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

by Volume 01-05 (lit)

  slipping back into the water, when Augustus, throwing a rope with a

  slipknot around its throat, held it up in this manner until I jumped

  into the hole by the side of Peters, and assisted him in lifting it

  out.

  The water we drew carefully from the bag into the jug; which, it

  will be remembered, had been brought up before from the cabin. Having

  done this, we broke off the neck of a bottle so as to form, with the

  cork, a kind of glass, holding not quite half a gill. We then each

  drank one of these measures full, and resolved to limit ourselves to

  this quantity per day as long as it should hold out.

  During the last two or three days, the weather having been dry

  and pleasant, the bedding we had obtained from the cabin, as well as

  our clothing, had become thoroughly dry, so that we passed this night

  (that of the twenty-third) in comparative comfort, enjoying a

  tranquil repose, after having supped plentifully on olives and ham,

  with a small allowance of the wine. Being afraid of losing some of

  our stores overboard during the night, in the event of a breeze

  springing up, we secured them as well as possible with cordage to the

  fragments of the windlass. Our tortoise, which we were anxious to

  preserve alive as long as we could, we threw on its back, and

  otherwise carefully fastened.

  ~~~ End of Text of Chapter 12 ~~~

  CHAPTER 13

  JULY 24. This morning saw us wonderfully recruited in spirits and

  strength. Notwithstanding the perilous situation in which we were

  still placed, ignorant of our position, although certainly at a great

  distance from land, without more food than would last us for a

  fortnight even with great care, almost entirely without water, and

  floating about at the mercy of every wind and wave on the merest

  wreck in the world, still the infinitely more terrible distresses and

  dangers from which we had so lately and so providentially been

  delivered caused us to regard what we now endured as but little more

  than an ordinary evil- so strictly comparative is either good or ill.

  At sunrise we were preparing to renew our attempts at getting up

  something from the storeroom, when, a smart shower coming on, with

  some lightning, we turn our attention to the catching of water by

  means of the sheet we had used before for this purpose. We had no

  other means of collecting the rain than by holding the sheet spread

  out with one of the forechain-plates in the middle of it. The water,

  thus conducted to the centre, was drained through into our jug. We

  had nearly filled it in this manner, when, a heavy squall coming on

  from the northward, obliged us to desist, as the hulk began once more

  to roll so violently that we could no longer keep our feet. We now

  went forward, and, lashing ourselves securely to the remnant of the

  windlass as before, awaited the event with far more calmness than

  could have been anticipated or would have been imagined possible

  under the circumstances. At noon the wind had freshened into a

  two-reef breeze, and by night into a stiff gale, accompanied with a

  tremendously heavy swell. Experience having taught us, however, the

  best method of arranging our lashings, we weathered this dreary night

  in tolerable security, although thoroughly drenched at almost every

  instant by the sea, and in momentary dread of being washed off.

  Fortunately, the weather was so warm as to render the water rather

  grateful than otherwise.

  July 25. This morning the gale had diminished to a mere ten-knot

  breeze, and the sea had gone down with it so considerably that we

  were able to keep ourselves dry upon the deck. To our great grief,

  however, we found that two jars of our olives, as well as the whole

  of our ham, had been washed overboard, in spite of the careful manner

  in which they had been fastened. We determined not to kill the

  tortoise as yet, and contented ourselves for the present with a

  breakfast on a few of the olives, and a measure of water each, which

  latter we mixed half and half, with wine, finding great relief and

  strength from the mixture, without the distressing intoxication which

  had ensued upon drinking the port. The sea was still far too rough

  for the renewal of our efforts at getting up provision from the

  storeroom. Several articles, of no importance to us in our present

  situation, floated up through the opening during the day, and were

  immediately washed overboard. We also now observed that the hulk lay

  more along than ever, so that we could not stand an instant without

  lashing ourselves. On this account we passed a gloomy and

  uncomfortable day. At noon the sun appeared to be nearly vertical,

  and we had no doubt that we had been driven down by the long

  succession of northward and northwesterly winds into the near

  vicinity of the equator. Toward evening saw several sharks, and were

  somewhat alarmed by the audacious manner in which an enormously large

  one approached us. At one time, a lurch throwing the deck very far

  beneath the water, the monster actually swam in upon us, floundering

  for some moments just over the companion-hatch, and striking Peters

  violently with his tail. A heavy sea at length hurled him overboard,

  much to our relief. In moderate weather we might have easily captured

  him.

  July 26. This morning, the wind having greatly abated, and the

