XXV. His suite consisted of three servants and But now lay sick and speechless on his pillow, And, rocking in his hammock, long'd for land, His headach being increased by every billow; And the waves oozing through the port-hole made His berth a little damp, and him afraid. XXVI. "T was not without some reason, for the wind At sunset they began to take in sail, XXVII. At one o'clock the wind with sudden shift Threw the ship right into the trough of the sea, Which struck her aft, and made an awkward rift, Started the stern-post, also shatter'd the Whole of her stern-frame, and, ere she could lift Herself from out her present jeopardy, The rudder tore away: 't was time to sound The pumps, and there were four feet water found. 1 XXVIII. One gang of people instantly was put Upon the pumps, and the remainder set Still their salvation was an even bet: The water rush'd through in a way quite puzzling, While they thrust sheets, shirts, jackets, bales of muslin, XXIX. [down, Into the opening; but all such ingredients But for the pumps; I'm glad to make them known To all the brother tars who may have need hence, For fifty tons of water were upthrown By them per hour, and they had all been undone, And witness of the malice and displeasure Coriolanus, Act 4th, Scene 5th.] ["Night came on worse than the day had been; and a sudden shift of wind, about midnight, threw the ship into the trough of the sea, which struck her aft, tore away the rudder, started the stern-post, and shattered the whole of her stern frame. The pumps were immediately sounded, and in the course of a few minutes the water had increased to four jeet."-Loss of the Hercules.] 2 ["One gang was instantly put on them, and the remainder of the people employed in getting up rice from the run of the ship, and heaving it over, to come at the leak, if possible. After three or four hundred bags were thrown into the sea. we did get at it, and found the water rushing into the ship with astonishing rapidity; therefore we thrust skects, shirts, XXX. As day advanced the weather seem'd to abate, A squall came on, and while some guns broke loose, XXXI. There she lay, motionless, and seem'd upset ; For they remember battles, fires, and wrecks, Or breaks their hopes, or hearts, or heads, or necks: Thus drownings are much talk'd of by the divers, And swimmers, who may chance to be survivors. XXXII. Immediately the masts were cut away, Both main and mizen; first the mizen went, The main-mast follow'd: but the ship still lay Like a mere log, and baffled our intent. Foremast and bowsprit were cut down, and they Eased her at last (although we never meant To part with all till every hope was blighted), And then with violence the old ship righted. 6 XXXIII. It may be easily supposed, while this Was going on, some people were unquiet, That passengers would find it much amiss To lose their lives, as well as spoil their diet; That even the able seaman, deeming his Days nearly o'er, might be disposed to riot, As upon such occasions tars will ask For grog, and sometimes drink rum from the cask. XXXIV. There's nought, no doubt, so, much the spirit calms qualms Of all the luckless landsmen's sea-sick maws: Strange sounds of wailing, blasphemy, devotion, Clamour'd in chorus to the roaring ocean. jackets, bales of muslin, and every thing of the like description that could be got, into the opening."— Loss of the Hercules.] 3 [Notwithstanding the pumps discharged fifty tons of water an hour, the ship certainly must have gone down, had not our expedients been attended with some success. The pumps, to the excellent construction of which I owe the preservation of my life, were made by Mr. Mann of London.” — Ibid.] ["As the next day advanced, the weather appeared to moderate, the men continued incessantly at the pumps, and every exertion was made to keep the ship afloat. Scarce was this done, when a gust, czceeding in violence every thing of the kind I had ever seen, or could conceive, laid the ship on her beam ends."- Loss of the Centaur.] 5 ["The ship lay motionless, and, to all appearance, irrevocably overset. The rater forsook the hold, and appeared between decks."— Ibid.] 6 ["Immediate directions were given to cut away the main and mizen masts, trusting, when the ship righted, to be able to wear her. On cutting one or two lanyards, the mizenmast went first over, but without producing the smallest effect on the ship, and, on cutting the lanyard of one shroud, the main-mast followed. I had the mortification to see the foremast and bowsprit also go over. On this, the ship immediately righted with great violence.” — Ibid.] XXXV. Perhaps more mischief had been done, but for 1 Our Juan, who, with sense beyond his years, Got to the spirit-room, and stood before It with a pair of pistols; and their fears, As if Death were more dreadful by his door Of fire than water, spite of oaths and tears, Kept still aloof the crew, who, ere they sunk, Thought it would be becoming to die drunk. 