The Survivors of the Chancellor (13 page)

By half-past nine the mast was hoisted, and held firmly
in its place by some shrouds attached securely to the sides
of the raft; then the sail was run up and trimmed to the
wind, and the raft began to make a perceptible progress
under the brisk breeze.

As soon as we had once started, the carpenter set to work
to contrive some sort of a rudder, that would enable us to
maintain our desired direction. Curtis and Falsten assisted
him with some serviceable suggestions, and in a couple of
hours' time he had made and fixed to the back of the raft
a kind of paddle, very similar to those used by the Malays.

At noon, after the necessary preliminary observations,
Curtis took the altitude of the sun. The result gave lat.
15 deg. 7' N. by long. 49 deg. 35' W. as our position, which, on
consulting the chart, proved to be about 650 miles northeast
of the coast of Paramaribo in Dutch Guiana.

Now even under the most favorable circumstances, with
trade-winds and weather always in our favor, we can not
by any chance hope to make more than ten or twelve miles
a day, so that the voyage cannot possibly be performed under
a period of two months. To be sure there is the hope to be
indulged that we may fall in with a passing vessel, but as
the part of the Atlantic into which we have been driven is
intermediate between the tracks of the French and English
transatlantic steamers either from the Antilles or the
Brazils, we cannot reckon at all upon a contingency happening in our favor; while if a calm should set in, or worse
still, if the wind were to blow from the east, not only
two months, but twice, nay, three times that length of time
will be required to accomplish the passage.

At best, however, our provisions, even though used with
the greatest care, will barely last three months. Curtis has
called us into consultation, and as the working of the raft
does not require such labor as to exhaust our physical
strength, all have agreed to submit to a regimen which,
although it will suffice to keep us alive, will certainly
not fully satisfy the cravings of hunger and thirst.

As far as we can estimate we have somewhere about 500
lbs. of meat and about the same quantity of biscuit. To
make this last for three months we ought not to consume
very much more than 5 lbs. a day of each, which, when
divided among eighteen people, will make the daily ration 5
oz. of meat and 5 oz. of biscuit for each person. Of water
we have certainly not more than 200 gallons, but by reducing each person's allowance to a pint a day, we hope to eke
out that, too, over the space of three months.

It is arranged that the food shall be distributed under the
boatswain's superintendence every morning at ten o'clock.
Each person will then receive his allowance of meat and biscuit, which may be eaten when and how he pleases. The
water will be given out twice a day — at ten in the morning and six in the evening; but as the only drinking-vessels
in our possession are the teakettle and the old Irishman's tin
pot, the water has to be consumed immediately on distribution. As for the brandy, of which there are only five gallons,
it will be doled out with the strictest limitation, and no one
will be allowed to touch it except with the captain's express
permission.

I should not forget that there are two sources from which
we may hope to increase our store. First, any rain that
may fall will add to our supply of water, and two empty
barrels have been placed ready to receive it; secondly, we
hope to do something in the way of fishing, and the sailors
have already begun to prepare some lines.

All have mutually agreed to abide by the rules that have
been laid down, for all are fully aware that by nothing
but the most precise regimen can we hope to avert the
horrors of famine, and forewarned by the fate of many who
in similar circumstances have miserably perished, we are
determined to do all that prudence can suggest for husbanding our stores.

DECEMBER 8 to 17. — When night came we wrapped ourselves in our sails. For my own part, worn out with the
fatigue of the long watch in the top-mast, I slept for several
hours; M. Letourneur and Andre did the same, and Miss
Herbey obtained sufficient rest to relieve the tired expression
that her countenance had lately being wearing. The night
passed quietly. As the raft was not very heavily laden the
waves did not break over it at all, and we were consequently
able to keep ourselves perfectly dry. To say the truth, it
was far better for us that the sea should remain somewhat
boisterous, for any diminution in the swell of the waves
would indicate that the wind had dropped, and it was with
a feeling of regret that when the morning came I had to note
down "weather calm" in my journal.

