The King's Own
Page 49
CHAPTER FORTY NINE.
There leviathan, Hugest of living creatures, on the deep, Stretch'd like a promontory, sleeps or swims. MILTON.
Congratulate me, Reader, that, notwithstanding I have been beatingagainst wind and tide, that is to say, writing this book, through allthe rolling and pitching, headache and indigestion, incident to theconfined and unnatural life of a sailor, I have arrived at my lastchapter. You may be surprised at this assertion, finding yourself inthe middle of the third volume; but such is the fact. Doubtless youhave imagined, that according to the usual method, I had begun at thebeginning, and would have finished at the end. Had I done so, this workwould not have been so near to a close as, thank Heaven, it is atpresent. At times I have been gay, at others, sad; and I am obliged towrite according to my humour, which, as variable as the wind, seldomcontinues in one direction. I have proceeded with this book as I shoulddo if I had had to build a ship. The dimensions of every separate pieceof timber I knew by the sheer-draught which lay before me. It thereforemade no difference upon which I began, as they all were to be cut outbefore I bolted them together. I should have taken them just as theycame to hand, and sorted them for their respective uses. My keel islaid on the slips, and my stern is raised; these will do for futtocks--these for beams. I lay those aside for riders; and out of these gnarledand twisted pieces of oak, I select my knees. It is of littleconsequence on which my adze is first employed. Thus it was that a fitof melancholy produced the last half of the third volume; and mystern-post, transoms, and fashion-pieces, were framed out almost beforemy floor-timbers were laid. But you will perceive that this is of noconsequence. All are now bolted together; and, with the exception of alittle dubbing away here and there, a little gingerbread work, and acoat of paint, she is ready for launching. Now all is ready.--Give methe bottle of wine--and, as she rushes into the sea of public opinion,upon which her merits are to be ascertained, I christen her "THE KING'SOWN."
And now that she is afloat, I must candidly acknowledge that I am notexactly pleased with her. To speak technically, her figure-head is notthrown out enough. To translate this observation into plain English, Ifind, on turning over the different chapters, that my hero, as I haveoften designated him, is not sufficiently the hero of my tale. As soonas he is shipped on board of a man-of-war, he becomes as insignificantas a midshipman must unavoidably be, from his humble situation. I seethe error--yet I cannot correct it, without overthrowing all "rules andregulations," which I cannot persuade myself to do, even in a work offiction. Trammelled as I am by "the service," I can only plead guiltyto what it is impossible to amend without commencing _de novo_--foreverything and everybody must find their level on board of a king'sship. Well, I've one comfort left--Sir Walter Scott has never succeededin making a hero; or, in other words, his best characters are not thosewhich commonly go under the designation of "the hero." I am afraidthere is something irreclaimably insipid in these _preux chevaliers_.
But I must go in search of the _Aspasia_. There she is, withstudding-sails set, about fifty miles to the northward of the Cape ofGood Hope; and I think that when the reader has finished this chapter,he will be inclined to surmise that the author, as well as the_Aspasia_, has most decidedly "doubled the Cape." The frigate wasstanding her course before a light breeze, at the rate of four or fiveknots an hour, and Captain M--- was standing at the break of thegangway, talking with the first-lieutenant, when the man stationed atthe mast-head called out, "A rock on the lee-bow!" The Telemaque shoal,which is supposed to exist somewhere to the southward of the Cape, butwhose situation has never been ascertained, had just before been thesubject of their conversation. Startled at the intelligence, CaptainM--- ordered the studding-sails to be taken in, and, hailing the man atthe mast-head, inquired how far the rock was distant from the ship.
"I can see it off the fore-yard," answered Pearce, the master, who hadimmediately ascended the rigging upon the report.
The first-lieutenant now went aloft, and soon brought it down to thelower ratlines. In a few minutes it was distinctly seen from the deckof the frigate.
The ship's course was altered three or four points, that no risk mightbe incurred; and Captain M---, directing the people aloft to keep asharp look-out for any change in the colour of the water, continued tonear the supposed danger in a slanting direction.
The rock appeared to be about six or seven feet above the water's edge,with a base of four or five feet in diameter. To the great surprise ofall parties, there was no apparent change in colour to indicate thatthey shoaled their water; and it was not until they hove-to within twocables' length, and the cutter was ordered to be cleared away to examineit, that they perceived that the object of their scrutiny was in motion.This was now evident, and in a direction crossing the stern of theship.
"I think that it is some kind of fish," observed Seymour; "I saw itraise its tail a little out of the water."
