Omoo: Adventures in the South Seas

by Herman Melville

  On going forward, we found them ten times more tumultuous than ever.After again restoring some degree of tranquillity, we once more urgedour plan of quietly refusing duty, and awaiting the result. At first,few would hear of it; but in the end, a good number were convinced byour representations. Others held out. Nor were those who thought withus in all things to be controlled.

  Upon Wilson's coming on deck to enter his boat, he was beset on allsides; and, for a moment, I thought the ship would be seized beforehis very eyes.

  "Nothing more to say to you, men: my arrangements are made. Goforward, where you belong. I'll take no insolence;" and, in a tremor,Wilson hurried over the side in the midst of a volley of execrations.

  Shortly after his departure, the mate ordered the cook and stewardinto his boat; and saying that he was going to see how the captaindid, left us, as before, under the charge of Bembo.

  At this time we were lying becalmed, pretty close in with the land(having gone about again), our main-topsail flapping against the mastwith every roll.

  The departure of the consul and Jermin was followed by a sceneabsolutely indescribable. The sailors ran about deck like madmen;Bembo, all the while leaning against the taff-rail by himself,smoking his heathenish stone pipe, and never interfering.

  The cooper, who that morning had got himself into a fluid of anexceedingly high temperature, now did his best to regain the favourof the crew. "Without distinction of party," he called upon all handsto step up, and partake of the contents of his bucket.

  But it was quite plain that, before offering to intoxicate others, hehad taken the wise precaution of getting well tipsy himself. He wasnow once more happy in the affection of his shipmates, who, one andall, pronounced him sound to the kelson.

  The Pisco soon told; and, with great difficulty, we restrained a partyin the very act of breaking into the after-hold in pursuit of more.All manner of pranks were now played.

  "Mast-head, there! what d'ye see?" bawled Beauty, hailing themain-truck through an enormous copper funnel. "Stand by for stays,"roared Flash Jack, bawling off with the cook's axe, at the fasteningof the main-stay. "Looky out for 'quails!" shrieked the Portuguese,Antone, darting a handspike through the cabin skylight. And "Heaveround cheerly, men," sung out Navy Bob, dancing a hornpipe on theforecastle.

  CHAPTER XXIII.

  THE SECOND NIGHT OFF PAPEETEE

  TOWARD sunset, the mate came off, singing merrily, in the stern of hisboat; and in attempting to climb up the side, succeeded in goingplump into the water. He was rescued by the steward, and carriedacross the deck with many moving expressions of love for his bearer.Tumbled into the quarter-boat, he soon fell asleep, and waking aboutmidnight, somewhat sobered, went forward among the men. Here, toprepare for what follows, we must leave him for a moment.

  It was now plain enough that Jermin was by no means unwilling to takethe Julia to sea; indeed, there was nothing he so much desired;though what his reasons were, seeing our situation, we could onlyconjecture. Nevertheless, so it was; and having counted much upon hisrough popularity with the men to reconcile them to a short cruiseunder him, he had consequently been disappointed in their behaviour.Still, thinking that they would take a different view of the matter,when they came to know what fine times he had in store for them, heresolved upon trying a little persuasion.

  So on going forward, he put his head down the forecastle scuttle, andhailed us quite cordially, inviting us down into the cabin; where, hesaid, he had something to make merry withal. Nothing loth, we went;and throwing ourselves along the transom, waited for the steward toserve us.

  As the can circulated, Jermin, leaning on the table and occupying thecaptain's arm-chair secured to the deck, opened his mind as bluntlyand freely as ever. He was by no means yet sober.

  He told us we were acting very foolishly; that if we only stuck to theship, he would lead us all a jovial life of it; enumerating the casksstill remaining untapped in the Julia's wooden cellar. It was evenhinted vaguely that such a thing might happen as our not coming backfor the captain; whom he spoke of but lightly; asserting, what he hadoften said before, that he was no sailor.

  Moreover, and perhaps with special reference to Doctor Long Ghost andmyself, he assured us generally that, if there were any among usstudiously inclined, he would take great pleasure in teaching suchthe whole art and mystery of navigation, including the gratuitous useof his quadrant.