In these low latitudes the heat in the day-time is so intense, and the sun burns with such an incessant glare, that
the entire atmosphere becomes pervaded with a glowing
vapor. The wind, too, blows only in fitful gusts, and
through long intervals of perfect calm the sails flap idly and
uselessly against the mast. Curtis and the boatswain, however, are of opinion that we are not entirely dependent on
the wind. Certain indications, which a sailor's eye alone
could detect, make them almost sure that we are being
carried along by a westerly current, that flows at the rate
of three or four miles an hour. If they are not mistaken,
this is a circumstance that may materially assist our progress, and at which we can hardly fail to rejoice, for the
high temperature often makes our scanty allowance of water
quite inadequate to allay our thirst.

But with all our hardships I must confess that our condition is far preferable to what it was when we were still
clinging to the Chancellor. Here at least we have a comparatively solid platform beneath our feet, and we are relieved from the incessant dread of being carried down with
a foundering vessel. In the day time we can move about
with a certain amount of freedom, discuss the weather,
watch the sea, and examine our fishing-lines; while at night
we can rest securely under the shelter of our sails.

"I really think, Mr. Kazallon," said Andre Letourneur
to me a few days after we had embarked, "that our time
on board the raft passes as pleasantly as it did upon Ham
Rock; and the raft has one advantage even over the reef, for
it is capable of motion."

"Yes, Andre," I replied, "as long as the wind continues
favorable the raft has decidedly the advantage; but supposing the wind shifts; what then?"

"Oh, we mustn't think about that," he said; "let us keep
up our courage while we can."

I felt that he was right, and that the dangers we had
escaped should make us more hopeful for the future; and
I think that nearly all of us are inclined to share his opinion.

Whether the captain is equally sanguine I am unable to
say. He holds himself very much aloof, and as he evidently feels that he has the great responsibility of saving
other lives than his own, we are reluctant to disturb his silent
meditations.

Such of the crew as are not on watch spend the greater
portion of their time in dozing on the fore part of the raft.
The aft, by the captain's orders, has been reserved for the
use of us passengers, and by erecting some uprights we have
contrived to make a sort of tent, which affords some shelter
from the sun. On the whole our bill of health is tolerably
satisfactory. Lieutenant Walter is the only invalid, and
he, in spite of all our careful nursing, seems to get weaker
every day.

Andre Letourneur is the life of our party, and I have
never appreciated the young man so well. His originality
of perception makes his conversation both lively and interesting, and as he talks, his wan and suffering countenance
lights up with an intelligent animation. His father seems
to become more devoted to him than ever, and I have seen
him sit for an hour at a time, with his hand resting on his
son's, listening eagerly to his every word.

Miss Herbey occasionally joins in our conversation, but
although we all do our best to make her forget that she has
lost those who should have been her natural protectors, M.
Letourneur is the only one among us to whom she speaks
without a certain reserve. To him, whose age gives him
something of the authority of a father, she has told the history of her life — a life of patience and self-denial such as
not unfrequently falls to the lot of orphans. She had been,
she said, two years with Mrs. Kear, and although now left
alone in the world, homeless and without resources, hope
for the future does not fail her. The young lady's modest
deportment and energy of character command the respect of
all on board, and I do not think that even the coarsest of the
sailors has either by word or gesture acted toward her in a
way that she could deem offensive.

The 12th, 13th, and 14th of December passed away without any change in our condition. The wind continued to
blow in irregular gusts, but always in the same direction,
and the helm, or rather the paddle at the back of the raft, has
never once required shifting; and the watch, who are posted
on the fore, under orders to examine the sea with the most
scrupulous attention, have had no change of any kind to
report.

At the end of the week we found ourselves growing accustomed to our limited diet, and as we had no manual exertion, and no wear and tear of our physical constitution, we
managed very well. Our greatest deprivation was the
short supply of water, for, as I said before, the unmitigated
heat made our thirst at times very painful.

