THE WORKS OF

EDGAR ALLAN POE

IN FIVE VOLUMES

Contents Volume III

Narrative of A. Gordon Pym

Ligeia

Morella

A Tale of the Ragged Mountains

The Spectacles

King Pest

Three Sundays in a Week

NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

UPON my return to the United States a few months ago, after the

extraordinary series of adventure in the South Seas and elsewhere, of

which an account is given in the following pages, accident threw me

into the society of several gentlemen in Richmond, Va., who felt deep

interest in all matters relating to the regions I had visited, and

who were constantly urging it upon me, as a duty, to give my

narrative to the public. I had several reasons, however, for

declining to do so, some of which were of a nature altogether

private, and concern no person but myself; others not so much so. One

consideration which deterred me was that, having kept no journal

during a greater portion of the time in which I was absent, I feared

I should not be able to write, from mere memory, a statement so

minute and connected as to have the _appearance _of that truth it

would really possess, barring only the natural and unavoidable

exaggeration to which all of us are prone when detailing events which

have had powerful influence in exciting the imaginative faculties.

Another reason was, that the incidents to be narrated were of a

nature so positively marvellous that, unsupported as my assertions

must necessarily be (except by the evidence of a single individual,

and he a half-breed Indian), I could only hope for belief among my

family, and those of my friends who have had reason, through life, to

put faith in my veracity-the probability being that the public at

large would regard what I should put forth as merely an impudent and

ingenious fiction. A distrust in my own abilities as a writer was,

nevertheless, one of the principal causes which prevented me from

complying with the suggestions of my advisers.

Among those gentlemen in Virginia who expressed the greatest interest

in my statement, more particularly in regard to that portion of it

which related to the Antarctic Ocean, was Mr. Poe, lately editor of

the "Southern Literary Messenger," a monthly magazine, published by

Mr. Thomas W. White, in the city of Richmond. He strongly advised me,

among others, to prepare at once a full account of what I had seen

and undergone, and trust to the shrewdness and common-sense of the

public-insisting, with great plausibility, that however roughly, as

regards mere authorship, my book should be got up, its very

uncouthness, if there were any, would give it all the better chance

of being received as truth.

Notwithstanding this representation, I did not make up my mind to do

as he suggested. He afterward proposed (finding that I would not stir

in the matter) that I should allow him to draw up, in his own words,

a narrative of the earlier portion of my adventures, from facts

afforded by myself, publishing it in the "Southern Messenger" _under

the garb of fiction. _To this, perceiving no objection, I consented,

stipulating only that my real name should be retained. Two numbers of

the pretended fiction appeared, consequently, in the "Messenger" for

January and February (1837), and, in order that it might certainly be

regarded as fiction, the name of Mr. Poe was affixed to the articles

in the table of contents of the magazine.

The manner in which this ruse was received has induced me at length

to undertake a regular compilation and publication of the adventures

in question; for I found that, in spite of the air of fable which had

been so ingeniously thrown around that portion of my statement which

appeared in the "Messenger" (without altering or distorting a single

fact), the public were still not at all disposed to receive it as

fable, and several letters were sent to Mr. P.'s address, distinctly

expressing a conviction to the contrary. I thence concluded that the

facts of my narrative would prove of such a nature as to carry with

them sufficient evidence of their own authenticity, and that I had

consequently little to fear on the score of popular incredulity.

This_ exposé _being made, it will be seen at once how much of what

follows I claim to be my own writing; and it will also be understood

that no fact is misrepresented in the first few pages which were

written by Mr. Poe. Even to those readers who have not seen the

"Messenger," it will be unnecessary to point out where his portion

ends and my own commences; the difference in point of style will be

readily perceived.

A. G. PYM.

CHAPTER 1

MY name is Arthur Gordon Pym. My father was a respectable trader

in sea-stores at Nantucket, where I was born. My maternal grandfather

was an attorney in good practice. He was fortunate in every thing,

and had speculated very successfully in stocks of the Edgarton New

Bank, as it was formerly called. By these and other means he had

managed to lay by a tolerable sum of money. He was more attached to

myself, I believe, than to any other person in the world, and I

expected to inherit the most of his property at his death. He sent

me, at six years of age, to the school of old Mr. Ricketts, a

gentleman with only one arm and of eccentric manners -- he is well

known to almost every person who has visited New Bedford. I stayed at

his school until I was sixteen, when I left him for Mr. E. Ronald's

academy on the hill. Here I became intimate with the son of Mr.

Barnard, a sea-captain, who generally sailed in the employ of Lloyd

and Vredenburgh -- Mr. Barnard is also very well known in New

Bedford, and has many relations, I am certain, in Edgarton. His son

was named Augustus, and he was nearly two years older than myself. He

had been on a whaling voyage with his father in the John Donaldson,

and was always talking to me of his adventures in the South Pacific

Ocean. I used frequently to go home with him, and remain all day, and

sometimes all night. We occupied the same bed, and he would be sure

to keep me awake until almost light, telling me stories of the

natives of the Island of Tinian, and other places he had visited in

his travels. At last I could not help being interested in what he

said, and by degrees I felt the greatest desire to go to sea. I owned

a sailboat called the Ariel, and worth about seventy-five dollars.

She had a half-deck or cuddy, and was rigged sloop-fashion -- I

forget her tonnage, but she would hold ten persons without much

crowding. In this boat we were in the habit of going on some of the

maddest freaks in the world; and, when I now think of them, it

appears to me a thousand wonders that I am alive to-day.

I will relate one of these adventures by way of introduction to a

longer and more momentous narrative. One night there was a party at

Mr. Barnard's, and both Augustus and myself were not a little

intoxicated toward the close of it. As usual, in such cases, I took

part of his bed in preference to going home. He went to sleep, as I

thought, very quietly (it being near one when the party broke up),

and without saying a word on his favorite topic. It might have been

half an hour from the time of our getting in bed, and I was just

about falling into a doze, when he suddenly started up, and swore

with a terrible oath that he would not go to sleep for any Arthur Pym

in Christendom, when there was so glorious a breeze from the

southwest. I never was so astonished in my life, not knowing what he

intended, and thinking that the wines and liquors he had drunk had

set him entirely beside himself. He proceeded to talk very coolly,

however, saying he knew that I supposed him intoxicated, but that he

was never more sober in his life. He was only tired, he added, of

lying in bed on such a fine night like a dog, and was determined to

get up and dress, and go out on a frolic with the boat. I can hardly

tell what possessed me, but the words were no sooner out of his mouth

than I felt a thrill of the greatest excitement and pleasure, and

thought his mad idea one of the most delightful and most reasonable

things in the world. It was blowing almost a gale, and the weather

was very cold -- it being late in October. I sprang out of bed,

nevertheless, in a kind of ecstasy, and told him I was quite as brave

as himself, and quite as tired as he was of lying in bed like a dog,

and quite as ready for any fun or frolic as any Augustus Barnard in

Nantucket.

We lost no time in getting on our clothes and hurrying down to

the boat. She was lying at the old decayed wharf by the lumber-yard

of Pankey & Co., and almost thumping her side out against the rough

logs. Augustus got into her and bailed her, for she was nearly half

full of water. This being done, we hoisted jib and mainsail, kept

full, and started boldly out to sea.

The wind, as I before said, blew freshly from the southwest. The

night was very clear and cold. Augustus had taken the helm, and I

stationed myself by the mast, on the deck of the cuddy. We flew along

at a great rate -- neither of us having said a word since casting

loose from the wharf. I now asked my companion what course he

intended to steer, and what time he thought it probable we should get

back. He whistled for a few minutes, and then said crustily: "_I_ am

going to sea -- _you_ may go home if you think proper." Turning my

eyes upon him, I perceived at once that, in spite of his assumed

_nonchalance_, he was greatly agitated. I could see him distinctly by

the light of the moon -- his face was paler than any marble, and his

hand shook so excessively that he could scarcely retain hold of the

tiller. I found that something had gone wrong, and became seriously

alarmed. At this period I knew little about the management of a boat,

and was now depending entirely upon the nautical skill of my friend.

The wind, too, had suddenly increased, as we were fast getting out of

the lee of the land -- still I was ashamed to betray any trepidation,

and for almost half an hour maintained a resolute silence. I could

stand it no longer, however, and spoke to Augustus about the

propriety of turning back. As before, it was nearly a minute before

he made answer, or took any notice of my suggestion. "By-and-by,"

said he at length -- "time enough -- home by-and-by." I had expected

a similar reply, but there was something in the tone of these words

which filled me with an indescribable feeling of dread. I again

looked at the speaker attentively. His lips were perfectly livid, and

his knees shook so violently together that he seemed scarcely able to

stand. "For God's sake, Augustus," I screamed, now heartily

frightened, "what ails you?- what is the matter?- what _are_ you

going to do?" "Matter!" he stammered, in the greatest apparent

surprise, letting go the tiller at the same moment, and falling

forward into the bottom of the boat- "matter- why, nothing is the --

matter -- going home- d--d--don't you see?" The whole truth now

flashed upon me. I flew to him and raised him up. He was drunk --

beastly drunk -- he could no longer either stand, speak, or see. His

eyes were perfectly glazed; and as I let him go in the extremity of

my despair, he rolled like a mere log into the bilge-water, from

which I had lifted him. It was evident that, during the evening, he

had drunk far more than I suspected, and that his conduct in bed had

been the result of a highly-concentrated state of intoxication- a

state which, like madness, frequently enables the victim to imitate

the outward demeanour of one in perfect possession of his senses. The

coolness of the night air, however, had had its usual effect- the

mental energy began to yield before its influence- and the confused

perception which he no doubt then had of his perilous situation had

assisted in hastening the catastrophe. He was now thoroughly

insensible, and there was no probability that he would be otherwise

for many hours.

It is hardly possible to conceive the extremity of my terror. The

fumes of the wine lately taken had evaporated, leaving me doubly

timid and irresolute. I knew that I was altogether incapable of

managing the boat, and that a fierce wind and strong ebb tide were

hurrying us to destruction. A storm was evidently gathering behind

us; we had neither compass nor provisions; and it was clear that, if

we held our present course, we should be out of sight of land before

daybreak. These thoughts, with a crowd of others equally fearful,

flashed through my mind with a bewildering rapidity, and for some

moments paralyzed me beyond the possibility of making any exertion.

The boat was going through the water at a terrible rate- full before

the wind- no reef in either jib or mainsail- running her bows

completely under the foam. It was a thousand wonders she did not

broach to- Augustus having let go the tiller, as I said before, and I

being too much agitated to think of taking it myself. By good luck,

however, she kept steady, and gradually I recovered some degree of

presence of mind. Still the wind was increasing fearfully, and

whenever we rose from a plunge forward, the sea behind fell combing

over our counter, and deluged us with water. I was so utterly

benumbed, too, in every limb, as to be nearly unconscious of

sensation. At length I summoned up the resolution of despair, and

rushing to the mainsail let it go by the run. As might have been

expected, it flew over the bows, and, getting drenched with water,

carried away the mast short off by the board. This latter accident

alone saved me from instant destruction. Under the jib only, I now

boomed along before the wind, shipping heavy seas occasionally over

the counter, but relieved from the terror of immediate death. I took

the helm, and breathed with greater freedom as I found that there yet

remained to us a chance of ultimate escape. Augustus still lay

senseless in the bottom of the boat; and as there was imminent danger

of his drowning (the water being nearly a foot deep just where he

fell), I contrived to raise him partially up, and keep him in a

sitting position, by passing a rope round his waist, and lashing it

to a ringbolt in the deck of the cuddy. Having thus arranged every

thing as well as I could in my chilled and agitated condition, I

recommended myself to God, and made up my mind to bear whatever might

happen with all the fortitude in my power.

Hardly had I come to this resolution, when, suddenly, a loud and

long scream or yell, as if from the throats of a thousand demons,

seemed to pervade the whole atmosphere around and above the boat.

Never while I live shall I forget the intense agony of terror I

experienced at that moment. My hair stood erect on my head -- I felt

the blood congealing in my veins -- my heart ceased utterly to beat,

and without having once raised my eyes to learn the source of my

alarm, I tumbled headlong and insensible upon the body of my fallen

companion.

I found myself, upon reviving, in the cabin of a large

whaling-ship (the Penguin) bound to Nantucket. Several persons were

standing over me, and Augustus, paler than death, was busily occupied

in chafing my hands. Upon seeing me open my eyes, his exclamations of

gratitude and joy excited alternate laughter and tears from the

rough-looking personages who were present. The mystery of our being

in existence was now soon explained. We had been run down by the

whaling-ship, which was close-hauled, beating up to Nantucket with

every sail she could venture to set, and consequently running almost

at right angles to our own course. Several men were on the look-out

forward, but did not perceive our boat until it was an impossibility

to avoid coming in contact- their shouts of warning upon seeing us

were what so terribly alarmed me. The huge ship, I was told, rode

immediately over us with as much ease as our own little vessel would

have passed over a feather, and without the least perceptible

impediment to her progress. Not a scream arose from the deck of the

victim- there was a slight grating sound to be heard mingling with

the roar of wind and water, as the frail bark which was swallowed up

rubbed for a moment along the keel of her destroyer- but this was

all. Thinking our boat (which it will be remembered was dismasted)

some mere shell cut adrift as useless, the captain (Captain E. T. V.

Block, of New London) was for proceeding on his course without

troubling himself further about the matter. Luckily, there were two

of the look-out who swore positively to having seen some person at

our helm, and represented the possibility of yet saving him. A

discussion ensued, when Block grew angry, and, after a while, said

that "it was no business of his to be eternally watching for

egg-shells; that the ship should not put about for any such nonsense;

and if there was a man run down, it was nobody's fault but Henderson,

the first mate, now took the matter up, being justly indignant, as

well as the whole ship's crew, at a speech evincing so base a degree

of heartless atrocity. He spoke plainly, seeing himself upheld by the

men, told the captain he considered him a fit subject for the

gallows, and that he would disobey his orders if he were hanged for

it the moment he set his foot on shore. He strode aft, jostling Block

(who turned pale and made no answer) on one side, and seizing the

helm, gave the word, in a firm voice, Hard-a-lee! The men flew to

their posts, and the ship went cleverly about. All this had occupied

nearly five minutes, and it was supposed to be hardly within the

bounds of possibility that any individual could be saved- allowing

any to have been on board the boat. Yet, as the reader has seen, both

Augustus and myself were rescued; and our deliverance seemed to have

been brought about by two of those almost inconceivable pieces of

good fortune which are attributed by the wise and pious to the

special interference of Providence.

While the ship was yet in stays, the mate lowered the jolly-boat

and jumped into her with the very two men, I believe, who spoke up as

having seen me at the helm. They had just left the lee of the vessel

(the moon still shining brightly) when she made a long and heavy roll

to windward, and Henderson, at the same moment, starting up in his

seat bawled out to his crew to back water. He would say nothing else-

repeating his cry impatiently, back water! black water! The men put

back as speedily as possible, but by this time the ship had gone

round, and gotten fully under headway, although all hands on board

were making great exertions to take in sail. In despite of the danger

of the attempt, the mate clung to the main-chains as soon as they

came within his reach. Another huge lurch now brought the starboard

side of the vessel out of water nearly as far as her keel, when the

cause of his anxiety was rendered obvious enough. The body of a man

was seen to be affixed in the most singular manner to the smooth and

shining bottom (the Penguin was coppered and copper-fastened), and

beating violently against it with every movement of the hull. After

several ineffectual efforts, made during the lurches of the ship, and

at the imminent risk of swamping the boat I was finally disengaged

from my perilous situation and taken on board- for the body proved to

be my own. It appeared that one of the timber-bolts having started

and broken a passage through the copper, it had arrested my progress

as I passed under the ship, and fastened me in so extraordinary a

manner to her bottom. The head of the bolt had made its way through

the collar of the green baize jacket I had on, and through the back

part of my neck, forcing itself out between two sinews and just below

the right ear. I was immediately put to bed- although life seemed to

be totally extinct. There was no surgeon on board. The captain,

however, treated me with every attention- to make amends, I presume,

in the eyes of his crew, for his atrocious behaviour in the previous

portion of the adventure.

In the meantime, Henderson had again put off from the ship,

although the wind was now blowing almost a hurricane. He had not been

gone many minutes when he fell in with some fragments of our boat,

and shortly afterward one of the men with him asserted that he could

distinguish a cry for help at intervals amid the roaring of the

tempest. This induced the hardy seamen to persevere in their search

for more than half an hour, although repeated signals to return were

made them by Captain Block, and although every moment on the water in

so frail a boat was fraught to them with the most imminent and deadly

peril. Indeed, it is nearly impossible to conceive how the small

jolly they were in could have escaped destruction for a single

instant. She was built, however, for the whaling service, and was

fitted, as I have since had reason to believe, with air-boxes, in the

manner of some life-boats used on the coast of Wales.

After searching in vain for about the period of time just

mentioned, it was determined to get back to the ship. They had

scarcely made this resolve when a feeble cry arose from a dark object

that floated rapidly by. They pursued and soon overtook it. It proved

to be the entire deck of the Ariel's cuddy. Augustus was struggling

near it, apparently in the last agonies. Upon getting hold of him it

was found that he was attached by a rope to the floating timber. This

rope, it will be remembered, I had myself tied around his waist, and

made fast to a ringbolt, for the purpose of keeping him in an upright

position, and my so doing, it appeared, had been ultimately the means

of preserving his life. The Ariel was slightly put together, and in

going down her frame naturally went to pieces; the deck of the cuddy,

as might have been expected, was lifted, by the force of the water

rushing in, entirely from the main timbers, and floated (with other

fragments, no doubt) to the surface- Augustus was buoyed up with it,

and thus escaped a terrible death.

It was more than an hour after being taken on board the Penguin

before he could give any account of himself, or be made to comprehend

the nature of the accident which had befallen our boat. At length he

became thoroughly aroused, and spoke much of his sensations while in

the water. Upon his first attaining any degree of consciousness, he

found himself beneath the surface, whirling round and round with

inconceivable rapidity, and with a rope wrapped in three or four

folds tightly about his neck. In an instant afterward he felt himself

going rapidly upward, when, his head striking violently against a

hard substance, he again relapsed into insensibility. Upon once more

reviving he was in fuller possession of his reason- this was still,

however, in the greatest degree clouded and confused. He now knew

that some accident had occurred, and that he was in the water,

although his mouth was above the surface, and he could breathe with

some freedom. Possibly, at this period the deck was drifting rapidly

before the wind, and drawing him after it, as he floated upon his

back. Of course, as long as he could have retained this position, it

would have been nearly impossible that he should be drowned.

Presently a surge threw him directly athwart the deck, and this post

he endeavored to maintain, screaming at intervals for help. just

before he was discovered by Mr. Henderson, he had been obliged to

relax his hold through exhaustion, and, falling into the sea, had

given himself up for lost. During the whole period of his struggles

he had not the faintest recollection of the Ariel, nor of the matters

in connexion with the source of his disaster. A vague feeling of

terror and despair had taken entire possession of his faculties. When

he was finally picked up, every power of his mind had failed him;

and, as before said, it was nearly an hour after getting on board the

Penguin before he became fully aware of his condition. In regard to

myself- I was resuscitated from a state bordering very nearly upon

death (and after every other means had been tried in vain for three

hours and a half) by vigorous friction with flannels bathed in hot

oil- a proceeding suggested by Augustus. The wound in my neck,

although of an ugly appearance, proved of little real consequence,

and I soon recovered from its effects.

The Penguin got into port about nine o'clock in the morning,

after encountering one of the severest gales ever experienced off

Nantucket. Both Augustus and myself managed to appear at Mr.

Barnard's in time for breakfast- which, luckily, was somewhat late,

owing to the party over night. I suppose all at the table were too

much fatigued themselves to notice our jaded appearance- of course,

it would not have borne a very rigid scrutiny. Schoolboys, however,

can accomplish wonders in the way of deception, and I verily believe

not one of our friends in Nantucket had the slightest suspicion that

the terrible story told by some sailors in town of their having run

down a vessel at sea and drowned some thirty or forty poor devils,

had reference either to the Ariel, my companion, or myself. We two

have since very frequently talked the matter over- but never without

a shudder. In one of our conversations Augustus frankly confessed to

me, that in his whole life he had at no time experienced so

excruciating a sense of dismay, as when on board our little boat he

first discovered the extent of his intoxication, and felt himself

sinking beneath its influence.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 1 ~~~

CHAPTER 2

IN no affairs of mere prejudice, pro or con, do we deduce

inferences with entire certainty, even from the most simple data. It

might be supposed that a catastrophe such as I have just related

would have effectually cooled my incipient passion for the sea. On

the contrary, I never experienced a more ardent longing for the wild

adventures incident to the life of a navigator than within a week

after our miraculous deliverance. This short period proved amply long

enough to erase from my memory the shadows, and bring out in vivid

light all the pleasurably exciting points of color, all the

picturesqueness, of the late perilous accident. My conversations with

Augustus grew daily more frequent and more intensely full of

interest. He had a manner of relating his stories of the ocean (more

than one half of which I now suspect to have been sheer fabrications)

well adapted to have weight with one of my enthusiastic temperament

and somewhat gloomy although glowing imagination. It is strange, too,

that he most strongly enlisted my feelings in behalf of the life of a

seaman, when he depicted his more terrible moments of suffering and

despair. For the bright side of the painting I had a limited

sympathy. My visions were of shipwreck and famine; of death or

captivity among barbarian hordes; of a lifetime dragged out in sorrow

and tears, upon some gray and desolate rock, in an ocean

unapproachable and unknown. Such visions or desires- for they

amounted to desires- are common, I have since been assured, to the

whole numerous race of the melancholy among men- at the time of which

I speak I regarded them only as prophetic glimpses of a destiny which

I felt myself in a measure bound to fulfil. Augustus thoroughly

entered into my state of mind. It is probable, indeed, that our

intimate communion had resulted in a partial interchange of

character.

About eighteen months after the period of the Ariel's disaster,

the firm of Lloyd and Vredenburgh (a house connected in some manner

with the Messieurs Enderby, I believe, of Liverpool) were engaged in

repairing and fitting out the brig Grampus for a whaling voyage. She

was an old hulk, and scarcely seaworthy when all was done to her that

could be done. I hardly know why she was chosen in preference to

other good vessels belonging to the same owners -- but so it was. Mr.

Barnard was appointed to command her, and Augustus was going with

him. While the brig was getting ready, he frequently urged upon me

the excellency of the opportunity now offered for indulging my desire

of travel. He found me by no means an unwilling listener -- yet the

matter could not be so easily arranged. My father made no direct

opposition; but my mother went into hysterics at the bare mention of

the design; and, more than all, my grandfather, from whom I expected

much, vowed to cut me off with a shilling if I should ever broach the

subject to him again. These difficulties, however, so far from

abating my desire, only added fuel to the flame. I determined to go

at all hazards; and, having made known my intentions to Augustus, we

set about arranging a plan by which it might be accomplished. In the

meantime I forbore speaking to any of my relations in regard to the

voyage, and, as I busied myself ostensibly with my usual studies, it

was supposed that I had abandoned the design. I have since frequently

examined my conduct on this occasion with sentiments of displeasure

as well as of surprise. The intense hypocrisy I made use of for the

furtherance of my project- an hypocrisy pervading every word and

action of my life for so long a period of time- could only have been

rendered tolerable to myself by the wild and burning expectation with

which I looked forward to the fulfilment of my long-cherished visions

of travel.

In pursuance of my scheme of deception, I was necessarily obliged

to leave much to the management of Augustus, who was employed for the

greater part of every day on board the Grampus, attending to some

arrangements for his father in the cabin and cabin hold. At night,

however, we were sure to have a conference and talk over our hopes.

After nearly a month passed in this manner, without our hitting upon

any plan we thought likely to succeed, he told me at last that he had

determined upon everything necessary. I had a relation living in New

Bedford, a Mr. Ross, at whose house I was in the habit of spending

occasionally two or three weeks at a time. The brig was to sail about

the middle of June (June, 1827), and it was agreed that, a day or two

before her putting to sea, my father was to receive a note, as usual,

from Mr. Ross, asking me to come over and spend a fortnight with

Robert and Emmet (his sons). Augustus charged himself with the

inditing of this note and getting it delivered. Having set out as

supposed, for New Bedford, I was then to report myself to my

companion, who would contrive a hiding-place for me in the Grampus.

This hiding-place, he assured me, would be rendered sufficiently

comfortable for a residence of many days, during which I was not to

make my appearance. When the brig had proceeded so far on her course

as to make any turning back a matter out of question, I should then,

he said, be formally installed in all the comforts of the cabin; and

as to his father, he would only laugh heartily at the joke. Vessels

enough would be met with by which a letter might be sent home

explaining the adventure to my parents.

The middle of June at length arrived, and every thing had been

matured. The note was written and delivered, and on a Monday morning

I left the house for the New Bedford packet, as supposed. I went,

however, straight to Augustus, who was waiting for me at the corner

of a street. It had been our original plan that I should keep out of

the way until dark, and then slip on board the brig; but, as there

was now a thick fog in our favor, it was agreed to lose no time in

secreting me. Augustus led the way to the wharf, and I followed at a

little distance, enveloped in a thick seaman's cloak, which he had

brought with him, so that my person might not be easily recognized.

just as we turned the second corner, after passing Mr. Edmund's well,

who should appear, standing right in front of me, and looking me full

in the face, but old Mr. Peterson, my grandfather. "Why, bless my

soul, Gordon," said he, after a long pause, "why, why,- whose dirty

cloak is that you have on?" "Sir!" I replied, assuming, as well as I

could, in the exigency of the moment, an air of offended surprise,

and talking in the gruffest of all imaginable tones- "sir! you are a

sum'mat mistaken- my name, in the first place, bee'nt nothing at all

like Goddin, and I'd want you for to know better, you blackguard,

than to call my new obercoat a darty one." For my life I could hardly

refrain from screaming with laughter at the odd manner in which the

old gentleman received this handsome rebuke. He started back two or

three steps, turned first pale and then excessively red, threw up his

spectacles, then, putting them down, ran full tilt at me, with his

umbrella uplifted. He stopped short, however, in his career, as if

struck with a sudden recollection; and presently, turning round,

hobbled off down the street, shaking all the while with rage, and

muttering between his teeth: "Won't do -- new glasses -- thought it

was Gordon --d--d good-for-nothing salt water Long Tom."

After this narrow escape we proceeded with greater caution, and

arrived at our point of destination in safety. There were only one or

two of the hands on board, and these were busy forward, doing

something to the forecastle combings. Captain Barnard, we knew very

well, was engaged at Lloyd and Vredenburgh's, and would remain there

until late in the evening, so we had little to apprehend on his

account. Augustus went first up the vessel's side, and in a short

while I followed him, without being noticed by the men at work. We

proceeded at once into the cabin, and found no person there. It was

fitted up in the most comfortable style- a thing somewhat unusual in

a whaling-vessel. There were four very excellent staterooms, with

wide and convenient berths. There was also a large stove, I took

notice, and a remarkably thick and valuable carpet covering the floor

of both the cabin and staterooms. The ceiling was full seven feet

high, and, in short, every thing appeared of a more roomy and

agreeable nature than I had anticipated. Augustus, however, would

allow me but little time for observation, insisting upon the

necessity of my concealing myself as soon as possible. He led the way

into his own stateroom, which was on the starboard side of the brig,

and next to the bulkheads. Upon entering, he closed the door and

bolted it. I thought I had never seen a nicer little room than the

one in which I now found myself. It was about ten feet long, and had

only one berth, which, as I said before, was wide and convenient. In

that portion of the closet nearest the bulkheads there was a space of

four feet square, containing a table, a chair, and a set of hanging

shelves full of books, chiefly books of voyages and travels. There

were many other little comforts in the room, among which I ought not

to forget a kind of safe or refrigerator, in which Augustus pointed

out to me a host of delicacies, both in the eating and drinking

department.

He now pressed with his knuckles upon a certain spot of the

carpet in one corner of the space just mentioned, letting me know

that a portion of the flooring, about sixteen inches square, had been

neatly cut out and again adjusted. As he pressed, this portion rose

up at one end sufficiently to allow the passage of his finger

beneath. In this manner he raised the mouth of the trap (to which the

carpet was still fastened by tacks), and I found that it led into the

after hold. He next lit a small taper by means of a phosphorous

match, and, placing the light in a dark lantern, descended with it

through the opening, bidding me follow. I did so, and be then pulled

the cover upon the hole, by means of a nail driven into the under

side- the carpet, of course, resuming its original position on the

floor of the stateroom, and all traces of the aperture being

concealed.

The taper gave out so feeble a ray that it was with the greatest

difficulty I could grope my way through the confused mass of lumber

among which I now found myself. By degrees, however, my eyes became

accustomed to the gloom, and I proceeded with less trouble, holding

on to the skirts of my friend's coat. He brought me, at length, after

creeping and winding through innumerable narrow passages, to an

iron-bound box, such as is used sometimes for packing fine

earthenware. It was nearly four feet high, and full six long, but

very narrow. Two large empty oil-casks lay on the top of it, and

above these, again, a vast quantity of straw matting, piled up as

high as the floor of the cabin. In every other direction around was

wedged as closely as possible, even up to the ceiling, a complete

chaos of almost every species of ship-furniture, together with a

heterogeneous medley of crates, hampers, barrels, and bales, so that

it seemed a matter no less than miraculous that we had discovered any

passage at all to the box. I afterward found that Augustus had

purposely arranged the stowage in this hold with a view to affording

me a thorough concealment, having had only one assistant in the

labour, a man not going out in the brig.