  sea not being very rough, we determined to renew our exertions in the

  storeroom. After a great deal of hard labor during the whole day, we

  found that nothing further was to be expected from this quarter, the

  partitions of the room having been stove during the night, and its

  contents swept into the hold. This discovery, as may be supposed,

  filled us with despair.

  July 27. The sea nearly smooth, with a light wind, and still from

  the northward and westward. The sun coming out hotly in the

  afternoon, we occupied ourselves in drying our clothes. Found great

  relief from thirst, and much comfort otherwise, by bathing in the

  sea; in this, however, we were forced to use great caution, being

  afraid of sharks, several of which were seen swimming around the brig

  during the day.

  July 28. Good weather still. The brig now began to lie along so

  alarmingly that we feared she would eventually roll bottom up.

  Prepared ourselves as well as we could for this emergency, lashing

  our tortoise, waterjug, and two remaining jars of olives as far as

  possible over to the windward, placing them outside the hull below

  the main-chains. The sea very smooth all day, with little or no wind.

  July 29. A continuance of the same weather. Augustus's wounded

  arm began to evince symptoms of mortification. He complained of

  drowsiness and excessive thirst, but no acute pain. Nothing could be

  done for his relief beyond rubbing his wounds with a little of the

  vinegar from the olives, and from this no benefit seemed to be

  experienced. We did every thing in our power for his comfort, and

  trebled his allowance of water.

  July 30. An excessively hot day, with no wind. An enormous shark
/>
  kept close by the hulk during the whole of the forenoon. We made

  several unsuccessful attempts to capture him by means of a noose.

  Augustus much worse, and evidently sinking as much from want of

  proper nourishment as from the effect of his wounds. He constantly

  prayed to be relieved from his sufferings, wishing for nothing but

  death. This evening we ate the last of our olives, and found the

  water in our jug so putrid that we could not swallow it at all

  without the addition of wine. Determined to kill our tortoise in the

  morning.

  July 31. After a night of excessive anxiety and fatigue, owing to

  the position of the hulk, we set about killing and cutting up our

  tortoise. He proved to be much smaller than we had supposed, although

  in good condition,- the whole meat about him not amounting to more

  than ten pounds. With a view of preserving a portion of this as long

  as possible, we cut it into fine pieces, and filled with them our

  three remaining olive jars and the wine-bottle (all of which had been

  kept), pouring in afterward the vinegar from the olives. In this

  manner we put away about three pounds of the tortoise, intending not

  to touch it until we had consumed the rest. We concluded to restrict

  ourselves to about four ounces of the meat per day; the whole would

  thus last us thirteen days. A brisk shower, with severe thunder and

  lightning, came on about dusk, but lasted so short a time that we

  only succeeded in catching about half a pint of water. The whole of

  this, by common consent, was given to Augustus, who now appeared to

  be in the last extremity. He drank the water from the sheet as we

  caught it (we holding it above him as he lay so as to let it run into

  his mouth), for we had now nothing left capable of holding water,

  unless we had chosen to empty out our wine from the carboy, or the

  stale water from the jug. Either of these expedients would have been

  resorted to had the shower lasted.

  The sufferer seemed to derive but little benefit from the

  draught. His arm was completely black from the wrist to the shoulder,

  and his feet were like ice. We expected every moment to see him

  breathe his last. He was frightfully emaciated; so much so that,

  although he weighed a hundred and twenty-seven pounds upon his

  leaving Nantucket, he now did not weigh more than forty or fifty at

  the farthest. His eyes were sunk far in his head, being scarcely

  perceptible, and the skin of his cheeks hung so loosely as to prevent

  his masticating any food, or even swallowing any liquid, without

  great difficulty.

  August 1. A continuance of the same calm weather, with an

  oppressively hot sun. Suffered exceedingly from thirst, the water in

  the jug being absolutely putrid and swarming with vermin. We

  contrived, nevertheless, to swallow a portion of it by mixing it with

  wine; our thirst, however, was but little abated. We found more

  relief by bathing in the sea, but could not avail ourselves of this

  expedient except at long intervals, on account of the continual

  presence of sharks. We now saw clearly that Augustus could not be

  saved; that he was evidently dying. We could do nothing to relieve

  his sufferings, which appeared to be great. About twelve o'clock he

  expired in strong convulsions, and without having spoken for several

  days. His death filled us with the most gloomy forebodings, and had

  so great an effect upon our spirits that we sat motionless by the

  corpse during the whole day, and never addressed each other except in

  a whisper. It was not until some time after dark that we took courage

  to get up and throw the body overboard. It was then loathsome beyond

  expression, and so far decayed that, as Peters attempted to lift it,