And such it proved to be, as it shortly afterwards passed the shipwithin half a cable's length. It was a large spermaceti whale, on thehead of which some disease had formed an enormous spongy excrescence,which had the appearance of a rock, and was so buoyant that, althoughthe animal made several attempts as it approached the ship, it could notsink under water. Captain M---, satisfied that it really was as we havedescribed, again made sail, and pursued his course.
"It is very strange and very important," observed he, "that a disease ofany description can scarcely be confined to one individual, but mustpervade the whole species. This circumstance may account for the manyrocks reported to have been seen in various parts of the southernhemisphere, and which have never been afterwards fallen in with. A morecomplete deception I never witnessed."
"Had we hauled off sooner, and not have examined it, I should have hadno hesitation in asserting, most confidently, that we had seen a rock,"answered the first-lieutenant.
Captain M--- went below, and was soon after at table with thefirst-lieutenant and Macallan, who had been invited to dine in thecabin. After dinner, the subject was again introduced. "I have mydoubts, sir," observed the first-lieutenant, "whether I shall everventure to tell the story in England. I never should be believed."
"_Le vrai n'est pas toujours le vraisemblable_," answered Captain M---;"and I am afraid that too often a great illiberality is shown towardstravellers, who, after having encountered great difficulties anddangers, have the mortification not to be credited upon their return.Although credulity is to be guarded against, I do not know a greaterproof of ignorance than refusing to believe anything because it does notexactly coincide with one's own ideas. The more confined these may be,from want of education or knowledge, the more incredulous people are aptto become. Two of the most enterprising travellers of modern days,Bruce and Le Vaillant, were ridiculed and discredited upon their return.Subsequent travellers, who went the same track as the former, with aview to confute, were obliged to corroborate his assertions; and all whohave followed the latter have acknowledged the correctness of hisstatements."
"Your observations remind me of the story of the old woman and hergrandson," replied the first-lieutenant. "You recollect it, I presume."
"Indeed I do not," said Captain M---; "pray favour me with it."
The first-lieutenant then narrated, with a considerable degree ofhumour, the following story:--
"A lad, who had been some years at sea, returned home to his agedgrandmother, who was naturally curious to hear his adventures.--`Now,Jack,' said the old woman, `tell me all you've seen, and tell me themost wonderful things first.'
"`Well, granny, when we were in the Red Sea, we anchored close to theshore, and when we hove the anchor up, there was a chariot wheel hangingto it.'
"`Oh! Jack, Pharaoh and his host were drowned in the Red Sea, you know;that proves the Bible is all true. Well, Jack, and what else did yousee?'
"`Why, granny, when I was in the West Indies, I saw whole mountains ofsugar, and the rivers between them were all rum.'
"`True, true,' said the old woman, smacking her lips; `we get all thesugar and rum from there, you know. Pray, Jack, did you ever see amermaid?'
"`Why, no, mother, but I've seen a merman.'
"`Well, let's hear, Jack.'
"`Why, mother, when we anchored to the northward of St. Kitt's oneSunday morning, a voice called us from alongside, and when we lookedover, there was a merman just come to the top of the water; he strokeddown his hair, and touched it, as we do our hats, to the captain, andtold him that he would feel much obliged to him to trip his anchor, asit had been let go just before the door of his house below, which theycould not open in consequence, and his wife would be too late to go tochurch.'
"`God bless me!' says the old woman; `why, they're Christians, I dodeclare--And now, Jack, tell me something more.'
"Jack, whose invention was probably exhausted, then told her that he hadseen hundreds of fish flying in the air.
"`Come, come, Jack,' said the old woman, `now you're _bamming_ me--don'tattempt to put such stories off on your old granny. The chariot wheel Ican believe, because it is likely; the sugar and rum I know to be true;and also the merman, for I have seen pictures of them. But as for fishflying in the air, Jack--that's a lie.'"
"Excellent," said Captain M---. "Then the only part that was true sherejected, believing all the monstrous lies that he had coined."
"If any unknown individual," observed Macallan, "and not Captain Cook,had reported the existence of such an animal as the ornithorhynchus, orduck-billed platypus, without bringing home the specimen as a proof; whowould have credited his statement?"
"No one," replied Captain M---. "Still, such is the scepticism of thepresent age, that travellers must be content with having justice done tothem after they are dead."
"That's but cold comfort, sir," replied the first-lieutenant, risingfrom the table, which movement was immediately followed by the remainderof the guests, who bowed, and quitted the cabin.
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Note. It is singular that the almost incredible story in the abovechapter is, perhaps, the only real fact in the whole book. It will befound in the log of the ship, and signed by all the officers; and yetmany of my readers will be inclined to reject this, and believe aconsiderable portion of the remainder of the composition to have beendrawn from living characters; if so, they will be like the old woman.