CHAPTER 9
LUCKILY, just before night, all four of us had lashed ourselves firmlyto the fragments of the windlass, lying in this manner as flat upon thedeck as possible. This precaution alone saved us from destruction. Asit was, we were all more or less stunned by the immense weight of waterwhich tumbled upon us, and which did not roll from above us until wewere nearly exhausted. As soon as I could recover breath, I called aloudto my companions. Augustus alone replied, saying: “It is all over withus, and may God have mercy upon our souls!” By-and-by both the otherswere enabled to speak, when they exhorted us to take courage, as therewas still hope; it being impossible, from the nature of the cargo, thatthe brig could go down, and there being every chance that the gale wouldblow over by the morning. These words inspired me with new life; for,strange as it may seem, although it was obvious that a vessel with acargo of empty oil-casks would not sink, I had been hitherto so confusedin mind as to have overlooked this consideration altogether; and thedanger which I had for some time regarded as the most imminent wasthat of foundering. As hope revived within me, I made use of everyopportunity to strengthen the lashings which held me to the remainsof the windlass, and in this occupation I soon discovered that mycompanions were also busy. The night was as dark as it could possiblybe, and the horrible shrieking din and confusion which surrounded us itis useless to attempt describing. Our deck lay level with the sea, orrather we were encircled with a towering ridge of foam, a portion ofwhich swept over us every instant. It is not too much to say that ourheads were not fairly out of the water more than one second in three.Although we lay close together, no one of us could see the other,or, indeed, any portion of the brig itself, upon which we were sotempestuously hurled about. At intervals we called one to the other,thus endeavouring to keep alive hope, and render consolation andencouragement to such of us as stood most in need of it. The feeblecondition of Augustus made him an object of solicitude with us all; andas, from the lacerated condition of his right arm, it must have beenimpossible for him to secure his lashings with any degree offirmness, we were in momentary expectation of finding that he had goneoverboard--yet to render him aid was a thing altogether out of thequestion. Fortunately, his station was more secure than that of anyof the rest of us; for the upper part of his body lying just beneatha portion of the shattered windlass, the seas, as they tumbled in uponhim, were greatly broken in their violence. In any other situation thanthis (into which he had been accidentally thrown after having lashedhimself in a very exposed spot) he must inevitably have perished beforemorning. Owing to the brig’s lying so much along, we were all lessliable to be washed off than otherwise would have been the case. Theheel, as I have before stated, was to larboard, about one half of thedeck being constantly under water. The seas, therefore, which struck usto starboard were much broken, by the vessel’s side, only reaching usin fragments as we lay flat on our faces; while those which came fromlarboard being what are called back-water seas, and obtaining littlehold upon us on account of our posture, had not sufficient force to dragus from our fastenings.
In this frightful situation we lay until the day broke so as to showus more fully the horrors which surrounded us. The brig was a merelog, rolling about at the mercy of every wave; the gale was upon theincrease, if any thing, blowing indeed a complete hurricane, and thereappeared to us no earthly prospect of deliverance. For several hourswe held on in silence, expecting every moment that our lashings wouldeither give way, that the remains of the windlass would go by the board,or that some of the huge seas, which roared in every direction aroundus and above us, would drive the hulk so far beneath the water that weshould be drowned before it could regain the surface. By the mercy ofGod, however, we were preserved from these imminent dangers, and aboutmidday were cheered by the light of the blessed sun. Shortly afterwardwe could perceive a sensible diminution in the force of the wind, when,now for the first time since the latter part of the evening before,Augustus spoke, asking Peters, who lay closest to him, if he thoughtthere was any possibility of our being saved. As no reply was at firstmade to this question, we all concluded that the hybrid had been drownedwhere he lay; but presently, to our great joy, he spoke, although veryfeebly, saying that he was in great pain, being so cut by the tightnessof his lashings across the stomach, that he must either find means ofloosening them or perish, as it was impossible that he could endurehis misery much longer. This occasioned us great distress, as it wasaltogether useless to think of aiding him in any manner while thesea continued washing over us as it did. We exhorted him to bear hissufferings with fortitude, and promised to seize the first opportunitywhich should offer itself to relieve him. He replied that it would soonbe too late; that it would be all over with him before we could helphim; and then, after moaning for some minutes, lay silent, when weconcluded that he had perished.
As the evening drew on, the sea had fallen so much that scarcely morethan one wave broke over the hulk from windward in the course of fiveminutes, and the wind had abated a great deal, although still blowing asevere gale. I had not heard any of my companions speak for hours, andnow called to Augustus. He replied, although very feebly, so thatI could not distinguish what he said. I then spoke to Peters and toParker, neither of whom returned any answer.