  I should have mentioned that, previous to this, he had taken thedoctor aside, and said something about reinstating him in the cabinwith augmented dignity; beside throwing out a hint that I myself wasin some way or other to be promoted. But it was all to no purpose;bent the men were upon going ashore, and there was no moving them.

  At last he flew into a rage--much increased by the frequency of hispotations--and with many imprecations, concluded by driving everybodyout of the cabin. We tumbled up the gangway in high good-humour.

  Upon deck everything looked so quiet that some of the most pugnaciousspirits actually lamented that there was so little prospect of anexhilarating disturbance before morning. It was not five minutes,however, ere these fellows were gratified.

  Sydney Ben--said to be a runaway Ticket-of-Leave-Man, and for reasonsof his own, one of the few who still remained on duty--had, for thesake of the fun, gone down with the rest into the cabin; where Bembo,who meanwhile was left in charge of the deck, had frequently calledout for him. At first, Ben pretended not to hear; but on being sungout for again and again, bluntly refused; at the same time, castingsome illiberal reflections on the Mowree's maternal origin, which thelatter had been long enough among the sailors to understand as in thehighest degree offensive. So just after the men came up from below,Bembo singled him out, and gave him such a cursing in his brokenlingo that it was enough to frighten one. The convict was the worsefor liquor; indeed the Mowree had been tippling also, and before weknew it, a blow was struck by Ben, and the two men came together likemagnets.

  The Ticket-of-Leave-Man was a practised bruiser; but the savage knewnothing of the art pugilistic: and so they were even. It was clearhugging and wrenching till both came to the deck. Here they rolledover and over in the middle of a ring which seemed to form of itself.At last the white man's head fell back, and his face grew purple.Bembo's teeth were at his throat. Rushing in all round, they hauledthe savage off, but not until repeatedly struck on the head would helet go.

  His rage was now absolutely demoniac; he lay glaring and writhing onthe deck, without attempting to rise. Cowed, as they supposed he was,from his attitude, the men, rejoiced at seeing him thus humbled, lefthim; after rating him, in sailor style, for a cannibal and a coward.

  Ben was attended to, and led below.

  Soon after this, the rest also, with but few exceptions, retired intothe forecastle; and having been up nearly all the previous night,they quickly dropped about the chests and rolled into the hammocks.In an hour's time, not a sound could be heard in that part of theship.

  Before Bembo was dragged away, the mate had in vain endeavoured toseparate the combatants, repeatedly striking the Mowree; but theseamen interposing, at last kept him off.

  And intoxicated as he was, when they dispersed, he knew enough tocharge the steward--a steady seaman be it remembered--with thepresent safety of the ship; and then went below, when he felldirectly into another drunken sleep.

  Having remained upon deck with the doctor some time after the rest hadgone below, I was just on the point of following him down, when I sawthe Mowree rise, draw a bucket of water, and holding it high abovehis head, pour its contents right over him. This he repeated severaltimes. There was nothing very peculiar in the act, but something elseabout him struck me. However, I thought no more of it, but descendedthe scuttle.

  After a restless nap, I found the atmosphere of the forecastle soclose, from nearly all the men being down at the same time, that Ihunted up an old pea-jacket and went on deck; intending to sleep itout there till morning. Here I found the cook and steward, Wymontoo,Hope Yarn, and
the Dane; who, being all quiet, manageable fellows,and holding aloof from the rest since the captain's departure, hadbeen ordered by the mate not to go below until sunrise. They werelying under the lee of the bulwarks; two or three fast asleep, andthe others smoking their pipes, and conversing.

  To my surprise, Bembo was at the helm; but there being so few to standthere now, they told me, he had offered to take his turn with therest, at the same time heading the watch; and to this, of course,they made no objection.

  It was a fine, bright night; all moon and stars, and white crests ofwaves. The breeze was light, but freshening; and close-hauled, poorlittle Jule, as if nothing had happened, was heading in for the land,which rose high and hazy in the distance.

