face was exceedingly round, red, and full; and the same peculiarity, or
rather want of peculiarity, attached itself to her countenance, which I
before mentioned in the case of the president--that is to say, only one
feature of her face was sufficiently distinguished to need a separate
characterization: indeed the acute Tarpaulin immediately observed that
the same remark might have applied to each individual person of the
party; every one of whom seemed to possess a monopoly of some particular
portion of physiognomy. With the lady in question this portion proved
to be the mouth. Commencing at the right ear, it swept with a terrific
chasm to the left--the short pendants which she wore in either auricle
continually bobbing into the aperture. She made, however, every exertion
to keep her mouth closed and look dignified, in a dress consisting of a
newly starched and ironed shroud coming up close under her chin, with a
crimpled ruffle of cambric muslin.

At her right hand sat a diminutive young lady whom she appeared to
patronise. This delicate little creature, in the trembling of her wasted
fingers, in the livid hue of her lips, and in the slight hectic spot
which tinged her otherwise leaden complexion, gave evident indications
of a galloping consumption. An air of gave extreme haut ton, however,
pervaded her whole appearance; she wore in a graceful and degage manner,
a large and beautiful winding-sheet of the finest India lawn; her hair
hung in ringlets over her neck; a soft smile played about her mouth; but
her nose, extremely long, thin, sinuous, flexible and pimpled, hung down
far below her under lip, and in spite of the delicate manner in which
she now and then moved it to one side or the other with her tongue, gave
to her countenance a somewhat equivocal expression.

Over against her, and upon the left of the dropsical lady, was seated a
little puffy, wheezing, and gouty old man, whose cheeks reposed upon the
shoulders of their owner, like two huge bladders of Oporto wine. With
his arms folded, and with one bandaged leg deposited upon the table,
he seemed to think himself entitled to some consideration. He evidently
prided himself much upon every inch of his personal appearance, but took
more especial delight in calling attention to his gaudy-colored surtout.
This, to say the truth, must have cost him no little money, and was made
to fit him exceedingly well--being fashioned from one of the curiously
embroidered silken covers appertaining to those glorious escutcheons
which, in England and elsewhere, are customarily hung up, in some
conspicuous place, upon the dwellings of departed aristocracy.

Next to him, and at the right hand of the president, was a gentleman
in long white hose and cotton drawers. His frame shook, in a ridiculous
manner, with a fit of what Tarpaulin called "the horrors." His jaws,
which had been newly shaved, were tightly tied up by a bandage of
muslin; and his arms being fastened in a similar way at the wrists, I
I prevented him from helping himself too freely to the liquors upon the
table; a precaution rendered necessary, in the opinion of Legs, by
the peculiarly sottish and wine-bibbing cast of his visage. A pair of
prodigious ears, nevertheless, which it was no doubt found impossible
to confine, towered away into the atmosphere of the apartment, and were
occasionally pricked up in a spasm, at the sound of the drawing of a
cork.

Fronting him, sixthly and lastly, was situated a singularly
stiff-looking personage, who, being afflicted with paralysis, must,
to speak seriously, have felt very ill at ease in his unaccommodating
habiliments. He was habited, somewhat uniquely, in a new and handsome
mahogany coffin. Its top or head-piece pressed upon the skull of the
wearer, and extended over it in the fashion of a hood, giving to the
entire face an air of indescribable interest. Arm-holes had been cut in
the sides, for the sake not more of elegance than of convenience; but
the dress, nevertheless, prevented its proprietor from sitting as erect
as his associates; and as he lay reclining against his tressel, at an
angle of forty-five degrees, a pair of huge goggle eyes rolled up their
awful whites towards the ceiling in absolute amazement at their own
enormity.

Before each of the party lay a portion of a skull, which was used as
a drinking cup. Overhead was suspended a human skeleton, by means of a
rope tied round one of the legs and fastened to a ring in the ceiling.
The other limb, confined by no such fetter, stuck off from the body at
right angles, causing the whole loose and rattling frame to dangle and
twirl about at the caprice of every occasional puff of wind which found
its way into the apartment. In the cranium of this hideous thing lay
quantity of ignited charcoal, which threw a fitful but vivid light over
the entire scene; while coffins, and other wares appertaining to the
shop of an undertaker, were piled high up around the room, and against
the windows, preventing any ray from escaping into the street.

