Outward Bound Or, Young America Afloat: A Story of Travel and Adventure

by Oliver Optic

  CHAPTER XVI.

  THE WRECK OF THE SYLVIA.

  The people in the dismasted ship had discovered the Young America, as itappeared from the efforts they were using to attract her attention. Thebooming of a gun was occasionally heard from her, but she was yet toofar off to be distinctly seen.

  On the forecastle of the Academy Ship were two brass guns,four-pounders, intended solely for use in making signals. They had neverbeen fired, even on the Fourth of July, for Mr. Lowington would notencourage their use among the boys. On the present occasion he orderedPeaks, the boatswain, to fire twice, to assure the ship in distress thather signals were heard.

  The top-gallant sails were set, and the speed of the ship increased asmuch as possible; but the heavy sea was not favorable to rapid progressthrough the water. At four bells, when all hands but the second part ofthe port watch were piped to attend divine service in the steerage, theYoung America was about four miles distant from the dismasted vessel.She was rolling and pitching heavily, and not making more than two orthree knots an hour.

  Notwithstanding the impatience of the crew, and their desire to be ondeck, where they could see the wreck, the service on that Sundayforenoon was especially impressive. Mr. Agneau prayed earnestly forthose who were suffering by the perils of the sea, and that those whoshould draw near unto them in the hour of their danger, might be filledwith the love of God and of man, which would inspire them to be faithfulto the duties of the occasion.

  When the service was ended the students went on deck again. The wreckcould now be distinctly seen. It was a ship of five or six hundred tons,rolling helplessly in the trough of the sea. She was apparentlywater-logged, if not just ready to go down. As the Young Americaapproached her, her people were seen to be laboring at the pumps, and tobe baling her out with buckets. It was evident from the appearance ofthe wreck, that it had been kept afloat only by the severest exertion onthe part of the crew.

  "Mr. Peaks, you will see that the boats are in order for use," said Mr.Lowington. "We shall lower the barge and the gig."

  "The barge and the gig, sir," replied the boatswain.

  "Captain Gordon," continued the principal, "two of your best officersmust be detailed for the boats."

  "I will send Mr. Kendall in the barge, sir."

  "Very well; he is entirely reliable. Whom will you send in the gig?"

  "I am sorry Shuffles is not an officer now, for he was one of the bestwe had for such service," added the captain.

  "Shuffles is out of the question," replied Mr. Lowington.

  "Mr. Haven, then, in the gig."

  "The sea is very heavy, and the boats must be handled with skill andprudence."

  "The crews have been practised in heavy seas, though in nothing likethis."

  The barge and the gig--called so by courtesy--were the two largest boatsbelonging to the ship, and pulled eight oars each. They were light andstrong, and had been built with especial reference to the use for whichthey were intended. They were life-boats, and before the ship sailed,they had been rigged with life-lines and floats. If they were upset in aheavy sea, the crews could save themselves by clinging to the rope,buoyed up by the floats.

  The Young America stood up towards the wreck, intending to pass underher stern as near as it was prudent to lay, the head of the dismastedship being to the north-west.

  "Boatswain, pipe all hands to muster," said the captain, prompted by Mr.Lowington, as the ship approached the wreck.

  "All hands on deck, ahoy!" shouted the boatswain, piping the call.

  The first lieutenant took the trumpet from the officer of the deck, andthe crew, all of whom were on deck when the call was sounded, sprang totheir muster stations.

  "All hands, take in courses," said the executive officer; and those whowere stationed at the tacks and sheets, clew-garnets and buntlines,prepared to do their duty when the boatswain piped the call.

  "Man the fore and main clew-garnets and buntlines!" shouted the firstlieutenant. "Stand by tacks and sheets!"

  The fore and main sail, being the lowest square sails, are called thecourses. There is no corresponding sail on the mizzenmast. The ropes bywhich the lower corners of these sails are hauled up for furling are theclew-garnets--the same that are designated clewlines on the topsails.

  The tacks and sheets are the ropes by which the courses are hauled down,and kept in place, the tack being on the windward side, and the sheet onthe leeward.

  "All ready, sir," reported the lieutenants forward.

  "Haul taut! Let go tacks and sheets! Haul up!"

  These orders being promptly obeyed, the courses were hauled up, and theship was under topsails and top-gallant sails, jib, flying-jib, andspanker.

  "Ship, ahoy!" shouted the first lieutenant through his trumpet, as theYoung America rolled slowly along under the stern of the wreck.

  "Ship, ahoy!" replied a voice from the deck of the wreck. "We are in asinking condition! Will you take us off?"

  "Ay, ay!" cried Haven, with right good will.

