Masterman Ready; Or, The Wreck of the Pacific

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER FOUR.

  The following morning the fresh water and provisions were received onboard, and once more the _Pacific_ stretched her broad canvas to thewinds, and there was every prospect of a rapid voyage, as for many daysshe continued her passage with a fair wind and flowing sheet. But thisdid not continue: it fell calm, and remained so for nearly three days,during which not a breath of wind was to be seen on the wide expanse ofwater; all nature appeared as if in repose, except that now and then analbatross would drop down at some distance from the stern of the vessel,and, as he swam lazily along with his wings half-furled, pick up thefragments of food which had been thrown over the side.

  "What great bird is that, Ready?" inquired William.

  "It is an albatross, the largest sea-bird we have. Their wings are verylong. I have seen them shot, and they have measured eleven feet fromthe tip of one wing to the tip of the other when the wings have beenspread out."

  "It is the first one that I have seen," said William.

  "Because you seldom meet them north of the Cape, sir: people do say thatthey go to sleep on the wing, balancing themselves high up in the air."

  "Papa," said William, turning to Mr Seagrave, who stood by, "why is itthat one bird can swim and another cannot? You recollect when Tommydrove the hens into the large pond, they flounced about, and theirfeathers became wet, and would support them no longer, and then theywere drowned. Now, how does a sea-bird contrive to remain so long onthe water?"

  "Because a sea-bird, William, is provided with a sort of oil on purposeto anoint the outside of its feathers, and this oil prevents the waterfrom penetrating them. Have you not observed the ducks on shoredressing their feathers with their bills? They were then using this oilto make their feathers waterproof."

  "How odd!"

  "Don't say how odd, William; that is not an expression to use when wetalk of the wonderful provisions made by the Almighty hand, who neglectsnot the meanest of his creatures--say rather, how wonderful!"

  "That's very true, sir," observed Ready; "but still you must not be toohard upon Master William, for I have heard many a grownup man make useof the same expression."

  On the third day of the calm, the barometer fell so low as to induceCaptain Osborn to believe that they should have a severe gale, and everypreparation was made to meet it, should it come on. Nor was hemistaken: towards midnight the clouds gathered up fast, and as theygathered up in thick piles, heaped one over the other, the lightningdarted through them in every direction; and as the clouds rose up, sodid the wind, but at first only in heavy gusts, and then lulling againto a calm.

  "Ready," said Captain Osborn, "how do you think we shall have the wind?"

  "Why, Captain Osborn, to tell you the truth, I don't think it will besteady to one point long. It may at first blow hard from the north, butit's my idea it will shift soon to some other quarter, and blow stillharder."

  "What think you, Mackintosh?"

  "We'll have plenty of it, and a long steady gale, that's my notion; andthe sooner we ship the dead lights the better."

  Mr Seagrave, with William, happened to be standing by at the time ofthis conversation, and at the term _dead_ lights Willy's face expressedsome anxiety. Ready perceived it, and said--

  "That's a foolish name they give to the shutters which go over the cabinwindows to prevent the water from breaking into the cabin when a vesselsails before the wind; you know we had them on the last time that we hada gale."

  "But, Ready," said Captain Osborn, "why do you think that we shall havea shift of wind?"

  "Well, I don't know; perhaps I was wrong," replied the old man, "and MrMackintosh is right: the wind does seem to come steady from thenorth-east, that's certain;" and Ready walked away to the binnacle, andlooked at the compass. Mr Seagrave and William then went below, andMr Mackintosh went forward to give his orders. As soon as they wereall gone, Ready went up again to Captain Osborn and said:

  "Captain Osborn, it's not for me to contradict Mr Mackintosh, butthat's of little consequence in a time like this: I should have held tomy opinion, had it not been that the gentleman passenger and his sonwere standing by, but now, as the coast is clear, I tell you that weshall have something worse than a gale of wind. I have been in theselatitudes before, and I am an old seaman, as you know. There'ssomething in the air, and there has been something during the last threedays of calm, which reminds me too well of what I have seen here before;and I am sure that we shall have little better than a hurricane, as faras wind goes--and worse in one point, that it will last much longer thanhurricanes generally do. I have been watching, and even the birds tellme so, and they are told by their nature, which is never mistaken. Thatcalm has been nothing more than a repose of the winds previous to theirbeing roused up to do their worst; and that is my real opinion?"