2 XXXVI. "Give us more grog," they cried, " for it will be Like brutes: "-and thus his dangerous post kept he, 3 The good old gentleman was quite aghast, Irrevocable vow of reformation; In cloisters of the classic Salamanca, To follow Juan's wake, like Sancho Panca. But now there came a flash of hope once more; MS.] 2 "A midshipman was appointed to guard the spirit-room, to repress that unhappy desire of a devoted crew to die in a state of intoxication. The sailors, though in other respects orderly in conduct, here pressed eagerly upon him."-Loss of the Abergavenny.] 3 ["Give us some grog,' they exclaimed, it will be all one an hour hence.'-'I know we must die,' replied the gallant officer, coolly, but let us die like men!'-armed with a brace of pistors he kept his post, even while the ship was sinking." - Ibid.] 4["However, by great exertion of the chain-pump, we held our own. All who were not seamen by profession, had been employed in thrumming a sail."— Ibid.] 5 ["which was passed under the ship's bottom, and I thought had some effect."— Ibid.] 6 ["Tis ugly dying in the Gulf of Lyons." - MS.] 7 ["The ship laboured so much, that I could scarce hope she would swim till morning: our sufferings were very great for want of water."- Loss of the Abergavenny.] 8[The weather again threatened, and by noon it blew a storm. The ship laboured greatly; the water appeared in the fore and after hold. The leathers were nearly consumed, and the chains of the pumps, by constant exertion, and friction of the coils, were rendered almost useless." — Ibid.] 9 [At length, the carpenter came up from below, and told the crew, who were working at the pumps, he could do no Without their will, they carried them away; On which they might repose, or even commence The wind, in fact, perhaps, was rather less, But the ship labour'd so, they scarce could hope Again the weather threaten'd,—again blew 8 All this, the most were patient, and some bold, more for them. Seeing their efforts useless, many of them burst into tears, and wept like children."- Loss of the Abergavenny.] 10 ["I perceived the ship settling by the head.” — Ibid.] [The following extract is taken from Lord Byron's own copy of Erasmus's Dialogues. The delightful colloquy entitled "Naufragium" must, as it is obvious from his lordship's pencil-marks, have been much in his hands: -"Aderat Anglus quidam, qui promittebat montes aureos Virgini Walsamgamicæ, si vivus attigisset terram: alii multa promittebant ligno crucis, quod esset in tali loco. Unum audivi, non sine risu, qui clarâ voce, ne non exaudiretur, polliceretur Christophoro, qui est Lutetiæ in summo templo, mons verius quam statua, cereum tantum quantus esset ipse. Hæc cum vociferans quantum poterat identidem inculcaret, qui forte proximus assistebat illi notus, cubito illum tetigit, ac sube monuit: Vide quid pollicearis: etiamsi rerum omnium tuarum auctionem facias, non fueris solvendo. Tum ille, voce jam pressiore, ne videlicet exaudiret Christophorus: Tace, inquit, fatue! An credis me ex animo loqui? Si semel contigero terram, non daturus sum illi candelam sebaceam !"' "There was there a certain Englishman, who promised golden mountains to Our Lady of Walsingham, if he touched land again. Others promised many things to the Wood of the Cross, which was in such a place. I heard one, not without laughter, who, with a clear voice, lest he should not be heard, promised Christopher, who is at Paris, on the top of a church, a mountain more truly than a statue, - a waz candle as big as he was himself. When, bawling out as hard But in the long-boat they contrived to stow Six flasks of wine; and they contrived to get A portion of their beef up from below, 4 And with a piece of pork, moreover, met The other boats, the yawl and pinnace, had Threw in by good luck over the ship's rail; XLIX. 'T was twilight, and the sunless day went down Over the waste of waters; like a veil, as he could, the man reiterated this offer, an acquaintance that by chance stood next, known to him, touched him with his elbow, and said— Have a care what you promise; though you make an auction of all your goods, you'll not be able to pay.' Then he says, with a voice now lower, to wit, lest Christopher should hear, Hold your tongue, you fool; do you think I speak from my heart? If once I touch land, I'll not give him a tallow candle.'"