  "You will heave to the ship, Mr. Haven," said the captain, when she hadpassed a short distance beyond the wreck.

  "Man the jib and flying-jib halyards and down-hauls," said the firstlieutenant.

  "All ready forward, sir," replied the second lieutenant, on theforecastle.

  "Stand by the maintop bowline! Cast off! Man the main braces!"

  "Let go the jib and flying-jib halyards! Haul down!" And the jibs weretaken in.

  "Slack off the lee braces! Haul on the weather braces!"

  The main-topsail and top-gallant were thus thrown aback, and the YoungAmerica was hove to, in order to enable her people to perform theirhumane mission.

  "Stand by to lower the barge and gig!" continued Haven.

  "Mr. Haven, you will board the wreck in the gig," said Captain Gordon.

  "Yes, sir," replied he, touching his cap, and handing the trumpet to thesecond lieutenant.

  "Mr. Kendall, you will take charge of the barge," added the captain.

  "The barge, sir," answered Kendall, passing the trumpet to Goodwin, thethird lieutenant, who, during the absence of his superiors, was todischarge the duty of the executive officer.

  The boats were cleared away, and every preparation made for loweringthem into the water. This was a difficult and dangerous manoeuvre in theheavy sea which was running at the time. The professors' barge, whichwas secured at the davits on the weather side of the ship, was to belowered with her crew on board, and they took their places on thethwarts, with their hands to the oars in readiness for action. Theprincipal had requested Mr. Fluxion to go in the barge and Mr. Peaks inthe gig, not to command the boats, but to give the officers suchsuggestions as the emergency of the occasion might require.

  "All ready, sir," reported Ward, the coxswain of the barge, when theoarsmen were in their places.

  "Stand by the after tackle, Ward," said Haven. "Bowman, attend to thefore tackle."

  At a favorable moment, when a great wave was sinking down by the ship'sside, the order was given to lower away, and in an instant the bargestruck the water. Ward cast off the after tackle, and the bowman did thesame with the forward tackle. At the moment the order to lower wasgiven, as the wave sank down, the ship rolled to windward, and the boatstruck the water some eight feet from the vessel's side.

  "Up oars!" said the coxswain, with energy.

  "Lively, Ward," added the first lieutenant.

  "Let fall!" continued the coxswain, as a billow lifted the boat, so thatthose on board could see the ship's deck. "Give way together!"

  The barge, tossed like a feather on the high seas, gathered headway, andmoved off towards the wreck.

  The lowering of the barge had been so successful that the same methodwas adopted with the gig; but as she was under the lee of the ship,there was less difficulty in getting her off. She pulled round theship's bow, and having made less stern way in starting both boats cameup under the counter of the wreck at about the same time. When the bargeand gig reached th
e ship, a line was thrown to each of them over thequarter, which the bowman caught, and made fast to the ring.

  "Where is the captain of the ship?" demanded Mr. Haven.

  "Here," shouted that officer.

  "How many have you aboard?"

  "Eighteen!"

  "You must slide down on a rope over the stern; we can't go alongside,"continued the first lieutenant.

  "Ay, ay, sir!" responded the captain of the ship. "I have two women andtwo children on board."

  "You must lower them in slings," added Haven, prompted by Mr. Fluxion.

  THE WRECK OF THE SYLVIA. page 254.]

  The people on board the wreck went to work, and one of the women waslowered into each boat at the same time. A long loop was made in the endof the rope, and the woman sat down in the bight of it, holding on tothe line with her hands. At a moment when the sea favored the movement,the boats were hauled up close to the ship's stern, the passenger caughtby two of the crew, and hauled on board. A boy and a girl were let downin the same manner. The captain, mates, and seamen came down the ropehand over hand.

  Each boat now had nine passengers, who were stowed in the stern sheetsand on the bottom. The ropes from the ship were cast off, and theoarsmen were ordered to give way. The barge and the gig rose and fell,now leaping up on the huge billows, and then plunging down deep into thetrough of the sea; but they had been well trimmed, and though the combof the sea occasionally broke into them, drenching the boys with spray,the return to the Young America was safely effected.

  "How happens it that you are all boys?" asked the captain of the wreckedship, who was in Paul Kendall's boat.

  "That's the Academy Ship," replied the second lieutenant.

  "The what?" exclaimed the captain.

  "It is the Young America. She is a school ship."

  "O, ay!"

  There was no disposition to talk much in the boats. The officers andcrews were fully employed in keeping the barge and gig right side up inthe tremendous sea, and though all hands were filled with curiosity toknow the particulars of the wreck, all questions were wisely deferreduntil they were on the deck of the ship.