My companion now showed me that one of the ends of the box could

be removed at pleasure. He slipped it aside and displayed the

interior, at which I was excessively amused. A mattress from one of

the cabin berths covered the whole of its bottom, and it contained

almost every article of mere comfort which could be crowded into so

small a space, allowing me, at the same time, sufficient room for my

accommodation, either in a sitting position or lying at full length.

Among other things, there were some books, pen, ink, and paper, three

blankets, a large jug full of water, a keg of sea-biscuit, three or

four immense Bologna sausages, an enormous ham, a cold leg of roast

mutton, and half a dozen bottles of cordials and liqueurs. I

proceeded immediately to take possession of my little apartment, and

this with feelings of higher satisfaction, I am sure, than any

monarch ever experienced upon entering a new palace. Augustus now

pointed out to me the method of fastening the open end of the box,

and then, holding the taper close to the deck, showed me a piece of

dark whipcord lying along it. This, he said, extended from my

hiding-place throughout an the necessary windings among the lumber,

to a nail which was driven into the deck of the hold, immediately

beneath the trap-door leading into his stateroom. By means of this

cord I should be enabled readily to trace my way out without his

guidance, provided any unlooked-for accident should render such a

step necessary. He now took his departure, leaving with me the

lantern, together with a copious supply of tapers and phosphorous,

and promising to pay me a visit as often as he could contrive to do

so without observation. This was on the seventeenth of June.

I remained three days and nights (as nearly as I could guess) in

my hiding-place without getting out of it at all, except twice for

the purpose of stretching my limbs by standing erect between two

crates just opposite the opening. During the whole period I saw

nothing of Augustus; but this occasioned me little uneasiness, as I

knew the brig was expected to put to sea every hour, and in the

bustle he would not easily find opportunities of coming down to me.

At length I heard the trap open and shut. and presently he called in

a low voice, asking if all was well, and if there was any thing I

wanted. "Nothing," I replied; "I am as comfortable as can be; when

will the brig sail?" "She will be under weigh in less than half an

hour," he answered. "I came to let you know, and for fear you should

be uneasy at my absence. I shall not have a chance of coming down

again for some time- perhaps for three or four days more. All is

going on right aboveboard. After I go up and close the trap, do you

creep along by the whipcord to where the nail is driven in. You will

find my watch there -- it may be useful to you, as you have no

daylight to keep time by. I suppose you can't tell how long you have

been buried- only three days- this is the twentieth. I would bring

the watch to your box, but am afraid of being missed." With this he

went up.

In about an hour after he had gone I distinctly felt the brig in

motion, and congratulated myself upon having at length fairly

commenced a voyage. Satisfied with this idea, I determined to make my

mind as easy as possible, and await the course of events until I

should be permitted to exchange the box for the more roomy, although

hardly more comfortable, accommodations of the cabin. My first care

was to get the watch. Leaving the taper burning, I groped along in

the dark, following the cord through windings innumerable, in some of

which I discovered that, after toiling a long distance, I was brought

back within a foot or two of a former position. At length I reached

the nail, and securing the object of my journey, returned with it in

safety. I now looked over the books which had been so thoughtfully

provided, and selected the expedition of Lewis and Clarke to the

mouth of the Columbia. With this I amused myself for some time, when,

growing sleepy, I extinguished the light with great care, and soon

fell into a sound slumber.

Upon awakening I felt strangely confused in mind, and some time

elapsed before I could bring to recollection all the various

circumstances of my situation. By degrees, however, I remembered all.

Striking a light, I looked at the watch; but it was run down, and

there were, consequently, no means of determining how long I slept.

My limbs were greatly cramped, and I was forced to relieve them by

standing between the crates. Presently feeling an almost ravenous

appetite, I bethought myself of the cold mutton, some of which I had

eaten just before going to sleep, and found excellent. What was my

astonishment in discovering it to be in a state of absolute

putrefaction! This circumstance occasioned me great disquietude; for,

connecting it with the disorder of mind I experienced upon awakening,

I began to suppose that I must have slept for an inordinately long

period of time. The close atmosphere of the hold might have had

something to do with this, and might, in the end, be productive of

the most serious results. My head ached excessively; I fancied that I

drew every breath with difficulty; and, in short, I was oppressed

with a multitude of gloomy feelings. Still I could not venture to

make any disturbance by opening the trap or otherwise, and, having

wound up the watch, contented myself as well as possible.

Throughout the whole of the next tedious twenty-four hours no

person came to my relief, and I could not help accusing Augustus of

the grossest inattention. What alarmed me chiefly was, that the water

in my jug was reduced to about half a pint, and I was suffering much

from thirst, having eaten freely of the Bologna sausages after the

loss of my mutton. I became very uneasy, and could no longer take any

interest in my books. I was overpowered, too, with a desire to sleep,

yet trembled at the thought of indulging it, lest there might exist

some pernicious influence, like that of burning charcoal, in the

confined air of the hold. In the meantime the roll of the brig told

me that we were far in the main ocean, and a dull humming sound,

which reached my ears as if from an immense distance, convinced me no

ordinary gale was blowing. I could not imagine a reason for the

absence of Augustus. We were surely far enough advanced on our voyage

to allow of my going up. Some accident might have happened to him-

but I could think of none which would account for his suffering me to

remain so long a prisoner, except, indeed, his having suddenly died

or fallen overboard, and upon this idea I could not dwell with any

degree of patience. It was possible that we had been baffled by head

winds, and were still in the near vicinity of Nantucket. This notion,

however, I was forced to abandon; for such being the case, the brig

must have frequently gone about; and I was entirely satisfied, from

her continual inclination to the larboard, that she had been sailing

all along with a steady breeze on her starboard quarter. Besides,

granting that we were still in the neighborhood of the island, why

should not Augustus have visited me and informed me of the

circumstance? Pondering in this manner upon the difficulties of my

solitary and cheerless condition, I resolved to wait yet another

twenty-four hours, when, if no relief were obtained, I would make my

way to the trap, and endeavour either to hold a parley with my

friend, or get at least a little fresh air through the opening, and a

further supply of water from the stateroom. While occupied with this

thought, however, I fell in spite of every exertion to the contrary,

into a state of profound sleep, or rather stupor. My dreams were of

the most terrific description. Every species of calamity and horror

befell me. Among other miseries I was smothered to death between huge

pillows, by demons of the most ghastly and ferocious aspect. Immense

serpents held me in their embrace, and looked earnestly in my face

with their fearfully shining eyes. Then deserts, limitless, and of

the most forlorn and awe-inspiring character, spread themselves out

before me. Immensely tall trunks of trees, gray and leafless, rose up

in endless succession as far as the eye could reach. Their roots were

concealed in wide-spreading morasses, whose dreary water lay

intensely black, still, and altogether terrible, beneath. And the

strange trees seemed endowed with a human vitality, and waving to and

fro their skeleton arms, were crying to the silent waters for mercy,

in the shrill and piercing accents of the most acute agony and

despair. The scene changed; and I stood, naked and alone, amidst the

burning sand-plains of Sahara. At my feet lay crouched a fierce lion

of the tropics. Suddenly his wild eyes opened and fell upon me. With

a conculsive bound he sprang to his feet, and laid bare his horrible

teeth. In another instant there burst from his red throat a roar like

the thunder of the firmament, and I fell impetuously to the earth.

Stifling in a paroxysm of terror, I at last found myself partially

awake. My dream, then, was not all a dream. Now, at least, I was in

possession of my senses. The paws of some huge and real monster were

pressing heavily upon my bosom -- his hot breath was in my ear- and

his white and ghastly fangs were gleaming upon me through the gloom.

Had a thousand lives hung upon the movement of a limb or the

utterance of a syllable, I could have neither stirred nor spoken. The

beast, whatever it was, retained his position without attempting any

immediate violence, while I lay in an utterly helpless, and, I

fancied, a dying condition beneath him. I felt that my powers of body

and mind were fast leaving me- in a word, that I was perishing, and

perishing of sheer fright. My brain swam -- I grew deadly sick -- my

vision failed -- even the glaring eyeballs above me grew dim. Making

a last strong effort, I at length breathed a faint ejaculation to

God, and resigned myself to die. The sound of my voice seemed to

arouse all the latent fury of the animal. He precipitated himself at

full length upon my body; but what was my astonishment, when, with a

long and low whine, he commenced licking my face and hands with the

greatest eagerness, and with the most extravagant demonstration of

affection and joy! I was bewildered, utterly lost in amazement- but I

could not forget the peculiar whine of my Newfoundland dog Tiger, and

the odd manner of his caresses I well knew. It was he. I experienced

a sudden rush of blood to my temples- a giddy and overpowering sense

of deliverance and reanimation. I rose hurriedly from the mattress

upon which I had been lying, and, throwing myself upon the neck of my

faithful follower and friend, relieved the long oppression of my

bosom in a flood of the most passionate tears.

As upon a former occasion my conceptions were in a state of the

greatest indistinctness and confusion after leaving the mattress. For

a long time I found it nearly impossible to connect any ideas; but,

by very slow degrees, my thinking faculties returned, and I again

called to memory the several incidents of my condition. For the

presence of Tiger I tried in vain to account; and after busying

myself with a thousand different conjectures respecting him, was

forced to content myself with rejoicing that he was with me to share

my dreary solitude, and render me comfort by his caresses. Most

people love their dogs -- but for Tiger I had an affection far more

ardent than common; and never, certainly, did any creature more truly

deserve it. For seven years he had been my inseparable companion, and

in a multitude of instances had given evidence of all the noble

qualities for which we value the animal. I had rescued him, when a

puppy, from the clutches of a malignant little villain in Nantucket

who was leading him, with a rope around his neck, to the water; and

the grown dog repaid the obligation, about three years afterward, by

saving me from the bludgeon of a street robber.

Getting now hold of the watch, I found, upon applying it to my

ear, that it had again run down; but at this I was not at all

surprised, being convinced, from the peculiar state of my feelings,

that I had slept, as before, for a very long period of time, how

long, it was of course impossible to say. I was burning up with

fever, and my thirst was almost intolerable. I felt about the box for

my little remaining supply of water, for I had no light, the taper

having burnt to the socket of the lantern, and the phosphorus-box not

coming readily to hand. Upon finding the jug, however, I discovered

it to be empty -- Tiger, no doubt, having been tempted to drink it,

as well as to devour the remnant of mutton, the bone of which lay,

well picked, by the opening of the box. The spoiled meat I could well

spare, but my heart sank as I thought of the water. I was feeble in

the extreme -- so much so that I shook all over, as with an ague, at

the slightest movement or exertion. To add to my troubles, the brig

was pitching and rolling with great violence, and the oil-casks which

lay upon my box were in momentary danger of falling down, so as to

block up the only way of ingress or egress. I felt, also, terrible

sufferings from sea-sickness. These considerations determined me to

make my way, at all hazards, to the trap, and obtain immediate

relief, before I should be incapacitated from doing so altogether.

Having come to this resolve, I again felt about for the

phosphorus-box and tapers. The former I found after some little

trouble; but, not discovering the tapers as soon as I had expected

(for I remembered very nearly the spot in which I had placed them), I

gave up the search for the present, and bidding Tiger lie quiet,

began at once my journey toward the trap.

In this attempt my great feebleness became more than ever

apparent. It was with the utmost difficulty I could crawl along at

all, and very frequently my limbs sank suddenly from beneath me;

when, falling prostrate on my face, I would remain for some minutes

in a state bordering on insensibility. Still I struggled forward by

slow degrees, dreading every moment that I should swoon amid the

narrow and intricate windings of the lumber, in which event I had

nothing but death to expect as the result. At length, upon making a

push forward with all the energy I could command, I struck my

forehead violently against the sharp corner of an iron-bound crate.

The accident only stunned me for a few moments; but I found, to my

inexpressible grief, that the quick and violent roll of the vessel

had thrown the crate entirely across my path, so as effectually to

block up the passage. With my utmost exertions I could not move it a

single inch from its position, it being closely wedged in among the

surrounding boxes and ship-furniture. It became necessary, therefore,

enfeebled as I was, either to leave the guidance of the whipcord and

seek out a new passage, or to climb over the obstacle, and resume the

path on the other side. The former alternative presented too many

difficulties and dangers to be thought of without a shudder. In my

present weak state of both mind and body, I should infallibly lose my

way if I attempted it, and perish miserably amid the dismal and

disgusting labyrinths of the hold. I proceeded, therefore, without

hesitation, to summon up all my remaining strength and fortitude, and

endeavour, as I best might, to clamber over the crate.

Upon standing erect, with this end in view, I found the

undertaking even a more serious task than my fears had led me to

imagine. On each side of the narrow passage arose a complete wall of

various heavy lumber, which the least blunder on my part might be the

means of bringing down upon my head; or, if this accident did not

occur, the path might be effectually blocked up against my return by

the descending mass, as it was in front by the obstacle there. The

crate itself was a long and unwieldy box, upon which no foothold

could be obtained. In vain I attempted, by every means in my power,

to reach the top, with the hope of being thus enabled to draw myself

up. Had I succeeded in reaching it, it is certain that my strength

would have proved utterly inadequate to the task of getting over, and

it was better in every respect that I failed. At length, in a

desperate effort to force the crate from its ground, I felt a strong

vibration in the side next me. I thrust my hand eagerly to the edge

of the planks, and found that a very large one was loose. With my

pocket-knife, which, luckily, I had with me, I succeeded, after great

labour, in prying it entirely off; and getting it through the

aperture, discovered, to my exceeding joy, that there were no boards

on the opposite side -- in other words, that the top was wanting, it

being the bottom through which I had forced my way. I now met with no

important difficulty in proceeding along the line until I finally

reached the nail. With a beating heart I stood erect, and with a

gentle touch pressed against the cover of the trap. It did not rise

as soon as I had expected, and I pressed it with somewhat more

determination, still dreading lest some other person than Augustus

might be in his state-room. The door, however, to my astonishment,

remained steady, and I became somewhat uneasy, for I knew that it had

formerly required but little or no effort to remove it. I pushed it

strongly -- it was nevertheless firm: with all my strength -- it

still did not give way: with rage, with fury, with despair -- it set

at defiance my utmost efforts; and it was evident, from the

unyielding nature of the resistance, that the hole had either been

discovered and effectually nailed up, or that some immense weight had

been placed upon it, which it was useless to think of removing.

My sensations were those of extreme horror and dismay. In vain I

attempted to reason on the probable cause of my being thus entombed.

I could summon up no connected chain of reflection, and, sinking on

the floor, gave way, unresistingly, to the most gloomy imaginings, in

which the dreadful deaths of thirst, famine, suffocation, and

premature interment crowded upon me as the prominent disasters to be

encountered. At length there returned to me some portion of presence

of mind. I arose, and felt with my fingers for the seams or cracks of

the aperture. Having found them, I examined them closely to ascertain

if they emitted any light from the state-room; but none was visible.

I then forced the blade of my pen-knife through them, until I met

with some hard obstacle. Scraping against it, I discovered it to be a

solid mass of iron, which, from its peculiar wavy feel as I passed

the blade along it, I concluded to be a chain-cable. The only course

now left me was to retrace my way to the box, and there either yield

to my sad fate, or try so to tranquilize my mind as to admit of my

arranging some plan of escape. I immediately set about the attempt,

and succeeded, after innumerable difficulties, in getting back. As I

sank, utterly exhausted, upon the mattress, Tiger threw himself at

full length by my side, and seemed as if desirous, by his caresses,

of consoling me in my troubles, and urging me to bear them with

fortitude.

The singularity of his behavior at length forcibly arrested my

attention. After licking my face and hands for some minutes, he would

suddenly cease doing so, and utter a low whine. Upon reaching out my

hand toward him, I then invariably found him lying on his back, with

his paws uplifted. This conduct, so frequently repeated, appeared

strange, and I could in no manner account for it. As the dog seemed

distressed, I concluded that he had received some injury; and, taking

his paws in my hands, I examined them one by one, but found no sign

of any hurt. I then supposed him hungry, and gave him a large piece

of ham, which he devoured with avidity -- afterward, however,

resuming his extraordinary manoeuvres. I now imagined that he was

suffering, like myself, the torments of thirst, and was about

adopting this conclusion as the true one, when the idea occurred to

me that I had as yet only examined his paws, and that there might

possibly be a wound upon some portion of his body or head. The latter

I felt carefully over, but found nothing. On passing my hand,

however, along his back, I perceived a slight erection of the hair

extending completely across it. Probing this with my finger, I

discovered a string, and tracing it up, found that it encircled the

whole body. Upon a closer scrutiny, I came across a small slip of

what had the feeling of letter paper, through which the string had

been fastened in such a manner as to bring it immediately beneath the

left shoulder of the animal.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 2 ~~~

CHAPTER 3

THE thought instantly occurred to me that the paper was a note

from Augustus, and that some unaccountable accident having happened

to prevent his relieving me from my dungeon, he had devised this

method of acquainting me with the true state of affairs. Trembling

with eagerness, I now commenced another search for my phosphorus

matches and tapers. I had a confused recollection of having put them

carefully away just before falling asleep; and, indeed, previously to

my last journey to the trap, I had been able to remember the exact

spot where I had deposited them. But now I endeavored in vain to call

it to mind, and busied myself for a full hour in a fruitless and

vexatious search for the missing articles; never, surely, was there a

more tantalizing state of anxiety and suspense. At length, while

groping about, with my head close to the ballast, near the opening of

the box, and outside of it, I perceived a faint glimmering of light

in the direction of the steerage. Greatly surprised, I endeavored to

make my way toward it, as it appeared to be but a few feet from my

position. Scarcely had I moved with this intention, when I lost sight

of the glimmer entirely, and, before I could bring it into view

again, was obliged to feel along by the box until I had exactly

resumed my original situation. Now, moving my head with caution to

and fro, I found that, by proceeding slowly, with great care, in an

opposite direction to that in which I had at first started, I was

enabled to draw near the light, still keeping it in view. Presently I

came directly upon it (having squeezed my way through innumerable

narrow windings), and found that it proceeded from some fragments of

my matches lying in an empty barrel turned upon its side. I was

wondering how they came in such a place, when my hand fell upon two

or three pieces of taper wax, which had been evidently mumbled by the

dog. I concluded at once that he had devoured the whole of my supply

of candles, and I felt hopeless of being ever able to read the note

of Augustus. The small remnants of the wax were so mashed up among

other rubbish in the barrel, that I despaired of deriving any service

from them, and left them as they were. The phosphorus, of which there

was only a speck or two, I gathered up as well as I could, and

returned with it, after much difficulty, to my box, where Tiger had

all the while remained.

What to do next I could not tell. The hold was so intensely dark

that I could not see my hand, however close I would hold it to my

face. The white slip of paper could barely be discerned, and not even

that when I looked at it directly; by turning the exterior portions

of the retina toward it- that is to say, by surveying it slightly

askance, I found that it became in some measure perceptible. Thus the

gloom of my prison may be imagined, and the note of my friend, if

indeed it were a note from him, seemed only likely to throw me into

further trouble, by disquieting to no purpose my already enfeebled

and agitated mind. In vain I revolved in my brain a multitude of

absurd expedients for procuring light- such expedients precisely as a

man in the perturbed sleep occasioned by opium would be apt to fall

upon for a similar purpose- each and all of which appear by turns to

the dreamer the most reasonable and the most preposterous of

conceptions, just as the reasoning or imaginative faculties flicker,

alternately, one above the other. At last an idea occurred to me

which seemed rational, and which gave me cause to wonder, very

justly, that I had not entertained it before. I placed the slip of

paper on the back of a book, and, collecting the fragments of the

phosphorus matches which I had brought from the barrel, laid them

together upon the paper. I then, with the palm of my hand, rubbed the

whole over quickly, yet steadily. A clear light diffused itself

immediately throughout the whole surface; and had there been any

writing upon it, I should not have experienced the least difficulty,

I am sure, in reading it. Not a syllable was there, however- nothing

but a dreary and unsatisfactory blank; the illumination died away in

a few seconds, and my heart died away within me as it went.

I have before stated more than once that my intellect, for some

period prior to this, had been in a condition nearly bordering on

idiocy. There were, to be sure, momentary intervals of perfect

sanity, and, now and then, even of energy; but these were few. It

must be remembered that I had been, for many days certainly, inhaling

the almost pestilential atmosphere of a close hold in a whaling

vessel, and for a long portion of that time but scantily supplied

with water. For the last fourteen or fifteen hours I had none- nor

had I slept during that time. Salt provisions of the most exciting

kind had been my chief, and, indeed, since the loss of the mutton, my

only supply of food, with the exception of the sea-biscuit; and these

latter were utterly useless to me, as they were too dry and hard to

be swallowed in the swollen and parched condition of my throat. I was

now in a high state of fever, and in every respect exceedingly ill.

This will account for the fact that many miserable hours of

despondency elapsed after my last adventure with the phosphorus,

before the thought suggested itself that I had examined only one side

of the paper. I shall not attempt to describe my feelings of rage

(for I believe I was more angry than any thing else) when the

egregious oversight I had committed flashed suddenly upon my

perception. The blunder itself would have been unimportant, had not

my own folly and impetuosity rendered it otherwise- in my

disappointment at not finding some words upon the slip, I had

childishly torn it in pieces and thrown it away, it was impossible to

say where.

From the worst part of this dilemma I was relieved by the

sagacity of Tiger. Having got, after a long search, a small piece of

the note, I put it to the dog's nose, and endeavored to make him

understand that he must bring me the rest of it. To my astonishment,

(for I had taught him none of the usual tricks for which his breed

are famous,) he seemed to enter at once into my meaning, and,

rummaging about for a few moments, soon found another considerable

portion. Bringing me this, he paused awhile, and, rubbing his nose

against my hand, appeared to be waiting for my approval of what he

had done. I patted him on the head, when he immediately made off

again. It was now some minutes before he came back- but when he did

come, he brought with him a large slip, which proved to be all the

paper missing- it having been torn, it seems, only into three pieces.

Luckily, I had no trouble in finding what few fragments of the

phosphorus were left- being guided by the indistinct glow one or two

of the particles still emitted. My difficulties had taught me the

necessity of caution, and I now took time to reflect upon what I was

about to do. It was very probable, I considered, that some words were

written upon that side of the paper which had not been examined- but

which side was that? Fitting the pieces together gave me no clew in

this respect, although it assured me that the words (if there were

any) would be found all on one side, and connected in a proper

manner, as written. There was the greater necessity of ascertaining

the point in question beyond a doubt, as the phosphorus remaining

would be altogether insufficient for a third attempt, should I fail

in the one I was now about to make. I placed the paper on a book as

before, and sat for some minutes thoughtfully revolving the matter

over in my mind. At last I thought it barely possible that the

written side might have some unevenness on its surface, which a

delicate sense of feeling might enable me to detect. I determined to

make the experiment and passed my finger very carefully over the side

which first presented itself. Nothing, however, was perceptible, and

I turned the paper, adjusting it on the book. I now again carried my

forefinger cautiously along, when I was aware of an exceedingly

slight, but still discernable glow, which followed as it proceeded.

This, I knew, must arise from some very minute remaining particles of

the phosphorus with which I had covered the paper in my previous

attempt. The other, or under side, then, was that on which lay the

writing, if writing there should finally prove to be. Again I turned

the note, and went to work as I had previously done. Having rubbed in

the phosphorus, a brilliancy ensued as before- but this time several

lines of MS. in a large hand, and apparently in red ink, became

distinctly visible. The glimmer, although sufficiently bright, was

but momentary. Still, had I not been too greatly excited, there would

have been ample time enough for me to peruse the whole three

sentences before me- for I saw there were three. In my anxiety,

however, to read all at once, I succeeded only in reading the seven

concluding words, which thus appeared- "blood- your life depends upon

lying close."

Had I been able to ascertain the entire contents of the note-the

full meaning of the admonition which my friend had thus attempted to

convey, that admonition, even although it should have revealed a

story of disaster the most unspeakable, could not, I am firmly

convinced, have imbued my mind with one tithe of the harrowing and

yet indefinable horror with which I was inspired by the fragmentary

warning thus received. And "blood," too, that word of all words- so

rife at all times with mystery, and suffering, and terror- how trebly

full of import did it now appear- how chilly and heavily (disjointed,

as it thus was, from any foregoing words to qualify or render it

distinct) did its vague syllables fall, amid the deep gloom of my

prison, into the innermost recesses of my soul!

Augustus had, undoubtedly, good reasons for wishing me to remain

concealed, and I formed a thousand surmises as to what they could be-

but I could think of nothing affording a satisfactory solution of the

mystery. just after returning from my last journey to the trap, and

before my attention had been otherwise directed by the singular

conduct of Tiger, I had come to the resolution of making myself heard

at all events by those on board, or, if I could not succeed in this

directly, of trying to cut my way through the orlop deck. The half

certainty which I felt of being able to accomplish one of these two

purposes in the last emergency, had given me courage (which I should

not otherwise have had) to endure the evils of my situation. The few

words I had been able to read, however, had cut me off from these

final resources, and I now, for the first time, felt all the misery

of my fate. In a paroxysm of despair I threw myself again upon the

mattress, where, for about the period of a day and night, I lay in a

kind of stupor, relieved only by momentary intervals of reason and

recollection.

At length I once more arose, and busied myself in reflection

upon the horrors which encompassed me. For another twenty-four hours

it was barely possible that I might exist without water- for a longer

time I could not do so. During the first portion of my imprisonment I

had made free use of the cordials with which Augustus had supplied

me, but they only served to excite fever, without in the least degree

assuaging thirst. I had now only about a gill left, and this was of a

species of strong peach liqueur at which my stomach revolted. The

sausages were entirely consumed; of the ham nothing remained but a

small piece of the skin; and all the biscuit, except a few fragments

of one, had been eaten by Tiger. To add to my troubles, I found that

my headache was increasing momentarily, and with it the species of

delirium which had distressed me more or less since my first falling

asleep. For some hours past it had been with the greatest difficulty

I could breathe at all, and now each attempt at so doing was attended

with the most depressing spasmodic action of the chest. But there was

still another and very different source of disquietude, and one,

indeed, whose harassing terrors had been the chief means of arousing

me to exertion from my stupor on the mattress. It arose from the

demeanor of the dog.

I first observed an alteration in his conduct while rubbing in

the phosphorus on the paper in my last attempt. As I rubbed, he ran

his nose against my hand with a slight snarl; but I was too greatly

excited at the time to pay much attention to the circumstance. Soon

afterward, it will be remembered, I threw myself on the mattress, and

fell into a species of lethargy. Presently I became aware of a

singular hissing sound close at my ears, and discovered it to proceed

from Tiger, who was panting and wheezing in a state of the greatest

apparent excitement, his eyeballs flashing fiercely through the

gloom. I spoke to him, when he replied with a low growl, and then

remained quiet. Presently I relapsed into my stupor, from which I was

again awakened in a similar manner. This was repeated three or four

times, until finally his behaviour inspired me with so great a degree

of fear, that I became fully aroused. He was now lying close by the

door of the box, snarling fearfully, although in a kind of undertone,

and grinding his teeth as if strongly convulsed. I had no doubt

whatever that the want of water or the confined atmosphere of the

hold had driven him mad, and I was at a loss what course to pursue. I

could not endure the thought of killing him, yet it seemed absolutely

necessary for my own safety. I could distinctly perceive his eyes

fastened upon me with an expression of the most deadly animosity, and

I expected every instant that he would attack me. At last I could

endure my terrible situation no longer, and determined to make my way

from the box at all hazards, and dispatch him, if his opposition

should render it necessary for me to do so. To get out, I had to pass

directly over his body, and he already seemed to anticipate my

design- missing himself upon his fore. legs (as I perceived by the

altered position of his eyes), and displayed the whole of his white

fangs, which were easily discernible. I took the remains of the

ham-skin, and the bottle containing the liqueur, and secured them

about my person, together with a large carving-knife which Augustus

had left me- then, folding my cloak around me as closely as possible,

I made a movement toward the mouth of the box. No sooner did I do

this, than the dog sprang with a loud growl toward my throat. The

whole weight of his body struck me on the right shoulder, and I fell

violently to the left, while the enraged animal passed entirely over

me. I had fallen upon my knees, with my head buried among the

blankets, and these protected me from a second furious assault,

during which I felt the sharp teeth pressing vigorously upon the

woollen which enveloped my neck- yet, luckily, without being able to

penetrate all the folds. I was now beneath the dog, and a few moments

would place me completely in his power. Despair gave me strength, and

I rose boldly up, shaking him from me by main force, and dragging

with me the blankets from the mattress. These I now threw over him,

and before he could extricate himself, I had got through the door and

closed it effectually against his pursuit. In this struggle, however,

I had been forced to drop the morsel of ham-skin, and I now found my

whole stock of provisions reduced to a single gill of liqueur, As

this reflection crossed my mind, I felt myself actuated by one of

those fits of perverseness which might be supposed to influence a

spoiled child in similar circumstances, and, raising the bottle to my

lips, I drained it to the last drop, and dashed it furiously upon the

floor.

