CHAPTER XXV.
"Or feeling--, as the storm increases, The love of terror nerve thy breast, Didst venture to the coast: To see the mighty war-ship leap From wave to wave upon the deep, Like chamois goat from steep to steep, Till low in valley lost." ALLSTON.
Roger Talcott had not been idle during my absence. Clawbonny was so dearto me, that I had staid longer than was proposed in the original plan;and I now found the hatches on the Dawn, a crew shipped, and nothingremaining but to clear out. I mean the literal thing, and not the slangphrase, one of those of which so many have crept into the Americanlanguage, through the shop, and which even find their way into print;such as "charter coaches," "on a boat," "on board a stage," and othersimilar elegancies. "_On_ a boat" always makes me--, even at my presenttime of life. The Dawn was cleared the day I reached town.
Several of the crew of the Crisis had shipped with us anew, the poorfellows having already made away with all their wages and prize-money,in the short space of a month! This denoted the usual improvidence ofsailors, and was thought nothing out of the common way. The countrybeing at peace, a difficulty with Tripoli excepted, it was no longernecessary for ships to go armed. The sudden excitement produced by thebrush with the French had already subsided, and the navy was reduced toa few vessels that had been regularly built for the service; while thelists of officers had been curtailed of two-thirds of their names.We were no longer a warlike, but were fast getting to be a strictlycommercial, body of seamen. I had a single six-pounder, and half adozen muskets, in the Dawn, besides a pair or two of pistols, with justammunition enough to quell a mutiny, fire a few signal-guns, or to killa few ducks.
We sailed on the 3rd of July. I have elsewhere intimated that theManhattanese hold exaggerated notions of the comparative beauty ofthe scenery of their port, sometimes presuming to compare it even withNaples; to the bay of which it bears some such resemblance as a Dutchcanal bears to a river flowing through rich meadows, in the freedom andgrace of nature. Nevertheless, there _are_ times and seasons when thebay of New York offers a landscape worthy of any pencil. It was at oneof these felicitous moments that the Dawn cast off from the wharf, andcommenced her voyage to Bordeaux. There was barely air enough from thesouthward to enable us to handle the ship, and we profited by a morningebb to drop down to the Narrows, in the midst of a fleet of some fortysail; most of the latter, however, being coasters. Still, we were adozen ships and brigs, bound to almost as many different countries. Thelittle air there was, seemed scarcely to touch the surface of the water;and the broad expanse of bay was as placid as an inland lake, of asummer's morning. Yes, yes--there are moments when the haven of New Yorkdoes present pictures on which the artist would seize with avidity; but,the instant nature attempts any of her grander models, on this, aspot that seems never to rise much above the level of commercialexcellencies, it is found that the accessaries are deficient insublimity, or even beauty.
I have never seen our home waters so lovely as on this morning. Themovements of the vessels gave just enough of life and variety to thescene to destroy the appearance of sameness; while the craft were toofar from the land to prevent one of the most unpleasant effects ofthe ordinary landscape scenery of the place--that produced by thedisproportion between the tallness of their spars, and the low characterof the adjacent shores. As we drew near the Narrows, the wind increased;and forty sail, working through the pass in close conjunction,terminated the piece with something like the effect produced by a_finale_ in an overture. The brightness of the morning, the placidcharms of the scenery, and the propitious circumstances under which Icommenced the voyage, in a commercial point of view, had all contributedto make me momentarily forget my private griefs, and to enter cheerfullyinto the enjoyment of the hour.