Shortly after this period I fell into a state of partial insensibility,during which the most pleasing images floated in my imagination; such asgreen trees, waving meadows of ripe grain, processions of dancing girls,troops of cavalry, and other phantasies. I now remember that, in allwhich passed before my mind’s eye, motion was a predominant idea. Thus,I never fancied any stationary object, such as a house, a mountain, orany thing of that kind; but windmills, ships, large birds, balloons,people on horseback, carriages driving furiously, and similar movingobjects, presented themselves in endless succession. When I recoveredfrom this state, the sun was, as near as I could guess, an hour high.I had the greatest difficulty in bringing to recollection the variouscircumstances connected with my situation, and for some time remainedfirmly convinced that I was still in the hold of the brig, near the box,and that the body of Parker was that of Tiger.
When I at length completely came to my senses, I found that the windblew no more than a moderate breeze, and that the sea was comparativelycalm; so much so that it only washed over the brig amidships. My leftarm had broken loose from its lashings, and was much cut about theelbow; my right was entirely benumbed, and the hand and wrist swollenprodigiously by the pressure of the rope, which had worked from theshoulder downward. I was also in great pain from another rope whichwent about my waist, and had been drawn to an insufferable degree oftightness. Looking round upon my companions, I saw that Peters stilllived, although a thick line was pulled so forcibly around his loins asto give him the appearance of being cut nearly in two; as I stirred, hemade a feeble motion to me with his hand, pointing to the rope. Augustusgave no indication of life whatever, and was bent nearly double across asplinter of the windlass. Parker spoke to me when he saw me moving,and asked me if I had not sufficient strength to release him from hissituation, saying that if I would summon up what spirits I could, andcontrive to untie him, we might yet save our lives; but that otherwisewe must all perish. I told him to take courage, and I would endeavor tofree him. Feeling in my pantaloons’ pocket, I got hold of my penknife,and, after several ineffectual attempts, at length succeeded in openingit. I then, with my left hand, managed to free my right from itsfastenings, and afterward cut the other ropes which held me. Uponattempting, however, to move from my position, I found that my legsfailed me altogether, and that I could not get up; neither could Imove my right arm in any direction. Upon mentioning this to Parker, headvised me to lie quiet for a few minutes, holding on to the windlasswith my left hand, so as to allow time for the blood to circulate. Doingthis, the numbness presently began to die away so that I could movefirst one of my legs, and then the other, and, shortly afterward Iregained the partial use of my right arm. I now crawled with greatcaution toward Parker, without getting on my leg
s, and soon cut looseall the lashings about him, when, after a short delay, he also recoveredthe partial use of his limbs. We now lost no time in getting loose therope from Peters. It had cut a deep gash through the waistband of hiswoollen pantaloons, and through two shirts, and made its way into hisgroin, from which the blood flowed out copiously as we removed thecordage. No sooner had we removed it, however, than he spoke, and seemedto experience instant relief--being able to move with much greater easethan either Parker or myself--this was no doubt owing to the dischargeof blood.
We had little hopes that Augustus would recover, as he evinced no signsof life; but, upon getting to him, we discovered that he had merelyswooned from the loss of blood, the bandages we had placed around hiswounded arm having been torn off by the water; none of the ropes whichheld him to the windlass were drawn sufficiently tight to occasion hisdeath. Having relieved him from the fastenings, and got him clear ofthe broken wood about the windlass, we secured him in a dry place towindward, with his head somewhat lower than his body, and all three ofus busied ourselves in chafing his limbs. In about half an hour he cameto himself, although it was not until the next morning that he gavesigns of recognizing any of us, or had sufficient strength to speak. Bythe time we had thus got clear of our lashings it was quite dark, and itbegan to cloud up, so that we were again in the greatest agony lest itshould come on to blow hard, in which event nothing could have saved usfrom perishing, exhausted as we were. By good fortune it continued verymoderate during the night, the sea subsiding every minute, which gaveus great hopes of ultimate preservation. A gentle breeze still blewfrom the N. W., but the weather was not at all cold. Augustus was lashedcarefully to windward in such a manner as to prevent him from slippingoverboard with the rolls of the vessel, as he was still too weak tohold on at all. For ourselves there was no such necessity. We sat closetogether, supporting each other with the aid of the broken ropesabout the windlass, and devising methods of escape from our frightfulsituation. We derived much comfort from taking off our clothes andwringing the water from them. When we put them on after this, they feltremarkably warm and pleasant, and served to invigorate us in no littledegree. We helped Augustus off with his, and wrung them for him, when heexperienced the same comfort.