Scarcely had the echo of the crash died away, when I heard my

name pronounced in an eager but subdued voice, issuing from the

direction of the steerage. So unexpected was anything of the kind,

and so intense was the emotion excited within me by the sound, that I

endeavoured in vain to reply. My powers of speech totally failed, and

in an agony of terror lest my friend should conclude me dead, and

return without attempting to reach me, I stood up between the crates

near the door of the box, trembling convulsively, and gasping and

struggling for utterance. Had a thousand words depended upon a

syllable, I could not have spoken it. There was a slight movement now

audible among the lumber somewhere forward of my station. The sound

presently grew less distinct, then again less so, and still less.

Shall I ever forget my feelings at this moment? He was going- my

friend, my companion, from whom I had a right to expect so much- he

was going- he would abandon me- he was gone! He would leave me to

perish miserably, to expire in the most horrible and loathesome of

dungeons- and one word, one little syllable, would save me- yet that

single syllable I could not utter! I felt, I am sure, more than ten

thousand times the agonies of death itself. My brain reeled, and I

fell, deadly sick, against the end of the box.

As I fell the carving-knife was shaken out from the waist-band

of my pantaloons, and dropped with a rattling sound to the floor.

Never did any strain of the richest melody come so sweetly to my

ears! With the intensest anxiety I listened to ascertain the effect

of the noise upon Augustus- for I knew that the person who called my

name could be no one but himself. All was silent for some moments. At

length I again heard the word "Arthur!" repeated in a low tone, and

one full of hesitation. Reviving hope loosened at once my powers of

speech, and I now screamed at the top of my voice, "Augustus! oh,

Augustus!" "Hush! for God's sake be silent!" he replied, in a voice

trembling with agitation; "I will be with you immediately- as soon as

I can make my way through the hold." For a long time I heard him

moving among the lumber, and every moment seemed to me an age. At

length I felt his hand upon my shoulder, and he placed, at the same

moment, a bottle of water to my lips. Those only who have been

suddenly redeemed from the jaws of the tomb, or who have known the

insufferable torments of thirst under circumstances as aggravated as

those which encompassed me in my dreary prison, can form any idea of

the unutterable transports which that one long draught of the richest

of all physical luxuries afforded.

When I had in some degree satisfied my thirst, Augustus produced

from his pocket three or four boiled potatoes, which I devoured with

the greatest avidity. He had brought with him a light in a dark

lantern, and the grateful rays afforded me scarcely less comfort than

the food and drink. But I was impatient to learn the cause of his

protracted absence, and he proceeded to recount what had happened on

board during my incarceration.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 3 ~~~

CHAPTER 4

THE brig put to sea, as I had supposed, in about an hour after he

had left the watch. This was on the twentieth of June. It will be

remembered that I had then been in the hold for three days; and,

during this period, there was so constant a bustle on board, and so

much running to and fro, especially in the cabin and staterooms, that

he had had no chance of visiting me without the risk of having the

secret of the trap discovered. When at length he did come, I had

assured him that I was doing as well as possible; and, therefore, for

the two next days be felt but little uneasiness on my account- still,

however, watching an opportunity of going down. It was not until the

fourth day that he found one. Several times during this interval he

had made up his mind to let his father know of the adventure, and

have me come up at once; but we were still within reaching distance

of Nantucket, and it was doubtful, from some expressions which had

escaped Captain Barnard, whether he would not immediately put back if

he discovered me to be on board. Besides, upon thinking the matter

over, Augustus, so he told me, could not imagine that I was in

immediate want, or that I would hesitate, in such case, to make

myself heard at the trap. When, therefore, he considered everything

he concluded to let me stay until he could meet with an opportunity

of visiting me unobserved. This, as I said before, did not occur

until the fourth day after his bringing me the watch, and the seventh

since I had first entered the hold. He then went down without taking

with him any water or provisions, intending in the first place merely

to call my attention, and get me to come from the box to the trap,-

when he would go up to the stateroom and thence hand me down a sup.

ply. When he descended for this purpose he found that I was asleep,

for it seems that I was snoring very loudly. From all the

calculations I can make on the subject, this must have been the

slumber into which I fell just after my return from the trap with the

watch, and which, consequently, must have lasted for more than three

entire days and nights at the very least. Latterly, I have had reason

both from my own experience and the assurance of others, to be

acquainted with the strong soporific effects of the stench arising

from old fish-oil when closely confined; and when I think of the

condition of the hold in which I was imprisoned, and the long period

during which the brig had been used as a whaling vessel, I am more

inclined to wonder that I awoke at all, after once falling asleep,

than that I should have slept uninterruptedly for the period

specified above.

Augustus called to me at first in a low voice and without

closing the trap- but I made him no reply. He then shut the trap, and

spoke to me in a louder, and finally in a very loud tone- still I

continued to snore. He was now at a loss what to do. It would take

him some time to make his way through the lumber to my box, and in

the meanwhile his absence would be noticed by Captain Barnard, who

had occasion for his services every minute, in arranging and copying

papers connected with the business of the voyage. He determined,

therefore, upon reflection, to ascend, and await another opportunity

of visiting me. He was the more easily induced to this resolve, as my

slumber appeared to be of the most tranquil nature, and he could not

suppose that I had undergone any inconvenience from my incarceration.

He had just made up his mind on these points when his attention was

arrested by an unusual bustle, the sound of which proceeded

apparently from the cabin. He sprang through the trap as quickly as

possible, closed it, and threw open the door of his stateroom. No

sooner had he put his foot over the threshold than a pistol flashed

in his face, and he was knocked down, at the same moment, by a blow

from a handspike.

A strong hand held him on the cabin floor, with a tight grasp

upon his throat; still he was able to see what was going on around

him. His father was tied hand and foot, and lying along the steps of

the companion-way, with his head down, and a deep wound in the

forehead, from which the blood was flowing in a continued stream. He

spoke not a word, and was apparently dying. Over him stood the first

mate, eyeing him with an expression of fiendish derision, and

deliberately searching his pockets, from which he presently drew

forth a large wallet and a chronometer. Seven of the crew (among whom

was the cook, a negro) were rummaging the staterooms on the larboard

for arms, where they soon equipped themselves with muskets and

ammunition. Besides Augustus and Captain Barnard, there were nine men

altogether in the cabin, and these among the most ruffianly of the

brig's company. The villains now went upon deck, taking my friend

with them after having secured his arms behind his back. They

proceeded straight to the forecastle, which was fastened down- two of

the mutineers standing by it with axes- two also at the main hatch.

The mate called out in a loud voice: "Do you hear there below? tumble

up with you, one by one- now, mark that- and no grumbling!" It was

some minutes before any one appeared:- at last an Englishman, who had

shipped as a raw hand, came up, weeping piteously, and entreating the

mate, in the most humble manner, to spare his life. The only reply

was a blow on the forehead from an axe. The poor fellow fell to the

deck without a groan, and the black cook lifted him up in his arms as

he would a child, and tossed him deliberately into the sea. Hearing

the blow and the plunge of the body, the men below could now be

induced to venture on deck neither by threats nor promises, until a

proposition was made to smoke them out. A general rush then ensued,

and for a moment it seemed possible that the brig might be retaken.

The mutineers, however, succeeded at last in closing the forecastle

effectually before more than six of their opponents could get up.

These six, finding themselves so greatly outnumbered and without

arms, submitted after a brief struggle. The mate gave them fair

words- no doubt with a view of inducing those below to yield, for

they had no difficulty in hearing all that was said on deck. The

result proved his sagacity, no less than his diabolical villainy. All

in the forecastle presently signified their intention of submitting,

and, ascending one by one, were pinioned and then thrown on their

backs, together with the first six- there being in all, of the crew

who were not concerned in the mutiny, twenty-seven.

A scene of the most horrible butchery ensued. The bound seamen

were dragged to the gangway. Here the cook stood with an axe,

striking each victim on the head as he was forced over the side of

the vessel by the other mutineers. In this manner twenty-two

perished, and Augustus had given himself up for lost, expecting every

moment his own turn to come next. But it seemed that the villains

were now either weary, or in some measure disgusted with their bloody

labour; for the four remaining prisoners, together with my friend,

who had been thrown on the deck with the rest, were respited while

the mate sent below for rum, and the whole murderous party held a

drunken carouse, which lasted until sunset. They now fell to

disputing in regard to the fate of the survivors, who lay not more

than four paces off, and could distinguish every word said. Upon some

of the mutineers the liquor appeared to have a softening effect, for

several voices were heard in favor of releasing the captives

altogether, on condition of joining the mutiny and sharing the

profits. The black cook, however (who in all respects was a perfect

demon, and who seemed to exert as much influence, if not more, than

the mate himself), would listen to no proposition of the kind, and

rose repeatedly for the purpose of resuming his work at the gangway.

Fortunately he was so far overcome by intoxication as to be easily

restrained by the less bloodthirsty of the party, among whom was a

line-manager, who went by the name of Dirk Peters. This man was the

son of an Indian squaw of the tribe of Upsarokas, who live among the

fastnesses of the Black Hills, near the source of the Missouri. His

father was a fur-trader, I believe, or at least connected in some

manner with the Indian trading-posts on Lewis river. Peter himself

was one of the most ferocious-looking men I ever beheld. He was short

in stature, not more than four feet eight inches high, but his limbs

were of Herculean mould. His hands, especially, were so enormously

thick and broad as hardly to retain a human shape. His arms, as well

as legs, were bowed in the most singular manner, and appeared to

possess no flexibility whatever. His head was equally deformed, being

of immense size, with an indentation on the crown (like that on the

head of most negroes), and entirely bald. To conceal this latter

deficiency, which did not proceed from old age, he usually wore a wig

formed of any hair-like material which presented itself- occasionally

the skin of a Spanish dog or American grizzly bear. At the time

spoken of, he had on a portion of one of these bearskins; and it

added no little to the natural ferocity of his countenance, which

betook of the Upsaroka character. The mouth extended nearly from ear

to ear, the lips were thin, and seemed, like some other portions of

his frame, to be devoid of natural pliancy, so that the ruling

expression never varied under the influence of any emotion whatever.

This ruling expression may be conceived when it is considered that

the teeth were exceedingly long and protruding, and never even

partially covered, in any instance, by the lips. To pass this man

with a casual glance, one might imagine him to be convulsed with

laughter, but a second look would induce a shuddering acknowledgment,

that if such an expression were indicative of merriment, the

merriment must be that of a demon. Of this singular being many

anecdotes were prevalent among the seafaring men of Nantucket. These

anecdotes went to prove his prodigious strength when under

excitement, and some of them had given rise to a doubt of his sanity.

But on board the Grampus, it seems, he was regarded, at the time of

the mutiny, with feelings more of derision than of anything else. I

have been thus particular in speaking of Dirk Peters, because,

ferocious as he appeared, he proved the main instrument in preserving

the life of Augustus, and because I shall have frequent occasion to

mention him hereafter in the course of my narrative- a narrative, let

me here say, which, in its latter portions, will be found to include

incidents of a nature so entirely out of the range of human

experience, and for this reason so far beyond the limits of human

credulity, that I proceed in utter hopelessness of obtaining credence

for all that I shall tell, yet confidently trusting in time and

progressing science to verify some of the most important and most

improbable of my statements.

After much indecision and two or three violent quarrels, it was

determined at last that all the prisoners (with the exception of

Augustus, whom Peters insisted in a jocular manner upon keeping as

his clerk) should be set adrift in one of the smallest whaleboats.

The mate went down into the cabin to see if Captain Barnard was still

living- for, it will be remembered, he was left below when the

mutineers came up. Presently the two made their appearance, the

captain pale as death, but somewhat recovered from the effects of his

wound. He spoke to the men in a voice hardly articulate, entreated

them not to set him adrift, but to return to their duty, and

promising to land them wherever they chose, and to take no steps for

bringing them to justice. He might as well have spoken to the winds.

Two of the ruffians seized him by the arms and hurled him over the

brig's side into the boat, which had been lowered while the mate went

below. The four men who were lying on the deck were then untied and

ordered to follow, which they did without attempting any resistance-

Augustus being still left in his painful position, although he

struggled and prayed only for the poor satisfaction of being

permitted to bid his father farewell. A handful of sea-biscuit and a

jug of water were now handed down; but neither mast, sail, oar, nor

compass. The boat was towed astern for a few minutes, during which

the mutineers held another consultation- it was then finally cut

adrift. By this time night had come on- there were neither moon nor

stars visible- and a short and ugly sea was running, although there

was no great deal of wind. The boat was instantly out of sight, and

little hope could be entertained for the unfortunate sufferers who

were in it. This event happened, however, in latitude 35 degrees 30'

north, longitude 61 degrees 20' west, and consequently at no very

great distance from the Bermuda Islands. Augustus therefore

endeavored to console himself with the idea that the boat might

either succeed in reaching the land, or come sufficiently near to be

fallen in with by vessels off the coast.

All sail was now put upon the brig, and she continued her

original course to the southwest- the mutineers being bent upon some

piratical expedition, in which, from all that could be understood, a

ship was to be intercepted on her way from the Cape Verd Islands to

Porto Rico. No attention was paid to Augustus, who was untied and

suffered to go about anywhere forward of the cabin companion-way.

Dirk Peters treated him with some degree of kindness, and on one

occasion saved him from the brutality of the cook. His situation was

still one of the most precarious, as the men were continually

intoxicated, and there was no relying upon their continued good-humor

or carelessness in regard to himself. His anxiety on my account be

represented, however, as the most distressing result of his

condition; and, indeed, I had never reason to doubt the sincerity of

his friendship. More than once he had resolved to acquaint the

mutineers with the secret of my being on board, but was restrained

from so doing, partly through recollection of the atrocities he had

already beheld, and partly through a hope of being able soon to bring

me relief. For the latter purpose he was constantly on the watch;

but, in spite of the most constant vigilance, three days elapsed

after the boat was cut adrift before any chance occurred. At length,

on the night of the third day, there came on a heavy blow from the

eastward, and all hands were called up to take in sail. During the

confusion which ensued, he made his way below unobserved, and into

the stateroom. What was his grief and horror in discovering that the

latter had been rendered a place of deposit for a variety of

sea-stores and ship-furniture, and that several fathoms of old

chain-cable, which had been stowed away beneath the companion-ladder,

had been dragged thence to make room for a chest, and were now lying

immediately upon the trap! To remove it without discovery was

impossible, and he returned on deck as quickly as he could. As be

came up, the mate seized him by the throat, and demanding what he had

been doing in the cabin, was about flinging him over the larboard

bulwark, when his life was again preserved through the interference

of Dirk Peters. Augustus was now put in handcuffs (of which there

were several pairs on board), and his feet lashed tightly together.

He was then taken into the steerage, and thrown into a lower berth

next to the forecastle bulkheads, with the assurance that he should

never put his foot on deck again "until the brig was no longer a

brig." This was the expression of the cook, who threw him into the

berth- it is hardly possible to say what precise meaning intended by

the phrase. The whole affair, however, proved the ultimate means of

my relief, as will presently appear.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 4 ~~~

CHAPTER 5

FOR some minutes after the cook had left the forecastle, Augustus

abandoned himself to despair, never hoping to leave the berth alive.

He now came to the resolution of acquainting the first of the men who

should come down with my situation, thinking it better to let me take

my chance with the mutineers than perish of thirst in the hold,- for

it had been ten days since I was first imprisoned, and my jug of

water was not a plentiful supply even for four. As he was thinking on

this subject, the idea came all at once into his head that it might

be possible to communicate with me by the way of the main hold. In

any other circumstances, the difficulty and hazard of the undertaking

would have pre. vented him from attempting it; but now he had, at all

events, little prospect of life, and consequently little to lose, he

bent his whole mind, therefore, upon the task.

His handcuffs were the first consideration. At first he saw no

method of removing them, and feared that he should thus be baffled in

the very outset; but upon a closer scrutiny he discovered that the

irons could be slipped off and on at pleasure, with very little

effort or inconvenience, merely by squeezing his hands through them,-

this species of manacle being altogether ineffectual in confining

young persons, in whom the smaller bones readily yield to pressure.

He now untied his feet, and, leaving the cord in such a manner that

it could easily be readjusted in the event of any person's coming

down, proceeded to examine the bulkhead where it joined the berth.

The partition here was of soft pine board, an inch thick, and he saw

that he should have little trouble in cutting his way through. A

voice was now heard at the forecastle companion-way, and he had just

time to put his right hand into its handcuff (the left had not been

removed) and to draw the rope in a slipknot around his ankle, when

Dirk Peters came below, followed by Tiger, who immediately leaped

into the berth and lay down. The dog had been brought on board by

Augustus, who knew my attachment to the animal, and thought it would

give me pleasure to have him with me during the voyage. He went up to

our house for him immediately after first taking me into the hold,

but did not think of mentioning the circumstance upon his bringing

the watch. Since the mutiny, Augustus had not seen him before his

appearance with Dirk Peters, and had given him up for lost, supposing

him to have been thrown overboard by some of the malignant villains

belonging to the mate's gang. It appeared afterward that he had

crawled into a hole beneath a whale-boat, from which, not having room

to turn round, he could not extricate himself. Peters at last let him

out, and, with a species of good feeling which my friend knew well

how to appreciate, had now brought him to him in the forecastle as a

companion, leaving at the same time some salt junk and potatoes, with

a can of water, he then went on deck, promising to come down with

something more to eat on the next day.

When he had gone, Augustus freed both hands from the manacles and

unfastened his feet. He then turned down the head of the mattress on

which he had been lying, and with his penknife (for the ruffians had

not thought it worth while to search him) commenced cutting

vigorously across one of the partition planks, as closely as possible

to the floor of the berth. He chose to cut here, because, if suddenly

interrupted, he would be able to conceal what had been done by

letting the head of the mattress fall into its proper position. For

the remainder of the day, however, no disturbance occurred, and by

night he had completely divided the plank. It should here be observed

that none of the crew occupied the forecastle as a sleeping-place,

living altogether in the cabin since the mutiny, drinking the wines

and feasting on the sea-stores of Captain Barnard, and giving no more

heed than was absolutely necessary to the navigation of the brig.

These circumstances proved fortunate both for myself and Augustus;

for, had matters been otherwise, he would have found it impossible to

reach me. As it was, he proceeded with confidence in his design. It

was near daybreak, however, before he completed the second division

of the board (which was about a foot above the first cut), thus

making an aperture quite large enough to admit his passage through

with facility to the main orlop deck. Having got here, he made his

way with but little trouble to the lower main hatch, although in so

doing he had to scramble over tiers of oil-casks piled nearly as high

as the upper deck, there being barely room enough left for his body.

Upon reaching the hatch he found that Tiger had followed him below,

squeezing between two rows of the casks. It was now too late,

however, to attempt getting to me before dawn, as the chief

difficulty lay in passing through the close stowage in the lower

hold. He therefore resolved to return, and wait till the next night.

With this design, he proceeded to loosen the hatch, so that he might

have as little detention as possible when he should come again. No

sooner had he loosened it than Tiger sprang eagerly to the small

opening produced, snuffed for a moment, and then uttered a long

whine, scratching at the same time, as if anxious to remove the

covering with his paws. There could be no doubt, from his behaviour,

that he was aware of my being in the hold, and Augustus thought it

possible that he would be able to get to me if he put him down. He

now hit upon the expedient of sending the note, as it was especially

desirable that I should make no attempt at forcing my way out at

least under existing circumstances, and there could be no certainty

of his getting to me himself on the morrow as he intended.

After-events proved how fortunate it was that the idea occurred to

him as it did; for, had it not been for the receipt of the note, I

should undoubtedly have fallen upon some plan, however desperate, of

alarming the crew, and both our lives would most probably have been

sacrificed in consequence.

Having concluded to write, the difficulty was now to procure the

mate. rials for so doing. An old toothpick was soon made into a pen;

and this by means of feeling altogether, for the between-decks was as

dark as pitch. Paper enough was obtained from the back of a letter- a

duplicate of the forged letter from Mr. Ross. This had been the

original draught; but the handwriting not being sufficiently well

imitated, Augustus had written another, thrusting the first, by good

fortune, into his coat-pocket, where it was now most opportunely

discovered. Ink alone was thus wanting, and a substitute was

immediately found for this by means of a slight incision with the

pen-knife on the back of a finger just above the nail- a copious flow

of blood ensuing, as usual, from wounds in that vicinity. The note

was now written, as well as it could be in the dark and under the

circumstances. It briefly explained that a mutiny had taken place;

that Captain Barnard was set adrift; and that I might expect

immediate relief as far as provisions were concerned, but must not

venture upon making any disturbance. It concluded with these words:

"_I have scrawled this with blood- your life depends upon lying

close._"

This slip of paper being tied upon the dog, he was now put down

the hatchway, and Augustus made the best of his way back to the

forecastle, where be found no reason to believe that any of the crew

had been in his absence. To conceal the hole in the partition, he

drove his knife in just above it, and hung up a pea-jacket which he

found in the berth. His handcuffs were then replaced, and also the

rope around his ankles.

These arrangements were scarcely completed when Dirk Peters came

below, very drunk, but in excellent humour, and bringing with him my

friend's allowance of provision for the day. This consisted of a

dozen large Irish potatoes roasted, and a pitcher of water. He sat

for some time on a chest by the berth, and talked freely about the

mate and the general concerns of the brig. His demeanour was

exceedingly capricious, and even grotesque. At one time Augustus was

much alarmed by odd conduct. At last, however, he went on deck,

muttering a promise to bring his prisoner a good dinner on the

morrow. During the day two of the crew (harpooners) came down,

accompanied by the cook, all three in nearly the last stage of

intoxication. Like Peters, they made no scruple of talking

unreservedly about their plans. It appeared that they were much

divided among themselves as to their ultimate course, agreeing in no

point, except the attack on the ship from the Cape Verd Islands, with

which they were in hourly expectation of meeting. As far as could be

ascertained, the mutiny had not been brought about altogether for the

sake of booty; a private pique of the chief mate's against Captain

Barnard having been the main instigation. There now seemed to be two

principal factions among the crew- one headed by the mate, the other

by the cook. The former party were for seizing the first suitable

vessel which should present itself, and equipping it at some of the

West India Islands for a piratical cruise. The latter division,

however, which was the stronger, and included Dirk Peters among its

partisans, were bent upon pursuing the course originally laid out for

the brig into the South Pacific; there either to take whale, or act

otherwise, as circumstances should suggest. The representations of

Peters, who had frequently visited these regions, had great weight,

apparently, with the mutineers, wavering, as they were, between

half-engendered notions of profit and pleasure. He dwelt on the world

of novelty and amusement to be found among the innumerable islands of

the Pacific, on the perfect security and freedom from all restraint

to be enjoyed, but, more particularly, on the deliciousness of the

climate, on the abundant means of good living, and on the voluptuous

beauty of the women. As yet, nothing had been absolutely determined

upon; but the pictures of the hybrid line-manager were taking strong

hold upon the ardent imaginations of the seamen, and there was every

possibility that his intentions would be finally carried into effect.

The three men went away in about an hour, and no one else entered

the forecastle all day. Augustus lay quiet until nearly night. He

then freed himself from the rope and irons, and prepared for his

attempt. A bottle was found in one of the berths, and this he filled

with water from the pitcher left by Peters, storing his pockets at

the same time with cold potatoes. To his great joy he also came

across a lantern, with a small piece of tallow candle in it. This he

could light at any moment, as be had in his possession a box of

phosphorus matches. When it was quite dark, he got through the hole

in the bulkhead, having taken the precaution to arrange the

bedclothes in the berth so as to convey the idea of a person covered

up. When through, he hung up the pea-jacket on his knife, as before,

to conceal the aperture- this manoeuvre being easily effected, as he

did not readjust the piece of plank taken out until afterward. He was

now on the main orlop deck, and proceeded to make his way, as before,

between the upper deck and the oil-casks to the main hatchway. Having

reached this, he lit the piece of candle, and descended, groping with

extreme difficulty among the compact stowage of the hold. In a few

moments he became alarmed at the insufferable stench and the

closeness of the atmosphere. He could not think it possible that I

had survived my confinement for so long a period breathing so

oppressive an air. He called my name repeatedly, but I made him no

reply, and his apprehensions seemed thus to be confirmed. The brig

was rolling violently, and there was so much noise in consequence,

that it was useless to listen for any weak sound, such as those of my

breathing or snoring. He threw open the lantern, and held it as high

as possible, whenever an opportunity occurred, in order that, by

observing the light, I might, if alive, be aware that succor was

approaching. Still nothing was heard from me, and the supposition of

my death began to assume the character of certainty. He determined,

nevertheless, to force a passage, if possible, to the box, and at

least ascertain beyond a doubt the truth of his surmises. He pushed

on for some time in a most pitiable state of anxiety, until, at

length, he found the pathway utterly blocked up, and that there was

no possibility of making any farther way by the course in which he

had set out. Overcome now by his feelings, he threw himself among the

lumber in despair, and wept like a child. It was at this period that

he heard the crash occasioned by the bottle which I had thrown down.

Fortunate, indeed, was it that the incident occurred- for, upon this

incident, trivial as it appears, the thread of my destiny depended.

Many years elapsed, however, before I was aware of this fact. A

natural shame and regret for his weakness and indecision prevented

Augustus from confiding to me at once what a more intimate and

unreserved communion afterward induced him to reveal. Upon finding

his further progress in the hold impeded by obstacles which he could

not overcome, he had resolved to abandon his attempt at reaching me,

and return at once to the forecastle. Before condemning him entirely

on this head, the harassing circumstances which embarrassed him

should be taken into consideration. The night was fast wearing away,

and his absence from the forecastle might be discovered; and indeed

would necessarily be so, if be should fail to get back to the berth

by daybreak. His candle was expiring in the socket, and there would

be the greatest difficulty in retracing his way to the hatchway in

the dark. It must be allowed, too, that he had every good reason to

believe me dead; in which event no benefit could result to me from

his reaching the box, and a world of danger would be encountered to

no purpose by himself. He had repeatedly called, and I had made him

no answer. I had been now eleven days and nights with no more water

than that contained in the jug which he had left with me- a supply

which it was not at all probable I had boarded in the beginning of my

confinement, as I had every cause to expect a speedy release. The

atmosphere of the hold, too, must have appeared to him, coming from

the comparatively open air of the steerage, of a nature absolutely

poisonous, and by far more intolerable than it had seemed to me upon

my first taking up my quarters in the box- the hatchways at that time

having been constantly open for many months previous. Add to these

considerations that of the scene of bloodshed and terror so lately

witnessed by my friend; his confinement, privations, and narrow

escapes from death, together with the frail and equivocal tenure by

which he still existed- circumstances all so well calculated to

prostrate every energy of mind- and the reader will be easily

brought, as I have been, to regard his apparent falling off in

friendship and in faith with sentiments rather of sorrow than of

anger.

The crash of the bottle was distinctly heard, yet Augustus was

not sure that it proceeded from the hold. The doubt, however, was

sufficient inducement to persevere. He clambered up nearly to the

orlop deck by means of the stowage, and then, watching for a lull in

the pitchings of the vessel, he called out to me in as loud a tone as

he could command, regardless, for the moment, of being overheard by

the crew. It will be remembered that on this occasion the voice

reached me, but I was so entirely overcome by violent agitation as to

be incapable of reply. Confident, now, that his worst apprehensions

were well founded, be descended, with a view of getting back to the

forecastle without loss of time. In his haste some small boxes were

thrown down, the noise occasioned by which I heard, as will be

recollected. He had made considerable progress on his return when the

fall of the knife again caused him to hesitate. He retraced his steps

immediately, and, clambering up the stowage a second time, called out

my name, loudly as before, having watched for a lull. This time I

found voice to answer. Overjoyed at discovering me to be still alive,

he now resolved to brave every difficulty and danger in reaching me.

Having extricated himself as quickly as possible from the labyrinth

of lumber by which he was hemmed in, he at length struck into an

opening which promised better, and finally, after a series of

struggles, arrived at the box in a state of utter exhaustion.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 5 ~~~

CHAPTER 6

THE leading particulars of this narration were all that Augustus

communicated to me while we remained near the box. It was not until

afterward that he entered fully into all the details. He was

apprehensive of being missed, and I was wild with impatience to leave

my detested place of confinement. We resolved to make our way at once

to the hole in the bulkhead, near which I was to remain for the

present, while he went through to reconnoiter. To leave Tiger in the

box was what neither of us could endure to think of, yet, how to act

otherwise was the question. He now seemed to be perfectly quiet, and

we could not even distinguish the sound of his breathing upon

applying our ears closely to the box. I was convinced that he was

dead, and determined to open the door. We found him lying at full

length, apparently in a deep stupor, yet still alive. No time was to

be lost, yet I could not bring myself to abandon an animal who had

now been twice instrumental in saving my life, without some attempt

at preserving him. We therefore dragged him along with us as well as

we could, although with the greatest difficulty and fatigue;

Augustus, during part of the time, being forced to clamber over the

impediments in our way with the huge dog in his arms- a feat to which

the feebleness of my frame rendered me totally inadequate. At length

we succeeded in reaching the hole, when Augustus got through, and

Tiger was pushed in afterward. All was found to be safe, and we did

not fail to return sincere thanks to God for our deliverance from the

imminent danger we had escaped. For the present, it was agreed that I

should remain near the opening, through which my companion could

readily supply me with a part of his daily provision, and where I

could have the advantages of breathing an atmosphere comparatively

pure.

In explanation of some portions of this narrative, wherein I have

spoken of the stowage of the brig, and which may appear ambiguous to

some of my readers who may have seen a proper or regular stowage, I

must here state that the manner in which this most important duty had

been per formed on board the Grampus was a most shameful piece of

neglect on the part of Captain Barnard, who was by no means as

careful or as experienced a seaman as the hazardous nature of the

service on which he was employed would seem necessarily to demand. A

proper stowage cannot be accomplished in a careless manner, and many

most disastrous accidents, even within the limits of my own

experience, have arisen from neglect or ignorance in this particular.