I greatly disliked passengers. They appealed to me to lessen the dignityof my position, and to reduce me to the level of an inn-keeper, orone who received boarders. I wished to command a ship, not to take inlodgers; persons whom you are bound to treat with a certain degree ofconsideration, and, in one sense, as your superiors. Still, it had toomuch of an appearance of surliness, and a want of hospitality, to refusea respectable man a passage across the ocean, when he might not getanother chance in a month, and that, too, when it was important tohimself to proceed immediately. In this particular instance, I becamethe dupe of a mistaken kindness on the part of my former owners. Thesegentlemen brought to me a Mr. Brigham--Wallace Mortimer Brigham was hiswhole name, to be particular--as a person who was desirous of getting toFrance with his wife and wife's sister, in order to proceed to Italyfor the health of the married lady, who was believed to be verging ona decline. These people were from the eastward, and had fallen intothe old error of Americans, that the south of France and Italy hadresidences far more favourable for such a disease, than our own country.This was one of the provincial notions of the day, that were entailed onus by means of colonial dependency. I suppose the colonial existence isas necessary to a people, as childhood and adolescence are to the man;but, as my Lady Mary Wortley Montagu told her friend, Lady Rich--"Nay;but look you, my dear madam, I grant it a very fine thing to continuealways fifteen; _that_, everybody must approve of--it is quite fair:but, indeed, indeed, one need not be five years old."
I was prevailed on to take these passengers, and I got a specimen oftheir characters even as we dropped down the bay, in the midst of theagreeable scene to which I have just alluded. They were _gossips_; andthat, too, of the lowest, or personal cast. Nothing made them so happyas to be talking of the private concerns of their fellow-creatures; and,as ever must happen where this propensity exists, nine-tenths of whatthey said rested on no better foundation than surmises, inferences drawnfrom premises of questionable accuracy, and judgments that were enteredup without the authority, or even the inclination, to examine witnesses.They had also a peculiarity that I have often remarked in persons ofthe same propensity; most of their gossiping arose from a desire tomake apparent their own intimacy with the private affairs of people ofmark--overlooking the circumstance that, in thus making the concerns ofothers the subjects of their own comments, they were impliedly admittinga consciousness of their own inferiority; men seldom condescending thusto busy themselves with the affairs of any but those of whom theyfeel it to be a sort of distinction to converse. I am much afraidgood-breeding has more to do with the suppression of this vice, thangood principles, as the world goes. I have remarked that persons of ahigh degree of self-respect, and a good tone of manners, are quite freefrom this defect of character; while I regret to be compelled to saythat I have been acquainted with divers very saintly _professors_,including one or two parsons, who have represented the very _beau ideal_of scandal.
My passengers gave me a taste of their quality, as I have said, beforewe had got a mile below Governor's Island. The ladies were named Sarahand Jane; and, between them and Wallace Mortimer, what an insight didI obtain into the private affairs of sundry personages of Salem, inMassachusetts, together with certain glimpses in at Boston folk; all,however, referring to qualities and facts that might be classed amongthe real or supposed. I can, at this distant day, recall Scene 1st, Act1st, of the drama that continued while we were crossing the ocean, withthe slight interruption of a few days, produced by sea-sickness.
"Wallace," said Sarah, "did you say, yesterday, that John Viner hadrefused to lend his daughter's husband twenty thousand dollars, to gethim out of his difficulties, and that he failed in consequence?"
"To be sure. It was the common talk through Wall Street yesterday, andeverybody believes it"--there was no more truth in the story, than inone of the forty reports that have killed General Jackson so often, inthe last twenty years. "Yes, no one doubts it--but all the Viners arejust so! All of us, in our part of the world, know what to think of theViners."
"Yes, I suppose so," drawled Jane. "I've heard it said this John Viner'sfather ran all the way from the Commons in Boston, to the foot of StateStreet, to get rid of a dun against this very son, who had his ownmisfortunes when he
was young."
"The story is quite likely true in part," rejoined Wallace, "though itcan't be _quite_ accurate, as the old gentleman had but one leg, and_running_ was altogether out of the question with _him_. It was probablyold Tim Viner, who ran like a deer when a young man, as I've heardpeople say."
"Well, then, I suppose he ran his horse," added Jane, in the same quiet,drawling tone. "_Something_ must have run, or they never would have gotup the story."
I wondered if Miss Jane Hitchcox had ever taken the trouble to ascertainwho _they_ were! I happened to know both the Viners, and to be quitecertain there was not a word of truth in the report of the twentythousand dollars, having heard all the particulars of the late failurefrom one of my former owners, who was an assignee, and a considerablecreditor. Under the circumstances, I thought I would hint as much.
"Are you quite sure that the failure of Viner & Co. was owing to thecircumstance you mention, Mr. Brigham?" I inquired.