  When the gig came up under the counter of the Young America, a line wasthrown down to the bowman who made it fast to the ring. The passengerswere then taken aboard in slings rigged on the spanker-boom, which wasswung over the lee quarter for the purpose. Part of the boat's crew weretaken on board in the same way, and then the gig was hoisted up to thedavits with the rest in her.

  Before the barge was allowed to come up under the counter, the officerof the deck wore ship, so as to bring the port quarter, on which theboat was to be suspended, on the lee side. Her passengers were taken ondeck as those from the gig had been, and she was hoisted up.

  "Mr. Kendall, I congratulate you upon the success of your labors," saidMr. Lowington, when the second lieutenant reached the deck. "You havehandled your boat exceedingly well, and you deserve a great deal ofcredit."

  "That's a fact, sir," added Boatswain Peaks, touching his cap. "I hardlyspoke a word to him, and I've seen many a boat worse handled in a sea."

  Paul blushed at the praise bestowed upon him, but he was proud and happyto have done his duty faithfully on this important occasion. The samecommendation was given to the first lieutenant, after the barge had beenhauled up to the davits, and the order given for the ship to fill awayagain.

  The women and children were conducted to the professors' cabin as soonas they came on board, and the seamen were taken into the steerage. Allof them were exhausted by the anxiety and the hardships they hadendured, and as soon as their safety was insured, they sank almosthelpless under the pressure of their physical weakness.

  "This is a school ship, I'm told," said Captain Greely, the master ofthe shipwrecked vessel, who had also been invited to the main cabin.

  "Yes, sir; we call it the Academy Ship, and we have eighty-seven younggentlemen on board," replied Mr. Lowington.

  "They are smart boys, sir. I never saw boats better handled than thosewhich brought us off from the ship," added Captain Greely, warmly.

  "Your voyage has come to an unfortunate conclusion," said Mr. Lowington.

  "Yes, sir; I have lost my ship, but I thank God my wife and children aresafe," answered the weather-beaten seaman, as he glanced at one of thewomen while the great tears flowed down his sun-browned cheeks.

  "Poor children!" sighed Mr. Agneau, as he patted the little girl on thehead; and his own eyes were dim with the tears he shed for others' woes.

  Captain Greely told his story very briefly. His ship was the Sylvia,thirty days out of Liverpool, bound to New York. She had encountered aheavy gale a week before, in which she had badly sprung her mainmast.Finding it impossible to lay her to under the foresail, they had beencompelled to set the main-topsail, reefed; but even this was too muchfor the weak mast, and it had gone by the board, carrying the secondmate and five men with it. The Sylvia was old, and the captainacknowledged that she was hardly sea-worthy. She became unmanageable,and the foremast had been cut away to ease off the strain upon her. Herseams opened, and she was making more water than could be controlledwith the pumps. For eighteen hours, all hands, even including the twowomen, had labored incessantly at the pumps and the buckets, to keep theship afloat. They were utterly worn out when they discovered the YoungAmerica, were on the point of abandoning their efforts in despair, andtaking to the boats, in which most of them would probably have perished.

  After the boats started from the Young America, Mr. Lowington hadordered the cooks to prepare a meal for the people from the wreck; andas soon as they came on board, coffee and tea, beefsteaks, friedpotatoes, and hot biscuit were in readiness for them. Tables were spreadin the main cabin and in the steerage, and the exhausted guests,providentially sent to this bountiful board, were cordially invited topartake. They had eaten nothing but hard bread since the gale came on,and they were in condition to appreciate the substantial fare set beforethem.

  By the forethought of Captain Greely, the clothing of the women andchildren had been thrown into one of the boats. The bundle was opened,and its contents dried at the galley fire. The doctor and the chaplaingave up their state room to the captain, his wife and children, whileMr. Lowington extended a similar courtesy to the other woman, who wasMrs. Greely's sister. Mr. Fluxion was the first to offer his berth tothe mate of the Sylvia, which was reluctantly accepted; and all theprofessors were zealous to sacrifice their own comfort to the wants ofthe wrecked visitors.

  In the steerage, every boy, without an exception, wanted to give up hisberth to one of the seamen from the Sylvia; but the privilege wasclaimed by the adult forward officers, the cooks, and stewards. Theprincipal was finally obliged to decide between them: and for obviousreasons, he directed that the guests should occupy the quarters of themen, rather than of the boys. The people from the Sylvia needed rest andnourishment more than anything else. They were warmed, and fed, anddried, and then permitted to sleep off the fatigues of their severeexertion.

  At three o'clock, though they had slept but an hour or two, most of theshipwrecked people appeared at divine service, for this was a privilegewhich they had long been denied, and it would be strange, at such atime, if the hearts of those who had been saved from the angry floodwere not overflowing with gratitude to God for his mercy to them. Mr.Agneau, whose sensitive nature had been keenly touched by the events ofthe day, made a proper use of the occasion, delivering a very effectiveaddress to the students and to the shipwrecked voyagers, who formed hislittle congregation.