Coasting vessels, in the frequent hurry and bustle attendant upon

taking in or discharging cargo, are the most liable to mishap from

the want of a proper attention to stowage. The great point is to

allow no possibility of the cargo or ballast shifting position even

in the most violent rollings of the vessel. With this end, great

attention must be paid, not only to the bulk taken in, but to the

nature of the bulk, and whether there be a full or only a partial

cargo. In most kinds of freight the stowage is accomplished by means

of a screw. Thus, in a load of tobacco or flour, the whole is screwed

so tightly into the hold of the vessel that the barrels or hogsheads,

upon discharging, are found to be completely flattened, and take some

time to regain their original shape. This screwing, however, is

resorted to principally with a view of obtaining more room in the

hold; for in a full load of any such commodities as flour or tobacco,

there can be no danger of any shifting whatever, at least none from

which inconvenience can result. There have been instances, indeed,

where this method of screwing has resulted in the most lamentable

consequences, arising from a cause altogether distinct from the

danger attendant upon a shifting of cargo. A load of cotton, for

example, tightly screwed while in certain conditions, has been known,

through the expansion of its bulk, to rend a vessel asunder at sea.

There can be no doubt either that the same result would ensue in the

case of tobacco, while undergoing its usual course of fermentation,

were it not for the interstices consequent upon the rotundity of the

hogsheads.

It is when a partial cargo is received that danger is chiefly to

be apprehended from shifting, and that precautions should be always

taken to guard against such misfortune. Only those who have

encountered a violent gale of wind, or rather who have experienced

the rolling of a vessel in a sudden calm after the gale, can form an

idea of the tremendous force of the plunges, and of the consequent

terrible impetus given to all loose articles in the vessel. It is

then that the necessity of a cautious stowage, when there is a

partial cargo, becomes obvious. When lying-to (especially with a

small bead sail), a vessel which is not properly modelled in the bows

is frequently thrown upon her beam-ends; this occurring even every

fifteen or twenty minutes upon an average, yet without any serious

consequences resulting, provided there be a proper stowage. If this,

however, has not been strictly attended to, in the first of these

heavy lurches the whole of the cargo tumbles over to the side of the

vessel which lies upon the water, and, being thus prevented from

regaining her equilibrium, as she would otherwise necessarily do, she

is certain to fill in a few seconds and go down. It is not too much

to say that at least one-half of the instances in which vessels have

foundered in heavy gales at sea may be attributed to a shifting of

cargo or of ballast.

When a partial cargo of any kind is taken on board, the whole,

after being first stowed as compactly as may be, should be covered

with a layer of stout shifting-boards, extending completely across

the vessel. Upon these boards strong temporary stanchions should be

erected, reaching to the timbers above, and thus securing every thing

in its place. In cargoes consisting of grain, or any similar matter,

additional precautions are requisite. A hold filled entirely with

grain upon leaving port will be found not more than three fourths

full upon reaching its destination -- this, too, although the

freight, when measured bushel by bushel by the consignee, will

overrun by a vast deal (on account of the swelling of the grain) the

quantity consigned. This result is occasioned by settling during the

voyage, and is the more perceptible in proportion to the roughness of

the weather experienced. If grain loosely thrown in a vessel, then,

is ever so well secured by shifting-boards and stanchions, it will be

liable to shift in a long passage so greatly as to bring about the

most distressing calamities. To prevent these, every method should be

employed before leaving port to settle the cargo as much as possible;

and for this there are many contrivances, among which may be

mentioned the driving of wedges into the grain. Even after all this

is done, and unusual pains taken to secure the shifting-boards, no

seaman who knows what he is about will feel altogether secure in a

gale of any violence with a cargo of grain on board, and, least of

all, with a partial cargo. Yet there are hundreds of our coasting

vessels, and, it is likely, many more from the ports of Europe, which

sail daily with partial cargoes, even of the most dangerous species,

and without any precaution whatever. The wonder is that no more

accidents occur than do actually happen. A lamentable instance of

this heedlessness occurred to my knowledge in the case of Captain

Joel Rice of the schooner Firefly, which sailed from Richmond,

Virginia, to Madeira, with a cargo of corn, in the year 1825. The

captain had gone many voyages without serious accident, although he

was in the habit of paying no attention whatever to his stowage, more

than to secure it in the ordinary manner. He had never before sailed

with a cargo of grain, and on this occasion had the corn thrown on

board loosely, when it did not much more than half fill the vessel.

For the first portion of the voyage he met with nothing more than

light breezes; but when within a day's sail of Madeira there came on

a strong gale from the N. N. E. which forced him to lie-to. He

brought the schooner to the wind under a double-reefed foresail

alone, when she rode as well as any vessel could be expected to do,

and shipped not a drop of water. Toward night the gale somewhat

abated, and she rolled with more unsteadiness than before, but still

did very well, until a heavy lurch threw her upon her beam-ends to

starboard. The corn was then heard to shift bodily, the force of the

movement bursting open the main hatchway. The vessel went down like a

shot. This happened within hail of a small sloop from Madeira, which

picked up one of the crew (the only person saved), and which rode out

the gale in perfect security, as indeed a jolly boat might have done

under proper management.

The stowage on board the Grampus was most clumsily done, if

stowage that could be called which was little better than a

promiscuous huddling together of oil-casks {*1} and ship furniture. I

have already spoken of the condition of articles in the hold. On the

orlop deck there was space enough for my body (as I have stated)

between the oil-casks and the upper deck; a space was left open

around the main hatchway; and several other large spaces were left in

the stowage. Near the hole cut through the bulkhead by Augustus there

was room enough for an entire cask, and in this space I found myself

comfortably situated for the present.

By the time my friend had got safely into the berth, and

readjusted his handcuffs and the rope, it was broad daylight. We had

made a narrow escape indeed; for scarcely had he arranged all

matters, when the mate came below, with Dirk Peters and the cook.

They talked for some time about the vessel from the Cape Verds, and

seemed to be excessively anxious for her appearance. At length the

cook came to the berth in which Augustus was lying, and seated

himself in it near the head. I could see and hear every thing from my

hiding-place, for the piece cut out had not been put back, and I was

in momentary expectation that the negro would fall against the

pea-jacket, which was hung up to conceal the aperture, in which case

all would have been discovered, and our lives would, no doubt, have

been instantly sacrificed. Our good fortune prevailed, however; and

although he frequently touched it as the vessel rolled, he never

pressed against it sufficiently to bring about a discovery. The

bottom of the jacket had been carefully fastened to the bulkhead, so

that the hole might not be seen by its swinging to one side. All this

time Tiger was lying in the foot of the berth, and appeared to have

recovered in some measure his faculties, for I could see him

occasionally open his eyes and draw a long breath.

After a few minutes the mate and cook went above, leaving Dirk

Peters behind, who, as soon as they were gone, came and sat himself

down in the place just occupied by the mate. He began to talk very

sociably with Augustus, and we could now see that the greater part of

his apparent intoxication, while the two others were with him, was a

feint. He answered all my companion's questions with perfect freedom;

told him that he had no doubt of his father's having been picked up,

as there were no less than five sail in sight just before sundown on

the day he was cut adrift; and used other language of a consolatory

nature, which occasioned me no less surprise than pleasure. Indeed, I

began to entertain hopes, that through the instrumentality of Peters

we might be finally enabled to regain possession of the brig, and

this idea I mentioned to Augustus as soon as I found an opportunity.

He thought the matter possible, but urged the necessity of the

greatest caution in making the attempt, as the conduct of the hybrid

appeared to be instigated by the most arbitrary caprice alone; and,

indeed, it was difficult to say if be was at any moment of sound

mind. Peters went upon deck in about an hour, and did not return

again until noon, when he brought Augustus a plentiful supply of junk

beef and pudding. Of this, when we were left alone, I partook

heartily, without returning through the hole. No one else came down

into the forecastle during the day, and at night, I got into

Augustus' berth, where I slept soundly and sweetly until nearly

daybreak, when he awakened me upon hearing a stir upon deck, and I

regained my hiding-place as quickly as possible. When the day was

fully broke, we found that Tiger had recovered his strength almost

entirely, and gave no indications of hydrophobia, drinking a little

water that was offered him with great apparent eagerness. During the

day he regained all his former vigour and appetite. His strange

conduct had been brought on, no doubt, by the deleterious quality of

the air of the hold, and had no connexion with canine madness. I

could not sufficiently rejoice that I had persisted in bringing him

with me from the box. This day was the thirtieth of June, and the

thirteenth since the Grampus made sad from Nantucket.

On the second of July the mate came below drunk as usual, and in

an excessively good-humor. He came to Augustus's berth, and, giving

him a slap on the back, asked him if he thought he could behave

himself if he let him loose, and whether he would promise not to be

going into the cabin again. To this, of course, my friend answered in

the affirmative, when the ruffian set him at liberty, after making

him drink from a flask of rum which he drew from his coat-pocket.

Both now went on deck, and I did not see Augustus for about three

hours. He then came below with the good news that he had obtained

permission to go about the brig as be pleased anywhere forward of the

mainmast, and that he had been ordered to sleep, as usual, in the

forecastle. He brought me, too, a good dinner, and a plentiful supply

of water. The brig was still cruising for the vessel from the Cape

Verds, and a sail was now in sight, which was thought to be the one

in question. As the events of the ensuing eight days were of little

importance, and had no direct bearing upon the main incidents of my

narrative, I will here throw them into the form of a journal, as I do

not wish to omit them altogether.

July 3. Augustus furnished me with three blankets, with which I

contrived a comfortable bed in my hiding-place. No one came below,

except my companion, during the day. Tiger took his station in the

berth just by the aperture, and slept heavily, as if not yet entirely

recovered from the effects of his sickness. Toward night a flaw of

wind struck the brig before sail could be taken in, and very nearly

capsized her. The puff died away immediately, however, and no damage

was done beyond the splitting of the foretopsail. Dirk Peters treated

Augustus all this day with great kindness and entered into a long

conversation with him respecting the Pacific Ocean, and the islands

he had visited in that region. He asked him whether be would not like

to go with the mutineers on a kind of exploring and pleasure voyage

in those quarters, and said that the men were gradually coming over

to the mate's views. To this Augustus thought it best to reply that

he would be glad to go on such an adventure, since nothing better

could be done, and that any thing was preferable to a piratical life.

July 4th. The vessel in sight proved to be a small brig from

Liverpool, and was allowed to pass unmolested. Augustus spent most of

his time on deck, with a view of obtaining all the information in his

power respecting the intentions of the mutineers. They had frequent

and violent quarrels among themselves, in one of which a harpooner,

Jim Bonner, was thrown overboard. The party of the mate was gaining

ground. Jim Bonner belonged to the cook's gang, of which Peters was a

partisan.

July 5th. About daybreak there came on a stiff breeze from the

west, which at noon freshened into a gale, so that the brig could

carry nothing more than her trysail and foresail. In taking in the

foretopsail, Simms, one of the common hands, and belonging also to

the cook's gang, fell overboard, being very much in liquor, and was

drowned- no attempt being made to save him. The whole number of

persons on board was now thirteen, to wit: Dirk Peters; Seymour, the

of the cook's party; the mate, whose name I never learned; Absalom

party;- besides Augustus and myself.

July 6th. The gale lasted all this day, blowing in heavy squalls,

accompanied with rain. The brig took in a good deal of water through

her seams, and one of the pumps was kept continually going, Augustus

being forced to take his turn. just at twilight a large ship passed

close by us, without having been discovered until within hail. The

ship was supposed to be the one for which the mutineers were on the

lookout. The mate hailed her, but the reply was drowned in the

roaring of the gale. At eleven, a sea was shipped amidships, which

tore away a great portion of the larboard bulwarks, and did some

other slight damage. Toward morning the weather moderated, and at

sunrise there was very little wind.

July 7th. There was a heavy swell running all this day, during

which the brig, being light, rolled excessively, and many articles

broke loose in the hold, as I could hear distinctly from my

hiding-place. I suffered a great deal from sea-sickness. Peters had a

long conversation this day with Augustus, and told him that two of

his gang, Greely and Allen, had gone over to the mate, and were

resolved to turn pirates. He put several questions to Augustus which

he did not then exactly understand. During a part of this evening the

leak gained upon the vessel; and little could be done to remedy it,

as it was occasioned by the brigs straining, and taking in the water

through her seams. A sail was thrummed, and got under the bows, which

aided us in some measure, so that we began to gain upon the leak.

July 8th. A light breeze sprang up at sunrise from the eastward,

when the mate headed the brig to the southwest, with the intention of

making some of the West India islands in pursuance of his piratical

designs. No opposition was made by Peters or the cook- at least none

in the hearing of Augustus. All idea of taking the vessel from the

Cape Verds was abandoned. The leak was now easily kept under by one

pump going every three quarters of an hour. The sail was drawn from

beneath the bows. Spoke two small schooners during the day.

July 9th. Fine weather. All hands employed in repairing bulwarks.

Peters had again a long conversation with Augustus, and spoke more

plainly than he had done heretofore. He said nothing should induce

him to come into the mate's views, and even hinted his intention of

taking the brig out of his hands. He asked my friend if he could

depend upon his aid in such case, to which Augustus said, "Yes,"

without hesitation. Peters then said he would sound the others of his

party upon the subject, and went away. During the remainder of the

day Augustus had no opportunity of speaking with him privately.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 6 ~~~

CHAPTER 7

JULY 10. Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk. Weather hazy,

with a light baffling wind from the eastward. To-day Hartman Rogers

died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a

glass of grog. This man was of the cook's party, and one upon whom

Peters placed his main reliance. He told Augustus that he believed

the mate had poisoned him, and that he expected, if he did not be on

the look-out, his own turn would come shortly. There were now only

himself, Jones, and the cook belonging to his own gang- on the other

side there were five. He had spoken to Jones about taking the command

from the mate; but the project having been coolly received, he had

been deterred from pressing the matter any further, or from saying

any thing to the cook. It was well, as it happened, that he was so

prudent, for in the afternoon the cook expressed his determination of

siding with the mate, and went over formally to that party; while

Jones took an opportunity of quarrelling with Peters, and hinted that

he would let the mate know of the plan in agitation. There was now,

evidently, no time to be lost, and Peters expressed his determination

of attempting to take the vessel at all hazards, provided Augustus

would lend him his aid. My friend at once assured him of his

willingness to enter into any plan for that purpose, and, thinking

the opportunity a favourable one, made known the fact of my being on

board. At this the hybrid was not more astonished than delighted, as

he had no reliance whatever upon Jones, whom he already considered as

belonging to the party of the mate. They went below immediately, when

Augustus called to me by name, and Peters and myself were soon made

acquainted. It was agreed that we should attempt to retake the vessel

upon the first good opportunity, leaving Jones altogether out of our

councils. In the event of success, we were to run the brig into the

first port that offered, and deliver her up. The desertion of his

party had frustrated Peters' design of going into the Pacific- an

adventure which could not be accomplished without a crew, and he

depended upon either getting acquitted upon trial, on the score of

insanity (which he solemnly avowed had actuated him in lending his

aid to the mutiny), or upon obtaining a pardon, if found guilty,

through the representations of Augustus and myself. Our deliberations

were interrupted for the present by the cry of, "All hands take in

sail," and Peters and Augustus ran up on deck.

As usual, the crew were nearly all drunk; and, before sail could

be properly taken in, a violent squall laid the brig on her

beam-ends. By keeping her away, however, she righted, having shipped

a good deal of water. Scarcely was everything secure, when another

squall took the vessel, and immediately afterward another- no damage

being done. There was every appearance of a gale of wind, which,

indeed, shortly came on, with great fury, from the northward and

westward. All was made as snug as possible, and we laid-to, as usual,

under a close-reefed foresail. As night drew on, the wind increased

in violence, with a remarkably heavy sea. Peters now came into the

forecastle with Augustus, and we resumed our deliberations.

We agreed that no opportunity could be more favourable than the

present for carrying our designs into effect, as an attempt at such a

moment would never be anticipated. As the brig was snugly laid-to,

there would be no necessity of manoeuvring her until good weather,

when, if we succeeded in our attempt, we might liberate one, or

perhaps two of the men, to aid us in taking her into port. The main

difficulty was the great disproportion in our forces. There were only

three of us, and in the cabin there were nine. All the arms on board,

too, were in their possession, with the exception of a pair of small

pistols which Peters had concealed about his person, and the large

seaman's knife which he always wore in the waistband of his

pantaloons. From certain indications, too- such, for example, as

there being no such thing as an axe or a handspike lying in their

customary places -- we began to fear that the mate had his

suspicions, at least in regard to Peters, and that he would let slip

no opportunity of getting rid of him. It was clear, indeed, that what

we should determine to do could not be done too soon. Still the odds

were too much against us to allow of our proceeding without the

greatest caution.

Peters proposed that he should go up on deck, and enter into

conversation with the watch (Allen), when he would be able to throw

him into the sea without trouble, and without making any disturbance,

by seizing a good opportunity, that Augustus and myself should then

come up, and endeavour to provide ourselves with some kind of weapons

from the deck, and that we should then make a rush together, and

secure the companion-way before any opposition could be offered. I

objected to this, because I could not believe that the mate (who was

a cunning fellow in all matters which did not affect his

superstitious prejudices) would suffer himself to be so easily

entrapped. The very fact of there being a watch on deck at all was

sufficient proof that he was upon the alert,- it not being usual

except in vessels where discipline is most rigidly enforced, to

station a watch on deck when a vessel is lying-to in a gale of wind.

As I address myself principally, if not altogether, to persons who

have never been to sea, it may be as well to state the exact

condition of a vessel under such circumstances. Lying-to, or, in

sea-parlance, "laying-to," is a measure resorted to for various

purposes, and effected in various manners. In moderate weather it is

frequently done with a view of merely bringing the vessel to a

stand-still, to wait for another vessel or any similar object. If the

vessel which lies-to is under full sail, the manoeuvre is usually

accomplished by throwing round some portion of her sails, so as to

let the wind take them aback, when she becomes stationary. But we are

now speaking of lying-to in a gale of wind. This is done when the

wind is ahead, and too violent to admit of carrying sail without

danger of capsizing; and sometimes even when the wind is fair, but

the sea too heavy for the vessel to be put before it. If a vessel be

suffered to scud before the wind in a very heavy sea, much damage is

usually done her by the shipping of water over her stern, and

sometimes by the violent plunges she makes forward. This manoeuvre,

then, is seldom resorted to in such case, unless through necessity.

When the vessel is in a leaky condition she is often put before the

wind even in the heaviest seas; for, when lying-to, her seams are

sure to be greatly opened by her violent straining, and it is not so

much the case when scudding. Often, too, it becomes necessary to scud

a vessel, either when the blast is so exceedingly furious as to tear

in pieces the sail which is employed with a view of bringing her head

to the wind, or when, through the false modelling of the frame or

other causes, this main object cannot be effected.

Vessels in a gale of wind are laid-to in different manners,

according to their peculiar construction. Some lie-to best under a

foresail, and this, I believe, is the sail most usually employed.

Large square-rigged vessels have sails for the express purpose,

called storm-staysails. But the jib is occasionally employed by

itself, -- sometimes the jib and foresail, or a double-reefed

foresail, and not unfrequently the after-sails, are made use of.

Foretopsails are very often found to answer the purpose better than

any other species of sail. The Grampus was generally laid-to under a

close-reefed foresail.

When a vessel is to be laid-to, her head is brought up to the

wind just so nearly as to fill the sail under which she lies when

hauled flat aft, that is, when brought diagonally across the vessel.

This being done, the bows point within a few degrees of the direction

from which the wind issues, and the windward bow of course receives

the shock of the waves. In this situation a good vessel will ride out

a very heavy gale of wind without shipping a drop of water, and

without any further attention being requisite on the part of the

crew. The helm is usually lashed down, but this is altogether

unnecessary (except on account of the noise it makes when loose), for

the rudder has no effect upon the vessel when lying-to. Indeed, the

helm had far better be left loose than lashed very fast, for the

rudder is apt to be torn off by heavy seas if there be no room for

the helm to play. As long as the sail holds, a well modelled vessel

will maintain her situation, and ride every sea, as if instinct with

life and reason. If the violence of the wind, however, should tear

the sail into pieces (a feat which it requires a perfect hurricane to

accomplish under ordinary circumstances), there is then imminent

danger. The vessel falls off from the wind, and, coming broadside to

the sea, is completely at its mercy: the only resource in this case

is to put her quietly before the wind, letting her scud until some

other sail can be set. Some vessels will lie-to under no sail

whatever, but such are not to be trusted at sea.

But to return from this digression. It had never been customary

with the mate to have any watch on deck when lying-to in a gale of

wind, and the fact that he had now one, coupled with the circumstance

of the missing axes and handspikes, fully convinced us that the crew

were too well on the watch to be taken by surprise in the manner

Peters had suggested. Something, however, was to be done, and that

with as little delay as practicable, for there could be no doubt that

a suspicion having been once entertained against Peters, he would be

sacrificed upon the earliest occasion, and one would certainly be

either found or made upon the breaking of the gale.

Augustus now suggested that if Peters could contrive to remove,

under any pretext, the piece of chain-cable which lay over the trap

in the stateroom, we might possibly be able to come upon them

unawares by means of the hold; but a little reflection convinced us

that the vessel rolled and pitched too violently for any attempt of

that nature.

By good fortune I at length hit upon the idea of working upon the

superstitious terrors and guilty conscience of the mate. It will be

remembered that one of the crew, Hartman Rogers, had died during the

morning, having been attacked two days before with spasms after

drinking some spirits and water. Peters had expressed to us his

opinion that this man had been poisoned by the mate, and for this

belief he had reasons, so he said, which were incontrovertible, but

which he could not be pre. vailed upon to explain to us- this wayward

refusal being only in keeping with other points of his singular

character. But whether or not he had any better grounds for

suspecting the mate than we had ourselves, we were easily led to fall

in with his suspicion, and determined to act accordingly.

Rogers had died about eleven in the forenoon, in violent

convulsions; and the corpse presented in a few minutes after death

one of the most horrid and loathsome spectacles I ever remember to

have seen. The stomach was swollen immensely, like that of a man who

has been drowned and lain under water for many weeks. The hands were

in the same condition, while the face was shrunken, shrivelled, and

of a chalky whiteness, except where relieved by two or three glaring

red blotches like those occasioned by the erysipelas: one of these

blotches extended diagonally across the face, completely covering up

an eye as if with a band of red velvet. In this disgusting condition

the body had been brought up from the cabin at noon to be thrown

overboard, when the mate getting a glimpse of it (for he now saw it

for the first time), and being either touched with remorse for his

crime or struck with terror at so horrible a sight, ordered the men

to sew the body up in its hammock, and allow it the usual rites of

sea-burial. Having given these directions, he went below, as if to

avoid any further sight of his victim. While preparations were making

to obey his orders, the gale came on with great fury, and the design

was abandoned for the present. The corpse, left to itself, was washed

into the larboard scuppers, where it still lay at the time of which I

speak, floundering about with the furious lurches of the brig.

Having arranged our plan, we set about putting it in execution as

speedily as possible. Peters went upon deck, and, as he had

anticipated, was immediately accosted by Allen, who appeared to be

stationed more as a watch upon the forecastle than for any other

purpose. The fate of this villain, however, was speedily and silently

decided; for Peters, approaching him in a careless manner, as if

about to address him, seized him by the throat, and, before he could

utter a single cry, tossed him over the bulwarks. He then called to

us, and we came up. Our first precaution was to look about for

something with which to arm ourselves, and in doing this we had to

proceed with great care, for it was impossible to stand on deck an

instant without holding fast, and violent seas broke over the vessel

at every plunge forward. It was indispensable, too, that we should be

quick in our operations, for every minute we expected the mate to be

up to set the pumps going, as it was evident the brig must be taking

in water very fast. After searching about for some time, we could

find nothing more fit for our purpose than the two pump-handles, one

of which Augustus took, and I the other. Having secured these, we

stripped off the shirt of the corpse and dropped the body overboard.

Peters and myself then went below, leaving Augustus to watch upon

deck, where he took his station just where Allen had been placed, and

with his back to the cabin companionway, so that, if any of the mates

gang should come up, he might suppose it was the watch.

As soon as I got below I commenced disguising myself so as to

represent the corpse of Rogers. The shirt which we had taken from the

body aided us very much, for it was of singular form and character,

and easily recognizable- a kind of smock, which the deceased wore

over his other clothing. It was a blue stockinett, with large white

stripes running across. Having put this on, I proceeded to equip

myself with a false stomach, in imitation of the horrible deformity

of the swollen corpse. This was soon effected by means of stuffing

with some bedclothes. I then gave the same appearance to my hands by

drawing on a pair of white woollen mittens, and filling them in with

any kind of rags that offered themselves. Peters then arranged my

face, first rubbing it well over with white chalk, and afterward

blotching it with blood, which he took from a cut in his finger. The

streak across the eye was not forgotten and presented a most shocking

appearance.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 7 ~~~

CHAPTER 8

AS I viewed myself in a fragment of looking-glass which hung up

in the cabin, and by the dim light of a kind of battle-lantern, I was

so impressed with a sense of vague awe at my appearance, and at the

recollection of the terrific reality which I was thus representing,

that I was seized with a violent tremour, and could scarcely summon

resolution to go on with my part. It was necessary, however, to act

with decision, and Peters and myself went upon deck.

We there found everything safe, and, keeping close to the

bulwarks, the three of us crept to the cabin companion-way. It was

only partially closed, precautions having been taken to prevent its

being suddenly pushed to from without, by means of placing billets of

wood on the upper step so as to interfere with the shutting. We found

no difficulty in getting a full view of the interior of the cabin

through the cracks where the hinges were placed. It now proved to

have been very fortunate for us that we had not attempted to take

them by surprise, for they were evidently on the alert. Only one was

asleep, and he lying just at the foot of the companion-ladder, with a

musket by his side. The rest were seated on several mattresses, which

had been taken from the berths and thrown on the floor. They were

engaged in earnest conversation; and although they had been

carousing, as appeared from two empty jugs, with some tin tumblers

which lay about, they were not as much intoxicated as usual. All had

knives, one or two of them pistols, and a great many muskets were

lying in a berth close at hand.

We listened to their conversation for some time before we could

make up our minds how to act, having as yet resolved on nothing

determinate, except that we would attempt to paralyze their

exertions, when we should attack them, by means of the apparition of

Rogers. They were discussing their piratical plans, in which all we

could hear distinctly was, that they would unite with the crew of a

schooner _Hornet_, and, if possible, get the schooner herself into

their possession preparatory to some attempt on a large scale, the

particulars of which could not be made out by either of us.

One of the men spoke of Peters, when the mate replied to him in a

low voice which could not be distinguished, and afterward added more

loudly, that "he could not understand his being so much forward with

the captain's brat in the forecastle, and he thought the sooner both

of them were overboard the better." To this no answer was made, but

we could easily perceive that the hint was well received by the whole

party, and more particularly by Jones. At this period I was

excessively agitated, the more so as I could see that neither

Augustus nor Peters could determine how to act. I made up my mind,

however, to sell my life as dearly as possible, and not to suffer

myself to be overcome by any feelings of trepidation.

The tremendous noise made by the roaring of the wind in the

rigging, and the washing of the sea over the deck, prevented us from

hearing what was said, except during momentary lulls. In one of

these, we all distinctly heard the mate tell one of the men to "go

forward, have an eye upon them, for he wanted no such secret doings

on board the brig." It was well for us that the pitching of the

vessel at this moment was so violent as to prevent this order from

being carried into instant execution. The cook got up from his

mattress to go for us, when a tremendous lurch, which I thought would

carry away the masts, threw him headlong against one of the larboard

stateroom doors, bursting it open, and creating a good deal of other

confusion. Luckily, neither of our party was thrown from his

position, and we had time to make a precipitate retreat to the

forecastle, and arrange a hurried plan of action before the messenger

made his appearance, or rather before he put his head out of the

companion-hatch, for he did not come on deck. From this station he

could not notice the absence of Allen, and he accordingly bawled out,

as if to him, repeating the orders of the mate. Peters cried out,

"Ay, ay," in a disguised voice, and the cook immediately went below,

without entertaining a suspicion that all was not right.

My two companions now proceeded boldly aft and down into the

cabin, Peters closing the door after him in the same manner he had

found it. The mate received them with feigned cordiality, and told

Augustus that, since he had behaved himself so well of late, he might

take up his quarters in the cabin and be one of them for the future.

He then poured him out a tumbler half full of rum, and made him drink

it. All this I saw and heard, for I followed my friends to the cabin

as soon as the door was shut, and took up my old point of

observation. I had brought with me the two pump-handles, one of which

I secured near the companion-way, to be ready for use when required.

I now steadied myself as well as possible so as to have a good

view of all that was passing within, and endeavoured to nerve myself

to the task of descending among the mutineers when Peters should make

a signal to me, as agreed upon. Presently he contrived to turn the

conversation upon the bloody deeds of the mutiny, and by degrees led

the men to talk of the thousand superstitions which are so

universally current among seamen. I could not make out all that was

said, but I could plainly see the effects of the conversation in the

countenances of those present. The mate was evidently much agitated,

and presently, when some one mentioned the terrific appearance of

Rogers' corpse, I thought he was upon the point of swooning. Peters

now asked him if he did not think it would be better to have the body

thrown overboard at once as it was too horrible a sight to see it

floundering about in the scuppers. At this the villain absolutely

gasped for breath, and turned his head slowly round upon his

companions, as if imploring some one to go up and perform the task.