"Pretty certain. I am '_measurably acquainted_' with their affairs, andthink I am tolerably safe in saying so."
Now, "measurably acquainted" meant that he lived within twenty or thirtymiles of those who _did_ know something of the concerns of the house inquestion, and was in the way of catching scraps of the gossip that fellfrom disappointed creditors. How much of this is there in this goodcountry of ours! Men who live just near enough to one another to feelthe influence of all that rivalry, envy, personal strifes and personalmalignancies, can generate, fancy they are acquainted, from thiscircumstance, with those to whom they have never even spoken. One-halfthe idle tales that circulate up and-down the land, come from authoritynot one tittle better than this. How much would men learn, could theyonly acquire the healthful lesson of understanding that _nothing_,which is much out of the ordinary way, and which, circulates as receivedtruths illustrative of character, is true in _all_ its material parts,and very little in _any_. But, to return to my passengers, and thatportion of their conversation which most affected myself. They continuedcommenting on persons and families by name, seemingly more to keep theirhands in, than for any other discoverable reason, as each appeared tobe perfectly conversant with all the gossip that was started; whenSarah casually mentioned the name of Mrs. Bradfort, with some of whose_supposed_ friends, it now came out, they had all a general visitingacquaintance.
"Dr. Hosack is of opinion she cannot live long, I hear," said Jane, witha species of fierce delight in killing a fellow-creature, provided itonly led to a gossip concerning her private affairs. "Her case has beendecided to be a cancer, now, for more than a week, and she made her willlast Tuesday."
"Only last Tuesday!" exclaimed Sarah, in surprise. "Well, I heardshe had made her will a twelvemonth since, and that she left all herproperty to young Rupert Hardinge; in the expectation, some personsthought, that he might marry her."
"How could that be, my dear?" asked the husband; "in what would she bebetter off for leaving her own property to her husband?"
"Why, by law, would she not? I don't exactly know how it would happen,for I do not particularly understand these things; but it seems naturalthat a woman would be a gainer if she made the man she was about tomarry her heir. She would have her thirds in his estate, would she not?"
"But, Mrs. Brigham," said I, smiling, "is it quite certain Mrs. Bradfortwishes to marry Rupert Hardinge, at all?"
"I know so little of the parties, that I cannot speak with certainty inthe matter, I admit, Captain Wallingford."
"Well, but Sarah, dear," interposed the more exacting Jane, "you aremaking yourself unnecessarily ignorant. You very well know how intimatewe are with the Greenes, and they know the Winters perfectly well, whoare next-door neighbours to Mrs. Bradfort. I don't see how you can saywe haven't good means of being 'measurably' well-informed."
Now, I happened to know through Grace and Lucy, that a disagreeable oldperson, of the name of Greene did live next door to Mrs. Bradfort;but, that the latter refused to visit her, firstly, because she did nothappen to like her, and secondly, because the two ladies belonged tovery different social circles; a sufficient excuse for not visitingin town, even though the parties inhabited the same house. But, theBrighams, being Salem people, did not understand that families mightreside next door to each other, in a large town, for a long series ofmonths, or even years, and not know each other's names. It would not beeasy to teach this truth, one of every-day occurrence, to the inhabitantof one of our provincial towns, who was in the habit of fancying he hadas close an insight into the private affairs of all his neighbours, asthey enjoyed themselves.
"No doubt we are all as well off as most strangers in New York,"observed the wife; "still, it ought to be admitted that we maybe mistaken. I have heard it said there is an old Mr. Hardinge, aclergyman, who would make a far better match for the lady, than his son.However, it is of no great moment, now; for, when our neighbourMrs. John Foote, saw Dr. Hosack about her own child, she got all theparticulars out of him about Mrs. Bradfort's case, from the highestquarter, and I had it from Mrs. Foote, herself."
"I could not have believed that a physician of Dr. Hosack's eminenceand character would speak openly of the diseases of his patients," Iobserved, a little tartly, I am afraid.
"Oh! he didn't," said Sarah, eagerly--"he was as cunning as a fox,Mrs. Foote owned herself, and played her off finely; but Mrs. Footewas cunninger than any half-dozen foxes, and got it all out of him bynegations."