At sight of this extraordinary assembly, and of their still more
extraordinary paraphernalia, our two seamen did not conduct themselves
with that degree of decorum which might have been expected. Legs,
leaning against the wall near which he happened to be standing, dropped
his lower jaw still lower than usual, and spread open his eyes to their
fullest extent: while Hugh Tarpaulin, stooping down so as to bring his
nose upon a level with the table, and spreading out a palm upon either
knee, burst into a long, loud, and obstreperous roar of very ill-timed
and immoderate laughter.

Without, however, taking offence at behaviour so excessively rude, the
tall president smiled very graciously upon the intruders--nodded to them
in a dignified manner with his head of sable plumes--and, arising, took
each by an arm, and led him to a seat which some others of the company
had placed in the meantime for his accommodation. Legs to all this
offered not the slightest resistance, but sat down as he was directed;
while the gallant Hugh, removing his coffin tressel from its station
near the head of the table, to the vicinity of the little consumptive
lady in the winding sheet, plumped down by her side in high glee,
and pouring out a skull of red wine, quaffed it to their better
acquaintance. But at this presumption the stiff gentleman in the coffin
seemed exceedingly nettled; and serious consequences might have ensued,
had not the president, rapping upon the table with his truncheon,
diverted the attention of all present to the following speech:

"It becomes our duty upon the present happy occasion"--

"Avast there!" interrupted Legs, looking very serious, "avast there a
bit, I say, and tell us who the devil ye all are, and what business ye
have here, rigged off like the foul fiends, and swilling the snug blue
ruin stowed away for the winter by my honest shipmate, Will Wimble the
undertaker!"

At this unpardonable piece of ill-breeding, all the original company
half started to their feet, and uttered the same rapid succession of
wild fiendish shrieks which had before caught the attention of the
seamen. The president, however, was the first to recover his composure,
and at length, turning to Legs with great dignity, recommenced:

"Most willingly will we gratify any reasonable curiosity on the part of
guests so illustrious, unbidden though they be. Know then that in these
dominions I am monarch, and here rule with undivided empire under the
title of 'King Pest the First.'

"This apartment, which you no doubt profanely suppose to be the shop of
Will Wimble the undertaker--a man whom we know not, and whose plebeian
appellation has never before this night thwarted our royal ears--this
apartment, I say, is the Dais-Chamber of our Palace, devoted to the
councils of our kingdom, and to other sacred and lofty purposes.

"The noble lady who sits opposite is Queen Pest, our Serene Consort. The
other exalted personages whom you behold are all of our family, and
wear the insignia of the blood royal under the respective titles of
'His Grace the Arch Duke Pest-Iferous'--'His Grace the Duke
Pest-Ilential'--'His Grace the Duke Tem-Pest'--and 'Her Serene Highness
the Arch Duchess Ana-Pest.'

"As regards," continued he, "your demand of the business upon which we
sit here in council, we might be pardoned for replying that it concerns,
and concerns alone, our own private and regal interest, and is in no
manner important to any other than ourself. But in consideration of
those rights to which as guests and strangers you may feel yourselves
entitled, we will furthermore explain that we are here this night,
prepared by deep research and accurate investigation, to examine,
analyze, and thoroughly determine the indefinable spirit--the
incomprehensible qualities and nature--of those inestimable treasures of
the palate, the wines, ales, and liqueurs of this goodly metropolis: by
so doing to advance not more our own designs than the true welfare of
that unearthly sovereign whose reign is over us all, whose dominions are
unlimited, and whose name is 'Death.'

"Whose name is Davy Jones!" ejaculated Tarpaulin, helping the lady by
his side to a skull of liqueur, and pouring out a second for himself.

"Profane varlet!" said the president, now turning his attention to
the worthy Hugh, "profane and execrable wretch!--we have said, that in
consideration of those rights which, even in thy filthy person, we feel
no inclination to violate, we have condescended to make reply to thy
rude and unseasonable inquiries. We nevertheless, for your unhallowed
intrusion upon our councils, believe it our duty to mulct thee and thy
companion in each a gallon of Black Strap--having imbibed which to the
prosperity of our kingdom--at a single draught--and upon your bended
knees--ye shall be forthwith free either to proceed upon your way, or
remain and be admitted to the privileges of our table, according to your
respective and individual pleasures."