No one, however, stirred, and it was quite evident that the whole

party were wound up to the highest pitch of nervous excitement.

Peters now made me the signal. I immediately threw open the door of

the companion-way, and, descending, without uttering a syllable,

stood erect in the midst of the party.

The intense effect produced by this sudden apparition is not at

all to be wondered at when the various circumstances are taken into

consideration. Usually, in cases of a similar nature, there is left

in the mind of the spectator some glimmering of doubt as to the

reality of the vision before his eyes; a degree of hope, however

feeble, that he is the victim of chicanery, and that the apparition

is not actually a visitant from the old world of shadows. It is not

too much to say that such remnants of doubt have been at the bottom

of almost every such visitation, and that the appalling horror which

has sometimes been brought about, is to be attributed, even in the

cases most in point, and where most suffering has been experienced,

more to a kind of anticipative horror, lest the apparition might

possibly be real, than to an unwavering belief in its reality. But,

in the present instance, it will be seen immediately, that in the

minds of the mutineers there was not even the shadow of a basis upon

which to rest a doubt that the apparition of Rogers was indeed a

revivification of his disgusting corpse, or at least its spiritual

image. The isolated situation of the brig, with its entire

inaccessibility on account of the gale, confined the apparently

possible means of deception within such narrow and definite limits,

that they must have thought themselves enabled to survey them all at

a glance. They had now been at sea twenty-four days, without holding

more than a speaking communication with any vessel whatever. The

whole of the crew, too- at least all whom they had the most remote

reason for suspecting to be on board- were assembled in the cabin,

with the exception of Allen, the watch; and his gigantic stature (be

was six feet six inches high) was too familiar in their eyes to

permit the notion that he was the apparition before them to enter

their minds even for an instant. Add to these considerations the

awe-inspiring nature of the tempest, and that of the conversation

brought about by Peters; the deep impression which the loathsomeness

of the actual corpse had made in the morning upon the imaginations of

the men; the excellence of the imitation in my person, and the

uncertain and wavering light in which they beheld me, as the glare of

the cabin lantern, swinging violently to and fro, fell dubiously and

fitfully upon my figure, and there will be no reason to wonder that

the deception had even more than the entire effect which we had

anticipated. The mate sprang up from the mattress on which he was

lying, and, without uttering a syllable, fell back, stone dead, upon

the cabin floor, and was hurled to the leeward like a log by a heavy

roll of the brig. Of the remaining seven, there were but three who

had at first any degree of presence of mind. The four others sat for

some time rooted apparently to the floor, the most pitiable objects

of horror and utter despair my eyes ever encountered. The only

opposition we experienced at all was from the cook, John Hunt, and

Richard Parker; but they made but a feeble and irresolute defence.

The two former were shot instantly by Peters, and I felled Parker

with a blow on the head from the pump-handle which I had brought with

me. In the meantime, Augustus seized one of the muskets lying on the

floor now but three remaining; but by this time they had become

aroused from their lethargy, and perhaps began to see that a

deception had been practised upon them, for they fought with great

resolution and fury, and, but for the immense muscular strength of

Peters, might have ultimately got the better of us. These three men

were -- Jones, -- Greely, and Absolom Hicks. Jones had thrown

Augustus to the floor, stabbed him in several places along the right

arm, and would no doubt have soon dispatched him (as neither Peters

nor myself could immediately get rid of our own antagonists), had it

not been for the timely aid of a friend, upon whose assistance we,

surely, had never depended. This friend was no other than Tiger. With

a low growl, he bounded into the cabin, at a most critical moment for

Augustus, and throwing himself upon Jones, pinned him to the floor in

an instant. My friend, however, was now too much injured to render us

any aid whatever, and I was so encumbered with my disguise that I

could do but little. The dog would not leave his hold upon the throat

of Jones -- Peters, nevertheless, was far more than a match for the

two men who remained, and would, no doubt, have dispatched them

sooner, had it not been for the narrow space in which he had to act,

and the tremendous lurches of the vessel. Presently he was enabled to

get hold of a heavy stool, several of which lay about the floor. With

this he beat out the brains of Greely as he was in the act of

discharging a musket at me, and immediately afterward a roll of the

brig throwing him in contact with Hicks, he seized him by the throat,

and, by dint of sheer strength, strangled him instantaneously. Thus,

in far less time than I have taken to tell it, we found ourselves

masters of the brig.

The only person of our opponents who was left alive was Richard

Parker. This man, it will be remembered, I had knocked down with a

blow from the pump-handle at the commencement of the attack. He now

lay motionless by the door of the shattered stateroom; but, upon

Peters touching him with his foot, he spoke, and entreated for mercy.

His head was only slightly cut, and otherwise he had received no

injury, having been merely stunned by the blow. He now got up, and,

for the present, we secured his hands behind his back. The dog was

still growling over Jones; but, upon examination, we found him

completely dead, the blood issuing in a stream from a deep wound in

the throat, inflicted, no doubt, by the sharp teeth of the animal.

It was now about one o'clock in the morning, and the wind was

still blowing tremendously. The brig evidently laboured much more

than usual, and it became absolutely necessary that something should

be done with a view of easing her in some measure. At almost every

roll to leeward she shipped a sea, several of which came partially

down into the cabin during our scuffle, the hatchway having been left

open by myself when I descended. The entire range of bulwarks to

larboard had been swept away, as well as the caboose, together with

the jollyboat from the counter. The creaking and working of the

mainmast, too, gave indication that it was nearly sprung. To make

room for more stowage in the afterhold, the heel of this mast had

been stepped between decks (a very reprehensible practice,

occasionally resorted to by ignorant ship-builders), so that it was

in imminent danger of working from its step. But, to crown all our

difficulties, we plummed the well, and found no less than seven feet

of water.

Leaving the bodies of the crew lying in the cabin, we got to work

immediately at the pumps- Parker, of course, being set at liberty to

assist us in the labour. Augustus's arm was bound up as well as we

could effect it, and he did what he could, but that was not much.

However, we found that we could just manage to keep the leak from

gaining upon us by having one pump constantly going. As there were

only four of us, this was severe labour; but we endeavoured to keep

up our spirits, and looked anxiously for daybreak, when we hoped to

lighten the brig by cutting away the mainmast.

In this manner we passed a night of terrible anxiety and fatigue,

and, when the day at length broke, the gale had neither abated in the

least, nor were there any signs of its abating. We now dragged the

bodies on deck and threw them overboard. Our next care was to get rid

of the mainmast. The necessary preparations having been made, Peters

cut away at the mast (having found axes in the cabin), while the rest

of us stood by the stays and lanyards. As the brig gave a tremendous

lee-lurch, the word was given to cut away the weather-lanyards, which

being done, the whole mass of wood and rigging plunged into the sea,

clear of the brig, and without doing any material injury. We now

found that the vessel did not labour quite as much as before, but our

situation was still exceedingly precarious, and in spite of the

utmost exertions, we could not gain upon the leak without the aid of

both pumps. The little assistance which Augustus could render us was

not really of any importance. To add to our distress, a heavy sea,

striking the brig to the windward, threw her off several points from

the wind, and, before she could regain her position, another broke

completely over her, and hurled her full upon her beam-ends. The

ballast now shifted in a mass to leeward (the stowage had been

knocking about perfectly at random for some time), and for a few

moments we thought nothing could save us from capsizing. Presently,

however, we partially righted; but the ballast still retaining its

place to larboard, we lay so much along that it was useless to think

of working the pumps, which indeed we could not have done much longer

in any case, as our hands were entirely raw with the excessive labour

we had undergone, and were bleeding in the most horrible manner.

Contrary to Parker's advice, we now proceeded to cut away the

foremast, and at length accomplished it after much difficulty, owing

to the position in which we lay. In going overboard the wreck took

with it the bowsprit, and left us a complete hulk.

So far we had had reason to rejoice in the escape of our

longboat, which had received no damage from any of the huge seas

which had come on board. But we had not long to congratulate

ourselves; for the foremast having gone, and, of course, the foresail

with it, by which the brig had been steadied, every sea now made a

complete breach over us, and in five minutes our deck was swept from

stern to stern, the longboat and starboard bulwarks torn off, and

even the windlass shattered into fragments. It was, indeed, hardly

possible for us to be in a more pitiable condition.

At noon there seemed to be some slight appearance of the gale's

abating, but in this we were sadly disappointed, for it only lulled

for a few minutes to blow with redoubled fury. About four in the

afternoon it was utterly impossible to stand up against the violence

of the blast; and, as the night closed in upon us, I had not a shadow

of hope that the vessel would hold together until morning.

By midnight we had settled very deep in the water, which was now

up to the orlop deck. The rudder went soon afterward, the sea which

tore it away lifting the after portion of the brig entirely from the

water, against which she thumped in her descent with such a

concussion as would be occasioned by going ashore. We had all

calculated that the rudder would hold its own to the last, as it was

unusually strong, being rigged as I have never seen one rigged either

before or since. Down its main timber there ran a succession of stout

iron hooks, and others in the same manner down the stern-post.

Through these hooks there extended a very thick wrought-iron rod, the

rudder being thus held to the stern-post and swinging freely on the

rod. The tremendous force of the sea which tore it off may be

estimated by the fact, that the hooks in the stern-post, which ran

entirely through it, being clinched on the inside, were drawn every

one of them completely out of the solid wood.

We had scarcely time to draw breath after the violence of this

shock, when one of the most tremendous waves I had then ever known

broke right on board of us, sweeping the companion-way clear off,

bursting in the hatchways, and firing every inch of the vessel with

water.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 8 ~~~

CHAPTER 9

LUCKILY, just before night, all four of us had lashed ourselves

firmly to the fragments of the windlass, lying in this manner as flat

upon the deck as possible. This precaution alone saved us from

destruction. As it was, we were all more or less stunned by the

immense weight of water which tumbled upon us, and which did not roll

from above us until we were nearly exhausted. As soon as I could

recover breath, I called aloud to my companions. Augustus alone

replied, saying: "It is all over with us, and may God have mercy upon

our souls!" By-and-by both the others were enabled to speak, when

they exhorted us to take courage, as there was still hope; it being

impossible, from the nature of the cargo, that the brig could go

down, and there being every chance that the gale would blow 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 a cargo of

empty oil-casks would not sink, I had been hitherto so confused in

mind as to have overlooked this consideration altogether; and the

danger which I had for some time regarded as the most imminent was

that of foundering. As hope revived within me, I made use of every

opportunity to strengthen the lashings which held me to the remains

of the windlass, and in this occupation I soon discovered that my

companions were also busy. The night was as dark as it could possibly

be, and the horrible shrieking din and confusion which surrounded us

it is useless to attempt describing. Our deck lay level with the sea,

or rather we were encircled with a towering ridge of foam, a portion

of which swept over us even instant. It is not too much to say that

our heads 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

so tempestuously hurled about. At intervals we called one to the

other, thus endeavouring to keep alive hope, and render consolation

and encouragement to such of us as stood most in need of it. The

feeble condition of Augustus made him an object of solicitude with us

all; and as, from the lacerated condition of his right arm, it must

have been impossible for him to secure his lashings with any degree

of firmness, we were in momentary expectation of finding that he had

gone overboard -- yet to render him aid was a thing altogether out of

the question. Fortunately, his station was more secure than that of

any of the rest of us; for the upper part of his body lying just

beneath a portion of the shattered windlass, the seas, as they

tumbled in upon him, were greatly broken in their violence. In any

other situation than this (into which he had been accidentally thrown

after having lashed himself in a very exposed spot) he must

inevitably have perished before morning. Owing to the brig's lying so

much along, we were all less liable to be washed off than otherwise

would have been the case. The heel, as I have before stated, was to

larboard, about one half of the deck being constantly under water.

The seas, therefore, which struck us to starboard were much broken,

by the vessel's side, only reaching us in fragments as we lay flat on

our faces; while those which came from larboard being what are called

back-water seas, and obtaining little hold upon us on account of our

posture, had not sufficient force to drag us from our fastenings.

In this frightful situation we lay until the day broke so as to

show us more fully the horrors which surrounded us. The brig was a

mere log, rolling about at the mercy of every wave; the gale was upon

the increase, if any thing, blowing indeed a complete hurricane, and

there appeared to us no earthly prospect of deliverance. For several

hours we held on in silence, expecting every moment that our lashings

would either 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 around us and above us, would drive the hulk so far beneath

the water that we should be drowned before it could regain the

surface. By the mercy of God, however, we were preserved from these

imminent dangers, and about midday were cheered by the light of the

blessed sun. Shortly afterward we 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 thought there was any

possibility of our being saved. As no reply was at first made to this

question, we all concluded that the hybrid had been drowned where he

lay; but presently, to our great joy, he spoke, although very feebly,

saying that he was in great pain, being so cut by the tightness of

his lashings across the stomach, that he must either find means of

loosening them or perish, as it was impossible that he could endure

his misery much longer. This occasioned us great distress, as it was

altogether useless to think of aiding him in any manner while the sea

continued washing over us as it did. We exhorted him to bear his

sufferings with fortitude, and promised to seize the first

opportunity which should offer itself to relieve him. He replied that

it would soon be too late; that it would be all over with him before

we could help him; and then, after moaning for some minutes, lay

silent, when we concluded that he had perished.

As the evening drew on, the sea had fallen so much that scarcely

more than one wave broke over the hulk from windward in the course of

five minutes, and the wind had abated a great deal, although still

blowing a severe gale. I had not heard any of my companions speak for

hours, and now called to Augustus. He replied, although very feebly,

so that I could not distinguish what he said. I then spoke to Peters

and to Parker, 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 as green trees, waving meadows of ripe grain,

processions of dancing girls, troops of cavalry, and other

phantasies. I now remember that, in all which passed before my mind's

eye, motion was a predominant idea. Thus, I never fancied any

stationary object, such as a house, a mountain, or any thing of that

kind; but windmills, ships, large birds, balloons, people on

horseback, carriages driving furiously, and similar moving objects,

presented themselves in endless succession. When I recovered from

this state, the sun was, as near as I could guess, an hour high. I

had the greatest difficulty in bringing to recollection the various

circumstances connected with my situation, and for some time remained

firmly 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

wind blew no more than a moderate breeze, and that the sea was

comparatively calm; so much so that it only washed over the brig

amidships. My left arm had broken loose from its lashings, and was

much cut about the elbow; my right was entirely benumbed, and the

hand and wrist swollen prodigiously by the pressure of the rope,

which had worked from the shoulder downward. I was also in great pain

from another rope which went about my waist, and had been drawn to an

insufferable degree of tightness. Looking round upon my companions, I

saw that Peters still lived, although a thick line was pulled so

forcibly around his loins as to give him the appearance of being cut

nearly in two; as I stiffed, he made a feeble motion to me with his

hand, pointing to the rope. Augustus gave no indication of life

whatever, and was bent nearly double across a splinter 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 his situation, saying

that if I would summon up what spirits I could, and contrive to untie

him, we might yet save our lives; but that otherwise we must all

perish. I told him to take courage, and I would endeavor to free him.

Feeling in my pantaloons' pocket, I got hold of my penknife, and,

after several ineffectual attempts, at length succeeded in opening

it. I then, with my left hand, managed to free my right from its

fastenings, and afterward cut the other ropes which held me. Upon

attempting, however, to move from my position, I found that my legs

failed me altogether, and that I could not get up; neither could I

move my right arm in any direction. Upon mentioning this to Parker,

he advised me to lie quiet for a few minutes, holding on to the

windlass with my left hand, so as to allow time for the blood to

circulate. Doing this, the numbness presently began to die away so

that I could move first one of my legs, and then the other, and,

shortly afterward I regained the partial use of my right arm. I now

crawled with great caution toward Parker, without getting on my legs,

and soon cut loose all the lashings about him, when, after a short

delay, he also recovered the partial use of his limbs. We now lost no

time in getting loose the rope from Peters. It had cut a deep gash

through the waistband of his woollen pantaloons, and through two

shirts, and made its way into his groin, from which the blood flowed

out copiously as we removed the cordage. No sooner had we removed it,

however, than he spoke, and seemed to experience instant relief-

being able to move with much greater ease than either Parker or

myself- this was no doubt owing to the discharge of blood.

We had little hopes that Augustus would recover, as he evinced no

signs of life; but, upon getting to him, we discovered that he had

merely swooned from the loss of blood, the bandages we had placed

around his wounded arm having been torn off by the water; none of the

ropes which held him to the windlass were drawn sufficiently tight to

occasion his death. Having relieved him from the fastenings, and got

him clear of the broken wood about the windlass, we secured him in a

dry place to windward, with his head somewhat lower than his body,

and all three of us busied ourselves in chafing his limbs. In about

half an hour he came to himself, although it was not until the next

morning that he gave signs of recognizing any of us, or had

sufficient strength to speak. By the time we had thus got clear of

our lashings it was quite dark, and it began to cloud up, so that we

were again in the greatest agony lest it should come on to blow hard,

in which event nothing could have saved us from perishing, exhausted

as we were. By good fortune it continued very moderate during the

night, the sea subsiding every minute, which gave us great hopes of

ultimate preservation. A gentle breeze still blew from the N. W., but

the weather was not at all cold. Augustus was lashed carefully to

windward in such a manner as to prevent him from slipping overboard

with the rolls of the vessel, as he was still too weak to hold on at

all. For ourselves there was no such necessity. We sat close

together, supporting each other with the aid of the broken ropes

about the windlass, and devising methods of escape from our frightful

situation. We derived much comfort from taking off our clothes and

wringing the water from them. When we put them on after this, they

felt remarkably warm and pleasant, and served to invigorate us in no

little degree. We helped Augustus off with his, and wrung them for

him, when he experienced the same comfort.

Our chief sufferings were now those of hunger and thirst, and

when we looked forward to the means of relief in this respect, our

hearts sunk within us, and we were induced to regret that we had

escaped the less dreadful perils of the sea. We endeavoured, however,

to console ourselves with the hope of being speedily picked up by

some vessel and encouraged each other to bear with fortitude the

evils that might happen.

The morning of the fourteenth at length dawned, and the weather

still continued clear and pleasant, with a steady but very light

breeze from the N. W. The sea was now quite smooth, and as, from some

cause which we could not determine, the brig did not he so much along

as she had done before, the deck was comparatively dry, and we could

move about with freedom. We had now been better than three entire

days and nights without either food or drink, and it became

absolutely necessary that we should make an attempt to get up

something from below. As the brig was completely full of water, we

went to this work despondently, and with but little expectation of

being able to obtain anything. We made a kind of drag by driving some

nails which we broke out from the remains of the companion-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 to entangle some

article which might be of use to us for food, or which might at least

render us assistance in getting it. We spent the greater part of the

morning in this labour without effect, fishing up nothing more than a

few bedclothes, which were readily caught by the nails. Indeed, our

contrivance was so very clumsy that any greater success was hardly to

be anticipated.

We now tried the forecastle, but equally in vain, and were upon

the brink of despair, when Peters proposed that we should fasten a

rope to his body, and let him make an attempt to get up something by

diving into the cabin. This proposition we hailed with all the

delight which reviving hope could inspire. He proceeded immediately

to strip off his clothes with the exception of his pantaloons; and a

strong rope was then carefully fastened around his middle, being

brought up over his shoulders in such a manner that there was no

possibility of its slipping. The undertaking was one of great

difficulty and danger; for, as we could hardly expect to find much,

if any, provision in the cabin itself, it was necessary that the

diver, after letting himself down, should make a turn to the right,

and proceed under water a distance of ten 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

down the companion-ladder until the water reached his chin. He then

plunged in, head first, turning to the right as he plunged, and

endeavouring to make his way to the storeroom. In this first attempt,

however, he was altogether unsuccessful. In less than half a minute

after his going down we felt the rope jerked violently (the signal we

had agreed upon when he desired to be drawn up). We accordingly drew

him up instantly, but so incautiously as to bruise him badly against

the ladder. He had brought nothing with him, and had been unable to

penetrate more than a very little way into the passage, owing to the

constant exertions he found it necessary to make in order to keep

himself from floating up against the deck. Upon getting out he was

very much exhausted, and had to rest full fifteen minutes before he

could again venture to descend.

The second attempt met with even worse success; for he remained

so long under water without giving the signal, that, becoming alarmed

for his safety, we drew him out without it, and found that he was

almost at the last gasp, having, as he said, repeatedly jerked at the

rope without our feeling it. This was probably owing to a portion of

it having become entangled in the balustrade at the foot of the

ladder. This balustrade was, indeed, so much in the way, that we

determined to remove it, if possible, before proceeding with our

design. As we had no means of getting it away except by main force,

we all descended into the water as far as we could on the ladder, and

giving a pull against it with our united strength, succeeded in

breaking it down.

The third attempt was equally unsuccessful with the two first,

and it now became evident that nothing could be done in this manner

without the aid of some weight with which the diver might steady

himself, and keep to the floor of the cabin while making his search.

For a long time we looked about in vain for something which might

answer this purpose; but at length, to our great joy, we discovered

one of the weather-forechains so loose that we had not the least

difficulty in wrenching it off. Having fastened this securely to one

of his ankles, Peters now made his fourth descent into the cabin, and

this time succeeded in making his way to the door of the steward's

room. To his inexpressible grief, however, he found it locked, and

was obliged to return without effecting an entrance, as, with the

greatest exertion, he could remain under water not more, at the

utmost extent, than a single minute. Our affairs now looked gloomy

indeed, and neither Augustus nor myself could refrain from bursting

into tears, as we thought of the host of difficulties which

encompassed us, and the slight probability which existed of our

finally making an escape. But this weakness was not of long duration.

Throwing ourselves on our knees to God, we implored His aid in the

many dangers which beset us; and arose with renewed hope and vigor to

think what could yet be done by mortal means toward accomplishing our

deliverance.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 9 ~~~

CHAPTER 10

SHORTLY afterward an incident occurred which I am induced to look

upon as more intensely productive of emotion, as far more replete

with the extremes first of delight and then of horror, than even any

of the thousand chances which afterward befell me in nine long years,

crowded with events of the most startling and, in many cases, of the

most unconceived and unconceivable character. We were lying on the

deck near the companion-way, and debating the possibility of yet

making our way into the storeroom, when, looking toward Augustus, who

lay fronting myself, I perceived that he had become all at once

deadly pale, and that his lips were quivering in the most singular

and unaccountable manner. Greatly alarmed, I spoke to him, but he

made me no reply, and I was beginning to think that he was suddenly

taken ill, when I took notice of his eyes, which were glaring

apparently at some object behind me. I turned my head, and shall

never forget the ecstatic joy which thrilled through every particle

of my frame, when I perceived a large brig bearing down upon us, and

not more than a couple of miles off. I sprung to my feet as if a

musket bullet had suddenly struck me to the heart; and, stretching

out my arms in the direction of the vessel, stood in this manner,

motionless, and unable to articulate a syllable. Peters and Parker

were equally affected, although in different ways. The former danced

about the deck like a madman, uttering the most extravagant

rhodomontades, intermingled with howls and imprecations, while the

latter burst into tears, and continued for many minutes weeping like

a child.

The vessel in sight was a large hermaphrodite brig, of a Dutch

build, and painted black, with a tawdry gilt figure-head. She had

evidently seen a good deal of rough weather, and, we supposed, had

suffered much in the gale which had proved so disastrous to

ourselves; for her foretopmast was gone, and some of her starboard

bulwarks. When we first saw her, she was, as I have already said,

about two miles off and to windward, bearing down upon us. The breeze

was very gentle, and what astonished us chiefly was, that she had no

other sails set than her foremast and mainsail, with a flying jib --

of course she came down but slowly, and our impatience amounted

nearly to phrensy. The awkward manner in which she steered, too, was

remarked by all of us, even excited as we were. She yawed about so

considerably, that once or twice we thought it impossible she could

see us, or imagined that, having seen us, and discovered no person on

board, she was about to tack and make off in another direction. Upon

each of these occasions we screamed and shouted at the top of our

voices, when the stranger would appear to change for a moment her

intention, and again hold on toward us -- this singular conduct being

repeated two or three times, so that at last we could think of no

other manner of accounting for it than by supposing the helmsman to

be in liquor.

No person was seen upon her decks until she arrived within about

a quarter of a mile of us. We then saw three seamen, whom by their

dress we took to be Hollanders. Two of these were lying on some old

sails near the forecastle, and the third, who appeared to be looking

at us with great curiosity, was leaning over the starboard bow near

the bowsprit. This last was a stout and tall man, with a very dark

skin. He seemed by his manner to be encouraging us to have patience,

nodding to us in a cheerful although rather odd way, and smiling

constantly, so as to display a set of the most brilliantly white

teeth. As his vessel drew nearer, we saw a red flannel cap which he

had on fall from his head into the water; but of this he took little

or no notice, continuing his odd smiles and gesticulations. I relate

these things and circumstances minutely, and I relate them, it must

be understood, precisely as they _appeared _to us.

The brig came on slowly, and now more steadily than before, and

-- I cannot speak calmly of this event -- our hearts leaped up wildly

within us, and we poured out our whole souls in shouts and

thanksgiving to God for the complete, unexpected, and glorious

deliverance that was so palpably at hand. Of a sudden, and all at

once, there came wafted over the ocean from the strange vessel (which

was now close upon us) a smell, a stench, such as the whole world has

no name for -- no conception of -- hellish -- utterly suffocating --

insufferable, inconceivable. I gasped for breath, and turning to my

companions, perceived that they were paler than marble. But we had

now no time left for question or surmise- the brig was within fifty

feet of us, and it seemed to be her intention to run under our

counter, that we might board her without putting out a boat. We

rushed aft, when, suddenly, a wide yaw threw her off full five or six

points from the course she had been running, and, as she passed under

our stern at the distance of about twenty feet, we had a full view of

her decks. Shall I ever forget the triple horror of that spectacle?

Twenty-five or thirty human bodies, among whom were several females,

lay scattered about between the counter and the galley in the last

and most loathsome state of putrefaction. We plainly saw that not a

soul lived in that fated vessel! Yet we could not help shouting to

the dead for help! Yes, long and loudly did we beg, in the agony of

the moment, that those silent and disgusting images would stay for

us, would not abandon us to become like them, would receive us among

their goodly company! We were raving with horror and despair-

thoroughly mad through the anguish of our grievous disappointment.

As our first loud yell of terror broke forth, it was replied to

by something, from near the bowsprit of the stranger, so closely

resembling the scream of a human voice that the nicest ear might have

been startled and deceived. At this instant another sudden yaw

brought the region of the forecastle for a moment into view, and we

beheld at once the origin of the sound. We saw the tall stout figure

still leaning on the bulwark, and still nodding his head to and fro,

but his face was now turned from us so that we could not behold it.

His arms were extended over the rail, and the palms of his hands fell

outward. His knees were lodged upon a stout rope, tightly stretched,

and reaching from the heel of the bowsprit to a cathead. On his back,

from which a portion of the shirt had been torn, leaving it bare,

there sat a huge sea-gull, busily gorging itself with the horrible

flesh, its bill and talons deep buried, and its white plumage

spattered all over with blood. As the brig moved farther round so as

to bring us close in view, the bird, with much apparent difficulty,

drew out its crimsoned head, and, after eyeing us for a moment as if

stupefied, arose lazily from the body upon which it had been

feasting, and, flying directly above our deck, hovered there a while

with a portion of clotted and liver-like substance in its beak. The

horrid morsel dropped at length with a sullen splash immediately at

the feet of Parker. May God forgive me, but now, for the first time,

there flashed through my mind a thought, a thought which I will not

mention, and I felt myself making a step toward the ensanguined spot.

I looked upward, and the eyes of Augustus met my own with a degree of

intense and eager meaning which immediately brought me to my senses.

I sprang forward quickly, and, with a deep shudder, threw the

frightful thing into the sea.

The body from which it had been taken, resting as it did upon the

rope, had been easily swayed to and fro by the exertions of the

carnivorous bird, and it was this motion which had at first impressed

us with the belief of its being alive. As the gull relieved it of its

weight, it swung round and fell partially over, so that the face was

fully discovered. Never, surely, was any object so terribly full of

awe! The eyes were gone, and the whole flesh around the mouth,

leaving the teeth utterly naked. This, then, was the smile which had

cheered us on to hope! this the -- but I forbear. The brig, as I have

already told, passed under our stern, and made its way slowly but

steadily to leeward. With her and with her terrible crew went all our

gay visions of deliverance and joy. Deliberately as she went by, we

might possibly have found means of boarding her, had not our sudden

disappointment and the appalling nature of the discovery which

accompanied it laid entirely prostrate every active faculty of mind

and body. We had seen and felt, but we could neither think nor act,

until, alas! too late. How much our intellects had been weakened by

this incident may be estimated by the fact, that when the vessel had

proceeded so far that we could perceive no more than the half of her

hull, the proposition was seriously entertained of attempting to

overtake her by swimming!

I have, since this period, vainly endeavoured to obtain some clew

to the hideous uncertainty which enveloped the fate of the stranger.