  The next morning the wind came up fresh and warm from the southward,knocking down the heavy sea, and giving a delightful day to those onboard the ship. The passengers appeared on deck, and were greatlyinterested in the Young America and her juvenile crew. Captain Greely'sson and daughter were little lions, of the first class, among the boys.All hands vied with each other in their efforts to do something for theguests of the ship, and it really seemed as though the era of goodfeeling had dawned upon them. E
ven Shuffles and Pelham forgot, for atime, the interests of the Chain League, and joined with others inpetting the children of the wreck, and in laboring for the happiness ofthe involuntary guests.

  On this day, observations for latitude and longitude were obtained, andat noon the ship was found to be in latitude 42 deg., 37', 5" N.; longitude64 deg., 39', 52" W. The position of the ship was marked on the chart by themasters, in council assembled, and the calculations made for the course.Bowditch's Navigator, an indispensable work to the seaman, was consultedfrequently both for the rules and the nautical tables it contains. Thecourse, after allowing for the variation of the compass, was found tobe north-east by east, which, agreeing with the calculations of Mr.Fluxion, was given out to the quartermaster conning the wheel.

  The wind continued to blow fresh from the south and south-west duringthe rest of the day and the succeeding night; and the log-slate showedten and eleven knots until midnight, when the wind hauled round to thewestward, and soon came strong from that quarter. At noon on Tuesday,April 5, the Young America had made two hundred and forty-four milesduring the preceding twenty-four hours, which was the best run she hadhad during the voyage.

  On the afternoon of this day, a ship, bound to the westward, was seen,and Captain Greely expressed a desire to be put on board of her, withhis family, as he did not wish to return to the point from which he hadjust come. The Young America bore down upon the sail, and spoke her atsundown. Her captain was willing to take the shipwrecked voyagers onboard his ship, which was bound to New York, and they were transferredin the barge and gig. Captain Greely and his party were very gratefulfor the attentions they had received; and the little boy and girl almostrebelled at the idea of leaving their new and partial friends.

  As the two ships were filling away, after the transfer of thepassengers, the seamen of the New York ship, having learned what theYoung America was, gave three cheers, and dipped her ensign incompliment to her. All the young tars were immediately ordered into therigging by Captain Gordon, and "three times three" were most lustilygiven. The American flag at her peak was lowered three times, in replyto the salute of the stranger. As the Academy Ship stood off on hercourse, the two children of Captain Greely were seen, on the poop-deckof the other vessel, waving their handkerchiefs; and they continued todo so as long as they could be seen.

  The departure of the guests had a saddening effect upon the crew of theYoung America, as they missed the children and the ladies very much;for, during their presence on board, the ship had assumed quite adomestic aspect, and all the idlers on deck found pleasing companions inthe little boy and girl.

  The limits of this volume do not permit a full detail of the entirevoyage across the ocean. Enough has been given to show the discipline ofthe ship, and the daily life of the boys on board of her. For the nextten days the weather was generally favorable, and she laid her courseall the time. Some days she made two hundred miles, and others less thanone hundred.

  On the sixteenth day from her departure, she was in latitude 51 deg., 4',28" N.; longitude 31 deg., 10', 2" W.; course, E. by N. In going from CapeRace, the southern point of Newfoundland, to Cape Clear, the southernpoint of Ireland, the Young America did not lay a straight course, as itwould appear when drawn on a map or chart. La Rochelle, on the westerncoast of France, and Cape Race are nearly on the same parallel oflatitude, and the former is exactly east of the latter. But the parallelon which both points lie would not be the shortest line between them. Agreat circle, extending entirely around the earth in the broadest part,going through both, would not coincide with the parallel, but would runto the north of it a considerable distance at a point half way betweenthe two places, the separation diminishing each way till the greatcircle crosses the parallel at Cape Race and La Rochelle. The shortestcourse between the two points, therefore, would be the arc of the greatcircle lying between them. A skilful navigator would find and followthis track. This is called great circle sailing.

  The Young America followed a great circle from Cape Race to Cape Clear.Off the former point, her course was two points north of east; off thelatter, it was half a point south of east. On her twentieth day out shesailed due east.

  After the excitement of the wreck and the departure of the passengers,Shuffles and his confederates resumed their operations in the ChainLeague, assisted somewhat by a case of discipline which occurred at thistime. When the ship was sixteen days out the Chain consisted ofthirty-one links, in the cabalistic language of the conspirators, andShuffles was in favor of striking the blow.