"It would be a matter of utter impossibility," replied Legs, whom the
assumptions and dignity of King Pest the First had evidently inspired
some feelings of respect, and who arose and steadied himself by the
table as he spoke--"It would, please your majesty, be a matter of utter
impossibility to stow away in my hold even one-fourth part of the same
liquor which your majesty has just mentioned. To say nothing of the
stuffs placed on board in the forenoon by way of ballast, and not to
mention the various ales and liqueurs shipped this evening at different
sea-ports, I have, at present, a full cargo of 'humming stuff' taken in
and duly paid for at the sign of the 'Jolly Tar.' You will, therefore,
please your majesty, be so good as to take the will for the deed--for by
no manner of means either can I or will I swallow another drop--least
of all a drop of that villainous bilge-water that answers to the hall of
'Black Strap.'"

"Belay that!" interrupted Tarpaulin, astonished not more at the length
of his companion's speech than at the nature of his refusal--"Belay that
you tubber!--and I say, Legs, none of your palaver! My hull is still
light, although I confess you yourself seem to be a little top-heavy;
and as for the matter of your share of the cargo, why rather than raise
a squall I would find stowageroom for it myself, but"--

"This proceeding," interposed the president, "is by no means in
accordance with the terms of the mulct or sentence, which is in its
nature Median, and not to be altered or recalled. The conditions we have
imposed must be fulfilled to the letter, and that without a moment's
hesitation--in failure of which fulfilment we decree that you do here be
tied neck and heels together, and duly drowned as rebels in yon hogshead
of October beer!"

"A sentence!--a sentence!--a righteous and just sentence!--a glorious
decree!--a most worthy and upright, and holy condemnation!" shouted the
Pest family altogether. The king elevated his forehead into innumerable
wrinkles; the gouty little old man puffed like a pair of bellows; the
lady of the winding sheet waved her nose to and fro; the gentleman in
the cotton drawers pricked up his ears; she of the shroud gasped like a
dying fish; and he of the coffin looked stiff and rolled up his eyes.

"Ugh! ugh! ugh!" chuckled Tarpaulin without heeding the general
excitation, "ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! ugh! ugh!--I was
saying," said he, "I was saying when Mr. King Pest poked in his
marlin-spike, that as for the matter of two or three gallons more or
less of Black Strap, it was a trifle to a tight sea-boat like myself not
overstowed--but when it comes to drinking the health of the Devil (whom
God assoilzie) and going down upon my marrow bones to his ill-favored
majesty there, whom I know, as well as I know myself to be a sinner, to
be nobody in the whole world, but Tim Hurlygurly the stage-player--why!
it's quite another guess sort of a thing, and utterly and altogether
past my comprehension."

He was not allowed to finish this speech in tranquillity. At the name
Tim Hurlygurly the whole assembly leaped from their name seats.

"Treason!" shouted his Majesty King Pest the First.

"Treason!" said the little man with the gout.

"Treason!" screamed the Arch Duchess Ana-Pest.

"Treason!" muttered the gentleman with his jaws tied up.

"Treason!" growled he of the coffin.

"Treason! treason!" shrieked her majesty of the mouth; and, seizing by
the hinder part of his breeches the unfortunate Tarpaulin, who had just
commenced pouring out for himself a skull of liqueur, she lifted him
high into the air, and let him fall without ceremony into the huge open
puncheon of his beloved ale. Bobbing up and down, for a few seconds,
like an apple in a bowl of toddy, he, at length, finally disappeared
amid the whirlpool of foam which, in the already effervescent liquor,
his struggles easily succeeded in creating.

Not tamely, however, did the tall seaman behold the discomfiture of his
companion. Jostling King Pest through the open trap, the valiant Legs
slammed the door down upon him with an oath, and strode towards the
centre of the room. Here tearing down the skeleton which swung over the
table, he laid it about him with so much energy and good will, that, as
the last glimpses of light died away within the apartment, he succeeded
in knocking out the brains of the little gentleman with the gout.
Rushing then with all his force against the fatal hogshead full of
October ale and Hugh Tarpaulin, he rolled it over and over in an
instant. Out burst a deluge of liquor so fierce--so impetuous--so
overwhelming--that the room was flooded from wall to wall--the loaded
table was overturned--the tressels were thrown upon their backs--the tub
of punch into the fire-place--and the ladies into hysterics. Piles of
death-furniture floundered about. Jugs, pitchers, and carboys mingled
promiscuously in the melee, and wicker flagons encountered desperately
with bottles of junk. The man with the horrors was drowned upon the
spot-the little stiff gentleman floated off in his coffin--and the
victorious Legs, seizing by the waist the fat lady in the shroud, rushed
out with her into the street, and made a bee-line for the "Free and
Easy," followed under easy sail by the redoubtable Hugh Tarpaulin, who,
having sneezed three or four times, panted and puffed after him with the
Arch Duchess Ana-Pest.