Her build and general appearance, as I have before stated, led us to

the belief that she was a Dutch trader, and the dresses of the crew

also sustained this opinion. We might have easily seen the name upon

her stern, and, indeed, taken other observations, which would have

guided us in making out her character; but the intense excitement of

the moment blinded us to every thing of that nature. From the

saffron-like hue of such of the corpses as were not entirely decayed,

we concluded that the whole of her company had perished by the yellow

fever, or some other virulent disease of the same fearful kind. If

such were the case (and I know not what else to imagine), death, to

judge from the positions of the bodies, must have come upon them in a

manner awfully sudden and overwhelming, in a way totally distinct

from that which generally characterizes even the most deadly

pestilences with which mankind are acquainted. It is possible,

indeed, that poison, accidentally introduced into some of their

sea-stores, may have brought about the disaster, or that the eating

of some unknown venomous species of fish, or other marine animal, or

oceanic bird, might have induced it -- but it is utterly useless to

form conjectures where all is involved, and will, no doubt, remain

for ever involved, in the most appalling and unfathomable mystery.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 10 ~~~

CHAPTER 11

WE spent the remainder of the day in a condition of stupid

lethargy, gazing after the retreating vessel until the darkness,

hiding her from our sight, recalled us in some measure to our senses.

The pangs of hunger and thirst then returned, absorbing all other

cares and considerations. Nothing, however, could be done until the

morning, and, securing ourselves as well as possible, we endeavoured

to snatch a little repose. In this I succeeded beyond my

expectations, sleeping until my companions, who had not been so

fortunate, aroused me at daybreak to renew our attempts at getting up

provisions from the hull.

It was now a dead calm, with the sea as smooth as have ever known

it, -- the weather warm and pleasant. The brig was out of sight. We

commenced our operations by wrenching off, with some trouble, another

of the forechains; and having fastened both to Peters' feet, he again

made an endeavour to reach the door of the storeroom, thinking it

possible that he might be able to force it open, provided he could

get at it in sufficient time; and this he hoped to do, as the hulk

lay much more steadily than before.

He succeeded very quickly in reaching the door, when, loosening

one of the chains from his ankle, be made every exertion to force the

passage with it, but in vain, the framework of the room being far

stronger than was anticipated. He was quite exhausted with his long

stay under water, and it became absolutely necessary that some other

one of us should take his place. For this service Parker immediately

volunteered; but, after making three ineffectual efforts, found that

he could never even succeed in getting near the door. The condition

of Augustus's wounded arm rendered it useless for him to attempt

going down, as he would be unable to force the room open should be

reach it, and it accordingly now devolved upon me to exert myself for

our common deliverance.

Peters had left one of the chains in the passage, and I found,

upon plunging in, that I had not sufficient balance to keep me firmly

down. I determined, therefore, to attempt no more, in my first

effort, than merely to recover the other chain. In groping along the

floor of the passage for this, I felt a hard substance, which I

immediately grasped, not having time to ascertain what it was, but

returning and ascending instantly to the surface. The prize proved to

be a bottle, and our joy may be conceived when I say that it was

found to be full of port wine. Giving thanks to God for this timely

and cheering assistance, we immediately drew the cork with my

penknife, and, each taking a moderate sup, felt the most

indescribable comfort from the warmth, strength, and spirits with

which it inspired us. We then carefully recorked the bottle, and, by

means of a handkerchief, swung it in such a manner that there was no

possibility of its getting broken.

Having rested a while after this fortunate discovery, I again

descended, and now recovered the chain, with which I instantly came

up. I then fastened it on and went down for the third time, when I

became fully satisfied that no exertions whatever, in that situation,

would enable me to force open the door of the storeroom. I therefore

returned in despair.

There seemed now to be no longer any room for hope, and I could

perceive in the countenances of my companions that they had made up

their minds to perish. The wine had evidently produced in them a

species of delirium, which, perhaps, I had been prevented from

feeling by the immersion I had undergone since drinking it. They

talked incoherently, and about matters unconnected with our

condition, Peters repeatedly asking me questions about Nantucket.

Augustus, too, I remember, approached me with a serious air, and

requested me to lend him a pocket-comb, as his hair was full of

fish-scales, and he wished to get them out before going on shore.

Parker appeared somewhat less affected, and urged me to dive at

random into the cabin, and bring up any article which might come to

hand. To this I consented, and, in the first attempt, after staying

under a full minute, brought up a small leather trunk belonging to

Captain Barnard. This was immediately opened in the faint hope that

it might contain something to eat or drink. We found nothing,

however, except a box of razors and two linen shirts. I now went down

again, and returned without any success. As my head came above water

I heard a crash on deck, and, upon getting up, saw that my companions

had ungratefully taken advantage of my absence to drink the remainder

of the wine, having let the bottle fall in the endeavour to replace

it before I saw them. I remonstrated with them on the heartlessness

of their conduct, when Augustus burst into tears. The other two

endeavoured to laugh the matter off as a joke, but I hope never again

to behold laughter of such a species: the distortion of countenance

was absolutely frightful. Indeed, it was apparent that the stimulus,

in the empty state of their stomachs, had taken instant and violent

effect, and that they were all exceedingly intoxicated. With great

difficulty I prevailed upon them to lie down, when they fell very

soon into a heavy slumber, accompanied with loud stertorous

breathing.

I now found myself, as it were, alone in the brig, and my

reflections, to be sure, were of the most fearful and gloomy nature.

No prospect offered itself to my view but a lingering death by

famine, or, at the best, by being overwhelmed in the first gale which

should spring up, for in our present exhausted condition we could

have no hope of living through another.

The gnawing hunger which I now experienced was nearly

insupportable, and I felt myself capable of going to any lengths in

order to appease it. With my knife I cut off a small portion of the

leather trunk, and endeavoured to eat it, but found it utterly

impossible to swallow a single morsel, although I fancied that some

little alleviation of my suffering was obtained by chewing small

pieces of it and spitting them out. Toward night my companions awoke,

one by one, each in an indescribable state of weakness and horror,

brought on by the wine, whose fumes had now evaporated. They shook as

if with a violent ague, and uttered the most lamentable cries for

water. Their condition affected me in the most lively degree, at the

same time causing me to rejoice in the fortunate train of

circumstances which had prevented me from indulging in the wine, and

consequently from sharing their melancholy and most distressing

sensations. Their conduct, however, gave me great uneasiness and

alarm; for it was evident that, unless some favourable change took

place, they could afford me no assistance in providing for our common

safety. I had not yet abandoned all idea being able to get up

something from below; but the attempt could not possibly be resumed

until some one of them was sufficiently master of himself to aid me

by holding the end of the rope while I went down. Parker appeared to

be somewhat more in possession of his senses than the others, and I

endeavoured, by every means in my power, to rouse him. Thinking that

a plunge in the sea-water might have a beneficial effect, I contrived

to fasten the end of a rope around his body, and then, leading him to

the companion-way (he remaining quite passive all the while), pushed

him in, and immediately drew him out. I had good reason to

congratulate myself upon having made this experiment; for he appeared

much revived and invigorated, and, upon getting out, asked me, in a

rational manner, why I had so served him. Having explained my object,

he expressed himself indebted to me, and said that he felt greatly

better from the immersion, afterward conversing sensibly upon our

situation. We then resolved to treat Augustus and Peters in the same

way, which we immediately did, when they both experienced much

benefit from the shock. This idea of sudden immersion had been

suggested to me by reading in some medical work the good effect of

the shower-bath in a case where the patient was suffering from _mania

a potu_.

Finding that I could now trust my companions to hold the end of

the rope, I again made three or four plunges into the cabin, although

it was now quite dark, and a gentle but long swell from the northward

rendered the hulk somewhat unsteady. In the course of these attempts

I succeeded in bringing up two case-knives, a three-gallon jug,

empty, and a blanket, but nothing which could serve us for food. I

continued my efforts, after getting these articles, until I was

completely exhausted, but brought up nothing else. During the night

Parker and Peters occupied themselves by turns in the same manner;

but nothing coming to hand, we now gave up this attempt in despair,

concluding that we were exhausting ourselves in vain.

We passed the remainder of this night in a state of the most

intense mental and bodily anguish that can possibly be imagined. The

morning of the sixteenth at length dawned, and we looked eagerly

around the horizon for relief, but to no purpose. The sea was still

smooth, with only a long swell from the northward, as on yesterday.

This was the sixth day since we had tasted either food or drink, with

the exception of the bottle of port wine, and it was clear that we

could hold out but a very little while longer unless something could

be obtained. I never saw before, nor wish to see again, human beings

so utterly emaciated as Peters and Augustus. Had I met them on shore

in their present condition I should not have had the slightest

suspicion that I had ever beheld them. Their countenances were

totally changed in character, so that I could not bring myself to

believe them really the same individuals with whom I had been in

company but a few days before. Parker, although sadly reduced, and so

feeble that he could not raise his head from his bosom, was not so

far gone as the other two. He suffered with great patience, making no

complaint, and endeavouring to inspire us with hope in every manner

he could devise. For myself, although at the commencement of the

voyage I had been in bad health, and was at all times of a delicate

constitution, I suffered less than any of us, being much less reduced

in frame, and retaining my powers of mind in a surprising degree,

while the rest were completely prostrated in intellect, and seemed to

be brought to a species of second childhood, generally simpering in

their expressions, with idiotic smiles, and uttering the most absurd

platitudes. At intervals, however, they would appear to revive

suddenly, as if inspired all at once with a consciousness of their

condition, when they would spring upon their feet in a momentary

flash of vigour, and speak, for a short period, of their prospects,

in a manner altogether rational, although full of the most intense

despair. It is possible, however, that my companions may have

entertained the same opinion of their own condition as I did of mine,

and that I may have unwittingly been guilty of the same extravagances

and imbecilities as themselves -- this is a matter which cannot be

determined.

About noon Parker declared that he saw land off the larboard

quarter, and it was with the utmost difficulty I could restrain him

from plunging into the sea with the view of swimming toward it.

Peters and Augustus took little notice of what he said, being

apparently wrapped up in moody contemplation. Upon looking in the

direction pointed out, I could not perceive the faintest appearance

of the shore -- indeed, I was too well aware that we were far from

any land to indulge in a hope of that nature. It was a long time,

nevertheless, before I could convince Parker of his mistake. He then

burst into a flood of tears, weeping like a child, with loud cries

and sobs, for two or three hours, when becoming exhausted, he fell

asleep.

Peters and Augustus now made several ineffectual efforts to

swallow portions of the leather. I advised them to chew it and spit

it out; but they were too excessively debilitated to be able to

follow my advice. I continued to chew pieces of it at intervals, and

found some relief from so doing; my chief distress was for water, and

I was only prevented from taking a draught from the sea by

remembering the horrible consequences which thus have resulted to

others who were similarly situated with ourselves.

The day wore on in this manner, when I suddenly discovered a sail

to the eastward, and on our larboard bow. She appeared to be a large

ship, and was coming nearly athwart us, being probably twelve or

fifteen miles distant. None of my companions had as yet discovered

her, and I forbore to tell them of her for the present, lest we might

again be disappointed of relief. At length upon her getting nearer, I

saw distinctly that she was heading immediately for us, with her

light sails filled. I could now contain myself no longer, and pointed

her out to my fellow-sufferers. They immediately sprang to their

feet, again indulging in the most extravagant demonstrations of joy,

weeping, laughing in an idiotic manner, jumping, stamping upon the

deck, tearing their hair, and praying and cursing by turns. I was so

affected by their conduct, as well as by what I considered a sure

prospect of deliverance, that I could not refrain from joining in

with their madness, and gave way to the impulses of my gratitude and

ecstasy by lying and rolling on the deck, clapping my hands,

shouting, and other similar acts, until I was suddenly called to my

recollection, and once more to the extreme human misery and despair,

by perceiving the ship all at once with her stern fully presented

toward us, and steering in a direction nearly opposite to that in

which I had at first perceived her.

It was some time before I could induce my poor companions to

believe that this sad reverse in our prospects had actually taken

place. They replied to all my assertions with a stare and a gesture

implying that they were not to be deceived by such

misrepresentations. The conduct of Augustus most sensibly affected

me. In spite of all I could say or do to the contrary, he persisted

in saying that the ship was rapidly nearing us, and in making

preparations to go on board of her. Some seaweed floating by the

brig, he maintained that it was the ship's boat, and endeavoured to

throw himself upon it, howling and shrieking in the most heartrending

manner, when I forcibly restrained him from thus casting himself into

the sea.

Having become in some degree pacified, we continued to watch the

ship until we finally lost sight of her, the weather becoming hazy,

with a light breeze springing up. As soon as she was entirely gone,

Parker turned suddenly toward me with an expression of countenance

which made me shudder. There was about him an air of self-possession

which I had not noticed in him until now, and before he opened his

lips my heart told me what he would say. He proposed, in a few words,

that one of us should die to preserve the existence of the others.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 11 ~~~

CHAPTER 12

I had for some time past, dwelt upon the prospect of our being

reduced to this last horrible extremity, and had secretly made up my

mind to suffer death in any shape or under any circumstances rather

than resort to such a course. Nor was this resolution in any degree

weakened by the present intensity of hunger under which I laboured.

The proposition had not been heard by either Peters or Augustus. I

therefore took Parker aside; and mentally praying to God for power to

dissuade him from the horrible purpose he entertained, I expostulated

with him for a long time, and in the most supplicating manner,

begging him in the name of every thing which he held sacred, and

urging him by every species of argument which the extremity of the

case suggested, to abandon the idea, and not to mention it to either

of the other two.

He heard all I said without attempting to controvert any of my

arguments, and I had begun to hope that he would be prevailed upon to

do as I desired. But when I had ceased speaking, he said that he knew

very well all I had said was true, and that to resort to such a

course was the most horrible alternative which could enter into the

mind of man; but that he had now held out as long as human nature

could be sustained; that it was unnecessary for all to perish, when,

by the death of one, it was possible, and even probable, that the

rest might be finally preserved; adding that I might save myself the

trouble of trying to turn him from his purpose, his mind having been

thoroughly made up on the subject even before the appearance of the

ship, and that only her heaving in sight had prevented him from

mentioning his intention at an earlier period.

I now begged him, if he would not be prevailed upon to abandon

his design, at least to defer it for another day, when some vessel

might come to our relief; again reiterating every argument I could

devise, and which I thought likely to have influence with one of his

rough nature. He said, in reply, that he had not spoken until the

very last possible moment, that he could exist no longer without

sustenance of some kind, and that therefore in another day his

suggestion would be too late, as regarded himself at least.

Finding that he was not to be moved by anything I could say in a

mild tone, I now assumed a different demeanor, and told him that he

must be aware I had suffered less than any of us from our calamities;

that my health and strength, consequently, were at that moment far

better than his own, or than that either of Peters or Augustus; in

short, that I was in a condition to have my own way by force if I

found it necessary; and that if he attempted in any manner to

acquaint the others with his bloody and cannibal designs, I would not

hesitate to throw him into the sea. Upon this he immediately seized

me by the throat, and drawing a knife, made several ineffectual

efforts to stab me in the stomach; an atrocity which his excessive

debility alone prevented him from accomplishing. In the meantime,

being roused to a high pitch of anger, I forced him to the vessel's

side, with the full intention of throwing him overboard. He was saved

from his fate, however, by the interference of Peters, who now

approached and separated us, asking the cause of the disturbance.

This Parker told before I could find means in any manner to prevent

him.

The effect of his words was even more terrible than what I had

anticipated. Both Augustus and Peters, who, it seems, had long

secretly entertained the same fearful idea which Parker had been

merely the first to broach, joined with him in his design and

insisted upon its immediately being carried into effect. I had

calculated that one at least of the two former would be found still

possessed of sufficient strength of mind to side with myself in

resisting any attempt to execute so dreadful a purpose, and, with the

aid of either one of them, I had no fear of being able to prevent its

accomplishment. Being disappointed in this expectation, it became

absolutely necessary that I should attend to my own safety, as a

further resistance on my part might possibly be considered by men in

their frightful condition a sufficient excuse for refusing me fair

play in the tragedy that I knew would speedily be enacted.

I now told them I was willing to submit to the proposal, merely

requesting a delay of about one hour, in order that the fog which had

gathered around us might have an opportunity of lifting, when it was

possible that the ship we had seen might be again in sight. After

great difficulty I obtained from them a promise to wait thus long;

and, as I had anticipated (a breeze rapidly coming in), the fog

lifted before the hour had expired, when, no vessel appearing in

sight, we prepared to draw lots.

It is with extreme reluctance that I dwell upon the appalling

scene which ensued; a scene which, with its minutest details, no

after events have been able to efface in the slightest degree from my

memory, and whose stern recollection will embitter every future

moment of my existence. Let me run over this portion of my narrative

with as much haste as the nature of the events to be spoken of will

permit. The only method we could devise for the terrific lottery, in

which we were to take each a chance, was that of drawing straws.

Small splinters of wood were made to answer our purpose, and it was

agreed that I should be the holder. I retired to one end of the hulk,

while my poor companions silently took up their station in the other

with their backs turned toward me. The bitterest anxiety which I

endured at any period of this fearful drama was while I occupied

myself in the arrangement of the lots. There are few conditions into

which man can possibly fall where he will not feel a deep interest in

the preservation of his existence; an interest momentarily increasing

with the frailness of the tenure by which that existence may be held.

But now that the silent, definite, and stern nature of the business

in which I was engaged (so different from the tumultuous dangers of

the storm or the gradually approaching horrors of famine) allowed me

to reflect on the few chances I had of escaping the most appalling of

deaths- a death for the most appalling of purposes- every particle of

that energy which had so long buoyed me up departed like feathers

before the wind, leaving me a helpless prey to the most abject and

pitiable terror. I could not, at first, even summon up sufficient

strength to tear and fit together the small splinters of wood, my

fingers absolutely refusing their office, and my knees knocking

violently against each other. My mind ran over rapidly a thousand

absurd projects by which to avoid becoming a partner in the awful

speculation. I thought of falling on my knees to my companions, and

entreating them to let me escape this necessity; of suddenly rushing

upon them, and, by putting one of them to death, of rendering the

decision by lot useless- in short, of every thing but of going

through with the matter I had in hand. At last, after wasting a long

time in this imbecile conduct, I was recalled to my senses by the

voice of Parker, who urged me to relieve them at once from the

terrible anxiety they were enduring. Even then I could not bring

myself to arrange the splinters upon the spot, but thought over every

species of finesse by which I could trick some one of my

fellow-sufferers to draw the short straw, as it had been agreed that

whoever drew the shortest of four splinters from my hand was to die

for the preservation of the rest. Before any one condemn me for this

apparent heartlessness, let him be placed in a situation precisely

similar to my own.

At length delay was no longer possible, and, with a heart almost

bursting from my bosom, I advanced to the region of the forecastle,

where my companions were awaiting me. I held out my hand with the

splinters, and Peters immediately drew. He was free- his, at least,

was not the shortest; and there was now another chance against my

escape. I summoned up all my strength, and passed the lots to

Augustus. He also drew immediately, and he also was free; and now,

whether I should live or die, the chances were no more than precisely

even. At this moment all the fierceness of the tiger possessed my

bosom, and I felt toward my poor fellow-creature, Parker, the most

intense, the most diabolical hatred. But the feeling did not last;

and, at length, with a convulsive shudder and closed eyes, I held out

the two remaining splinters toward him. It was fully five minutes

before he could summon resolution to draw, during which period of

heartrending suspense I never once opened my eyes. Presently one of

the two lots was quickly drawn from my hand. The decision was then

over, yet I knew not whether it was for me or against me. No one

spoke, and still I dared not satisfy myself by looking at the

splinter I held. Peters at length took me by the hand, and I forced

myself to look up, when I immediately saw by the countenance of

Parker that I was safe, and that he it was who had been doomed to

suffer. Gasping for breath, I fell senseless to the deck.

I recovered from my swoon in time to behold the consummation of

the tragedy in the death of him who had been chiefly instrumental in

bringing it about. He made no resistance whatever, and was stabbed in

the back by Peters, when he fell instantly dead. I must not dwell

upon the fearful repast which immediately ensued. Such things may be

imagined, but words have no power to impress the mind with the

exquisite horror of their reality. Let it suffice to say that, having

in some measure appeased the raging thirst which consumed us by the

blood of the victim, and having by common consent taken off the

hands, feet, and head, throwing them together with the entrails, into

the sea, we devoured the rest of the body, piecemeal, during the four

ever memorable days of the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and

twentieth of the month.

On the nineteenth, there coming on a smart shower which lasted

fifteen or twenty minutes, we contrived to catch some water by means

of a sheet which had been fished up from the cabin by our drag just

after the gale. The quantity we took in all did not amount to more

than half a gallon; but even this scanty allowance supplied us with

comparative strength and hope.

On the twenty-first we were again reduced to the last necessity.

The weather still remained warm and pleasant, with occasional fogs

and light breezes, most usually from N. to W.

On the twenty-second, as we were sitting close huddled together,

gloomily revolving over our lamentable condition, there flashed

through my mind all at once an idea which inspired me with a bright

gleam of hope. I remembered that, when the foremast had been cut

away, Peters, being in the windward chains, passed one of the axes

into my hand, requesting me to put it, if possible, in a place of

security, and that a few minutes before the last heavy sea struck the

brig and filled her I had taken this axe into the forecastle and laid

it in one of the larboard berths. I now thought it possible that, by

getting at this axe, we might cut through the deck over the

storeroom, and thus readily supply ourselves with provisions.

When I communicated this object to my companions, they uttered a

feeble shout of joy, and we all proceeded forthwith to the

forecastle. The difficulty of descending here was greater than that

of going down in the cabin, the opening being much smaller, for it

will be remembered that the whole framework about the cabin

companion-hatch had been carried away, whereas the forecastle-way,

being a simple hatch of only about three feet square, had remained

uninjured. I did not hesitate, however, to attempt the descent; and a

rope being fastened round my body as before, I plunged boldly in,

feet foremost, made my way quickly to the berth, and at the first

attempt brought up the axe. It was hailed with the most ecstatic joy

and triumph, and the ease with which it had been obtained was

regarded as an omen of our ultimate preservation.

We now commenced cutting at the deck with all the energy of

rekindled hope, Peters and myself taking the axe by turns, Augustus's

wounded arm not permitting him to aid us in any degree. As we were

still so feeble as to be scarcely able to stand unsupported, and

could consequently work but a minute or two without resting, it soon

became evident that many long hours would be necessary to accomplish

our task- that is, to cut an opening sufficiently large to admit of a

free access to the storeroom. This consideration, however, did not

discourage us; and, working all night by the light of the moon, we

succeeded in effecting our purpose by daybreak on the morning of the

twenty-third.

Peters now volunteered to go down; and, having made all

arrangements as before, he descended, and soon returned bringing up

with him a small jar, which, to our great joy, proved to be full of

olives. Having shared these among us, and devoured them with the

greatest avidity, we proceeded to let him down again. This time he

succeeded beyond our utmost expectations, returning instantly with a

large ham and a bottle of Madeira wine. Of the latter we each took a

moderate sup, having learned by experience the pernicious

consequences of indulging too freely. The ham, except about two

pounds near the bone, was not in a condition to be eaten, having been

entirely spoiled by the salt water. The sound part was divided among

us. Peters and Augustus, not being able to restrain their appetite,

swallowed theirs upon the instant; but I was more cautious, and ate

but a small portion of mine, dreading the thirst which I knew would

ensue. We now rested a while from our labors, which had been

intolerably severe.

By noon, feeling somewhat strengthened and refreshed, we again

renewed our attempt at getting up provisions, Peters and myself going

down alternately, and always with more or less success, until

sundown. During this interval we had the good fortune to bring up,

altogether, four more small jars of olives, another ham, a carboy

containing nearly three gallons of excellent Cape Madeira wine, and,

what gave us still more delight, a small tortoise of the Gallipago

breed, several of which had been taken on board by Captain Barnard,

as the _Grampus_ was leaving port, from the schooner _Mary Pitts_,

just returned from a sealing voyage in the Pacific.

In a subsequent portion of this narrative I shall have frequent

occasion to mention this species of tortoise. It is found

principally, as most of my readers may know, in the group of islands

called the Gallipagos, which, indeed, derive their name from the

animal -- the Spanish word Gallipago meaning a fresh-water terrapin.

From the peculiarity of their shape and action they have been

sometimes called the elephant tortoise. They are frequently found of

an enormous size. I have myself seen several which would weigh from

twelve to fifteen hundred pounds, although I do not remember that any

navigator speaks of having seen them weighing more than eight

hundred. Their appearance is singular, and even disgusting. Their

steps are very slow, measured, and heavy, their bodies being carried

about a foot from the ground. Their neck is long, and exceedingly

slender, from eighteen inches to two feet is a very common length,

and I killed one, where the distance from the shoulder to the

extremity of the head was no less than three feet ten inches. The

head has a striking resemblance to that of a serpent. They can exist

without food for an almost incredible length of time, instances

having been known where they have been thrown into the hold of a

vessel and lain two years without nourishment of any kind- being as

fat, and, in every respect, in as good order at the expiration of the

time as when they were first put in. In one particular these

extraordinary animals bear a resemblance to the dromedary, or camel

of the desert. In a bag at the root of the neck they carry with them

a constant supply of water. In some instances, upon killing them

after a full year's deprivation of all nourishment, as much as three

gallons of perfectly sweet and fresh water have been found in their

bags. Their food is chiefly wild parsley and celery, with purslain,

sea-kelp, and prickly pears, upon which latter vegetable they thrive

wonderfully, a great quantity of it being usually found on the

hillsides near the shore wherever the animal itself is discovered.

They are excellent and highly nutritious food, and have, no doubt,

been the means of preserving the lives of thousands of seamen

employed in the whale-fishery and other pursuits in the Pacific.

The one which we had the good fortune to bring up from the

storeroom was not of a large size, weighing probably sixty-five or

seventy pounds. It was a female, and in excellent condition, being

exceedingly fat, and having more than a quart of limpid and sweet

water in its bag. This was indeed a treasure; and, falling on our

knees with one accord, we returned fervent thanks to God for so

seasonable a relief.

We had great difficulty in getting the animal up through the

opening, as its struggles were fierce and its strength prodigious. It

was upon the point of making its escape from Peter's grasp, and

slipping back into the water, when Augustus, throwing a rope with a

slipknot around its throat, held it up in this manner until I jumped

into the hole by the side of Peters, and assisted him in lifting it

out.

The water we drew carefully from the bag into the jug; which, it

will be remembered, had been brought up before from the cabin. Having

done this, we broke off the neck of a bottle so as to form, with the

cork, a kind of glass, holding not quite half a gill. We then each

drank one of these measures full, and resolved to limit ourselves to

this quantity per day as long as it should hold out.

During the last two or three days, the weather having been dry

and pleasant, the bedding we had obtained from the cabin, as well as

our clothing, had become thoroughly dry, so that we passed this night

(that of the twenty-third) in comparative comfort, enjoying a

tranquil repose, after having supped plentifully on olives and ham,

with a small allowance of the wine. Being afraid of losing some of

our stores overboard during the night, in the event of a breeze

springing up, we secured them as well as possible with cordage to the

fragments of the windlass. Our tortoise, which we were anxious to

preserve alive as long as we could, we threw on its back, and

otherwise carefully fastened.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 12 ~~~

CHAPTER 13

JULY 24. This morning saw us wonderfully recruited in spirits and

strength. Notwithstanding the perilous situation in which we were

still placed, ignorant of our position, although certainly at a great

distance from land, without more food than would last us for a

fortnight even with great care, almost entirely without water, and

floating about at the mercy of every wind and wave on the merest

wreck in the world, still the infinitely more terrible distresses and

dangers from which we had so lately and so providentially been

delivered caused us to regard what we now endured as but little more

than an ordinary evil- so strictly comparative is either good or ill.

At sunrise we were preparing to renew our attempts at getting up

something from the storeroom, when, a smart shower coming on, with

some lightning, we turn our attention to the catching of water by

means of the sheet we had used before for this purpose. We had no

other means of collecting the rain than by holding the sheet spread

out with one of the forechain-plates in the middle of it. The water,

thus conducted to the centre, was drained through into our jug. We

had nearly filled it in this manner, when, a heavy squall coming on

from the northward, obliged us to desist, as the hulk began once more

to roll so violently that we could no longer keep our feet. We now

went forward, and, lashing ourselves securely to the remnant of the

windlass as before, awaited the event with far more calmness than

could have been anticipated or would have been imagined possible

under the circumstances. At noon the wind had freshened into a

two-reef breeze, and by night into a stiff gale, accompanied with a

tremendously heavy swell. Experience having taught us, however, the

best method of arranging our lashings, we weathered this dreary night

in tolerable security, although thoroughly drenched at almost every

instant by the sea, and in momentary dread of being washed off.

Fortunately, the weather was so warm as to render the water rather

grateful than otherwise.