On the 15th we held high festival. A shoal of fish, of
the sparus tribe, swarmed round the raft, and although our
tackle consisted merely of long cords baited with morsels of
dried meat stuck upon bent nails, the fish were so voracious
that in the course of a couple of days we had caught as many
as weighed almost 200 lbs., some of which were grilled, and
others boiled in sea-water over a fire made on the fore part
of the raft. This marvelous haul was doubly welcome, inasmuch as it not only afforded us a change of diet, but
enabled us to economize our stores; if only some rain had
fallen at the same time we would have been more than
satisfied.

Unfortunately the shoal of fish did not remain long in
our vicinity. On the 17th they all disappeared, and some
sharks, not less than twelve or fifteen feet long, belonging
to the species of the spotted dog-fish, took their place. These
horrible creatures have black backs and fins, covered with
white spots and stripes. Here, on our low raft, we seemed
almost on a level with them, and more than once their tails
have struck the spars with terrible violence. The sailors
manage to keep them at a distance by means of handspikes,
but I shall not be surprised if they persist in following us,
instinctively intelligent that we are destined to become their
prey. For myself, I confess that they give me a feeling
of uneasiness; they seem to me like monsters of ill-omen.

DECEMBER 18 to 20. — On the 18th the wind freshened
a little, but as it blew from the same favorable quarter we
did not complain, and only took the precaution of putting
an extra support to the mast, so that it should not snap
with the tension of the sail. This done, the raft was carried
along with something more than its ordinary speed, and
left a long line of foam in its wake.

In the afternoon the sky became slightly over-clouded,
and the heat consequently less oppressive. The swell made
it more difficult for the raft to keep its balance, and we
shipped two or three heavy seas; but the carpenter managed
to make with some planks a kind of wall about a couple of
feet high, which protected us from the direct action of the
waves. Our casks of food and water were secured to the
raft with double ropes, for we dared not run the risk of
their being carried overboard, an accident that would at
once have reduced us to the direst distress.

In the course of the day the sailors gathered some of
the marine plants known by the name of sargassos, very
similar to those we saw in such profusion between the
Bermudas and Ham Rock. I advised my companions to
chew the laminary tangles, which they would find contained
a saccharine juice, affording considerable relief to their
parched lips and throats.

The remainder of the day passed without incident. I
should not, however, omit to mention that the frequent conferences held among the sailors, especially between Owen,
Burke, Flaypole, Wilson, and Jynxstrop, the negro, aroused
some uneasy suspicions in my mind. What was the subject of their conversation I could not discover, for they
became silent immediately that a passenger or one of the
officers approached them. When I mentioned the matter
to Curtis I found he had already noticed these secret interviews, and that they had given him enough concern to
make him determined to keep a strict eye upon Jynxstrop
and Owen, who, rascals as they were themselves, were evidently trying to disaffect their mates.

On the 19th the heat was again excessive. The sky was
cloudless, and as there was not enough wind to fill the sail
the raft lay motionless upon the surface of the water.
Some of the sailors found a transient alleviation for their
thirst by plunging into the sea, but as we were fully aware
that the water all around was infested with sharks, none
of us was rash enough to follow their example, though if,
as seems likely, we remain long becalmed, we shall probably
in time overcome our fears, and feel constrained to indulge
ourselves with a bath.

The health of Lieutenant Walter continues to cause us
grave anxiety, the young man being weakened by attacks
of intermittent fever. Except for the loss of the medicinechest we might have temporarily reduced this by quinine;
but it is only too evident that the poor fellow is consumptive, and that that hopeless malady is making ravages upon
him that no medicine could permanently arrest. His sharp,
dry cough, his short breathing, his profuse perspirations,
more especially in the morning; the pinched-in nose, the
hollow cheeks, of which the general pallor is only relieved
by a hectic flush, the contracted lips, the too brilliant eye
and wasted form — all bear witness to a slow but sure decay.