THREE SUNDAYS IN A WEEK

"YOU hard-headed, dunder-headed, obstinate, rusty, crusty, musty,
fusty, old savage!" said I, in fancy, one afternoon, to my grand uncle
Rumgudgeon--shaking my fist at him in imagination.

Only in imagination. The fact is, some trivial discrepancy did exist,
just then, between what I said and what I had not the courage to
say--between what I did and what I had half a mind to do.

The old porpoise, as I opened the drawing-room door, was sitting with
his feet upon the mantel-piece, and a bumper of port in his paw, making
strenuous efforts to accomplish the ditty.

Remplis ton verre vide!

Vide ton verre plein!

"My dear uncle," said I, closing the door gently, and approaching
him with the blandest of smiles, "you are always so very kind and
considerate, and have evinced your benevolence in so many--so very many
ways--that--that I feel I have only to suggest this little point to you
once more to make sure of your full acquiescence."

"Hem!" said he, "good boy! go on!"

"I am sure, my dearest uncle (you confounded old rascal!), that you
have no design really, seriously, to oppose my union with Kate. This is
merely a joke of yours, I know--ha! ha! ha!--how very pleasant you are
at times."

"Ha! ha! ha!" said he, "curse you! yes!"

"To be sure--of course! I knew you were jesting. Now, uncle, all that
Kate and myself wish at present, is that you would oblige us with your
advice as--as regards the time--you know, uncle--in short, when will it
be most convenient for yourself, that the wedding shall--shall come off,
you know?"

"Come off, you scoundrel!--what do you mean by that?--Better wait till
it goes on."

"Ha! ha! ha!--he! he! he!--hi! hi! hi!--ho! ho! ho!--hu! hu! hu!--that's
good!--oh that's capital--such a wit! But all we want just now, you
know, uncle, is that you would indicate the time precisely."

"Ah!--precisely?"

"Yes, uncle--that is, if it would be quite agreeable to yourself."

"Wouldn't it answer, Bobby, if I were to leave it at random--some time
within a year or so, for example?--must I say precisely?"

"If you please, uncle--precisely."

"Well, then, Bobby, my boy--you're a fine fellow, aren't you?--since you
will have the exact time I'll--why I'll oblige you for once:"

"Dear uncle!"

"Hush, sir!" (drowning my voice)--"I'll oblige you for once. You shall
have my consent--and the plum, we mus'n't forget the plum--let me see!
when shall it be? To-day's Sunday--isn't it? Well, then, you shall
be married precisely--precisely, now mind!--when three Sundays come
together in a week! Do you hear me, sir! What are you gaping at? I say,
you shall have Kate and her plum when three Sundays come together in a
week--but not till then--you young scapegrace--not till then, if I
die for it. You know me--I'm a man of my word--now be off!" Here he
swallowed his bumper of port, while I rushed from the room in despair.

A very "fine old English gentleman," was my grand-uncle Rumgudgeon, but
unlike him of the song, he had his weak points. He was a little, pursy,
pompous, passionate semicircular somebody, with a red nose, a thick
scull, (sic) a long purse, and a strong sense of his own consequence.
With the best heart in the world, he contrived, through a predominant
whim of contradiction, to earn for himself, among those who only knew
him superficially, the character of a curmudgeon. Like many excellent
people, he seemed possessed with a spirit of tantalization, which might
easily, at a casual glance, have been mistaken for malevolence. To every
request, a positive "No!" was his immediate answer, but in the end--in
the long, long end--there were exceedingly few requests which he
refused. Against all attacks upon his purse he made the most sturdy
defence; but the amount extorted from him, at last, was generally in
direct ratio with the length of the siege and the stubbornness of the
resistance. In charity no one gave more liberally or with a worse grace.

