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

by Volume 01-05 (lit)

  cares and considerations. Nothing, however, could be done until the

  morning, and, securing ourselves as well as possible, we endeavoured

  to snatch a little repose. In this I succeeded beyond my

  expectations, sleeping until my companions, who had not been so

  fortunate, aroused me at daybreak to renew our attempts at getting up

  provisions from the hull.

  It was now a dead calm, with the sea as smooth as have ever known

  it, -- the weather warm and pleasant. The brig was out of sight. We

  commenced our operations by wrenching off, with some trouble, another

  of the forechains; and having fastened both to Peters' feet, he again

  made an endeavour to reach the door of the storeroom, thinking it

  possible that he might be able to force it open, provided he could

  get at it in sufficient time; and this he hoped to do, as the hulk

  lay much more steadily than before.

  He succeeded very quickly in reaching the door, when, loosening

  one of the chains from his ankle, be made every exertion to force the

  passage with it, but in vain, the framework of the room being far

  stronger than was anticipated. He was quite exhausted with his long

  stay under water, and it became absolutely necessary that some other

  one of us should take his place. For this service Parker immediately

  volunteered; but, after making three ineffectual efforts, found that

  he could never even succeed in getting near the door. The condition

  of Augustus's wounded arm rendered it useless for him to attempt

  going down, as he would be unable to force the room open should be

  reach it, and it accordingly now devolved upon me to exert myself for

  our common deliverance.

  Peters had left one of the chains in the passage, and I found,

  upon plunging in, that I had not sufficient balance to keep me firmly

  down. I determined, therefore, to attempt no more, in my first

  effort, than merely to recover the other chain. In groping along the

  floor of the passage for this, I felt a hard substance, which I

  immediately grasped, not having time to ascertain what it was, but

  returning and ascending instantly to the surface. The prize proved to

  be a bottle, and our joy may be conceived when I say that it was

  found to be full of port wine. Giving thanks to God for this timely

  and cheering assistance, we immediately drew the cork with my

  penknife, and, each taking a moderate sup, felt the most

  indescribable comfort from the warmth, strength, and spirits with

  which it inspired us. We then carefully recorked the bottle, and, by

  means of a handkerchief, swung it in such a manner that there was no

  possibility of its getting broken.

  Having rested a while after this fortunate discovery, I again

  descended, and now recovered the chain, with which I instantly came

  up. I then fastened it on and went down for the third time, when I

  became fully satisfied that no exertions whatever, in that situation,

  would enable me to force open the door of the storeroom. I therefore

  returned in despair.

  There seemed now to be no longer any room for hope, and I could

  perceive in the countenances of my companions that they had made up

  their minds to perish. The wine had evidently produced in them a

  species of delirium, which, perhaps, I had been prevented from

  feeling by the immersion I had undergone since drinking it. They

  talked incoherently, and about matters unconnected with our

  condition, Peters repeatedly asking me questions about Nantucket.

  Augustus, too, I remember, approached me with a serious air, and

  requested me to lend him a pocket-comb, as his hair was full of

  fish-scales, and he wished to get them out before going on shore.

  Parker appeared somewhat less affected, and urged me to dive at

  random into the cabin, and bring up any article which might come to

  hand. To this I consented, and, in the first attempt, after staying

  under a full minute, brought up a small leather trunk belonging to

  Captain Barnard. This was immediately opened in the faint hope that

  it might contain something to eat or drink. We found nothing,

  however, except a box of razors and two linen shirts. I now went down

  again, and returned without any success. As my head came above water

  I heard a crash on deck, and, upon getting up, saw that my companions

  had ungratefully taken advantage of my absence to drink the remainder

  of the wine, having let the bottle fall in the endeavour to replace

  it before I saw them. I remonstrated with them on the heartlessness

  of their conduct, when Augustus burst into tears. The other two

  endeavoured to laugh the matter off as a joke, but I hope never again

  to behold laughter of such a species: the distortion of countenance

  was absolutely frightful. Indeed, it was apparent that the stimulus,

  in the empty state of their stomachs, had taken instant and violent

  effect, and that they were all exceedingly intoxicated. With great

  difficulty I prevailed upon them to lie down, when they fell very

  soon into a heavy slumber, accompanied with loud stertorous

  breathing.

  I now found myself, as it were, alone in the brig, and my

  reflections, to be sure, were of the most fearful and gloomy nature.

  No prospect offered itself to my view but a lingering death by

  famine, or, at the best, by being overwhelmed in the first gale which

  should spring up, for in our present exhausted condition we could

  have no hope of living through another.

