Poe, Edgar Allen - The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe

by Volume 01-05 (lit)

  still continued clear and pleasant, with a steady but very light

  breeze from the N. W. The sea was now quite smooth, and as, from some

  cause which we could not determine, the brig did not he so much along

  as she had done before, the deck was comparatively dry, and we could

  move about with freedom. We had now been better than three entire

  days and nights without either food or drink, and it became

  absolutely necessary that we should make an attempt to get up

  something from below. As the brig was completely full of water, we

  went to this work despondently, and with but little expectation of

  being able to obtain anything. We made a kind of drag by driving some

  nails which we broke out from the remains of the companion-hatch into

  two pieces of wood. Tying these across each other, and fastening them

  to the end of a rope, we threw them into the cabin, and dragged them

  to and fro, in the faint hope of being thus able to entangle some

  article which might be of use to us for food, or which might at least

  render us assistance in getting it. We spent the greater part of the

  morning in this labour without effect, fishing up nothing more than a

  few bedclothes, which were readily caught by the nails. Indeed, our

  contrivance was so very clumsy that any greater success was hardly to

  be anticipated.

  We now tried the forecastle, but equally in vain, and were upon

  the brink of despair, when Peters proposed that we should fasten a

  rope to his body, and let him make an attempt to get up something by

  diving into the cabin. This proposition we hailed with all the

  delight which reviving hope could inspire. He proceeded immediately

  to strip off his clothes with the exception of his pantaloons; and a

  strong rope was then carefully fastened around his middle, being

  brought up over his shoulders in such a manner that there was no

  possibility of its slipping. The undertaking was one of great

  difficulty and danger; for, as we could hardly expect to find much,

  if any, provision in the cabin itself, it was necessary that the

  diver, after letting himself down, should make a turn to the right,

  and proceed under water a distance of ten or twelve feet, in a narrow

  passage, to the storeroom, and return, without drawing breath.

  Everything being ready, Peters now descended in the cabin, going

  down the companion-ladder until the water reached his chin. He then

  plunged in, head first, turning to the right as he plunged, and

  endeavouring to make his way to the storeroom. In this first attempt,

  however, he was altogether unsuccessful. In less than half a minute

  after his going down we felt the rope jerked violently (the signal we

  had agreed upon when he desired to be drawn up). We accordingly drew

  him up instantly, but so incautiously as to bruise him badly against

  the ladder. He had brought nothing with him, and had been unable to

  penetrate more than a very little way into the passage, owing to the

  constant exertions he found it necessary to make in order to keep

  himself from floating up against the deck. Upon getting out he was

  very much exhausted, and had to rest full fifteen minutes before he

  could again venture to descend.

  The second attempt met with even worse success; for he remained

  so long under water without giving the signal, that, becoming alarmed

  for his safety, we drew him out without it, and found that he was

  almost at the last gasp, having, as he said, repeatedly jerked at the

  rope without our feeling it. This was probably owing to a portion of

  it having become entangled in the balustrade at the foot of the

  ladder. This balustrade was, indeed, so much in the way, that we

  determined to remove it, if possible, before proceeding with our

  design. As we had no means of getting it away except by main force,

  we all descended into the water as far as we could on the ladder, and

  giving a pull against it with our united strength, succeeded in

  breaking it down.

  The third attempt was equally unsuccessful with the two first,

  and it now became evident that nothing could be done in this manner

  without the aid of some weight with which the diver might steady

  himself, and keep to the floor of the cabin while making his search.

  For a long time we looked about in vain for something which might

  answer this purpose; but at length, to our great joy, we discovered

  one of the weather-forechains so loose that we had not the least

  difficulty in wrenching it off. Having fastened this securely to one

  of his ankles, Peters now made his fourth descent into the cabin, and

  this time succeeded in making his way to the door of the steward's

  room. To his inexpressible grief, however, he found it locked, and

  was obliged to return without effecting an entrance, as, with the

  greatest exertion, he could remain under water not more, at the

  utmost extent, than a single minute. Our affairs now looked gloomy

  indeed, and neither Augustus nor myself could refrain from bursting

  into tears, as we thought of the host of difficulties which

  encompassed us, and the slight probability which existed of our

  finally making an escape. But this weakness was not of long duration.