For the fine arts, and especially for the belles-lettres, he entertained
a profound contempt. With this he had been inspired by Casimir Perier,
whose pert little query "A quoi un poete est il bon?" he was in the
habit of quoting, with a very droll pronunciation, as the ne plus ultra
of logical wit. Thus my own inkling for the Muses had excited his entire
displeasure. He assured me one day, when I asked him for a new copy of
Horace, that the translation of "Poeta nascitur non fit" was "a nasty
poet for nothing fit"--a remark which I took in high dudgeon. His
repugnance to "the humanities" had, also, much increased of late, by
an accidental bias in favor of what he supposed to be natural science.
Somebody had accosted him in the street, mistaking him for no less a
personage than Doctor Dubble L. Dee, the lecturer upon quack physics.
This set him off at a tangent; and just at the epoch of this story--for
story it is getting to be after all--my grand-uncle Rumgudgeon was
accessible and pacific only upon points which happened to chime in with
the caprioles of the hobby he was riding. For the rest, he laughed with
his arms and legs, and his politics were stubborn and easily understood.
He thought, with Horsley, that "the people have nothing to do with the
laws but to obey them."

I had lived with the old gentleman all my life. My parents, in dying,
had bequeathed me to him as a rich legacy. I believe the old villain
loved me as his own child--nearly if not quite as well as he loved
Kate--but it was a dog's existence that he led me, after all. From my
first year until my fifth, he obliged me with very regular floggings.
From five to fifteen, he threatened me, hourly, with the House of
Correction. From fifteen to twenty, not a day passed in which he did not
promise to cut me off with a shilling. I was a sad dog, it is true--but
then it was a part of my nature--a point of my faith. In Kate, however,
I had a firm friend, and I knew it. She was a good girl, and told me
very sweetly that I might have her (plum and all) whenever I could
badger my grand-uncle Rumgudgeon, into the necessary consent. Poor
girl!--she was barely fifteen, and without this consent, her little
amount in the funds was not come-at-able until five immeasurable summers
had "dragged their slow length along." What, then, to do? At fifteen, or
even at twenty-one (for I had now passed my fifth olympiad) five years
in prospect are very much the same as five hundred. In vain we besieged
the old gentleman with importunities. Here was a piece de resistance (as
Messieurs Ude and Careme would say) which suited his perverse fancy to a
T. It would have stiffed the indignation of Job himself, to see how much
like an old mouser he behaved to us two poor wretched little mice. In
his heart he wished for nothing more ardently than our union. He had
made up his mind to this all along. In fact, he would have given ten
thousand pounds from his own pocket (Kate's plum was her own) if he
could have invented any thing like an excuse for complying with our
very natural wishes. But then we had been so imprudent as to broach
the subject ourselves. Not to oppose it under such circumstances, I
sincerely believe, was not in his power.

I have said already that he had his weak points; but in speaking of
these, I must not be understood as referring to his obstinacy: which was
one of his strong points--"assurement ce n' etait pas sa foible." When
I mention his weakness I have allusion to a bizarre old-womanish
superstition which beset him. He was great in dreams, portents, et id
genus omne of rigmarole. He was excessively punctilious, too, upon small
points of honor, and, after his own fashion, was a man of his word,
beyond doubt. This was, in fact, one of his hobbies. The spirit of his
vows he made no scruple of setting at naught, but the letter was a bond
inviolable. Now it was this latter peculiarity in his disposition,
of which Kates ingenuity enabled us one fine day, not long after our
interview in the dining-room, to take a very unexpected advantage, and,
having thus, in the fashion of all modern bards and orators, exhausted
in prolegomena, all the time at my command, and nearly all the room at
my disposal, I will sum up in a few words what constitutes the whole
pith of the story.

It happened then--so the Fates ordered it--that among the naval
acquaintances of my betrothed, were two gentlemen who had just set foot
upon the shores of England, after a year's absence, each, in foreign
travel. In company with these gentlemen, my cousin and I, preconcertedly
paid uncle Rumgudgeon a visit on the afternoon of Sunday, October the
tenth,--just three weeks after the memorable decision which had so
cruelly defeated our hopes. For about half an hour the conversation ran
upon ordinary topics, but at last, we contrived, quite naturally, to
give it the following turn:

CAPT. PRATT. "Well I have been absent just one year.--Just one year
to-day, as I live--let me see! yes!--this is October the tenth. You
remember, Mr. Rumgudgeon, I called, this day year to bid you good-bye.
And by the way, it does seem something like a coincidence, does it
not--that our friend, Captain Smitherton, here, has been absent exactly
a year also--a year to-day!"

SMITHERTON. "Yes! just one year to a fraction. You will remember, Mr.
Rumgudgeon, that I called with Capt. Pratol on this very day, last year,
to pay my parting respects."