"Negations!" I exclaimed, wondering what was meant by the term, though Ihad understood I was to expect a little more philosophy and metaphysics,not to say algebra, in my passengers, than usually accompaniedpetticoats in our part of the world.
"Certainly, _negations_" answered the matron, with a smile as complacentas that which usually denotes the consciousness of intellectualsuperiority. "One who is a little practised, can ascertain a fact aswell by means of negatives as affirmatives. It only requires judgmentand use."
"Then Mrs. Bradfort's disease is only ascertained by the negativeprocess?"
"So I suppose--but what does one want more," put in the husband;--"andthat she made her will last week, I feel quite sure, as it was generallyspoken of among our friends."
Here were people who had been in New York only a month, looking out fora ship, mere passengers as it might be, who knew more about a familywith which I had myself such an intimate connection, than its ownmembers. I thought it no wonder that such a race was capable ofenlightening mankind, on matters and things in general. But the game didnot end here.
"I suppose Miss Lucy Hardinge will get something by Mrs. Bradfort'sdeath," observed Miss Jane, "and that she and Mr. Andrew Drewett willmarry as soon as it shall become proper."
Here was a speculation, for a man in my state of mind! The names wereall right; some of the incidents, even, were probable, if not correct;yet, how could the facts be known to these comparative strangers?Did the art of gossiping, with all its meannesses, lies, devices,inventions, and cruelties, really possess so much advantage over theintercourse of the confiding and honest, as to enable those who practiseit to discover facts hidden from eye-witnesses, and eye-witnesses, too,that had every inducement of the strongest interest in the issue, notto be deceived? I felt satisfied, the moment Mrs. Greene's name wasmentioned, that my passengers were not in the true New York set; and,justly enough, inferred they were not very good authority for onehalf they said; and, yet, how could they know anything of Drewett'sattachment to Lucy, unless their information were tolerably accurate?
I shall not attempt to repeat all that passed while the ship droppeddown the bay; but enough escaped the gossips to render me still moreunhappy than I had yet been, on the subject of Lucy. I could and diddespise these people; that was easy enough; but it was not so easyto forget all that they said and surmised. This is one of the causesattendant on the habit of loose talking; one never knowing whatto credit, and what not. In spite of all my disgust, and a firmdetermination not to contribute in any manner to the stock in tradeof these people, I found great diffic
ulty in evading their endlessquestions. How much they got out of me, by means of the process ofnegations, I never knew; but they got no great matter through directaffirmatives. Something, however, persons so indefatigable, to whomgossiping was the great aim of life, must obtain, and they ascertainedthat Mr. Hardinge was my guardian, that Rupert and I had passed ourboyhoods in each other's company, and that Lucy was even an inmate of myown house the day we sailed. This little knowledge only excited a desirefor more, and, by the end of a week, I was obliged to submit to devicesand expedients to pump me, than which even the thumbscrew was scarcelymore efficient. I practised on the negative system, myself, with agood deal of dexterity, however, and threw my inquisitors off, veryhandsomely, more than once, until I discovered that Wallace Mortimer,determined not to be baffled, actually opened communications with Neb,in order to get a clearer insight into my private affairs. After this,I presume my readers will not care to hear any more about these gentry,whose only connection with my life grew out of the misgivings theycontributed largely to create in my mind, touching the state of Lucy'saffections. This much they did effect, and I was compelled to submitto their power. We are all of us, more or less, the dupes of knaves andfools.
All this, however, was the fruits of several weeks' intercourse, andI have anticipated events a little, in order to make the statements inconnection. Meeting a breeze, as has been said already, the Dawn gotover the bar, about two o'clock, and stood off the land, on an easybowline, in company with the little fleet of square-rigged vessels thatwent out at the same time. By sunset, Navesink again dipped, and I wasonce more fairly at sea.
This was at the period when the commerce of America was at its height.The spirit shown by the young Republic in the French affair hadcommanded a little respect, though the supposed tendencies of the newadministration was causing anything but a cordial feeling towards thecountry to exist in England. That powerful nation, however, had made ahollow peace with France the previous March, and the highway of nationswas temporarily open to all ships alike; a state of things thatexisted for some ten months after we sailed. Nothing to be apprehended,consequently, lay before me, beyond the ordinary dangers of the ocean.For these last, I was now prepared by the experience of several yearspassed almost entirely on board ship, during which time I had encircledthe earth itself in my peregrinations.