  After the day's uproar, the tranquillity of the scene was soothing,and I leaned over the side to enjoy it.

  More than ever did I now lament my situation--but it was useless torepine, and I could not upbraid myself. So at last, becoming drowsy,I made a bed with my jacket under the windlass, and tried to forgetmyself.

  How long I lay there, I cannot tell; but as I rose, the first objectthat met my eye was Bembo at the helm; his dark figure slowly risingand falling with the ship's motion against the spangled heavensbehind. He seemed all impatience and expectation; standing at arm'slength from the spokes, with one foot advanced, and his bare headthrust forward. Where I was, the watch were out of sight; and no oneelse was stirring; the deserted decks and broad white sails weregleaming in the moonlight.

  Presently, a swelling, dashing sound came upon my ear, and I had asort of vague consciousness that I had been hearing it before. Thenext instant I was broad awake and on my feet. Eight ahead, and sonear that my heart stood still, was a long line of breakers, heavingand frothing. It was the coral reef girdling the island. Behind it,and almost casting their shadows upon the deck, were the sleepingmountains, about whose hazy peaks the gray dawn was just breaking.The breeze had freshened, and with a steady, gliding motion, we wererunning straight for the reef.

  All was taken in at a glance; the fell purpose of Bembo was obvious,and with a frenzied shout to wake the watch, I rushed aft. Theysprang to their feet bewildered; and after a short, but desperatescuffle, we tore him from the helm. In wrestling with him, thewheel--left for a moment unguarded--flew to leeward, thus, fortunately,bringing the ship's head to the wind, and so retarding her progress.Previous to this, she had been kept three or four points free, so asto close with the breakers. Her headway now shortened, I steadied thehelm, keeping the sails just lifting, while we glided obliquelytoward the land. To have run off before the wind--an easything--would have been almost instant destruction, owing to a curve ofthe reef in that direction. At this time, the Dane and the stewardwere still struggling with the furious Mowree, and the others wererunning about irresolute and shouting.

  But darting forward the instant I had the helm, the old cook thunderedon the forecastle with a handspike, "Breakers! breakers closeaboard!--'bout ship! 'bout ship!"

  Up came the sailors, staring about them in stupid horror.

  "Haul back the head-yards!" "Let go the lee fore-brace!" "Beady about!about!" were now shouted on all sides; while distracted by a thousandorders, they ran hither and thither, fairly panic-stricken.

  It seemed all over with us; and I was just upon the point of throwingthe ship full into the wind (a step, which, saving us for theinstant, would have sealed our fate in the end), when a sharp cryshot by my ear like the flight of an arrow.

  It was Salem: "All ready for'ard; hard down!"

  Round and round went the spokes--the Julia, with her short keel,spinning to windward like a top. Soon, the jib-sheets lashed thestays, and the men, more self-possessed, flew to the braces.

  "Main-sail haul!" was now heard, as the fresh breeze streamed fore andaft the deck; and directly the after-yards were whirled round.

  In a half-a-minute more, we were sailing away from the land on theother tack, with every sail distended.

  Turning on her heel within little more than a biscuit's toss of thereef, no earthly power could have saved us, were it not that, up tothe very brink of the coral rampart, there are no soundings.

  CHAPTER XXIV.

  OUTBREAK OF THE CREW

  THE purpose of Bembo had been made known to the men generally by thewatch; and now that our salvation was certain, by an instinctiveimpulse they raised a cry, and rushed toward him.

  Just before liberated by Dunk and the steward, he was standingdoggedly by the mizzen-mast; and, as the infuriated sailors came on,his bloodshot eye rolled, and his sheath-knife glittered over hishead.

  "Down with him!" "Strike him down!" "Hang him at the main-yard!" suchwere the shouts now raised. But he stood unmoved, and, for a singleinstant, they absolutely faltered.

  "Cowards!" cried Salem, and he flung himself upon him. The steeldescended like a ray of light; but did no harm; for the sailor'sheart was beating against the Mowree's before he was aware.