Our chief sufferings were now those of hunger and thirst, and when welooked forward to the means of relief in this respect, our hearts sunkwithin us, and we were induced to regret that we had escaped theless dreadful perils of the sea. We endeavoured, however, to consoleourselves with the hope of being speedily picked up by some vesseland encouraged each other to bear with fortitude the evils that mighthappen.
The morning of the fourteenth at length dawned, and the weather stillcontinued clear and pleasant, with a steady but very light breeze fromthe N. W. The sea was now quite smooth, and as, from some cause which wecould not determine, the brig did not lie so much along as she had donebefore, the deck was comparatively dry, and we could move about withfreedom. We had now been better than three entire days and nightswithout either food or drink, and it became absolutely necessary that weshould make an attempt to get up something from below. As the brig wascompletely full of water, we went to this work despondently, and withbut little expectation of being able to obtain anything. We made a kindof drag by driving some nails which we broke out from the remains of thecompanion-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 toentangle some article which might be of use to us for food, or whichmight at least render us assistance in getting it. We spent the greaterpart of the morning in this labour without effect, fishing up nothingmore than a few bedclothes, which were readily caught by the nails.Indeed, our contrivance was so very clumsy that any greater success washardly to be anticipated.
We now tried the forecastle, but equally in vain, and were upon thebrink of despair, when Peters proposed that we should fasten a rope tohis body, and let him make an attempt to get up something by divinginto the cabin. This proposition we hailed with all the delight whichreviving hope could inspire. He proceeded immediately to strip off hisclothes with the exception of his pantaloons; and a strong rope wasthen carefully fastened around his middle, being brought up overhis shoulders in such a manner that there was no possibility of itsslipping. The undertaking was one of great difficulty and danger; for,as we could hardly expect to find much, if any, provision in the cabinitself, it was necessary that the diver, after letting himself down,should make a turn to the right, and proceed under water a distance often 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 downthe companion-ladder until the water reached his chin. He then plungedin, head first, turning to the right as he plunged, and endeavouring tomake his way to the storeroom. In this first attempt, however, he wasaltogether unsuccessful. In less than half a minute after his going downwe felt the rope jerked violently (the signal we had agreed upon whenhe desired to be drawn up). We accordingly drew him up instantly, but soincautiously as to bruise him badly against the ladder. He had broughtnothing with him, and had been unable to penetrate more than a verylittle way into the passage, owing to the constant exertions he found itnecessary to make in order to keep himself from floating up against thedeck. Upon getting out he was very much exhausted, and had to rest fullfifteen minutes before he could again venture to descend.
The second attempt met with even worse success; for he remained so longunder water without giving the signal, that, becoming alarmed for hissafety, we drew him out without it, and found that he was almost at thelast gasp, having, as he said, repeatedly jerked at the rope withoutour feeling it. This was probably owing to a portion of it having becomeentangled in the balustrade at the foot of the ladder. This balustradewas, indeed, so much in the way, that we determined to remove it, ifpossible, before proceeding with our design. As we had no means ofgetting it away except by main force, we all descended into the wateras far as we could on the ladder, and giving a pull against it with ourunited strength, succeeded in breaking it down.
The third attempt was equally unsuccessful with the two first, and itnow became evident that nothing could be done in this manner without theaid of some weight with which the diver might steady himself, and keepto the floor of the cabin while making his search. For a long time welooked about in vain for something which might answer this purpose; butat length, to our great joy, we discovered one of the weather-forechainsso loose that we had not the least difficulty in wrenching it off.Having fastened this securely to one of his ankles, Peters now made hisfourth descent into the cabin, and this time succeeded in making his wayto the door of the steward’s room. To his inexpressible grief, however,he found it locked, and was obliged to return without effecting anentrance, as, with the greatest exertion, he could remain under waternot more, at the utmost extent, than a single minute. Our affairs nowlooked gloomy indeed, and neither Augustus nor myself could refrain frombursting into tears, as we thought of the host of difficulties whichencompassed us, and the slight probability which existed of our finallymaking an escape. But this weakness was not of long duration. Throwingourselves on our knees to God, we implored His aid in the many dangerswhich beset us; and arose with renewed hope and vigor to think whatcould yet be done by mortal means toward accomplishing our deliverance.
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 3 Page 10