Our run off the coast was favourable, and the sixth day out, we werein the longitude of the tail of the Grand Bank. I was delighted with myship, which turned out to be even more than I had dared to hope for.She behaved well under all circumstances, sailing even better than sheworked. The first ten days of our passage were prosperous, and we weremid-ocean by the 10th of the month. During this time I had nothing toannoy me but the ceaseless _cancans_ of my passengers. I had heard thename of every individual of note in Salem; with certain passages in hisor her life, and began to fancy I had lived a twelvemonth in the place.At length, I began to speculate on the reason why this morbid propensityshould exist so much stronger in that part of the world than in anyother I had visited. There was nothing new in the disposition of thepeople of small places to gossip, and it was often done in large towns;more especially those that did not possess the tone of a capital. LadyMary Wortley Montagu and Horace Walpole wrote gossip, but it was spicedwith wit, as is usual with the scandal of such places as London andParis; whereas this, to which I was doomed to listen, was nothing morethan downright impertinent, vulgar, meddling with the private affairsof all those whom the gossips thought of sufficient importance to talkabout. At Clawbonny, we had our gossip too, but it was innocent, seldominfringed much on the truth, and usually respected the right of everyperson to possess certain secrets that might remain inviolate to theworld. No such rules prevailed with my passengers. Like a certain editorof a newspaper of my acquaintance, who acts as if he fancied all thingsin heaven and earth were created expressly to furnish materialsfor "paragraphs," they appeared to think that everybody of theiracquaintance existed for no other purpose than to furnish them foodfor conversation. There must have been some unusual cause for somuch personal _espionnage_, and, at length, I came to the followingconclusion on the subject. I had heard that church government, among thepuritans, descended into all the details of life; that it was a part oftheir religious duty to watch over each other, jog the memories of thedelinquents, and serve God by ferreting out vice. This is a terribleinducement to fill the mind with the motes of a neighbourhood, and themind thus stowed, as we sailors say, will be certain to deliver cargo.Then come the institutions, with their never-ending elections, and theconstruction that has been put on the right of the elector to inquireinto all things; the whole consummated by the journals, who assume apower to penetrate the closet, ay, even the heart,--and lay bare itssecrets. Is it any wonder, if we should become, in time, a nation ofmere gossips? As for my passengers, even Neb got to consider them as somany nuisances.
From some cause or other, whether it was having these loose-tonguedpeople on board or not, is more than I can say, but certain it is, aboutthe time Salem was handsomely cleaned out, and a heavy inroad had beenmade upon Boston, that the weather changed. It began to blow in gusts,sometimes from one point of the compass, sometimes from another, untilthe ship was brought to very short canvass, from a dread of being caughtunprepared. At length, these fantasies of the winds terminated in atremendous gale, such as I had seldom then witnessed; and such, indeed,as I have seldom witnessed since. It is a great mistake to suppose thatthe heaviest weather occurs in the autumnal, spring, or winter months.Much the strongest blows I have ever known, have taken place in themiddle of the warm weather. This is the season of the hurricanes; and,out of the tropics, I think it is also the season of _the_ gales. Itis true; these gales do not return annually, a long succession of yearsfrequently occurring without one; but, when they do come, they may beexpected, in our own seas, in July, August, or September.
The wind commenced at south-west, on this occasion, and it blew freshfor several hours, sending us ahead on our course, at the rate of elevenknots. As the sea got up, and sail was reduced, our speed was a littlediminished perhaps; but we must have made more than a hundred miles inthe first ten hours. The day was bright, cloudless, genial, and evenbland; there being nothing unpleasant in the feeling of the swiftcurrents of the air, that whirled past us. At sunset I did not quitelike the appearance of the horizon; and we let the ship wade throughit, under her three top-sails, single-reefed, her fore-course, andfore-top-mast staysail. This was short canvass, for a vessel that hadthe wind nearly over her taffrail. At nine o'clock, second reefs weretaken in, and at ten, the mizen-top-sail was furled. I then turned in,deeming the ship quite snug, leaving orders with the mates to reduce thesail, did they find the ship straining, or the spars in danger, and tocall me should anything serious occur. I was not called until daylight,when Talcott laid his hand on my shoulder, and said, "You had betterturn out, Captain Wallingford; we have a peeler, and I want a littleadvice."