  Throwing ourselves on our knees to God, we implored His aid in the

  many dangers which beset us; and arose with renewed hope and vigor to

  think what could yet be done by mortal means toward accomplishing our

  deliverance.

  ~~~ End of Text of Chapter 9 ~~~

  CHAPTER 10

  SHORTLY afterward an incident occurred which I am induced to look

  upon as more intensely productive of emotion, as far more replete

  with the extremes first of delight and then of horror, than even any

  of the thousand chances which afterward befell me in nine long years,

  crowded with events of the most startling and, in many cases, of the

  most unconceived and unconceivable character. We were lying on the

  deck near the companion-way, and debating the possibility of yet

  making our way into the storeroom, when, looking toward Augustus, who

  lay fronting myself, I perceived that he had become all at once

  deadly pale, and that his lips were quivering in the most singular

  and unaccountable manner. Greatly alarmed, I spoke to him, but he

  made me no reply, and I was beginning to think that he was suddenly

  taken ill, when I took notice of his eyes, which were glaring

  apparently at some object behind me. I turned my head, and shall

  never forget the ecstatic joy which thrilled through every particle

  of my frame, when I perceived a large brig bearing down upon us, and

  not more than a couple of miles off. I sprung to my feet as if a

  musket bullet had suddenly struck me to the heart; and, stretching

  out my arms in the direction of the vessel, stood in this manner,

  motionless, and unable to articulate a syllable. Peters and Parker

  were equally affected, although in different ways. The former danced

  about the deck like a madman, uttering the most extravagant

  rhodomontades, intermingled with howls and imprecations, while the

  latter burst into tears, and continued for many minutes wee
ping like

  a child.

  The vessel in sight was a large hermaphrodite brig, of a Dutch

  build, and painted black, with a tawdry gilt figure-head. She had

  evidently seen a good deal of rough weather, and, we supposed, had

  suffered much in the gale which had proved so disastrous to

  ourselves; for her foretopmast was gone, and some of her starboard

  bulwarks. When we first saw her, she was, as I have already said,

  about two miles off and to windward, bearing down upon us. The breeze

  was very gentle, and what astonished us chiefly was, that she had no

  other sails set than her foremast and mainsail, with a flying jib --

  of course she came down but slowly, and our impatience amounted

  nearly to phrensy. The awkward manner in which she steered, too, was

  remarked by all of us, even excited as we were. She yawed about so

  considerably, that once or twice we thought it impossible she could

  see us, or imagined that, having seen us, and discovered no person on

  board, she was about to tack and make off in another direction. Upon

  each of these occasions we screamed and shouted at the top of our

  voices, when the stranger would appear to change for a moment her

  intention, and again hold on toward us -- this singular conduct being

  repeated two or three times, so that at last we could think of no

  other manner of accounting for it than by supposing the helmsman to

  be in liquor.

  No person was seen upon her decks until she arrived within about

  a quarter of a mile of us. We then saw three seamen, whom by their

  dress we took to be Hollanders. Two of these were lying on some old

  sails near the forecastle, and the third, who appeared to be looking

  at us with great curiosity, was leaning over the starboard bow near

  the bowsprit. This last was a stout and tall man, with a very dark

  skin. He seemed by his manner to be encouraging us to have patience,

  nodding to us in a cheerful although rather odd way, and smiling

  constantly, so as to display a set of the most brilliantly white

  teeth. As his vessel drew nearer, we saw a red flannel cap which he

  had on fall from his head into the water; but of this he took little

  or no notice, continuing his odd smiles and gesticulations. I relate

  these things and circumstances minutely, and I relate them, it must

  be understood, precisely as they _appeared _to us.

  The brig came on slowly, and now more steadily than before, and

  -- I cannot speak calmly of this event -- our hearts leaped up wildly

  within us, and we poured out our whole souls in shouts and

  thanksgiving to God for the complete, unexpected, and glorious

  deliverance that was so palpably at hand. Of a sudden, and all at

  once, there came wafted over the ocean from the strange vessel (which

  was now close upon us) a smell, a stench, such as the whole world has

  no name for -- no conception of -- hellish -- utterly suffocating --

  insufferable, inconceivable. I gasped for breath, and turning to my

  companions, perceived that they were paler than marble. But we had

  now no time left for question or surmise- the brig was within fifty

  feet of us, and it seemed to be her intention to run under our

  counter, that we might board her without putting out a boat. We

  rushed aft, when, suddenly, a wide yaw threw her off full five or six

  points from the course she had been running, and, as she passed under

  our stern at the distance of about twenty feet, we had a full view of

  her decks. Shall I ever forget the triple horror of that spectacle?

  Twenty-five or thirty human bodies, among whom were several females,

  lay scattered about between the counter and the galley in the last