  They both fell to the deck, when the knife was instantly seized, andBembo secured.

  "For'ard! for'ard with him!" was again the cry; "give him a sea-toss!""Overboard with him!" and he was dragged along the deck, strugglingand fighting with tooth and nail.

  All this uproar immediately over the mate's head at last roused himfrom his drunken nap, and he came staggering on deck.

  "What's this?" he shouted, running right in among them.

  "It's the Mowree, zur; they are going to murder him, zur," here sobbedpoor Rope Yarn, crawling close up to him.

  "Avast! avast!" roared Jermin, making a spring toward Bembo, anddashing two or three of the sailors aside. At this moment the wretchwas partly flung over the bulwarks, which shook with his franticstruggles. In vain the doctor and others tried to save him: the menlistened to nothing.

  "Murder and mutiny, by the salt sea!" shouted the mate; and dashinghis arms right and left, he planted his iron hand upon the Mowree'sshoulder.

  "There are two of us now; and as you serve him, you serve me," hecried, turning fiercely round.

  "Over with them together, then," exclaimed the carpenter, springingforward; but the rest fell back before the courageous front ofJermin, and, with the speed of thought, Bembo, unharmed, stood upondeck.

  "Aft with ye!" cried his deliverer; and he pushed him right among themen, taking care to follow him up close. Giving the sailors no timeto recover, he pushed the Mowree before him, till they came to thecabin scuttle, when he drew the slide over him, and stood still.Throughout, Bembo never spoke one word.

  "Now for'ard where ye belong!" cried the mate, addressing the seamen,who by this time, rallying again, had no idea of losing their victim.

  "The Mowree! the Mowree!" they shouted.

  Here the doctor, in answer to the mate's repeated questions, steppedforward, and related what Bembo had been doing; a matter which themate but dimly understood from the violent threatenings he had beenhearing.

  For a moment he seemed to waver; but at last, turning the key of thepadlock of the slide, he breathed through his set teeth--"Ye can'thave him; I'll hand him over to the consul; so for'ard with ye, Isay: when there's any drowning to be done, I'll pass the word; soaway with ye, ye blood-thirsty pirates."

  It was to no purpose that they begged or threatened: Jermin, althoughby no means sober, stood his ground manfully, and before long theydispersed, soon to forget everything that had happened.

  Though we had no opportunity to hear him confess it, Bembo's intentionto destroy us was beyond all question. His only motive could havebeen a desire to revenge the contumely heaped upon him the nightprevious, operating upon a heart irreclaimably savage, and at no timefraternally disposed toward the crew.

  During the whole of this scene the doctor did his best to save him.But well knowing that all I could do would have been equally useless,I maintained my place at the wheel. Indeed, no one but Jermin couldhave prevented this murder.

  CHAPTER XXV.

  JERMIN ENCOUNTERS AN OLD SHIPMATE

  DURING the morning of
the day which dawned upon the events justrecounted, we remained a little to leeward of the harbour, waitingthe appearance of the consul, who had promised the mate to come offin a shore boat for the purpose of seeing him.

  By this time the men had forced his secret from the cooper, and theconsequence was that they kept him continually coming and going fromthe after-hold. The mate must have known this; but he said nothing,notwithstanding all the dancing and singing, and occasional fightingwhich announced the flow of the Pisco.

  The peaceable influence which the doctor and myself had heretoforebeen exerting, was now very nearly at an end.

  Confident, from the aspect of matters, that the ship, after all, wouldbe obliged to go in; and learning, moreover, that the mate had saidso, the sailors, for the present, seemed in no hurry about it;especially as the bucket of Bungs gave such generous cheer.

  As for Bembo, we were told that, after putting him in double irons,the mate had locked him up in the captain's state-room, taking theadditional precaution of keeping the cabin scuttle secured. From thistime forward we never saw the Mowree again, a circumstance which willexplain itself as the narrative proceeds.

  Noon came, and no consul; and as the afternoon advanced without anyword even from the shore, the mate was justly incensed; moreespecially as he had taken great pains to keep perfectly soberagainst Wilson's arrival.