The King's Own

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.

  And, lo! while he was expounding, in set terms, the most abstruse of his pious doctrines, the head of the tub whereon the good man stood gave way, and the preacher was lost from before the eyes of the whole congregation.

  _Life of the Reverend Mr Smith, SS_.

  Seymour, who was always the companion of Captain M---, whenever eitherinstruction or amusement was to be gained, now quitted the surveyingparty to join Macallan, who still continued seated on the rocks,reflecting upon the remarkable coincidence which the coxswain hadnarrated, sufficient in itself to confirm the superstitious ideas of thesailors for another century. His thoughts naturally reverted to theother point, in which seafaring men are equally bigoted, the disastrousconsequences of "sailing on a Friday;" the origin of which superstitioncan easily be traced to early Catholicism, when out of respect for theday of universal redemption, they were directed by their pastors toawait the "morrow's sun."

  "Thus," mentally exclaimed Macallan, "has religion degenerated intosuperstition; and that which, from the purity of its origin, would havecommanded our respect, is now only deserving of our contempt. It is bythe motives that have produced them, that our actions must be weighed.That which once was an offering of religious veneration and love, is nowa tribute to superstition and to fear. Well, Seymour," said he,addressing his companion, "how do you like surveying?"

  "Not much; the sun is hot, and the glare so powerful that I am almostblind. What a pity it is that we had not some trees here, to shade usfrom the heat! I should like to plant some for the benefit of those whomay come after us."

  "A correct feeling on your part, my boy; but no trees would grow here atpresent--there is no soil."

  "There is plenty of some sort or other in the part where we have beensurveying."

  "Yes, the sand thrown up by the sea, and the particles of shells androck, which have been triturated by the wave, or decomposed by thealternate action of the elements; but there is no vegetable matter,without which there can be no vegetable produce. Observe, Willy,--theskeleton of this earth is framed of rocks and mountains, which have beenproudly rearing their heads into the clouds, or lying in dark majestybeneath the seas, since the creation of the world, when they were fixedby the Almighty architect, to remain till time shall be no more. Overthem, we find the wrecks of a former world--once as beautiful, asthickly peopled, but more thoughtless and more wicked than the present,which was hurled into one general chaos, and its component, butincongruous parts, amalgamated in awful mockery by the deluge--thattremendous evidence of the wrath of Heaven. But it has long passedaway; and o'er the relics of former creation, o'er the kneaded mass ofman in his pride, of woman in her beauty, of arts in their splendour, ofvice in her zenith, and of virtue in her tomb, we are standing uponanother, teeming with life, and yielding forth her fruits in the seasonas before. But, Willy, the supports of life are not to be found inprimeval rocks or antediluvial remains. It is from the superficialcovering, the thin crust with which the earth is covered, composed ofthe remains of former existence, of the breccia of exhausted nature,that animal creation derives its support; and it is the grand axiom ofthe universe, that _animal life can only be supported by animalremains_. From the meanest insect that crawls upon the ground, to manin his perfection, life is supported and continued by animal andvegetable food; and it is only the decayed matter returned to the earth,which enables the lofty cedar to extend its boughs, or the lowly violetto exhale its perfume. This is a world of eternal reproduction anddecay--one endless cycle of the living preying on the dead--a phoenix,yearly, daily, and hourly springing from its ashes, in renewed strengthand beauty. The blade of grass, which shoots from the soil, flowers,casts its seed, and dies, to make room for its offspring, nourished bythe relics of its parent, is a type of the never-changing law,controlling all nature, even to man himself, who must pass away to makeroom for the generation which is to come."

  The boat which, returning from the ship, appeared like a black speck onthe water, indicated that the dinner-hour was at hand; and Price and thepurser, who had come on shore with Macallan, now joined him and Willy,who were sitting down on the rocks at the water's edge.

  "Well, Macallan," said Price, "it's a fine thing to be a philosopher.What is that which Milton says? Let me see!--sweet--something--divinephilosophy--I forget the exact words. Well, what have you caught?"

  "If you've caught nothing, doctor, you're better off than I am," saidthe purser, wiping his brow, "for I've caught a headache."

  "I have been very well amused," replied Macallan.

  "Ay, I suppose, like what's-his-name in the forest--you recollect?"

  "No, indeed, I do not."

  "Don't you? Bless my soul--you know, sermons in stones, and good ineverything. I forget how the lines run. Don't you recollect, O'Keefe?"continued Price, speaking loud in the purser's ear.

  "No, I never _collect_. I don't understand these things," replied thepurser, taking his seat by Macallan, and addressing him--"I cannot thinkwhat pleasure there can be in poking about the rocks as you do."