It was a peeler, indeed, when I reached the deck. The ship was undera fore-course and a close-reefed main-top-sail, canvass that can becarried a long time, while running off; but which, I at once saw, wasquite too much for us. An order was given immediately, to take in thetop-sail. Notwithstanding the diminutive surface that was exposed, thesurges given by this bit of canvass, as soon as the clews were eased offsufficiently to allow the cloth to jerk, shook the vessel's hull. It wasa miracle that we saved the mast, or that we got the cloth rolled upat all. At one time, I thought it would be necessary to cut it fromthe yard. Fortunately the gale was steady, this day proving bright andclear, like that which had preceded.
The men aloft made several attempts to hail the deck, but the wind blewtoo heavily to suffer them to be heard. Talcott had gone on the yardhimself, and I saw him gesticulating, in a way to indicate there wassomething ahead. The seas were running so high that it was not easyto obtain much of a look at the horizon; but, by getting into themizen-rigging, I had a glimpse of a vessel's spars, to the eastward ofus, and direc
tly on our course. It was a ship under bare poles,running as nearly before us as she could, but making most fearful yaws;sometimes sheering away off to starboard, in a way to threaten her withbroaching-to; then taking a yaw to port, in which I could see all threeof her masts, with their yards pointed nearly at us. I got but oneglimpse of her hull, as it rose on a sea, at the same instant with theDawn, and it actually appeared as if about to be blown away, though Itook the stranger to be a vessel at least as large as we were ourselves.We were evidently approaching her fast, though both vessels were goingthe same way.
The Dawn steered beautifully, one of the greatest virtues in a ship,under the circumstances in which we were then placed. A single man wasall that we had at the wheel, and he controlled it with ease. I couldsee it was very different with the ship ahead, and fancied they had madea mistake on board her, by taking in all their canvass. Talcott and thegang aloft, had not got out of the top, however, before we had a hintthat it would be well to imitate the stranger's prudence. Though ourvessel steered so much better than another, no ship can keep on adirect line, while running before the wind, in a heavy sea. The wavesoccasionally fly past a vessel, like the scud glancing through theair; then, they seem to pause, altogether, as if to permit the ship toovertake them. When a vessel is lifted aft by one of these torrents ofrushing waters, the helm loses a portion of its power; and the partof the vast machine that first receives the impulse, seems intent onexchanging places with the bows, vessels often driving sideways beforethe surges, for spaces of time that are exceedingly embarrassing tothe mariner. This happens to the best-steering ships, and is always onesource of danger in very heavy weather, to those that are running off.The merit of the Dawn was in coming under command again, quickly, andin not losing so much of the influence of her helm, as is frequently thecase with wild-steering craft. I understand there is a sloop-of-war nowin the navy, that is difficult to get through a narrow passage, in ablow, in consequence of her having this propensity to turn her headfirst one way, then another, like a gay horse that breaks his bridle.
The hint given, just as Talcott was quitting the top, and to which therehas been allusion, was given under the impulsion of one of thesedriving seas. The Dawn still carried her fore-topmast stay-sail, a smalltriangular piece of stout canvass, and which was particularly useful,as leading from the end of the bowsprit towards the head of thefore-top-mast, in preventing her from broaching-to, or pressing up withher bows so near the wind, as to produce the danger of seas breakingover the mass of the hull, and sweeping the decks. The landsman willunderstand this is the gravest of the dangers that occur at sea, in veryheavy weather. When the ship is thrown broadside to the sea, or comesup so as to bring the wind abeam, or even forward of the beam, as inlying-to, there is always risk from this source. Another clanger, whichis called pooping, is of a character that one who is ignorant ofthe might of the ocean when aroused, would not be apt to foresee. Itproceeds from the impetuous velocity of the waves, which, rushing aheadso much faster than the vessel that is even driving before the gale,breaks against the quarter, or stern, and throws its masses of wateralong the deck, in a line with its keel. I suppose the President steamerto have been lost by the first of these two dangers, as will appear inthe following little theory.
