by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER THREE.
THE ALBATROSS.
Captain Redwood and the Irishman were horrified at the sight that hadpassed under their eyes. So, too, were the children, who had bothstarted up from their reclining attitude, and looked over the side ofthe boat. Even the impassive Malay, all his life used to stirringscenes, in which blood was often shed, could not look down into thosedepths, disturbed by such a tragical occurrence, without having arousedwithin him a sensation of horror.
All of them recoiled back into the boat, staggering down upon theirseats. One alone remained standing, and with an expression upon hisface as if he was desirous of again beholding the sight. It was not alook that betrayed pleasure, but one grim and ghastly, yet strong andsteady, as if it penetrated the profoundest depths of the ocean. It wasthe look of the insane sailor.
If his companions had still held any lingering doubts about hisinsanity, it was sufficient to dispel them. It was the true stare ofthe maniac.
It was not long continued. Scarce had they resumed their seats when theman, once more elevating his arms in the air, uttered another startlingshriek, if possible louder and wilder than before. He had stepped uponone of the boat seats, and stood with body bent, half leaning over thegunwale, in the attitude of a diver about to make his headlong plunge.
There could be no mistaking his intention to leap overboard, for hiscomrades could see that his muscles were strained to the effort.
All three--the captain, Murtagh, and the Malay--suddenly rose again, andleant forward to lay hold on him. They were too late. Before a fingercould touch him he had made the fatal spring; and the next moment he wasbeneath the surface of the sea!
None of them felt strong enough to leap after and try to save him. Inall probability, the effort would have been idle, and worse; for the madfancy that seemed urging him to self-destruction might still influencehis mind, and carry another victim into the same vortex with himself.Restrained by this thought, they stood up in the boat, and watched forhis coming up again.
He did so at length, but a good distance off. A breeze had beengradually springing up, and during his dive the pinnace had made someway, by drifting before it. When his head was again seen above thecurling water, he was nearly a hundred yards to windward of the boat.He was not so far off as to prevent them from reading the expressionupon his face, now turned toward them. It had become changed, as if bymagic. The wild look of insanity was gone, and in its place was onealmost equally wild, though plainly was it an expression of fear, orindeed terror. The immersion into the cold, deep sea, had told upon hisfevered brain, producing a quick reaction of reason; and his cries forhelp, now in piteous tones sent back to the boat, showed that heunderstood the peril in which he had placed himself.
They were not unheeded. Murtagh and the Malay rushed, or rathertottered, to the oars; while the captain threw himself into the stern,and took hold of the tiller-ropes.
In an instant the pinnace was headed round, and moving through the waterin the direction of the swimmer; who, on his side, swam toward them,though evidently with feeble stroke. There seemed not much doubt oftheir being able to pick him up. The only danger thought of by any ofthem was the _zygaena_; but they hoped the shark might be still occupiedwith its late prey, and not seeking another victim. There might beanother shark, or many more; but for some time past one only had beenseen in the neighbourhood of the boat; the shark, as they supposed,which had but recently devoured the dead body of the sailor. Trustingto this conjecture, they plied the oars with all the little strengthleft in their arms. Still, notwithstanding their feeble efforts, andthe impediment of pulling against the wind, they were nearing theunfortunate man, surely, if slowly.
They had got over half the distance; less than half a cable's length wasnow between the boat and the struggling swimmer. Not a shark was to beseen on the water, nor beneath it--no fish of any kind--nothing whateverin the sea. Only, in the sky above, a large bird, whose longscimitar-shaped wings and grand curving beak told them what it was--analbatross. It was the great albatross of the Indian seas, with anextent of wing beyond that of the largest eagle, and almost equallingthe spread of the South American condor. [Note 1.]
They scarce looked at it, or even glanced above, they were looking belowfor the _zygaena_--scanning the surface of the water around them, orwith their eyes keenly bent, endeavouring to penetrate its indigo depthsin search of the monstrous form.
No shark in sight. All seemed well; and despite the piteous appeals ofthe swimmer, now toiling with feebler stroke, and scarce having power tosustain himself they in the pinnace felt sure of being able to rescuehim.
Less than a quarter cable's length lay between. The boat, urged on bythe oars, was still lessening the distance. Five minutes more, and theywould be close to their comrade, and lift him over the gunwale.
Still no _zygaena_ in sight--no shark of any kind.
"Poor fellow! he seems quite cured; we shall be able to save him."
It was Captain Redwood who thus spoke. The Irishman was about making alittle hopeful rejoinder, when his speech was cut short by a cry fromSaloo, who had suspended his stroke, as if paralysed by some suddendespair.
The Malay, who, as well as Murtagh, had been sitting with his backtoward the swimmer, had slewed himself round with a quick jerk, thattold of some surprise. The movement was caused by a shadow flittingover the boat; something was passing rapidly through the air above. Ithad caught the attention of the others, who, on hearing Saloo's cry,looked up along with him.
They saw only the albatross moving athwart the sky, no longer slowsailing as before, but with the swift-cutting flight of a falconpouncing down upon its prey. It seemed descending not in a straightline, but in an acute parabolic curve, like a thunderbolt or someaerolite projected toward the surface of the sea. But the bird, with awhirr like the sound of running spindles, was going in a definitedirection, the point evidently aimed at being the head of the swimmer!
A strange commingled shout arose over the ocean, in which several voicesbore part. Surprise pealed forth from the lips of those in the boat,and terror from the throat of the struggling man, while a hoarse croakfrom the gullet of the albatross, followed by what appeared a mockingscream of triumph. Then quick succeeded a crashing sound, as the sharpheavy beak of the bird broke through the skull of the swimmer, strikinghim dead, as if by the shot of a six-pounder, and sending his lifelessbody down toward the bottom of the sea!
It came not up again--at all events, it was never more seen by hiscastaway companions; who, dropping the oars in sorrowful despair,allowed the boat to drift away from the fatal spot--in whateverdirection the soft-sighing breeze might capriciously carry it.
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Note 1. The albatross Is the largest of the ocean-birds. Its wings,when extended, measuring fifteen feet, and its weight sometimesexceeding twenty to twenty-four pounds. The common albatross is the_Diomedea exulans_ of naturalists. Its plumage, except a few of the wingfeathers, is white; its long, hard beak, which Is very powerful, is of apale yellow colour; and its short, webbed feet are flesh coloured. Itis frequently met with in the Southern Ocean. The species mentioned inthe text is the black-beaked albatross, which frequents the Indiawaters. The albatross Is a formidable enemy to the sailor, for if onefalls overboard, he will assuredly fall a victim to this powerful bird,unless rescued immediately by his comrades. Its cry has someresemblance to that of the pelican; but it will also, when excited, giverent to a noise not unlike the braying of an ass. The female makes arude nest of earth on the sea-shore, and deposits therein her solitaryegg, which is about four inches long, white, and spotted at the largerend.