  "Well, and I'm inclined to agree with you, Ready; so we must sendtopgallant yards down on deck, and all the small sails and lumber out ofthe tops. Get the trysail aft and bent, and lower down the gaff. Iwill go forward."

  Their preparations were hardly complete before the wind had settled to afierce gale from the north-east. The sea rose rapidly; topsail aftertopsail was furled; and by dusk the _Pacific_ was flying through thewater with the wind on her quarter, under reefed foresail and stormstaysail. It was with difficulty that three men at the wheel could keepthe helm, such were the blows which the vessel received from the heavyseas on the quarter. Not one seaman in the ship took advantage of hiswatch below to go to sleep that night, careless as they generally are;the storm was too dreadful. About three o'clock in the morning the windsuddenly subsided; it was but for a minute or two, and then it againburst on the vessel from another quarter of the compass, as Ready hadforetold, splitting the foresail into fragments, which lashed andflogged the wind till they were torn away by it, and carried far toleeward. The heavens above were of a pitchy darkness, and the onlylight was from the creaming foam of the sea on every side. The shift ofwind, which had been to the west-north-west, compelled them to alter thecourse of the vessel, for they had no chance but to scud, as they nowdid, under bare poles; but in consequence of the sea having taken itsrun from the former wind, which had been north-east, it was, as sailorscall it, cross, and every minute the waves poured over the ship,sweeping all before their weight of waters. One poor man was washedoverboard, and any attempt made to save him would have been unavailing.Captain Osborn was standing by the weather gunnel, holding on by one ofthe belaying-pins, when he said to Mackintosh:

  "How long will this last, think you?"

  "Longer than the ship will," replied the mate gravely.

  "I should hope not," replied the captain; "still it cannot look worse.What do you think, Ready?"

  "Far more fear from above than from below just now," replied Ready,pointing to the yard-arms of the ship, to each of which were littleballs of electric matter attached, flaring out to a point. "Look atthose two clouds, sir, rushing at each other; if I--"

  Ready had not time to finish what he would have said, before a blaze oflight, so dazzling that it left them all in utter darkness for someseconds afterwards, burst upon their vision, accompanied with a peal ofthunder, at which the whole vessel trembled fore and aft. A crash--arushing forward--and a shriek were heard, and when they had recoveredtheir eyesight, the foremast had been rent by the lightning as if it hadbeen a lath, and the ship was in flames: the men at the wheel, blindedby the lightning, as well as appalled, could not steer; the shipbroached to--away went the mainmast over the side--and all was wreck,confusion, and dismay.

  Fortunately the heavy seas which poured over the forecastle soonextinguished the flames, or they all must have perished; but the shiplay now helpless, and at the mercy of the waves beating violentlyagainst the wrecks of the masts which floated to leeward, but were stillheld fast to the vessel by their rigging. As soon as they could recoverfrom the shock, Ready and the first mate hastened to the wheel to try toget the ship before the wind; but this they could not do, as, thef
oremast and mainmast being gone, the mizenmast prevented her paying offand answering to the helm. Ready, having persuaded two of the men totake the helm, made a sign to Mackintosh (for now the wind was so loudthat they could not hear each other speak), and, going aft, theyobtained axes, and cut away the mizen-rigging; the mizen-topmast andhead of the mizenmast went over the side, and then the stump of theforemast was sufficient to get the ship before the wind again. Stillthere was much delay and confusion, before they could clear away thewreck of the masts; and, as soon as they could make inquiry, they foundthat four of the men had been killed by the lightning and the fall ofthe foremast, and there were now but eight remaining, besides CaptainOsborn and his two mates.