July 25. This morning the gale had diminished to a mere ten-knot

breeze, and the sea had gone down with it so considerably that we

were able to keep ourselves dry upon the deck. To our great grief,

however, we found that two jars of our olives, as well as the whole

of our ham, had been washed overboard, in spite of the careful manner

in which they had been fastened. We determined not to kill the

tortoise as yet, and contented ourselves for the present with a

breakfast on a few of the olives, and a measure of water each, which

latter we mixed half and half, with wine, finding great relief and

strength from the mixture, without the distressing intoxication which

had ensued upon drinking the port. The sea was still far too rough

for the renewal of our efforts at getting up provision from the

storeroom. Several articles, of no importance to us in our present

situation, floated up through the opening during the day, and were

immediately washed overboard. We also now observed that the hulk lay

more along than ever, so that we could not stand an instant without

lashing ourselves. On this account we passed a gloomy and

uncomfortable day. At noon the sun appeared to be nearly vertical,

and we had no doubt that we had been driven down by the long

succession of northward and northwesterly winds into the near

vicinity of the equator. Toward evening saw several sharks, and were

somewhat alarmed by the audacious manner in which an enormously large

one approached us. At one time, a lurch throwing the deck very far

beneath the water, the monster actually swam in upon us, floundering

for some moments just over the companion-hatch, and striking Peters

violently with his tail. A heavy sea at length hurled him overboard,

much to our relief. In moderate weather we might have easily captured

him.

July 26. This morning, the wind having greatly abated, and the

sea not being very rough, we determined to renew our exertions in the

storeroom. After a great deal of hard labor during the whole day, we

found that nothing further was to be expected from this quarter, the

partitions of the room having been stove during the night, and its

contents swept into the hold. This discovery, as may be supposed,

filled us with despair.

July 27. The sea nearly smooth, with a light wind, and still from

the northward and westward. The sun coming out hotly in the

afternoon, we occupied ourselves in drying our clothes. Found great

relief from thirst, and much comfort otherwise, by bathing in the

sea; in this, however, we were forced to use great caution, being

afraid of sharks, several of which were seen swimming around the brig

during the day.

July 28. Good weather still. The brig now began to lie along so

alarmingly that we feared she would eventually roll bottom up.

Prepared ourselves as well as we could for this emergency, lashing

our tortoise, waterjug, and two remaining jars of olives as far as

possible over to the windward, placing them outside the hull below

the main-chains. The sea very smooth all day, with little or no wind.

July 29. A continuance of the same weather. Augustus's wounded

arm began to evince symptoms of mortification. He complained of

drowsiness and excessive thirst, but no acute pain. Nothing could be

done for his relief beyond rubbing his wounds with a little of the

vinegar from the olives, and from this no benefit seemed to be

experienced. We did every thing in our power for his comfort, and

trebled his allowance of water.

July 30. An excessively hot day, with no wind. An enormous shark

kept close by the hulk during the whole of the forenoon. We made

several unsuccessful attempts to capture him by means of a noose.

Augustus much worse, and evidently sinking as much from want of

proper nourishment as from the effect of his wounds. He constantly

prayed to be relieved from his sufferings, wishing for nothing but

death. This evening we ate the last of our olives, and found the

water in our jug so putrid that we could not swallow it at all

without the addition of wine. Determined to kill our tortoise in the

morning.

July 31. After a night of excessive anxiety and fatigue, owing to

the position of the hulk, we set about killing and cutting up our

tortoise. He proved to be much smaller than we had supposed, although

in good condition,- the whole meat about him not amounting to more

than ten pounds. With a view of preserving a portion of this as long

as possible, we cut it into fine pieces, and filled with them our

three remaining olive jars and the wine-bottle (all of which had been

kept), pouring in afterward the vinegar from the olives. In this

manner we put away about three pounds of the tortoise, intending not

to touch it until we had consumed the rest. We concluded to restrict

ourselves to about four ounces of the meat per day; the whole would

thus last us thirteen days. A brisk shower, with severe thunder and

lightning, came on about dusk, but lasted so short a time that we

only succeeded in catching about half a pint of water. The whole of

this, by common consent, was given to Augustus, who now appeared to

be in the last extremity. He drank the water from the sheet as we

caught it (we holding it above him as he lay so as to let it run into

his mouth), for we had now nothing left capable of holding water,

unless we had chosen to empty out our wine from the carboy, or the

stale water from the jug. Either of these expedients would have been

resorted to had the shower lasted.

The sufferer seemed to derive but little benefit from the

draught. His arm was completely black from the wrist to the shoulder,

and his feet were like ice. We expected every moment to see him

breathe his last. He was frightfully emaciated; so much so that,

although he weighed a hundred and twenty-seven pounds upon his

leaving Nantucket, he now did not weigh more than forty or fifty at

the farthest. His eyes were sunk far in his head, being scarcely

perceptible, and the skin of his cheeks hung so loosely as to prevent

his masticating any food, or even swallowing any liquid, without

great difficulty.

August 1. A continuance of the same calm weather, with an

oppressively hot sun. Suffered exceedingly from thirst, the water in

the jug being absolutely putrid and swarming with vermin. We

contrived, nevertheless, to swallow a portion of it by mixing it with

wine; our thirst, however, was but little abated. We found more

relief by bathing in the sea, but could not avail ourselves of this

expedient except at long intervals, on account of the continual

presence of sharks. We now saw clearly that Augustus could not be

saved; that he was evidently dying. We could do nothing to relieve

his sufferings, which appeared to be great. About twelve o'clock he

expired in strong convulsions, and without having spoken for several

days. His death filled us with the most gloomy forebodings, and had

so great an effect upon our spirits that we sat motionless by the

corpse during the whole day, and never addressed each other except in

a whisper. It was not until some time after dark that we took courage

to get up and throw the body overboard. It was then loathsome beyond

expression, and so far decayed that, as Peters attempted to lift it,

an entire leg came off in his grasp. As the mass of putrefaction

slipped over the vessel's side into the water, the glare of

phosphoric light with which it was surrounded plainly discovered to

us seven or eight large sharks, the clashing of whose horrible teeth,

as their prey was torn to pieces among them, might have been heard at

the distance of a mile. We shrunk within ourselves in the extremity

of horror at the sound.

August 2. The same fearfully calm and hot weather. The dawn found

us in a state of pitiable dejection as well as bodily exhaustion. The

water in the jug was now absolutely useless, being a thick gelatinous

mass; nothing but frightful-looking worms mingled with slime. We

threw it out, and washed the jug well in the sea, afterward pouring a

little vinegar in it from our bottles of pickled tortoise. Our thirst

could now scarcely be endured, and we tried in vain to relieve it by

wine, which seemed only to add fuel to the flame, and excited us to a

high degree of intoxication. We afterward endeavoured to relieve our

sufferings by mixing the wine with seawater; but this instantly

brought about the most violent retchings, so that we never again

attempted it. During the whole day we anxiously sought an opportunity

of bathing, but to no purpose; for the hulk was now entirely besieged

on all sides with sharks- no doubt the identical monsters who had

devoured our poor companion on the evening before, and who were in

momentary expectation of another similar feast. This circumstance

occasioned us the most bitter regret and filled us with the most

depressing and melancholy forebodings. We had experienced

indescribable relief in bathing, and to have this resource cut off in

so frightful a manner was more than we could bear. Nor, indeed, were

we altogether free from the apprehension of immediate danger, for the

least slip or false movement would have thrown us at once within

reach of those voracious fish, who frequently thrust themselves

directly upon us, swimming up to leeward. No shouts or exertions on

our part seemed to alarm them. Even when one of the largest was

struck with an axe by Peters and much wounded, he persisted in his

attempts to push in where we were. A cloud came up at dusk, but, to

our extreme anguish, passed over without discharging itself. It is

quite impossible to conceive our sufferings from thirst at this

period. We passed a sleepless night, both on this account and through

dread of the sharks.

August 3. No prospect of relief, and the brig lying still more

and more along, so that now we could not maintain a footing upon deck

at all. Busied ourselves in securing our wine and tortoise-meat, so

that we might not lose them in the event of our rolling over. Got out

two stout spikes from the forechains, and, by means of the axe, drove

them into the hull to windward within a couple of feet of the water,

this not being very far from the keel, as we were nearly upon our

beam-ends. To these spikes we now lashed our provisions, as being

more secure than their former position beneath the chains. Suffered

great agony from thirst during the whole day- no chance of bathing on

account of the sharks, which never left us for a moment. Found it

impossible to sleep.

August 4. A little before daybreak we perceived that the hulk was

heeling over, and aroused ourselves to prevent being thrown off by

the movement. At first the roll was slow and gradual, and we

contrived to clamber over to windward very well, having taken the

precaution to leave ropes hanging from the spikes we had driven in

for the provision. But we had not calculated sufficiently upon the

acceleration of the impetus; for, presently the heel became too

violent to allow of our keeping pace with it; and, before either of

us knew what was to happen, we found ourselves hurled furiously into

the sea, and struggling several fathoms beneath the surface, with the

huge hull immediately above us.

In going under the water I had been obliged to let go my hold

upon the rope; and finding that I was completely beneath the vessel,

and my strength nearly exhausted, I scarcely made a struggle for

life, and resigned myself, in a few seconds, to die. But here again I

was deceived, not having taken into consideration the natural rebound

of the hull to windward. The whirl of the water upward, which the

vessel occasioned in Tolling partially back, brought me to the

surface still more violently than I had been plunged beneath. Upon

coming up I found myself about twenty yards from the hulk, as near as

I could judge. She was lying keel up, rocking furiously from side to

side, and the sea in all directions around was much agitated, and

full of strong whirlpools. I could see nothing of Peters. An oil-cask

was floating within a few feet of me, and various other articles from

the brig were scattered about.

My principal terror was now on account of the sharks, which I

knew to be in my vicinity. In order to deter these, if possible, from

approaching me, I splashed the water vigorously with both hands and

feet as I swam towards the hulk, creating a body of foam. I have no

doubt that to this expedient, simple as it was, I was indebted for my

preservation; for the sea all round the brig, just before her rolling

over, was so crowded with these monsters, that I must have been, and

really was, in actual contact with some of them during my progress.

By great good fortune, however, I reached the side of the vessel in

safety, although so utterly weakened by the violent exertion I had

used that I should never have been able to get upon it but for the

timely assistance of Peters, who, now, to my great joy, made his

appearance (having scrambled up to the keel from the opposite side of

the hull), and threw me the end of a rope -- one of those which had

been attached to the spikes.

Having barely escaped this danger, our attention was now directed

to the dreadful imminency of another -- that of absolute starvation.

Our whole stock of provision had been swept overboard in spite of all

our care in securing it; and seeing no longer the remotest

possibility of obtaining more, we gave way both of us to despair,

weeping aloud like children, and neither of us attempting to offer

consolation to the other. Such weakness can scarcely be conceived,

and to those who have never been similarly situated will, no doubt,

appear unnatural; but it must be remembered that our intellects were

so entirely disordered by the long course of privation and terror to

which we had been subjected, that we could not justly be considered,

at that period, in the light of rational beings. In subsequent

perils, nearly as great, if not greater, I bore up with fortitude

against all the evils of my situation, and Peters, it will be seen,

evinced a stoical philosophy nearly as incredible as his present

childlike supineness and imbecility -- the mental condition made the

difference.

The overturning of the brig, even with the consequent loss of the

wine and turtle, would not, in fact, have rendered our situation more

deplorable than before, except for the disappearance of the

bedclothes by which we had been hitherto enabled to catch rainwater,

and of the jug in which we had kept it when caught; for we found the

whole bottom, from within two or three feet of the bends as far as

the keel, together with the keel itself, thickly covered with large

barnacles, which proved to be excellent and highly nutritious food.

Thus, in two important respects, the accident we had so greatly

dreaded proved to be a benefit rather than an injury; it had opened

to us a supply of provisions which we could not have exhausted, using

it moderately, in a month; and it had greatly contributed to our

comfort as regards position, we being much more at ease, and in

infinitely less danger, than before.

The difficulty, however, of now obtaining water blinded us to all

the benefits of the change in our condition. That we might be ready

to avail ourselves, as far as possible, of any shower which might

fall we took off our shirts, to make use of them as we had of the

sheets -- not hoping, of course, to get more in this way, even under

the most favorable circumstances, than half a gill at a time. No

signs of a cloud appeared during the day, and the agonies of our

thirst were nearly intolerable. At night, Peters obtained about an

hour's disturbed sleep, but my intense sufferings would not permit me

to close my eyes for a single moment.

August 5. To-day, a gentle breeze springing up carried us through

a vast quantity of seaweed, among which we were so fortunate as to

find eleven small crabs, which afforded us several delicious meals.

Their shells being quite soft, we ate them entire, and found that

they irritated our thirst far less than the barnacles. Seeing no

trace of sharks among the seaweed, we also ventured to bathe, and

remained in the water for four or five hours, during which we

experienced a very sensible diminution of our thirst. Were greatly

refreshed, and spent the night somewhat more comfortably than before,

both of us snatching a little sleep.

August 6. This day we were blessed by a brisk and continual rain,

lasting from about noon until after dark. Bitterly did we now regret

the loss of our jug and carboy; for, in spite of the little means we

had of catching the water, we might have filled one, if not both of

them. As it was, we contrived to satisfy the cravings of thirst by

suffering the shirts to become saturated, and then wringing them so

as to let the grateful fluid trickle into our mouths. In this

occupation we passed the entire day.

August 7. Just at daybreak we both at the same instant descried a

sail to the eastward, and _evidently coming towards us!_ We hailed

the glorious sight with a long, although feeble shout of rapture; and

began instantly to make every signal in our power, by flaring the

shirts in the air, leaping as high as our weak condition would

permit, and even by hallooing with all the strength of our lungs,

although the vessel could not have been less than fifteen miles

distant. However, she still continued to near our hulk, and we felt

that, if she but held her present course, she must eventually come so

close as to perceive us. In about an hour after we first discovered

her, we could clearly see the people on her decks. She was a long,

low, and rakish-looking topsail schooner, with a black ball in her

foretopsail, and had, apparently, a full crew. We now became alarmed,

for we could hardly imagine it possible that she did not observe us,

and were apprehensive that she meant to leave us to perish as we were

-- an act of fiendish barbarity, which, however incredible it may

appear, has been repeatedly perpetuated at sea, under circumstances

very nearly similar, and by beings who were regarded as belonging to

the human species. {*2} In this instance, however, by the mercy of

God, we were destined to be most happily deceived; for, presently we

were aware of a sudden commotion on the deck of the stranger, who

immediately afterward ran up a British flag, and, hauling her wind,

bore up directly upon us. In half an hour more we found ourselves in

her cabin. She proved to be the Jane Guy, of Liverpool, Captain Guy,

bound on a sealing and trading voyage to the South Seas and Pacific.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 13 ~~~

CHAPTER 14

THE _Jane Guy_ was a fine-looking topsail schooner of a hundred

and eighty tons burden. She was unusually sharp in the bows, and on a

wind, in moderate weather, the fastest sailer I have ever seen. Her

qualities, however, as a rough sea-boat, were not so good, and her

draught of water was by far too great for the trade to which she was

destined. For this peculiar service, a larger vessel, and one of a

light proportionate draught, is desirable- say a vessel of from three

hundred to three hundred and fifty tons. She should be bark-rigged,

and in other respects of a different construction from the usual

South Sea ships. It is absolutely necessary that she should be well

armed. She should have, say ten or twelve twelve-pound carronades,

and two or three long twelves, with brass blunderbusses, and

water-tight arm-chests for each top. Her anchors and cables should be

of far greater strength than is required for any other species of

trade, and, above all, her crew should be numerous and efficient- not

less, for such a vessel as I have described, than fifty or sixty

able-bodied men. The Jane Guy had a crew of thirty-five, all able

seamen, besides the captain and mate, but she was not altogether as

well armed or otherwise equipped, as a navigator acquainted with the

difficulties and dangers of the trade could have desired.

Captain Guy was a gentleman of great urbanity of manner, and of

considerable experience in the southern traffic, to which he had

devoted a great portion of his life. He was deficient, however, in

energy, and, consequently, in that spirit of enterprise which is here

so absolutely requisite. He was part owner of the vessel in which he

sailed, and was invested with discretionary powers to cruise in the

South Seas for any cargo which might come most readily to hand. He

had on board, as usual in such voyages, beads, looking-glasses,

tinder-works, axes, hatchets, saws, adzes, planes, chisels, gouges,

gimlets, files, spokeshaves, rasps, hammers, nails, knives, scissors,

razors, needles, thread, crockery-ware, calico, trinkets, and other

similar articles.

The schooner sailed from Liverpool on the tenth of July, crossed

the Tropic of Cancer on the twenty-fifth, in longitude twenty degrees

west, and reached Sal, one of the Cape Verd islands, on the

twenty-ninth, where she took in salt and other necessaries for the

voyage. On the third of August, she left the Cape Verds and steered

southwest, stretching over toward the coast of Brazil, so as to cross

the equator between the meridians of twenty-eight and thirty degrees

west longitude. This is the course usually taken by vessels bound

from Europe to the Cape of Good Hope, or by that route to the East

Indies. By proceeding thus they avoid the calms and strong contrary

currents which continually prevail on the coast of Guinea, while, in

the end, it is found to be the shortest track, as westerly winds are

never wanting afterward by which to reach the Cape. It was Captain

Guy's intention to make his first stoppage at Kerguelen's Land- I

hardly know for what reason. On the day we were picked up the

schooner was off Cape St. Roque, in longitude thirty-one degrees

west; so that, when found, we had drifted probably, from north to

south, _not less than five-and-twenty degrees!_

On board the Jane Guy we were treated with all the kindness our

distressed situation demanded. In about a fortnight, during which

time we continued steering to the southeast, with gentle breezes and

fine weather, both Peters and myself recovered entirely from the

effects of our late privation and dreadful sufferings, and we began

to remember what had passed rather as a frightful dream from which we

had been happily awakened, than as events which had taken place in

sober and naked reality. I have since found that this species of

partial oblivion is usually brought about by sudden transition,

whether from joy to sorrow or from sorrow to joy- the degree of

forgetfulness being proportioned to the degree of difference in the

exchange. Thus, in my own case, I now feel it impossible to realize

the full extent of the misery which I endured during the days spent

upon the hulk. The incidents are remembered, but not the feelings

which the incidents elicited at the time of their occurrence. I only

know, that when they did occur, I then thought human nature could

sustain nothing more of agony.

We continued our voyage for some weeks without any incidents of

greater moment than the occasional meeting with whaling-ships, and

more frequently with the black or right whale, so called in

contradistinction to the spermaceti. These, however, were chiefly

found south of the twenty-fifth parallel. On the sixteenth of

September, being in the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope, the

schooner encountered her first gale of any violence since leaving

Liverpool. In this neighborhood, but more frequently to the south and

east of the promontory (we were to the westward), navigators have

often to contend with storms from the northward, which rage with

great fury. They always bring with them a heavy sea, and one of their

most dangerous features is the instantaneous chopping round of the

wind, an occurrence almost certain to take place during the greatest

force of the gale. A perfect hurricane will be blowing at one moment

from the northward or northeast, and in the next not a breath of wind

will be felt in that direction, while from the southwest it will come

out all at once with a violence almost inconceivable. A bright spot

to the southward is the sure forerunner of the change, and vessels

are thus enabled to take the proper precautions.

It was about six in the morning when the blow came on with a

white squall, and, as usual, from the northward. By eight it had

increased very much, and brought down upon us one of the most

tremendous seas I had then ever beheld. Every thing had been made as

snug as possible, but the schooner laboured excessively, and gave

evidence of her bad qualities as a seaboat, pitching her forecastle

under at every plunge and with the greatest difficulty struggling up

from one wave before she was buried in another. just before sunset

the bright spot for which we had been on the look-out made its

appearance in the southwest, and in an hour afterward we perceived

the little headsail we carried flapping listlessly against the mast.

In two minutes more, in spite of every preparation, we were hurled on

our beam-ends, as if by magic, and a perfect wilderness of foam made

a clear breach over us as we lay. The blow from the southwest,

however, luckily proved to be nothing more than a squall, and we had

the good fortune to right the vessel without the loss of a spar. A

heavy cross sea gave us great trouble for a few hours after this, but

toward morning we found ourselves in nearly as good condition as

before the gale. Captain Guy considered that he had made an escape

little less than miraculous.

On the thirteenth of October we came in sight of Prince Edward's

Island, in latitude 46 degrees 53' S., longitude 37 degrees 46' E.

Two days afterward we found ourselves near Possession Island, and

presently passed the islands of Crozet, in latitude 42 degrees 59'

S., longitude 48 degrees E. On the eighteenth we made Kerguelen's or

Desolation Island, in the Southern Indian Ocean, and came to anchor

in Christmas Harbour, having four fathoms of water.

This island, or rather group of islands, bears southeast from the

Cape of Good Hope, and is distant therefrom nearly eight hundred

leagues. It was first discovered in 1772, by the Baron de Kergulen,

or Kerguelen, a Frenchman, who, thinking the land to form a portion

of an extensive southern continent carried home information to that

effect, which produced much excitement at the time. The government,

taking the matter up, sent the baron back in the following year for

the purpose of giving his new discovery a critical examination, when

the mistake was discovered. In 1777, Captain Cook fell in with the

same group, and gave to the principal one the name of Desolation

Island, a title which it certainly well deserves. Upon approaching

the land, however, the navigator might be induced to suppose

otherwise, as the sides of most of the hills, from September to

March, are clothed with very brilliant verdure. This deceitful

appearance is caused by a small plant resembling saxifrage, which is

abundant, growing in large patches on a species of crumbling moss.

Besides this plant there is scarcely a sign of vegetation on the

island, if we except some coarse rank grass near the harbor, some

lichen, and a shrub which bears resemblance to a cabbage shooting

into seed, and which has a bitter and acrid taste.

The face of the country is hilly, although none of the hills can

be called lofty. Their tops are perpetually covered with snow. There

are several harbors, of which Christmas Harbour is the most

convenient. It is the first to be met with on the northeast side of

the island after passing Cape Francois, which forms the northern

shore, and, by its peculiar shape, serves to distinguish the harbour.

Its projecting point terminates in a high rock, through which is a

large hole, forming a natural arch. The entrance is in latitude 48

degrees 40' S., longitude 69 degrees 6' E. Passing in here, good

anchorage may be found under the shelter of several small islands,

which form a sufficient protection from all easterly winds.

Proceeding on eastwardly from this anchorage you come to Wasp Bay, at

the head of the harbour. This is a small basin, completely

landlocked, into which you can go with four fathoms, and find

anchorage in from ten to three, hard clay bottom. A ship might lie

here with her best bower ahead all the year round without risk. To

the westward, at the head of Wasp Bay, is a small stream of excellent

water, easily procured.

Some seal of the fur and hair species are still to be found on

Kerguelen's Island, and sea elephants abound. The feathered tribes

are discovered in great numbers. Penguins are very plenty, and of

these there are four different kinds. The royal penguin, so called

from its size and beautiful plumage, is the largest. The upper part

of the body is usually gray, sometimes of a lilac tint; the under

portion of the purest white imaginable. The head is of a glossy and

most brilliant black, the feet also. The chief beauty of plumage,

however, consists in two broad stripes of a gold color, which pass

along from the head to the breast. The bill is long, and either pink

or bright scarlet. These birds walk erect; with a stately carriage.

They carry their heads high with their wings drooping like two arms,

and, as their tails project from their body in a line with the legs,

the resemblance to a human figure is very striking, and would be apt

to deceive the spectator at a casual glance or in the gloom of the

evening. The royal penguins which we met with on Kerguelen's Land

were rather larger than a goose. The other kinds are the macaroni,

the jackass, and the rookery penguin. These are much smaller, less

beautiful in plumage, and different in other respects.

Besides the penguin many other birds are here to be found, among

which may be mentioned sea-hens, blue peterels, teal, ducks, Port

Egmont hens, shags, Cape pigeons, the nelly, sea swallows, terns, sea

gulls, Mother Carey's chickens, Mother Carey's geese, or the great

peterel, and, lastly, the albatross.

The great peterel is as large as the common albatross, and is

carnivorous. It is frequently called the break-bones, or osprey

peterel. They are not at all shy, and, when properly cooked, are

palatable food. In flying they sometimes sail very close to the

surface of the water, with the wings expanded, without appearing to

move them in the least degree, or make any exertion with them

whatever.

The albatross is one of the largest and fiercest of the South Sea

birds. It is of the gull species, and takes its prey on the wing,

never coming on land except for the purpose of breeding. Between this

bird and the penguin the most singular friendship exists. Their nests

are constructed with great uniformity upon a plan concerted between

the two species- that of the albatross being placed in the centre of

a little square formed by the nests of four penguins. Navigators have

agreed in calling an assemblage of such encampments a rookery. These

rookeries have been often described, but as my readers may not all

have seen these descriptions, and as I shall have occasion hereafter

to speak of the penguin and albatross, it will not be amiss to say

something here of their mode of building and living.

When the season for incubation arrives, the birds assemble in vast

numbers, and for some days appear to be deliberating upon the proper

course to be pursued. At length they proceed to action. A level piece

of ground is selected, of suitable extent, usually comprising three

or four acres, and situated as near the sea as possible, being still

beyond its reach. The spot is chosen with reference to its evenness

of surface, and that is preferred which is the least encumbered with

stones. This matter being arranged, the birds proceed, with one

accord, and actuated apparently by one mind, to trace out, with

mathematical accuracy, either a square or other parallelogram, as may

best suit the nature of the ground, and of just sufficient size to

accommodate easily all the birds assembled, and no more- in this

particular seeming determined upon preventing the access of future

stragglers who have not participated in the labor of the encampment.

One side of the place thus marked out runs parallel with the water's

edge, and is left open for ingress or egress.

Having defined the limits of the rookery, the colony now begin to

clear it of every species of rubbish, picking up stone by stone, and

carrying them outside of the lines, and close by them, so as to form

a wall on the three inland sides. Just within this wall a perfectly

level and smooth walk is formed, from six to eight feet wide, and

extending around the encampment- thus serving the purpose of a

general promenade.

The next process is to partition out the whole area into small

squares exactly equal in size. This is done by forming narrow paths,

very smooth, and crossing each other at right angles throughout the

entire extent of the rookery. At each intersection of these paths the

nest of an albatross is constructed, and a penguin's nest in the

centre of each square- thus every penguin is surrounded by four

albatrosses, and each albatross by a like number of penguins. The

penguin's nest consists of a hole in the earth, very shallow, being

only just of sufficient depth to keep her single egg from rolling.

The albatross is somewhat less simple in her arrangements, erecting a

hillock about a foot high and two in diameter. This is made of earth,

seaweed, and shells. On its summit she builds her nest.

The birds take especial care never to leave their nests

unoccupied for an instant during the period of incubation, or,

indeed, until the young progeny are sufficiently strong to take care

of themselves. While the male is absent at sea in search of food, the

female remains on duty, and it is only upon the return of her partner

that she ventures abroad. The eggs are never left uncovered at all --

while one bird leaves the nest the other nestling in by its side.

This precaution is rendered necessary by the thieving propensities

prevalent in the rookery, the inhabitants making no scruple to

purloin each other's eggs at every good opportunity.

Although there are some rookeries in which the penguin and

albatross are the sole population, yet in most of them a variety of

oceanic birds are to be met with, enjoying all the privileges of

citizenship, and scattering their nests here and there, wherever they

can find room, never interfering, however, with the stations of the

larger species. The appearance of such encampments, when seen from a

distance, is exceedingly singular. The whole atmosphere just above

the settlement is darkened with the immense number of the albatross

(mingled with the smaller tribes) which are continually hovering over

it, either going to the ocean or returning home. At the same time a

crowd of penguins are to be observed, some passing to and fro in the

narrow alleys, and some marching with the military strut so peculiar

to them, around the general promenade ground which encircles the

rookery. In short, survey it as we will, nothing can be more

astonishing than the spirit of reflection evinced by these feathered

beings, and nothing surely can be better calculated to elicit

reflection in every well-regulated human intellect.

On the morning after our arrival in Christmas Harbour the chief

mate, Mr. Patterson, took the boats, and (although it was somewhat

early in the season) went in search of seal, leaving the captain and

a young relation of his on a point of barren land to the westward,

they having some business, whose nature I could not ascertain, to

transact in the interior of the island. Captain Guy took with him a

bottle, in which was a sealed letter, and made his way from the point

on which he was set on shore toward one of the highest peaks in the

place. It is probable that his design was to leave the letter on that

height for some vessel which he expected to come after him. As soon

as we lost sight of him we proceeded (Peters and myself being in the

mate's boat) on our cruise around the coast, looking for seal. In

this business we were occupied about three weeks, examining with

great care every nook and corner, not only of Kerguelen's Land, but

of the several small islands in the vicinity. Our labours, however,

were not crowned with any important success. We saw a great many fur

seal, but they were exceedingly shy, and with the greatest exertions,

we could only procure three hundred and fifty skins in all. Sea

elephants were abundant, especially on the western coast of the

mainland, but of these we killed only twenty, and this with great

difficulty. On the smaller islands we discovered a good many of the

hair seal, but did not molest them. We returned to the schooner: on

the eleventh, where we found Captain Guy and his nephew, who gave a

very bad account of the interior, representing it as one of the most

dreary and utterly barren countries in the world. They had remained

two nights on the island, owing to some misunderstanding, on the part

of the second mate, in regard to the sending a jollyboat from the

schooner to take them off.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 14 ~~~

CHAPTER 15

ON the twelfth we made sail from Christmas Harbour retracing our

way to the westward, and leaving Marion's Island, one of Crozet's

group, on the larboard. We afterward passed Prince Edward's Island,

leaving it also on our left, then, steering more to the northward,

made, in fifteen days, the islands of Tristan d'Acunha, in latitude

37 degrees 8' S, longitude 12 degrees 8' W.

This group, now so well known, and which consists of three

circular islands, was first discovered by the Portuguese, and was

visited afterward by the Dutch in 1643, and by the French in 1767.