  "It serves to amuse me, O'Keefe."

  "_Abuse_ you, my dear fellow! Indeed I never meant it--I beg yourpardon--you mistook me."

  "It was my fault. I did not speak sufficiently loud. Make no apology."

  "Too _proud_ to make an apology!--No, indeed--I only asked whatamusement you could find?--that's all."

  "What amusement?" replied Macallan, rising from his seat, annoyed atthese repeated attacks from all quarters upon his favourite study."Listen to me, and I will explain to you how investigation is the parentof both amusement and instruction. What is this rock that I am standingon? Has it remained here for ages to be dashed by the furious ocean?--or has it lately sprung from the depths, from the silent labour of theindefatigable zoophytes? Look at its sides; behold the variety ofmarine vegetation with which it is loaded. Are they of the class of theulvae, confervae, or fuci? to be welcomed as old acquaintance, or,hitherto unnoticed, to be added to the catalogue of Nature's endlessstores? And what are those corals, that, like mimic tenants of theforest, extend their graceful boughs! Look at the variety of shellswhich are adhering to its sides. Observe the patellae--with whattenacity they cling to save themselves from being washed into the deepwater, and being devoured by the fishes that are playing in its chasms!What a source of endless amusement, what a field for deep reflection, isthere in the investigation of this _one little rock_! When youcontemplate the instinct of the different species, the powers given tothem, so adapted to their wants and their privations--is not the eyedelighted, is not the mind enlarged, and are not the feelingsharmonised? Study the works of the creation, and you turn a desert intoa peopled city--a barren rock into a source of admiration and delight.Nay, search into Nature for a few minutes, and you rise a better man.Dive into--"

  What the conclusion of the doctor's rhapsody may have been is not known;for, stamping too energetically upon the seaweed on the edge of therock, his foot slipped, and he disappeared, with the perpendiculardescent and velocity of a deep-sea lead, into the water alongside of it.

  Marshall, the coxswain, who had been astonished at his speech, to whichhe had listened with mouth open for want of comprehension, quite forgotthe respect due to an officer, at this unexpected finale.

  "Watch, there, watch!" cried the man, and then threw himself down, androlled in convulsions of laughter. Price and Willy, whose mirth wasalmost as excessive, did, however, run to his assistance, and caught himby the collar as he rose again to the surface, for it was considerablyout of his depth; while the deaf purser, whose eyes had been fixed onthe ground, in deep attention to catch the doctor's words, and whoseears were not sufficiently acute to hear the splash, looked up as theywere going to his assistance, and asked, with surprise, "Where's thedoctor?"

  The sides of the rock were so slippery, that the united efforts of Priceand Seymour (whose powers were much enfeebled from extreme mirth) werenot sufficient to haul Macallan up
on terra firma. "Marshall, come heredirectly, sir, and help us," cried Willy,--an order which the coxswain,who was sufficiently recovered, immediately obeyed.

  "Give me your hand, Mr Macallan," said the man, as the surgeon wasclinging to the seaweed; "it's no use holding on by them slippery_hanimals_. Now, then, Mr Price--all together."

  "Ay, and as soon as you please," called out the malicious boatkeeper ofthe gig--"I seed a large shark but a minute ago."

  "Quick--quick!" roared the surgeon, who already imagined his legencircled by the teeth of the ravenous animal.

  By their united efforts, Macallan was at last safely landed--and, aftermuch sputtering, blowing, and puffing, was about to address the coxswainin no very amicable manner, when the purser interrupted him.

  "By the powers, doctor, but you took the right way to have a closeexamination of all those fine things which you were giving us acatalogue of; but now give us the remainder of your speech--you gave usa practical illustration of diving."

  "What sort of sensation was it, doctor?" said Price. "You recollectShakespeare--and `O, methinks what pain it was to drown'--Let me see--something--"

  "Pray don't tax your memory, Price; it's something like our country,--past all further taxation."

  "That's the severest thing you've said since we've sailed together.You're out of humour, doctor. Well, you know what Shakespeare says:`There never yet was found a philosopher'--something about thetoothache. I forget the words."

  These attacks did not at all tend to restore the equanimity of thedoctor's temper, which, it must be acknowledged, had some excuse forbeing disturbed by the events of the morning; but he proved himself awise man, for he made no further reply. The boat pulled in, and theparty returned on board; and when Macallan had divested himself of hisuncomfortable attire, and joined his messmates at the dinner-table, hehad recovered his usual serenity of disposition, and joined himself inthe laugh which had been created at his expense.