  The gnawing hunger which I now experienced was nearly

  insupportable, and I felt myself capable of going to any lengths in

  order to appease it. With my knife I cut off a small portion of the

  leather trunk, and endeavoured to eat it, but found it utterly

  impossible to swallow a single morsel, although I fancied that some

  little alleviation of my suffering was obtained by chewing small

  pieces of it and spitting them out. Toward night my companions awoke,

  one by one, each in an indescribable state of weakness and horror,

  brought on by the wine, whose fumes had now evaporated. They shook as

  if with a violent ague, and uttered the most lamentable cries for

  water. Their condition affected me in the most lively degree, at the

  same time causing me to rejoice in the fortunate train of

  circumstances which had prevented me from indulging in the wine, and

  consequently from sharing their melancholy and most distressing

  sensations. Their conduct, however, gave me great uneasiness and

  alarm; for it was evident that, unless some favourable change took

  place, they could afford me no assistance in providing for our common

  safety. I had not yet abandoned all idea being able to get up

  something from below; but the attempt could not possibly be resumed

  until some one of them was sufficiently master of himself to aid me

  by holding the end of the rope while I went down. Parker appeared to

  be somewhat more in possession of his senses than the others, and I

  endeavoured, by every means in my power, to rouse him. Thinking that

  a plunge in the sea-water might have a beneficial effect, I contrived

  to fasten the end o
f a rope around his body, and then, leading him to

  the companion-way (he remaining quite passive all the while), pushed

  him in, and immediately drew him out. I had good reason to

  congratulate myself upon having made this experiment; for he appeared

  much revived and invigorated, and, upon getting out, asked me, in a

  rational manner, why I had so served him. Having explained my object,

  he expressed himself indebted to me, and said that he felt greatly

  better from the immersion, afterward conversing sensibly upon our

  situation. We then resolved to treat Augustus and Peters in the same

  way, which we immediately did, when they both experienced much

  benefit from the shock. This idea of sudden immersion had been

  suggested to me by reading in some medical work the good effect of

  the shower-bath in a case where the patient was suffering from _mania

  a potu_.

  Finding that I could now trust my companions to hold the end of

  the rope, I again made three or four plunges into the cabin, although

  it was now quite dark, and a gentle but long swell from the northward

  rendered the hulk somewhat unsteady. In the course of these attempts

  I succeeded in bringing up two case-knives, a three-gallon jug,

  empty, and a blanket, but nothing which could serve us for food. I

  continued my efforts, after getting these articles, until I was

  completely exhausted, but brought up nothing else. During the night

  Parker and Peters occupied themselves by turns in the same manner;

  but nothing coming to hand, we now gave up this attempt in despair,

  concluding that we were exhausting ourselves in vain.

  We passed the remainder of this night in a state of the most

  intense mental and bodily anguish that can possibly be imagined. The

  morning of the sixteenth at length dawned, and we looked eagerly

  around the horizon for relief, but to no purpose. The sea was still

  smooth, with only a long swell from the northward, as on yesterday.

  This was the sixth day since we had tasted either food or drink, with

  the exception of the bottle of port wine, and it was clear that we

  could hold out but a very little while longer unless something could

  be obtained. I never saw before, nor wish to see again, human beings

  so utterly emaciated as Peters and Augustus. Had I met them on shore

  in their present condition I should not have had the slightest

  suspicion that I had ever beheld them. Their countenances were

  totally changed in character, so that I could not bring myself to

  believe them really the same individuals with whom I had been in

  company but a few days before. Parker, although sadly reduced, and so

  feeble that he could not raise his head from his bosom, was not so

  far gone as the other two. He suffered with great patience, making no

  complaint, and endeavouring to inspire us with hope in every manner

  he could devise. For myself, although at the commencement of the

  voyage I had been in bad health, and was at all times of a delicate

  constitution, I suffered less than any of us, being much less reduced

  in frame, and retaining my powers of mind in a surprising degree,

  while the rest were completely prostrated in intellect, and seemed to

  be brought to a species of second childhood, generally simpering in

  their expressions, with idiotic smiles, and uttering the most absurd

  platitudes. At intervals, however, they would appear to revive

  suddenly, as if inspired all at once with a consciousness of their

  condition, when they would spring upon their feet in a momentary

  flash of vigour, and speak, for a short period, of their prospects,

  in a manner altogether rational, although full of the most intense

  despair. It is possible, however, that my companions may have

  entertained the same opinion of their own condition as I did of mine,

  and that I may have unwittingly been guilty of the same extravagances

  and imbecilities as themselves -- this is a matter which cannot be

  determined.

