Shark Island (34 page)
Authors: Joan Druett
“They're to join the expedition?” Wiki exclaimed.
“Exactly,” George returned. “That is what Wilkes, in his wisdom, has decreed. Three of 'em are on the
Vincennes,
three on the
Peacock,
and two on the
Porpoise
âand they have strict orders to share their knowledge of sailing in iceberg-ridden seas with as many of the expedition hands as possible.”
“My God,” said Wiki. This boded badly for the future, he mused.
“Appalling thought, ain't it, considering their record of inciting desertion. All we can do is thank Old Scratch that the
Swallow
wasn't considered grand enough to be favored with their presence.”
Wiki shook his head wonderingly. “And I had such terrible prognostications about them seizing the
Swallow.
Thank God I was wrong.”
“Oh, but I am quite certain that you were right,” Rochester assured him.
“Their insistence on keeping their tool chests with them in the fo'c'sle was particularly ominous,” said Midshipman Keith gravely.
“Jack Winter had the absolute sauce to reassign poor Stoker to the position of cook, so he could take over the pantry,” said George. “I soon put a stop to that! I didn't relish that troublemaker being so close to my quarters. I couldn't have slept at night, knowing he was lurking about the after accommodations.”
“And they had a nasty habit of muttering together while they looked around the brig,” Constant Keith said darkly.
“Arrogant lot,” said George, and nodded. “That bo'sun, Folger, is a particularly dangerous-looking cove, and that lad of his, Boyd, has a most suspicious look.”
“We held particular fears about their actions at night, the
Swallow
folks in the fo'c'sle being so outnumbered,” contributed Midshipman Keith. “However,” he said smugly, “we foiled 'em, Mr. Coffin, we foiled 'em magnificently. Mind you,” he added, “they made it easy.”
“And how was that?” said Wiki bemusedly.
“They sent a deputation to the cabin saying they refused to berth in the same fo'c'sle as godless Indians!”
Wiki said incredulously, “They objected to living in the same fo'c'sle as Sua and Tana?”
“Aye. Then Sua and Tana got into a huff and informed me they would rather sleep in the boats in the davits than live in the same quarters as ignorant
papalagi,
” said George. “Which was followed by a deputation from the
Swallow
hands declaring that they would refuse duty if Tana and Sua were forced to leave their rightful berths, and a dreadful ruckus commenced.”
“And you said that made it
easy
for you?”
“We took all the
Swallow
men out of the fo'c'sle and made them look for berths elsewhere, which left the sealers in full possession,” quoth George, his expression complacent.
“You gave way to the sealers' demands?” Wiki incredulously demanded.
“That's how we forestalled their foul design.”
Said Midshipman Keith smugly, “It was my planâthough it was our carpenter who did the work. During all the fuss he quietly bolted a cleat on each side of the fo'c'sle door, and fashioned a bar to fit in the cleats. Then we gave the sealers a watch below in the fo'c'sle, seeing as it was now their private roomâand barred the door as soon as they was all inside. They made a bit of a racket at first, but when we didn't pay any attention they soon quieted down.”
Wiki's face was creasing up with an incredulous grin. “You
imprisoned
themâuntil Lieutenant Smith arrived on board to carry them to Captain Wilkes?”
“Exactly,” George agreed. “And warned 'em before we let them out that we would tell Captain Wilkes the entire story if they made any complaint.”
Forsythe arrived back on deck at that moment, obviously ready to head over to the
Vincennes
and face the worst, but Wiki was laughing too much to notice. “Well done, Midshipman,” he said, sobering at last. “What made you think of it?”
“Aha, Mr. Coffin, you taught me yourself, sir, that improvisation is the soul of seamanship.”
Erskine, Charles.
Twenty Years Before the Mast: with the more thrilling scenes and incidents while circumnavigating the globe under the command of the late Admiral Charles Wilkes 1838â1842.
Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1985.
Philbrick, Nathaniel.
Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition 1838â1842.
New York: Viking, 2003.
Reynolds, William.
The Private Journal of William Reynolds: United States Exploring Expedition, 1838â1842.
Edited by Nathaniel Philbrick and Thomas Philbrick. New York: Penguin, 2004.
Reynolds, William.
Voyage to the Southern Ocean: The Letters of Lieutenant William Reynolds from the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838â1842.
Edited by Anne Hoffman Cleaver and E. Jeffrey Stann (and with an excellent introduction and epilogue by Herman J. Viola). Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1988.
Stanton, William.
The Great United States Exploring Expedition of 1838â1842.
Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1975.
Viola, Herman J., and Carolyn Margolis, eds.
Magnificent Voyagers: The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838â1842.
Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1985.
Wilkes, Charles.
Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition.
5 vols. 1844. Reprint, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Gregg Press, 1970.
Joan Druett
,
an award-winning nautical nonfiction writer, is the author of
In the Wake of Madness: The Murderous Voyage of the Whaleship Sharon.
She lives in New Zealand. You can sign up for email updates
here
.
Also by
Joan Druett
IN THE WIKI COFFIN SERIES
OTHER FICTION
Abigail
A Promise of Gold
Murder at the Brian Boru
NONFICTION
In the Wake of Madness
Rough Medicine
She Captains
Hen Frigates
The Sailing Circle
(with Mary Anne Wallace)
Captain's Daughter, Coasterman's Wife
“She Was a Sister Sailor”
(editor)
Petticoat Whalers
Fulbright in New Zealand
Exotic Intruders
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Contents
SHARK ISLAND
. Copyright © 2005 by Joan Druett. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
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First St. Martin's Minotaur Paperback Edition: October 2006
eISBN 9781250111982
First eBook edition: December 2015