  and most loathsome state of putrefaction. We plainly saw that not a

  soul lived in that fated vessel! Yet we could not help shouting to

  the dead for help! Yes, long and loudly did we beg, in the agony of

  the moment, that those silent and disgusting images would stay for

  us, would not abandon us to become like them, would receive us among

  their goodly company! We were raving with horror and despair-

  thoroughly mad through the anguish of our grievous disappointment.

  As our first loud yell of terror broke forth, it was replied to

  by something, from near the bowsprit of the stranger, so closely

  resembling the scream of a human voice that the nicest ear might have

  been startled and deceived. At this instant another sudden yaw

  brought the region of the forecastle for a moment into view, and we

  beheld at once the origin of the sound. We saw the tall stout figure

  still leaning on the bulwark, and still nodding his head to and fro,

  but his face was now turned from us so that we could not behold it.

  His arms were extended over the rail, and the palms of his hands fell

  outward. His knees were lodged upon a stout rope, tightly stretched,

  and reaching from the heel of the bowsprit to a cathead. On his back,

  from which a portion of the shirt had been torn, leaving it bare,

  there sat a huge sea-gull, busily gorging itself with the horrible

  flesh, its bill and talons deep buried, and its white plumage

  spattered all over with blood. As the brig moved farther round so as

  to bring us close in view, the bird, with much apparent difficulty,

  drew out its crimsoned head, and, after eyeing us for a moment as if

  stupefied, arose lazily from the body upon which it had been

  feasting, and, flying directly above our deck, hovered there a while

  with a portion of clotted and liver-like substance in its beak. The

  horrid morsel dropped at length with a sullen splash immediately at

  the feet of Parker. May God forgive me, but now, for the first time,

  there flashed through my mind a thought, a thought which I will not

  mention, and I felt myself making a step toward the ensanguined spot.

  I looked upward, and the eyes of Augustus met my own with a degree of

  intense and eager meaning which immediately brought me to my senses.

  I sprang forward quickly, and, with a deep shudder, threw the

  frightful thing into the sea.

  The body from which it had been taken, resting as it did upon the

  rope, had been easily swayed to and fro by the exertions of the

  carnivorous bird, and it was this motion which had at first impressed

  us with the belief of its being alive. As the gull relieved it of its

  weight, it swung round and fell partially over, so that the face was

  fully discovered. Never, surely, was any object so terribly full of

  awe! The eyes were gone, and the whole flesh around the mouth,

  leaving the teeth utterly naked. This, then, was the smile which had

  cheered us on to hope! this the -- but I forbear. The brig, as I have

  already told, passed under our stern, and made its way slowly but

  steadily to leeward. With her and with her terrible crew went all our

  gay visions of deliverance and joy. Deliberately as she went by, we

  might possibly have found means of boarding her, had not our sudden

  disappointment and the appalling nature of the discovery which

  accompanied it laid entirely prostrate every active faculty of mind

  and body. We had seen and felt, but we could neither think nor act,


  until, alas! too late. How much our intellects had been weakened by

  this incident may be estimated by the fact, that when the vessel had

  proceeded so far that we could perceive no more than the half of her

  hull, the proposition was seriously entertained of attempting to

  overtake her by swimming!

  I have, since this period, vainly endeavoured to obtain some clew

  to the hideous uncertainty which enveloped the fate of the stranger.

  Her build and general appearance, as I have before stated, led us to

  the belief that she was a Dutch trader, and the dresses of the crew

  also sustained this opinion. We might have easily seen the name upon

  her stern, and, indeed, taken other observations, which would have

  guided us in making out her character; but the intense excitement of

  the moment blinded us to every thing of that nature. From the

  saffron-like hue of such of the corpses as were not entirely decayed,

  we concluded that the whole of her company had perished by the yellow

  fever, or some other virulent disease of the same fearful kind. If

  such were the case (and I know not what else to imagine), death, to

  judge from the positions of the bodies, must have come upon them in a

  manner awfully sudden and overwhelming, in a way totally distinct

  from that which generally characterizes even the most deadly

  pestilences with which mankind are acquainted. It is possible,

  indeed, that poison, accidentally introduced into some of their

  sea-stores, may have brought about the disaster, or that the eating

  of some unknown venomous species of fish, or other marine animal, or

  oceanic bird, might have induced it -- but it is utterly useless to

  form conjectures where all is involved, and will, no doubt, remain

  for ever involved, in the most appalling and unfathomable mystery.

  ~~~ End of Text of Chapter 10 ~~~

  CHAPTER 11

  WE spent the remainder of the day in a condition of stupid

  lethargy, gazing after the retreating vessel until the darkness,

  hiding her from our sight, recalled us in some measure to our senses.

  The pangs of hunger and thirst then returned, absorbing all other