  an entire leg came off in his grasp. As the mass of putrefaction

  slipped over the vessel's side into the water, the glare of

  phosphoric light with which it was surrounded plainly discovered to

  us seven or eight large sharks, the clashing of whose horrible teeth,

  as their prey was torn to pieces among them, might have been heard at

  the distance of a mile. We shrunk within ourselves in the extremity

  of horror at the sound.

  August 2. The same fearfully calm and hot weather. The dawn found

  us in a state of pitiable dejection as well as bodily exhaustion. The

  water in the jug was now absolutely useless, being a thick gelatinous

  mass; nothing but frightful-looking worms mingled with slime. We

  threw it out, and washed the jug well in the sea, afterward pouring a

  little vinegar in it from our bottles of pickled tortoise. Our thirst

  could now scarcely be endured, and we tried in vain to relieve it by

  wine, which seemed only to add fuel to the flame, and excited us to a

  high degree of intoxication. We afterward endeavoured to relieve our

  sufferings by mixing the wine with seawater; but this instantly

  brought about the most violent retchings, so that we never again

  attempted it. During the whole day we anxiously sought an opportunity

  of bathing, but to no purpose; for the hulk was now entirely besieged

  on all sides with sharks- no doubt the identical monsters who had

  devoured our poor companion on the evening before, and who were in

  momentary expectation of another similar feast. This circumstance

  occasioned us the most bitter regret and filled us with the most

  depressing and melancholy forebodings. We had experienced

  indescribable relief in bathing, and to have this resource cut off in

  so frightful a manner was more than we could bear. Nor, indeed, were

  we altogether free from the apprehension of immediate danger, for the

  least slip or false movement would have thrown us at once within

  reach of those voracious fish, who frequently thrust themselves

  directly upon us, swimming up to leeward. No shouts or exertions on

  our part seemed to alarm them. Even when one of the largest was

  struck with an axe by Peters and much wounded, he persisted in his

  attempts to push in where we were. A cloud came up at dusk, but, to

  our extreme anguish, passed over without discharging itself. It is

  quite impossible to conceive our sufferings from thirst at this

  period. We passed a sleepless night, both on this account and through

  dread of the sharks.

  August 3. No prospect of relief, and the brig lying still more

  and more along, so that now we could not maintain a footing upon deck

  at all. Busied ourselves in securing our wine and tortoise-meat, so

  that we might not lose them in the event of our rolling over. Got out

  two stout spikes from the forechains, and, by means of the axe, drove

  them into the hull to windward within a couple of feet of the water,

  this not being very far from the keel, as we were nearly upon our

  beam-ends. To these spikes we now lashed our provisions, as being

  more secure than their former position beneath the chains. Suffered

  great agony from thirst during the whole day- no chance of bathing on

  account of the sharks, which never left us for a moment. Found it

  impossible to sleep.

  August 4. A little before daybreak we perceived that the
hulk was

  heeling over, and aroused ourselves to prevent being thrown off by

  the movement. At first the roll was slow and gradual, and we

  contrived to clamber over to windward very well, having taken the

  precaution to leave ropes hanging from the spikes we had driven in

  for the provision. But we had not calculated sufficiently upon the

  acceleration of the impetus; for, presently the heel became too

  violent to allow of our keeping pace with it; and, before either of

  us knew what was to happen, we found ourselves hurled furiously into

  the sea, and struggling several fathoms beneath the surface, with the

  huge hull immediately above us.

  In going under the water I had been obliged to let go my hold

  upon the rope; and finding that I was completely beneath the vessel,

  and my strength nearly exhausted, I scarcely made a struggle for

  life, and resigned myself, in a few seconds, to die. But here again I

  was deceived, not having taken into consideration the natural rebound

  of the hull to windward. The whirl of the water upward, which the

  vessel occasioned in Tolling partially back, brought me to the

  surface still more violently than I had been plunged beneath. Upon

  coming up I found myself about twenty yards from the hulk, as near as

  I could judge. She was lying keel up, rocking furiously from side to

  side, and the sea in all directions around was much agitated, and

  full of strong whirlpools. I could see nothing of Peters. An oil-cask

  was floating within a few feet of me, and various other articles from

  the brig were scattered about.

  My principal terror was now on account of the sharks, which I

  knew to be in my vicinity. In order to deter these, if possible, from

  approaching me, I splashed the water vigorously with both hands and

  feet as I swam towards the hulk, creating a body of foam. I have no

  doubt that to this expedient, simple as it was, I was indebted for my

  preservation; for the sea all round the brig, just before her rolling

  over, was so crowded with these monsters, that I must have been, and