UNCLE. "Yes, yes, yes--I remember it very well--very queer indeed! Both
of you gone just one year. A very strange coincidence, indeed! Just what
Doctor Dubble L. Dee would denominate an extraordinary concurrence of
events. Doctor Dub-"

KATE. (Interrupting.) "To be sure, papa, it is something strange; but
then Captain Pratt and Captain Smitherton didn't go altogether the same
route, and that makes a difference, you know."

UNCLE. "I don't know any such thing, you huzzy! How should I? I think it
only makes the matter more remarkable, Doctor Dubble L. Dee--"

KATE. "Why, papa, Captain Pratt went round Cape Horn, and Captain
Smitherton doubled the Cape of Good Hope."

UNCLE. "Precisely!--the one went east and the other went west, you jade,
and they both have gone quite round the world. By the by, Doctor Dubble
L. Dee--"

MYSELF. (Hurriedly.) "Captain Pratt, you must come and spend the evening
with us to-morrow--you and Smitherton--you can tell us all about your
voyage, and well have a game of whist and--"

PRATT. "Wist, my dear fellow--you forget. To-morrow will be Sunday. Some
other evening--"

KATE. "Oh, no, fie!--Robert's not quite so bad as that. To-day's
Sunday."

PRATT. "I beg both your pardons--but I can't be so much mistaken. I know
to-morrow's Sunday, because-"

SMITHERTON. (Much surprised.) "What are you all thinking about? Wasn't
yesterday, Sunday, I should like to know?"

ALL. "Yesterday indeed! you are out!"

UNCLE. "To-days Sunday, I say--don't I know?"

PRATT. "Oh no!--to-morrow's Sunday."

SMITHERTON. "You are all mad--every one of you. I am as positive that
yesterday was Sunday as I am that I sit upon this chair."

KATE. (jumping up eagerly.) "I see it--I see it all. Papa, this is a
judgment upon you, about--about you know what. Let me alone, and I'll
explain it all in a minute. It's a very simple thing, indeed. Captain
Smitherton says that yesterday was Sunday: so it was; he is right.
Cousin Bobby, and uncle and I say that to-day is Sunday: so it is; we
are right. Captain Pratt maintains that to-morrow will be Sunday: so it
will; he is right, too. The fact is, we are all right, and thus three
Sundays have come together in a week."

SMITHERTON. (After a pause.) "By the by, Pratt, Kate has us completely.
What fools we two are! Mr. Rumgudgeon, the matter stands thus: the
earth, you know, is twenty-four thousand miles in circumference.
Now this globe of the earth turns upon its own axis--revolves--spins
round--these twenty-four thousand miles of extent, going from west
to east, in precisely twenty-four hours. Do you understand Mr.
Rumgudgeon?-"

UNCLE. "To be sure--to be sure--Doctor Dub-"

SMITHERTON. (Drowning his voice.) "Well, sir; that is at the rate of one
thousand miles per hour. Now, suppose that I sail from this position a
thousand miles east. Of course I anticipate the rising of the sun here
at London by just one hour. I see the sun rise one hour before you
do. Proceeding, in the same direction, yet another thousand miles, I
anticipate the rising by two hours--another thousand, and I anticipate
it by three hours, and so on, until I go entirely round the globe, and
back to this spot, when, having gone twenty-four thousand miles east,
I anticipate the rising of the London sun by no less than twenty-four
hours; that is to say, I am a day in advance of your time. Understand,
eh?"

UNCLE. "But Double L. Dee-"

SMITHERTON. (Speaking very loud.) "Captain Pratt, on the contrary, when
he had sailed a thousand miles west of this position, was an hour, and
when he had sailed twenty-four thousand miles west, was twenty-four
hours, or one day, behind the time at London. Thus, with me, yesterday
was Sunday--thus, with you, to-day is Sunday--and thus, with Pratt,
to-morrow will be Sunday. And what is more, Mr. Rumgudgeon, it
is positively clear that we are all right; for there can be no
philosophical reason assigned why the idea of one of us should have
preference over that of the other."

UNCLE. "My eyes!--well, Kate--well, Bobby!--this is a judgment upon me,
as you say. But I am a man of my word--mark that! you shall have her,
boy, (plum and all), when you please. Done up, by Jove! Three Sundays
all in a row! I'll go, and take Dubble L. Dee's opinion upon that."





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