- CLARKE's Translation.] 1 ["You cannot imagine," says Cardinal de Retz, (who narrowly escaped shipwreck in the Gulf of Lyons)"the horror of a great storm: you can as little imagine the ridicule of it. Every body were at their prayers, or were confessing themselves. The private captain of the galley caused, in the greatest height of the danger, his embroidered coat and his red scarf to be brought to him, saying, that a true Spaniard ought to die bearing his king's marks of distinction. He sat himself down in his great elbow chair, and with his foot struck a poor Neapolitan in the chops, who, not being able to stand, was crawling along, crying out aloud, Senhor Don Fernando, por l'amor de Dios, confession.' The captain, when he struck him, said to him, Inimigo de Dios piedes confession!' and on my representing to him, that his interference was not right, he said that that old man gave offence to the whole galley. A Sicilian Observantine monk was preaching at the foot of the great mast, that St. Francis had appeared to him, and had assured him that we should not perish. I should never have done, were I to describe all the ridiculous sights that are seen on these occasions."] 2 ["Some appeared perfectly resigned, went to their hammocks, and desired their messinates to lash them in; others were for securing themselves to gratings and small rafts; but Which, if withdrawn, would but disclose the frown Some trial had been making at a raft, With little hope in such a rolling sea, A sort of thing at which one would have laugh'd, 8 And have a kind of wild and horrid glee, Their preservation would have been a miracle. the most predominant idea was that of putting on their best and cleanest clothes. The boats were got over the side.". Abergavenny.] 3 ["Men will prove hungry, even when next perdition." -MS.] 4 ["Eight bags of rice, siz flasks of wine, and a small quantity of salted beef and pork, were put into the long-boat, as provisions for the whole." Wreck of the Sydney.] 5 ["The yawl was stove alongside and sunk."- Centaur.] 6 [One oar was erected for a main-mast, and the other bent to the breadth of the blankets for a sail."- Loss of the Wellington Transport.] 7 ["Which being withdrawn, discloses but the frown Of one who hates us, so the night was shown," &c.-MS.] ["As rafts had been mentioned by the carpenter, I thought it right to make the attempt. It was impossible for any man to deceive himself with the hopes of being saved on a raft in such a sea as this."- Centaur.] 9 ["Spars, booms, hencoops, and every thing buoyant, were therefore cast loose, that the men might have some chance to save themselves." Loss of the Pandora.] 10 ["We had scarcely quitted the ship, when she gave a heavy lurch to port, and then went down, head foremost."— Lady Hobart.] 11 ["At this instant, one of the officers told the captain she was going down, and bidding him farewell, leapt overboard: the crew had just time to leap overboard, which they did, uttering a most dreadful yell.” — Pandora.] 12 [How accurately has Byron described the whole progress LIV. The boats, as stated, had got off before, And in them crowded several of the crew; And yet their present hope was hardly more Than what it had been, for so strong it blew, There was slight chance of reaching any shore; And then they were too many, though so fewNine in the cutter, thirty in the boat, Were counted in them when they got afloat. LV. All the rest perish'd; near two hundred souls Had left their bodies; and what's worse, alas! When over Catholics the ocean rolls, They must wait several weeks before a mass Takes off one peck of purgatorial coals, Because, till people know what's come to pass, They won't lay out their money on the dead It costs three francs for every mass that's said. LVI. Juan got into the long-boat, and there Contrived to help Pedrillo to a place; It seem'd as if they had exchanged their care, For Juan wore the magisterial face Which courage gives, while poor Pedrillo's pair Of eyes were crying for their owner's case: Battista, though, (a name call'd shortly Tita) Was lost by getting at some aqua-vita. of a shipwreck, to the final catastrophe! -SIR JOHN BARROW: History of the Bounty.] 1["The boat, being fastened to the rigging, was no sooner cleared of the greatest part of the water, than a dog of mine came to me running along the gunwale. I took him in.". Shipwreck of the Betsey.] 