CHAPTER SEVEN.
A CHANGE.
A WELCOME PERIL--THE ALBATROSS AND THEIR PREY--A TROPICAL THUNDER-STORM.
"Eternal Providence, exceeding thought, Where none appears, can make itself a way."
While lying crouched under the sail, almost gasping for breath, near themiddle, as I suppose, of that terrible afternoon, I all at once becamesensible of a perceptible cooling of the atmosphere, and a suddendecrease of light. Looking out to discover the cause of this change, Iperceived that the sky was overcast, and that a light, unsteady breezefrom the north-west had sprung up. Knowing that within the tropics, andnear the line, winds from that quarter frequently precede a storm, andthat great extremes of heat are often succeeded by violent gales, Iobserved, with apprehension, dark masses of clouds gathering in thenorth. It would not require a tempest to insure our destruction; forour little craft could not live a moment, even in such a gale as wouldbe attended by no danger to a staunch ship with plenty of sea room.
The temperature had fallen many degrees, though the wind was stillmoderate and unsteady, ranging from west to north-east. The sun wascompletely obscured, so that the awning was no longer needed, and wepulled it down, in order the more fully to enjoy the breeze, and thedelicious coolness of the darkened atmosphere, to the gratefulness ofwhich, not even our awakening apprehensions could render us insensible.
While observing the strange appearance of the sky, and like preparationsfor a storm which seemed to be going on in the north and west, Mortonespied a troop of Flying-fish a hundred yards or so to windward.Fluttering feebly a short distance in the air, they would drop into thesea, soon emerging, however, for a fresh flight; thus, alternatelyswimming and flying, they were steadily approaching; and from theirrapid and confused motions, it was evident that they were hard pressedby some of the numerous and greedy persecutors of their helpless race;from whom they were struggling to escape. Presently, a glitteringAlbatross shot from the water, close in the tract of the fugitives,descending again in the graceful curve peculiar to his active andbeautiful, but rapacious tribe. Another and another followed, theirgolden scales flashing in the light, as they leaped clear of the water,sometimes two or three together. We hastily made ready to attack bothpursuers and pursued, the instant they should come within reach. Thecourse of the chase brought them directly towards us, until the huntedfishes fell in a glittering shower, so near, that I feared they mightpass under the boat before rising again; but they came to the surfaceclose beside us, and as they fluttered into the air, we knocked down sixor seven of them, and caught a number more, that dropped into the boat.Morton and Max, ambitious of larger game, devoted their attention to theAlbatross, and slashed and thrust furiously, at such as came withinreach of their cutlasses; which many of them did. Some darted under theboat, instead of sheering round it; and one enormous fellow,miscalculating in his haste our draught of water, must have scraped allthe fins off his back against the keel, as he performed this manoeuvre;for the shock of the contact, caused the yawl to tremble from stem tostern. But such was the marvellous celerity of their movements, thatthough they came within easy striking distance, all the hostiledemonstrations of Max and Morton proved futile.
The Flying-fish which had been taken, were divided and apportioned withscrupulous exactness, and devoured with very little ceremony. The onlydressing or preparation bestowed upon them, consisted simply instripping off the long shining pectoral fins, or wings, (they serve asboth), without paying much attention to such trifling matters as scales,bones, and the lesser fins. Max, indeed, began to nibble ratherfastidiously at first, at this raw food, which a minute before had beenso full of life and activity; but his appetite improved as he proceeded,and he at last so far got the better of his scruples, as to leavenothing of his share except the tails, and very little even of those.Hunger, in fact, made this repast, which would have been revolting underordinary circumstances, not only acceptable, but positively delicious.
Meantime, the dark mass of clouds in the north had extended itself, anddrawn nearer to us. Another tempest seemed to be gathering in the west,while in the south, a violent thunder-storm appeared to be actuallyraging: the lightning in that quarter was vivid and almost incessant,but we could hear no thunder, the storm being still at a considerabledistance.
Immediately around us all was yet comparatively calm, but the heavyclouds, gathering on three sides, seemed gradually converging towards acommon centre; a short abrupt cross sea, began to form, and the waterassumed a glistening inky hue. There was something peculiar andstriking in the appearance of the clouds surrounding us; they seemed torest upon the surface of the ocean, and towered upward like a dark wallto the skies. Their upper extremities were torn and irregular, and longnarrow fragments, like giant arms, streamed out from the main body, andextended over us, as if beckoning each other to a nearer approach, andthreatening to unite their gloomy array overhead, and shut out the lightof day. As they drew nearer to one another, the lightning began to dartfrom cloud to cloud, while the most terrific peals of thunder that Ihave ever heard, rolled and reverberated on every side. We appeared tobe surrounded by storms, some of which were very near, for the deepcrash of the thunder, followed close upon the vivid lightnings thatflashed in the south and west. Still the narrow space of sky directlyoverhead was clear, and the war of elements which was raging all arounddid not extend to our immediate neighbourhood. Against the dark sidesof the cloudy pavilion that encompassed us, the sharp, zigzag lines oflightning, as they ran from the sky to the ocean, shone out with ablinding glare. A single half-hour had sufficed to change every thingabout us. The brazen, burning sky, was transformed into a cold, clearexpanse, of a bluish black. The sea, no longer stagnant and glassy, wasfretted by short inky waves, with creamy crests, that gave it altogethera new aspect. The air was now fresh and cool, and the wind rising andfalling fitfully, at one moment scarcely lifted our hair or stirred ourgarments, and the next, tore off the entire crests of waves, andscattered them over us in a shower of spray. For nearly an hour weremained apprehensive that the wind might increase to a gale. At theend of about that time, it came gradually round to the south-east,growing steady, but by no means violent, and the storms moved off in awesterly direction. One heavy cloud, as it slowly passed over towardthat quarter, discharged a grateful shower of rain. We hastily spreadthe sail, and some of our garments, to gather the precious drops. Theshower lasted only a few minutes, but during that time it rainedbriskly. I never shall forget my sensations as I stood with faceupturned, while the big drops, more delicious than ambrosia, camepelting down. It was far better and more strengthening than food, orany medicine or cordial could have been, and seemed to infuse fresh lifeinto us all. When it was over, we wrung out from the saturated canvass,and from our clothing, water enough to mitigate for the time, though byno means to satisfy, the raging thirst from which we had suffered sointensely.
Arthur had at first taken out of the locker the large bottle which hadbeen found there, in the hope of being able to hoard up a small supplyfor the future; but there was not a drop of surplus for such a purpose,and he was obliged to put it back again empty as before.
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