  About noon Parker declared that he saw land off the larboard

  quarter, and it was with the utmost difficulty I could restrain him

  from plunging into the sea with the view of swimming toward it.

  Peters and Augustus took little notice of what he said, being

  apparently wrapped up in moody contemplation. Upon looking in the

  direction pointed out, I could not perceive the faintest appearance

  of the shore -- indeed, I was too well aware that we were far from

  any land to indulge in a hope of that nature. It was a long time,

  nevertheless, before I could convince Parker of his mistake. He then

  burst into a flood of tears, weeping like a child, with loud cries

  and sobs, for two or three hours, when becoming exhausted, he fell

  asleep.

  Peters and Augustus now made several ineffectual efforts to

  swallow portions of the leather. I advised them to chew it and spit

  it out; but they were too excessively debilitated to be able to

  follow my advice. I continued to chew pieces of it at intervals, and

  found some relief from so doing; my chief distress was for water, and

  I was only prevented from taking a draught from the sea by

  remembering the horrible consequences which thus have resulted to

  others who were similarly situated with ourselves.

  The day wore on in this manner, when I suddenly discovered a sail

  to the eastward, and on our larboard bow. She appeared to be a large

  ship, and was coming nearly athwart us, being probably twelve or

  fifteen miles distant. None of my companions had as yet discovered

  her, and I forbore to tell them of her for the present, lest we might

  again be disappointed of relief. At length upon her getting nearer, I

  saw distinctly that she was heading immediately for us, with her

  light sails filled. I could now contain myself no longer, and pointed

  her out to my fellow-sufferers. They immediately sprang to their

  feet, again indulging in the most extravagant demonstrations of joy,

  weeping, laughing in an idiotic manner, jumping, stamping upon the

  deck, tearing their hair, and praying and cursing by turns. I was so

  affected by their conduct, as well as by what I considered a sure

  prospect of deliverance, that I could not refrain from joining in

  with their madness, and gave way to the impulses of my gratitude and

  ecstasy by lying and rolling on the deck, clapping my hands,

  shouting, and other similar acts, until I was suddenly called to my

  recollection, and once more to the extreme human misery and despair,

  by perceiving the ship all at once with her stern fully presented

  toward us, and steering in a direction nearly opposite to that in

  which I had at first perceived her.

  It was some time before I could induce my poor companions to

  believe that this sad reverse in our prospects had actually taken

  place. They replied to all my assertions with a stare and a gesture

  implying that they were not to be deceived by such

  misrepresentations. The conduct of Augustus most sensibly affected

  me. In spite of all I could say or do to the contrary, he persisted

  in saying that the ship was rapidly nearing us, and in making

  prepar
ations to go on board of her. Some seaweed floating by the

  brig, he maintained that it was the ship's boat, and endeavoured to

  throw himself upon it, howling and shrieking in the most heartrending

  manner, when I forcibly restrained him from thus casting himself into

  the sea.

  Having become in some degree pacified, we continued to watch the

  ship until we finally lost sight of her, the weather becoming hazy,

  with a light breeze springing up. As soon as she was entirely gone,

  Parker turned suddenly toward me with an expression of countenance

  which made me shudder. There was about him an air of self-possession

  which I had not noticed in him until now, and before he opened his

  lips my heart told me what he would say. He proposed, in a few words,

  that one of us should die to preserve the existence of the others.

  ~~~ End of Text of Chapter 11 ~~~

  CHAPTER 12

  I had for some time past, dwelt upon the prospect of our being

  reduced to this last horrible extremity, and had secretly made up my

  mind to suffer death in any shape or under any circumstances rather

  than resort to such a course. Nor was this resolution in any degree

  weakened by the present intensity of hunger under which I laboured.

  The proposition had not been heard by either Peters or Augustus. I

  therefore took Parker aside; and mentally praying to God for power to

  dissuade him from the horrible purpose he entertained, I expostulated

  with him for a long time, and in the most supplicating manner,

  begging him in the name of every thing which he held sacred, and

  urging him by every species of argument which the extremity of the

  case suggested, to abandon the idea, and not to mention it to either

  of the other two.

  He heard all I said without attempting to controvert any of my

  arguments, and I had begun to hope that he would be prevailed upon to

  do as I desired. But when I had ceased speaking, he said that he knew

  very well all I had said was true, and that to resort to such a

  course was the most horrible alternative which could enter into the

  mind of man; but that he had now held out as long as human nature