2 ["It blew a violent storm, so that between the seas the sail was becalmed; and when on the top of the wave, it was too much to be set, but we could not venture to take it in, for we were in very imminent danger and distress; the sea curling over the stern of the boat, which obliged us to bale with all our might."- Bligh's Open Boat Navigation. See BARROW's Eventful History, p. 99.] LX. 'Twas a rough night, and blew so stiffly yet, LXI. Nine souls more went in her: the long-boat still LXII. The sun rose red and fiery, a sure sign Was all that for the present could be done: Were served out to the people, who begun + To faint, and damaged bread wet through the bags, And most of them had little clothes but rags. LXIII. They counted thirty, crowded in a space Which left scarce room for motion or exertion; They did their best to modify their case, One half sate up, though numb'd with the immersion, While t' other half were laid down in their place, At watch and watch; thus, shivering like the tertian Ague in its cold fit, they fill'd their boat, With nothing but the sky for a great coat. 5 LXIV. 'Tis very certain the desire of life Prolongs it this is obvious to physicians, When patients, neither plagued with friends nor wife, Survive through very desperate conditions, Because they still can hope, nor shines the knife Nor shears of Atropos before their visions: Despair of all recovery spoils longevity, And makes men's miseries of alarming brevity. LXV. 'Tis said that persons living on annuities Are longer lived than others, -God knows why, Unless to plague the grantors, yet so true it is, That some, I really think, do never die : Of any creditors the worst a Jew it is, And that's their mode of furnishing supply: In my young days they lent me cash that way, Which I found very troublesome to pay. 3 [" Before it was dark, a blanket was discovered in the boat. This was immediately bent to one of the stretchers, and under it, as a sail, we scudded all night, in expectation of being swallowed by every wave.”— Centaur.] ་ ["The sun rose red and fiery, a sure indication of a severe gale of wind. We could do nothing more than run before the sea. I served a lea-spoonful of rum to every person. The bread we found was damaged and rotten."- LIGH.] ["As our lodging was very wretched and confined for want of room, I endeavoured to remedy this defect, by putting ourselves at watch and watch; so that one half always sat up. while the other half lay down in the bottom of the boat, with nothing to cover us but the heavens.” — Ibid.] 1 [The fourth day came, and not a breath of air, &c." — BLIGH.] 2 ["The fourth day we began to suffer exceedingly from hunger and thirst. I then seized my dog, and plunged my knife into its throat. We caught his blood in the hat, receiving in our hands and drinking what ran over; we afterwards drank in turn out of the hat, and felt ourselves refreshed." Shipwreck of the Betsey.] ["Now, however, when Mr. Byron was at home with his dog, a party came to tell him their necessities were such, that they must eat the dog, or starve. In spite of Mr. B.'s desire to preserve the faithful animal, they took him by force and killed him. Thinking he was entitled to a share, he partook of their repast. Three weeks afterwards, recollecting the spot where the dog was killed, he went to it, and was glad to make a meal of the paws and skin."— COMMODORE BYRON'S Narrative.] 4 [The fact of men, in extreme cases, destroying each other for the sake of appeasing hunger, is but too well established -and to a great extent, on the raft of the French frigate Méduse, when wrecked on the coast of Africa, and also on the rock in the Mediterranean, when the Nautilus frigate was lost. SIR JOHN BARROW.] 5 ["Being driven to distress for want of food, they soaked their shoes, and two hairy caps which were among them, in the water which being rendered soft, each partook of them. But day after day having passed, and the cravings of hunger pressing hard upon them, they fell upon the horrible and dreadful expedient of eating each other; and in order to prevent any contention about who should become the food of the others, they cast lots to determine the sufferer."- Sufferings of the Crew of the Thomas.] 6["The lots were drawn: the captain, summoning all his strength, wrote upon slips of paper the name of each man, folded them up, put them into a hat, and shook them together. The crew, meanwhile, preserved an awful silence; each eye was fixed and each mouth open, while terror was strongly impressed upon every countenance. The unhappy person, with manly fortitude, resigned himself to his miserable associates."-Famine in the American Ship Peggy.] |