There is no doubt that well-constructed steamers are safer craft, thedanger from fire excepted, than the ordinary ship, except in very heavyweather. With an ordinary gale, they can contend with sufficient power;but, it is an unfortunate consequence of their construction, thatexactly as the danger increases, their power of meeting it diminishes.In a very heavy swell, one cannot venture to resort to a strong head ofsteam, since one wheel may be nearly out of water, while the other issubmerged, and thus endanger the machinery. Now, the great length ofthese vessels renders it difficult to keep them up to the wind, or headto sea, the safest of all positions for a vessel in heavy weather, whileit exposes them to the additional risk of having the water break aboardthem near the waist, in running dead before it. In a word, I suppose asteamer difficult to be kept out of the trough, in very heavy weather;and no vessel can be safe in the trough of the seas, under suchcircumstances; one of great length less so than others. This istrue, however, only in reference to those steamers which carry theold-fashioned wheel; Erricson's screw, and Hunter's submerged wheels,rendering steam-ships, in my poor judgment, the safest craft in theworld.
The Dawn was overtaken by the seas, from time to time; and, then, likeeverything else that floats, she yawed, or rather, had her stern urgedimpetuously round, as if it were in a hurry to get ahead of the bows.On these occasions, the noise made by the fore-top-mast stay-sail, asit collapsed and filled, resembled the report of a small gun. We hadsimilar reports from the fore-sail, which, for moments at a time, wasactually becalmed, as the ship settled into the trough; and then becamedistended with a noise like that of the shaking of a thousand carpets,all filled with Sancho Panzas, at the same instant. As yet, the clothand gear had stood these violent shocks admirably; but, just asTalcott was leading his party down, the ship made one of her side-longmovements; the stay-sail filled with a tremendous report, and away itflew to leeward, taken out--of the bolt-rope as if it had been cut byshears, and then used by the furies of the tempest. Talcott smiled, ashe gazed at the driving canvass, which went a quarter of a mile beforeit struck the water, whirling like a kite that has broken its string,and then he shook his head. I disliked, too, the tremendous surges ofthe fore-sail, when it occasionally collapsed and as suddenly filled,menacing to start every bolt, and to part every rope connected withblock or spar.
"We must get in that fore-course, Mr. Talcott," I said, "or we shalllose something. I see the ship ahead is under bare-poles, and it werebetter we were as snug. If I did not dislike losing such a wind, itwould be wiser to heave-to the ship; man the buntlines and clew-garnets,at once, and wait for a favourable moment."
We had held on to our canvass too long; the fault of youth. As I haddetermined to shorten sail, however, we now set about it in earnest, andwith all the precautions exacted by the circumstances. Everybody thatcould be mustered, was placed at the clew-lines and buntlines, withstrict orders to do his best at the proper moments. The first-mate wentto the tack, and the second to the sheet. I was to take in the sailmyself. I waited for a collapse; and then, while the ship was buriedbetween two mounds of water, when it was impossible to see a hundredyards from her in any direction, and the canvass was actually droppingagainst the mast I gave the usual orders. Every man hauled, as if forlife, and we had got the clews pretty well up, when the vessel came outof the cavern into the tempest, receiving the whole power of the gale,with a sudden surge, into the bellying canvass. Away went everything, asif the gear were cobwebs. At the next instant, the sail was in ribands.I was deeply mortified, as well as rendered uneasy, by this accident, asthe ship ahead unquestionably was in full view of all that happened.
It was soon apparent, however, that professional pride must give placeto concern for the safety of the vessel. The wind had been steadilyincreasing in power, and had now reached a pass when it became necessaryto look things steadily in the face. The strips of canvass that remainedattached to the yard, with the blocks and gear attached, threshed aboutin a way to threaten the lives of all that approached. This was only atthe intervals when the ship settled into the troughs; for, while underthe full influence of the gale, pennants never streamed more directlyfrom a mast, than did these heavy fragments from the fore-yard. It wasnecessary to get rid of them; and Talcott had just volunteered to goon the yard with this end, when Neb sprang into the rigging without anorder, and was soon beyond the reach of the voice. This daring black hadseveral narrow escapes, more especially from the fore-sheet blocks;but he succeeded in cutting everything adrift, and in leaving nothingattached to the spar, but the bolt-rope of the head of the sail. It istrue, little effected this object, when the knife could be applied, thethreads of the stout canvass snapping at the touch.
As soon as the ship was under bare poles, though at the s
acrifice of twoof her sails, I had leisure to look out for the other vessel. There shewas, more than half a mile ahead of us, yawing wildly, and rolling herlower yard-arm, to the water's edge. As we drew nearer, I got betterglimpses of this vessel, which was a ship, and as I fancied, an EnglishWest Indiaman, deep-loaded with the produce of the islands. Deep-loadedas I fancied, for it was only at instants that she could be seen at all,under circumstances to judge of this fact; sometimes her hull appearingto be nearly smothered in the brine, and then, again, her copperglistening in the sun, resembling a light vessel, kept under the care ofsome thrifty housewife.
The Dawn did not fly, now all her canvass was gone, as fast as she hadpreviously done. She went through the water at a greater rate than thevessel ahead; but it required an hour longer to bring the two shipswithin a cable's length of each other. Then, indeed, we got a near viewof the manner in which the elements can play with such a mass of woodand iron as a ship, when in an angry mood. There were instants when Ifancied I could nearly see the keel of the stranger for half its length,as he went foaming up on the crest of a wave, apparently ready to quitthe water altogether; then again, he would settle away into the blueabyss, hiding everything beneath his tops. When both vessels sunktogether, no sign of our neighbour was visible, though so near. We cameup after one of these deep plunges into the valleys of the ocean, and,to our alarm, saw the English ship yawing directly athwart our course,and within fifty fathoms of us. This was about the distance at whichI intended to pass, little dreaming of finding the other ship socompletely in our way. The Englishman must have intended to come alittle nearer, and got one of those desperate sheers that so often ranaway with him. There he was, however; and a breathless minute followed,when he was first seen. Two vehicles dashing along a highway, withfrightened and run-away teams, would not present a sight one-half asterrific as that which lay directly before our eyes.
The Dawn was plunging onward with a momentum to dash in splinters, didshe strike any resisting object, and yawing herself sufficiently torender the passage hazardous. But the stranger made the matter ten-foldworse. When I first saw him, in this fearful proximity, his broadsidewas nearly offered to the seas, and away he was flying, on the summit ofa mountain of foam, fairly crossing our fore-foot. At the next moment,he fell off before the wind, again, and I could just see his topsdirectly ahead. His sheer had been to-port, our intention having been topass him on his starboard side; but, perceiving him to steer so wild,I thought it might be well to go in the other direction. Quick as thewords could be uttered, therefore, I called out to port the helm. Thiswas done, of course; and just as the Dawn felt the new influence, theother vessel took the same sheer, and away we both went to starboard,at precisely the same instant. I shouted to right our helm to "harda-starboard," and it was well I did; a minute more would have brought usdown headlong on the Englishman. Even now we could only see his hull, atinstants; but the awful proximity of his spars denoted the full extentof the danger. Luckily, we hit on opposite directions, or our commondestruction would have been certain. But, it was one thing, in thatcauldron of a sea, to determine on a course, and another to follow it.As we rose on the last wave that alone separated us from the stranger,he was nearly ahead; and as we glanced onward, I saw that we shouldbarely clear his larboard quarter. Our helm being already a starboard,no more could be done. Should he take another sheer to port, we mustinfallibly cut him in twain. As I have said, he had jammed his helmto-port, and slowly, and with a species of reluctance, he inclined alittle aside. Then we came up, both ships rolling off, or our yards musthave interlocked, and passing his quarter with our bows, we each feltthe sheer at the same instant, and away we went asunder, the sterns ofthe ships looking at each other, and certainly not a hundred feet apart.A shout from Talcott drew me to our taffrail, and standing on that ofour neighbour, what or whom should I see waving his hat, but the redcountenance of honest Moses Marble!
Afloat and Ashore: A Sea Tale Page 26