The three islands together form a triangle, and are distant from each

other about ten miles, there being fine open passages between. The

land in all of them is very high, especially in Tristan d'Acunha,

properly so called. This is the largest of the group, being fifteen

miles in circumference, and so elevated that it can be seen in clear

weather at the distance of eighty or ninety miles. A part of the land

toward the north rises more than a thousand feet perpendicularly from

the sea. A tableland at this height extends back nearly to the centre

of the island, and from this tableland arises a lofty cone like that

of Teneriffe. The lower half of this cone is clothed with trees of

good size, but the upper region is barren rock, usually hidden among

the clouds, and covered with snow during the greater part of the

year. There are no shoals or other dangers about the island, the

shores being remarkably bold and the water deep. On the northwestern

coast is a bay, with a beach of black sand where a landing with boats

can be easily effected, provided there be a southerly wind. Plenty of

excellent water may here be readily procured; also cod and other fish

may be taken with hook and line.

The next island in point of size, and the most westwardly of the

group, is that called the Inaccessible. Its precise situation is 37

degrees 17' S. latitude, longitude 12 degrees 24' W. It is seven or

eight miles in circumference, and on all sides presents a forbidding

and precipitous aspect. Its top is perfectly flat, and the whole

region is sterile, nothing growing upon it except a few stunted

shrubs.

Nightingale Island, the smallest and most southerly, is in

latitude 37 degrees 26' S., longitude 12 degrees 12' W. Off its

southern extremity is a high ledge of rocky islets; a few also of a

similar appearance are seen to the northeast. The ground is irregular

and sterile, and a deep valley partially separates it.

The shores of these islands abound, in the proper season, with

sea lions, sea elephants, the hair and fur seal, together with a

great variety of oceanic birds. Whales are also plenty in their

vicinity. Owing to the ease with which these various animals were

here formerly taken, the group has been much visited since its

discovery. The Dutch and French frequented it at a very early period.

In 1790, Captain Patten, of the ship Industry, of Philadelphia, made

Tristan d'Acunha, where he remained seven months (from August, 1790,

to April, 1791) for the purpose of collecting sealskins. In this time

he gathered no less than five thousand six hundred, and says that he

would have had no difficulty in loading a large ship with oil in

three weeks. Upon his arrival he found no quadrupeds, with the

exception of a few wild goats; the island now abounds with all our

most valuable domestic animals, which have been introduced by

subsequent navigators.

I believe it was not long after Captain Patten's visit that

Captain Colquhoun, of the American brig Betsey, touched at the

largest of the islands for the purpose of refreshment. He planted

onions, potatoes, cabbages, and a great many other vegetables, an

abundance of all which is now to be met with.

In 1811, a Captain Haywood, in the Nereus, visited Tristan. He

found there three Americans, who were residing upon the island to

prepare sealskins and oil. One of these men was named Jonathan

Lambert, and he called himself the sovereign of the country. He had

cleared and cultivated about sixty acres of land, and turned his

attention to raising the coffee-plant and sugar-cane, with which he

had been furnished by the American Minister at Rio Janeiro. This

settlement, however, was finally abandoned, and in 1817 the islands

were taken possession of by the British Government, who sent a

detachment for that purpose from the Cape of Good Hope. They did not,

however, retain them long; but, upon the evacuation of the country as

a British possession, two or three English families took up their

residence there independently of the Government. On the twenty-fifth

of March, 1824, the Berwick, Captain Jeffrey, from London to Van

Diemen's Land, arrived at the place, where they found an Englishman

of the name of Glass, formerly a corporal in the British artillery.

He claimed to be supreme governor of the islands, and had under his

control twenty-one men and three women. He gave a very favourable

account of the salubrity of the climate and of the productiveness of

the soil. The population occupied themselves chiefly in collecting

sealskins and sea elephant oil, with which they traded to the Cape of

Good Hope, Glass owning a small schooner. At the period of our

arrival the governor was still a resident, but his little community

had multiplied, there being fifty-six persons upon Tristan, besides a

smaller settlement of seven on Nightingale Island. We had no

difficulty in procuring almost every kind of refreshment which we

required- sheep, hogs, bullocks, rabbits, poultry, goats, fish in

great variety, and vegetables were abundant. Having come to anchor

close in with the large island, in eighteen fathoms, we took all we

wanted on board very conveniently. Captain Guy also purchased of

Glass five hundred sealskins and some ivory. We remained here a week,

during which the prevailing winds were from the northward and

westward, and the weather somewhat hazy. On the fifth of November we

made sail to the southward and westward, with the intention of having

a thorough search for a group of islands called the Auroras,

respecting whose existence a great diversity of opinion has existed.

These islands are said to have been discovered as early as 1762,

by the commander of the ship Aurora. In 1790, Captain Manuel de

Oyarvido,, in the ship Princess, belonging to the Royal Philippine

Company, sailed, as he asserts, directly among them. In 1794, the

Spanish corvette Atrevida went with the determination of ascertaining

their precise situation, and, in a paper published by the Royal

Hydrographical Society of Madrid in the year 1809, the following

language is used respecting this expedition: "The corvette Atrevida

practised, in their immediate vicinity, from the twenty-first to the

twenty-seventh of January, all the necessary observations, and

measured by chronometers the difference of longitude between these

islands and the port of Soledad in the Manillas. The islands are

three, they are very nearly in the same meridian; the centre one is

rather low, and the other two may be seen at nine leagues' distance."

The observations made on board the Atrevida give the following

results as the precise situation of each island. The most northern is

in latitude 52 degrees 37' 24" S., longitude 47 degrees, 43' 15" W.;

the middle one in latitude 53 degrees 2' 40" S., longitude 47 degrees

55' 15" W.; and the most southern in latitude 53 degrees 15' 22" S.,

longitude 47 degrees 57' 15" W.

On the twenty-seventh of January, 1820, Captain James Weddel, of

the British navy, sailed from Staten Land also in search of the

Auroras. He reports that, having made the most diligent search and

passed not only immediately over the spots indicated by the commander

of the Atrevida, but in every direction throughout the vicinity of

these spots, he could discover no indication of land. These

conflicting statements have induced other navigators to look out for

the islands; and, strange to say, while some have sailed through

every inch of sea where they are supposed to lie without finding

them, there have been not a few who declare positively that they have

seen them; and even been close in with their shores. It was Captain

Guy's intention to make every exertion within his power to settle the

question so oddly in dispute. {*3}

We kept on our course, between the south and west, with variable

weather, until the twentieth of the month, when we found ourselves on

the debated ground, being in latitude 53 degrees 15' S., longitude 47

degrees 58' W.- that is to say, very nearly upon the spot indicated

as the situation of the most southern of the group. Not perceiving

any sip of land, we continued to the westward of the parallel of

fifty-three degrees south, as far as the meridian of fifty degrees

west. We then stood to the north as far as the parallel of fifty-two

degrees south, when we turned to the eastward, and kept our parallel

by double altitudes, morning and evening, and meridian altitudes of

the planets and moon. Having thus gone eastwardly to the meridian of

the western coast of Georgia, we kept that meridian until we were in

the latitude from which we set out. We then took diagonal courses

throughout the entire extent of sea circumscribed, keeping a lookout

constantly at the masthead, and repeating our examination with the

greatest care for a period of three weeks, during which the weather

was remarkably pleasant and fair, with no haze whatsoever. Of course

we were thoroughly satisfied that, whatever islands might have

existed in this vicinity at any former period, no vestige of them

remained at the present day. Since my return home I find that the

same ground was traced over, with equal care, in 1822, by Captain

Johnson, of the American schooner Henry, and by Captain Morrell in

the American schooner Wasp- in both cases with the same result as in

our own.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 15 ~~~

CHAPTER 16

It had been Captain Guy's original intention, after satisfying

himself about the Auroras, to proceed through the Strait of Magellan,

and up along the western coast of Patagonia; but information received

at Tristan d'Acunha induced him to steer to the southward, in the

hope of falling in with some small islands said to lie about the

parallel of 60 degrees S., longitude 41 degrees 20' W. In the event

of his not discovering these lands, he designed, should the season

prove favourable, to push on toward the pole. Accordingly, on the

twelfth of December, we made sail in that direction. On the

eighteenth we found ourselves about the station indicated by Glass,

and cruised for three days in that neighborhood without finding any

traces of the islands he had mentioned. On the twenty-first, the

weather being unusually pleasant, we again made sail to the

southward, with the resolution of penetrating in that course as far

as possible. Before entering upon this portion of my narrative, it

may be as well, for the information of those readers who have paid

little attention to the progress of discovery in these regions, to

give some brief account of the very few attempts at reaching the

southern pole which have hitherto been made.

That of Captain Cook was the first of which we have any distinct

account. In 1772 he sailed to the south in the Resolution,

accompanied by Lieutenant Furneaux in the Adventure. In December he

found himself as far as the fifty-eighth parallel of south latitude,

and in longitude 26 degrees 57' E. Here he met with narrow fields of

ice, about eight or ten inches thick, and running northwest and

southeast. This ice was in large cakes, and usually it was packed so

closely that the vessel had great difficulty in forcing a passage. At

this period Captain Cook supposed, from the vast number of birds to

be seen, and from other indications, that he was in the near vicinity

of land. He kept on to the southward, the weather being exceedingly

cold, until he reached the sixty-fourth parallel, in longitude 38

degrees 14' W.. Here he had mild weather, with gentle breezes, for

five days, the thermometer being at thirty-six. In January, 1773, the

vessels crossed the Antarctic circle, but did not succeed in

penetrating much farther; for upon reaching latitude 67 degrees 15'

they found all farther progress impeded by an immense body of ice,

extending all along the southern horizon as far as the eye could

reach. This ice was of every variety- and some large floes of it,

miles in extent, formed a compact mass, rising eighteen or twenty

feet above the water. It being late in the season, and no hope

entertained of rounding these obstructions, Captain Cook now

reluctantly turned to the northward.

In the November following he renewed his search in the

Antarctic. In latitude 59 degrees 40' he met with a strong current

setting to the southward. In December, when the vessels were in

latitude 67 degrees 31', longitude 142 degrees 54' W., the cold was

excessive, with heavy gales and fog. Here also birds were abundant;

the albatross, the penguin, and the peterel especially. In latitude

70 degrees 23' some large islands of ice were encountered, and

shortly afterward the clouds to the southward were observed to be of

a snowy whiteness, indicating the vicinity of field ice. In latitude

71 degrees 10', longitude 106 degrees 54' W., the navigators were

stopped, as before, by an immense frozen expanse, which filled the

whole area of the southern horizon. The northern edge of this expanse

was ragged and broken, so firmly wedged together as to be utterly

impassible, and extending about a mile to the southward. Behind it

the frozen surface was comparatively smooth for some distance, until

terminated in the extreme background by gigantic ranges of ice

mountains, the one towering above the other. Captain Cook concluded

that this vast field reached the southern pole or was joined to a

continent. Mr. J. N. Reynolds, whose great exertions and perseverance

have at length succeeded in getting set on foot a national

expedition, partly for the purpose of exploring these regions, thus

speaks of the attempt of the Resolution. "We are not surprised that

Captain Cook was unable to go beyond 71 degrees 10', but we are

astonished that he did attain that point on the meridian of 106

degrees 54' west longitude. Palmer's Land lies south of the Shetland,

latitude sixty-four degrees, and tends to the southward and westward

farther than any navigator has yet penetrated. Cook was standing for

this land when his progress was arrested by the ice; which, we

apprehend, must always be the case in that point, and so early in the

season as the sixth of January- and we should not be surprised if a

portion of the icy mountains described was attached to the main body

of Palmer's Land, or to some other portions of land lying farther to

the southward and westward."

In 1803, Captains Kreutzenstern and Lisiausky were dispatched by

Alexander of Russia for the purpose of circumnavigating the globe. In

endeavouring to get south, they made no farther than 59 degrees 58',

in longitude 70 degrees 15' W. They here met with strong currents

setting eastwardly. Whales were abundant, but they saw no ice. In

regard to this voyage, Mr. Reynolds observes that, if Kreutzenstern

had arrived where he did earlier in the season, he must have

encountered ice- it was March when he reached the latitude specified.

The winds, prevailing, as they do, from the southward and westward,

had carried the floes, aided by currents, into that icy region

bounded on the north by Georgia, east by Sandwich Land and the South

Orkneys, and west by the South Shetland islands.

In 1822, Captain James Weddell, of the British navy, with two

very small vessels, penetrated farther to the south than any previous

navigator, and this, too, without encountering extraordinary

difficulties. He states that although he was frequently hemmed in by

ice before reaching the seventy-second parallel, yet, upon attaining

it, not a particle was to be discovered, and that, upon arriving at

the latitude of 74 degrees 15', no fields, and only three islands of

ice were visible. It is somewhat remarkable that, although vast

flocks of birds were seen, and other usual indications of land, and

although, south of the Shetlands, unknown coasts were observed from

the masthead tending southwardly, Weddell discourages the idea of

land existing in the polar regions of the south.

On the 11th of January, 1823, Captain Benjamin Morrell, of the

American schooner Wasp, sailed from Kerguelen's Land with a view of

penetrating as far south as possible. On the first of February he

found himself in latitude 64 degrees 52' S., longitude 118 degrees

27' E. The following passage is extracted from his journal of that

date. "The wind soon freshened to an eleven-knot breeze, and we

embraced this opportunity of making to the west,; being however

convinced that the farther we went south beyond latitude sixty-four

degrees, the less ice was to be apprehended, we steered a little to

the southward, until we crossed the Antarctic circle, and were in

latitude 69 degrees 15' E. In this latitude there was no field ice,

and very few ice islands in sight.

Under the date of March fourteenth I find also this entry. The

sea was now entirely free of field ice, and there were not more than

a dozen ice islands in sight. At the same time the temperature of the

air and water was at least thirteen degrees higher (more mild) than

we had ever found it between the parallels of sixty and sixty-two

south. We were now in latitude 70 degrees 14' S., and the temperature

of the air was forty-seven, and that of the water forty-four. In this

situation I found the variation to be 14 degrees 27' easterly, per

azimuth.... I have several times passed within the Antarctic circle,

on different meridians, and have uniformly found the temperature,

both of the air and the water, to become more and more mild the

farther I advanced beyond the sixty-fifth degree of south latitude,

and that the variation decreases in the same proportion. While north

of this latitude, say between sixty and sixty-five south, we

frequently had great difficulty in finding a passage for the vessel

between the immense and almost innumerable ice islands, some of which

were from one to two miles in circumference, and more than five

hundred feet above the surface of the water."

Being nearly destitute of fuel and water, and without proper

instruments, it being also late in the season, Captain Morrell was

now obliged to put back, without attempting any further progress to

the westward, although an entirely open, sea lay before him. He

expresses the opinion that, had not these overruling considerations

obliged him to retreat, he could have penetrated, if not to the pole

itself, at least to the eighty-fifth parallel. I have given his ideas

respecting these matters somewhat at length, that the reader may have

an opportunity of seeing how far they were borne out by my own

subsequent experience.

In 1831, Captain Briscoe, in the employ of the Messieurs

Enderby, whale-ship owners of London, sailed in the brig Lively for

the South Seas, accompanied by the cutter Tula. On the twenty-eighth

of February, being in latitude 66 degrees 30' S., longitude 47

degrees 31' E., he descried land, and "clearly discovered through the

snow the black peaks of a range of mountains running E. S. E." He

remained in this neighbourhood during the whole of the following

month, but was unable to approach the coast nearer than within ten

leagues, owing to the boisterous state of the weather. Finding it

impossible to make further discovery during this season, he returned

northward to winter in Van Diemen's Land.

In the beginning of 1832 he again proceeded southwardly, and on

the fourth of February was seen to the southeast in latitude 67

degrees 15' longitude 69 degrees 29' W. This was soon found to be an

island near the headland of the country he had first discovered. On

the twenty-first of the month he succeeded in landing on the latter,

and took possession of it in the name of William IV, calling it

Adelaide's Island, in honour of the English queen. These particulars

being made known to the Royal Geographical Society of London, the

conclusion was drawn by that body "that there is a continuous tract

of land extending from 47 degrees 30' E. to 69 degrees 29' W.

longitude, running the parallel of from sixty-six to sixty-seven

degrees south latitude." In respect to this conclusion Mr. Reynolds

observes: "In the correctness of it we by no means concur; nor do the

discoveries of Briscoe warrant any such indifference. It was within

these limits that Weddel proceeded south on a meridian to the east of

Georgia, Sandwich Land, and the South Orkney and Shetland islands."

My own experience will be found to testify most directly to the

falsity of the conclusion arrived at by the society.

These are the principal attempts which have been made at

penetrating to a high southern latitude, and it will now be seen that

there remained, previous to the voyage of the Jane, nearly three

hundred degrees of longitude in which the Antarctic circle had not

been crossed at all. Of course a wide field lay before us for

discovery, and it was with feelings of most intense interest that I

heard Captain Guy express his resolution of pushing boldly to the

southward.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 16 ~~~

CHAPTER 17

We kept our course southwardly for four days after giving up

the search for Glass's islands, without meeting with any ice at all.

On the twenty-sixth, at noon, we were in latitude 63 degrees 23' S.,

longitude 41 degrees 25' W. We now saw several large ice islands, and

a floe of field ice, not, however, of any great extent. The winds

generally blew from the southeast, or the northeast, but were very

light. Whenever we had a westerly wind, which was seldom, it was

invariably attended with a rain squall. Every day we had more or less

snow. The thermometer, on the twenty-seventh stood at thirty-five.

January 1, 1828.- This day we found ourselves completely hemmed

in by the ice, and our prospects looked cheerless indeed. A strong

gale blew, during the whole forenoon, from the northeast, and drove

large cakes of the drift against the rudder and counter with such

violence that we all trembled for the consequences. Toward evening,

the gale still blowing with fury, a large field in front separated,

and we were enabled, by carrying a press of sail to force a passage

through the smaller flakes into some open water beyond. As we

approached this space we took in sail by degrees, and having at

length got clear, lay-to under a single. reefed foresail.

January 2.- We had now tolerably pleasant weather. At noon we

found ourselves in latitude 69 degrees 10' S, longitude 42 degrees

20' W, having crossed the Antarctic circle. Very little ice was to be

seen to the southward, although large fields of it lay behind us.

This day we rigged some sounding gear, using a large iron pot capable

of holding twenty gallons, and a line of two hundred fathoms. We

found the current setting to the north, about a quarter of a mile per

hour. The temperature of the air was now about thirty-three. Here we

found the variation to be 14 degrees 28' easterly, per azimuth.

January 5.- We had still held on to the southward without any

very great impediments. On this morning, however, being in latitude

73 degrees 15' E., longitude 42 degrees 10' W, we were again brought

to a stand by an immense expanse of firm ice. We saw, nevertheless,

much open water to the southward, and felt no doubt of being able to

reach it eventually. Standing to the eastward along the edge of the

floe, we at length came to a passage of about a mile in width,

through which we warped our way by sundown. The sea in which we now

were was thickly covered with ice islands, but had no field ice, and

we pushed on boldly as before. The cold did not seem to increase,

although we had snow very frequently, and now and then hail squalls

of great violence. Immense flocks of the albatross flew over the

schooner this day, going from southeast to northwest.

January 7.- The sea still remained pretty well open, so that we

had no difficulty in holding on our course. To the westward we saw

some icebergs of incredible size, and in the afternoon passed very

near one whose summit could not have been less than four hundred

fathoms from the surface of the ocean. Its girth was probably, at the

base, three-quarters of a league, and several streams of water were

running from crevices in its sides. We remained in sight of this

island two days, and then only lost it in a fog.

January 10.- Early this morning we had the misfortune to lose a

man overboard. He was an American named Peter Vredenburgh, a native

of New York, and was one of the most valuable hands on board the

schooner. In going over the bows his foot slipped, and he fell

between two cakes of ice, never rising again. At noon of this day we

were in latitude 78 degrees 30', longitude 40 degrees 15' W. The cold

was now excessive, and we had hail squalls continually from the

northward and eastward. In this direction also we saw several more

immense icebergs, and the whole horizon to the eastward appeared to

be blocked up with field ice, rising in tiers, one mass above the

other. Some driftwood floated by during the evening, and a great

quantity of birds flew over, among which were nellies, peterels,

albatrosses, and a large bird of a brilliant blue plumage. The

variation here, per azimuth, was less than it had been previously to

our passing the Antarctic circle.

January 12.-Our passage to the south again looked doubtful, as

nothing was to be seen in the direction of the pole but one

apparently limitless floe, backed by absolute mountains of ragged

ice, one precipice of which arose frowningly above the other. We

stood to the westward until the fourteenth, in the hope of finding an

entrance.

January 14.-This morning we reached the western extremity of the

field which had impeded us, and, weathering it, came to an open sea,

without a particle of ice. Upon sounding with two hundred fathoms, we

here found a current setting southwardly at the rate of half a mile

per hour. The temperature of the air was forty-seven, that of the

water thirtyfour. We now sailed to the southward without meeting any

interruption of moment until the sixteenth, when, at noon, we were in

latitude 81 degrees 21', longitude 42 degrees W. We here again

sounded, and found a current setting still southwardly, and at the

rate of three quarters of a mile per hour. The variation per azimuth

had diminished, and the temperature of the air was mild and pleasant,

the thermometer being as high as fifty-one. At this period not a

particle of ice was to be discovered. All hands on board now felt

certain of attaining the pole.

January 17.- This day was full of incident. Innumerable flights

of birds flew over us from the southward, and several were shot from

the deck, one of them, a species of pelican, proved to be excellent

eating. About midday a small floe of ice was seen from the masthead

off the larboard bow, and upon it there appeared to be some large

animal. As the weather was good and nearly calm, Captain Guy ordered

out two of the boats to see what it was. Dirk Peters and myself

accompanied the mate in the larger boat. Upon coming up with the

floe, we perceived that it was in the possession of a gigantic

creature of the race of the Arctic bear, but far exceeding in size

the largest of these animals. Being well armed, we made no scruple of

attacking it at once. Several shots were fired in quick succession,

the most of which took effect, apparently, in the head and body.

Nothing discouraged, however, the monster threw himself from the ice,

and swam with open jaws, to the boat in which were Peters and myself.

Owing to the confusion which ensued among us at this unexpected turn

of the adventure, no person was ready immediately with a second shot,

and the bear had actually succeeded in getting half his vast bulk

across our gunwale, and seizing one of the men by the small of his

back, before any efficient means were taken to repel him. In this

extremity nothing but the promptness and agility of Peters saved us

from destruction. Leaping upon the back of the huge beast, he plunged

the blade of a knife behind the neck, reaching the spinal marrow at a

blow. The brute tumbled into the sea lifeless, and without a

struggle, rolling over Peters as he fell. The latter soon recovered

himself, and a rope being thrown him, returned in triumph to the

schooner, towing our trophy behind us. This bear, upon admeasurement,

proved to be full fifteen feet in his greatest length. His wool was

perfectly white, and very coarse, curling tightly. The eyes were of a

blood red, and larger than those of the Arctic bear, the snout also

more rounded, rather resembling the snout of the bulldog. The meat

was tender, but excessively rank and fishy, although the men devoured

it with avidity, and declared it excellent eating.

Scarcely had we got our prize alongside, when the man at the

masthead gave the joyful shout of "land on the starboard bow!" All

hands were now upon the alert, and, a breeze springing up very

opportunely from the northward and eastward, we were soon close in

with the coast. It proved to be a low rocky islet, of about a league

in circumference, and altogether destitute of vegetation, if we

except a species of prickly pear. In approaching it from the

northward, a singular ledge of rock is seen projecting into the sea,

and bearing a strong resemblance to corded bales of cotton. Around

this ledge to the westward is a small bay, at the bottom of which our

boats effected a convenient landing.

It did not take us long to explore every portion of the island,

but, with one exception, we found nothing worthy of our observation.

In the southern extremity, we picked up near the shore, half buried

in a pile of loose stones, a piece of wood, which seemed to have

formed the prow of a canoe. There had been evidently some attempt at

carving upon it, and Captain Guy fancied that he made out the figure

of a tortoise, but the resemblance did not strike me very forcibly.

Besides this prow, if such it were, we found no other token that any

living creature had ever been here before. Around the coast we

discovered occasional small floes of ice- but these were very few.

The exact situation of the islet (to which Captain Guy gave the name

of Bennet's Islet, in honour of his partner in the ownership of the

schooner) is 82 degrees 50' S. latitude, 42 degrees 20' W. longitude.

We had now advanced to the southward more than eight degrees

farther than any previous navigators, and the sea still lay perfectly

open before us. We found, too, that the variation uniformly decreased

as we proceeded, and, what was still more surprising, that the

temperature of the air, and latterly of the water, became milder. The

weather might even be called pleasant, and we had a steady but very

gentle breeze always from some northern point of the compass. The sky

was usually clear, with now and then a slight appearance of thin

vapour in the southern horizon- this, however, was invariably of

brief duration. Two difficulties alone presented themselves to our

view; we were getting short of fuel, and symptoms of scurvy had

occurred among several of the crew. These considerations began to

impress upon Captain Guy the necessity of returning, and he spoke of

it frequently. For my own part, confident as I was of soon arriving

at land of some description upon the course we were pursuing, and

having every reason to believe, from present appearances, that we

should not find it the sterile soil met with in the higher Arctic

latitudes, I warmly pressed upon him the expediency of persevering,

at least for a few days longer, in the direction we were now holding.

So tempting an opportunity of solving the great problem in regard to

an Antarctic continent had never yet been afforded to man, and I

confess that I felt myself bursting with indignation at the timid and

ill-timed suggestions of our commander. I believe, indeed, that what

I could not refrain from saying to him on this head had the effect of

inducing him to push on. While, therefore, I cannot but lament the

most unfortunate and bloody events which immediately arose from my

advice, I must still be allowed to feel some degree of gratification

at having been instrumental, however remotely, in opening to the eye

of science one of the most intensely exciting secrets which has ever

engrossed its attention.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 17 ~~~

CHAPTER 18

January 18.- This morning {*4} we continued to the southward,

with the same pleasant weather as before. The sea was entirely

smooth, the air tolerably warm and from the northeast, the

temperature of the water fifty-three. We now again got our

sounding-gear in order, and, with a hundred and fifty fathoms of

line, found the current setting toward the pole at the rate of a mile

an hour. This constant tendency to the southward, both in the wind

and current, caused some degree of speculation, and even of alarm, in

different quarters of the schooner, and I saw distinctly that no

little impression had been made upon the mind of Captain Guy. He was

exceedingly sensitive to ridicule, however, and I finally succeeded

in laughing him out of his apprehensions. The variation was now very

trivial. In the course of the day we saw several large whales of the

right species, and innumerable flights of the albatross passed over

the vessel. We also picked up a bush, full of red berries, like those

of the hawthorn, and the carcass of a singular-looking land-animal.

It was three feet in length, and but six inches in height, with four

very short legs, the feet armed with long claws of a brilliant

scarlet, and resembling coral in substance. The body was covered with

a straight silky hair, perfectly white. The tail was peaked like that

of a rat, and about a foot and a half long. The head resembled a

cat's, with the exception of the ears- these were flopped like the

ears of a dog. The teeth were of the same brilliant scarlet as the

claws.

January 19.- To-day, being in latitude 83 degrees 20', longitude

43 degrees 5' W. (the sea being of an extraordinarily dark colour),

we again saw land from the masthead, and, upon a closer scrutiny,

found it to be one of a group of very large islands. The shore was

precipitous, and the interior seemed to be well wooded, a

circumstance which occasioned us great joy. In about four hours from

our first discovering the land we came to anchor in ten fathoms,

sandy bottom, a league from the coast, as a high surf, with strong

ripples here and there, rendered a nearer approach of doubtful

expediency. The two largest boats were now ordered out, and a party,

well armed (among whom were Peters and myself), proceeded to look for

an opening in the reef which appeared to encircle the island. After

searching about for some time, we discovered an inlet, which we were

entering, when we saw four large canoes put off from the shore,

filled with men who seemed to be well armed. We waited for them to

come up, and, as they moved with great rapidity, they were soon

within hail. Captain Guy now held up a white handkerchief on the

blade of an oar, when the strangers made a full stop, and commenced a

loud jabbering all at once, intermingled with occasional shouts, in

which we could distinguish the words Anamoo-moo! and Lama-Lama! They

continued this for at least half an hour, during which we had a good

opportunity of observing their appearance.

In the four canoes, which might have been fifty feet long and

five broad, there were a hundred and ten savages in all. They were

about the ordinary stature of Europeans, but of a more muscular and

brawny frame. Their complexion a jet black, with thick and long

woolly hair. They were clothed in skins of an unknown black animal,

shaggy and silky, and made to fit the body with some degree of skill,

the hair being inside, except where turned out about the neck,

wrists, and ankles. Their arms consisted principally of clubs, of a

dark, and apparently very heavy wood. Some spears, however, were

observed among them, headed with flint, and a few slings. The bottoms

of the canoes were full of black stones about the size of a large egg.

When they had concluded their harangue (for it was clear they

intended their jabbering for such), one of them who seemed to be the

chief stood up in the prow of his canoe, and made signs for us to

bring our boats alongside of him. This hint we pretended not to

understand, thinking it the wiser plan to maintain, if possible, the

interval between us, as their number more than quadrupled our own.

Finding this to be the case, the chief ordered the three other canoes

to hold back, while he advanced toward us with his own. As soon as he

came up with us he leaped on board the largest of our boats, and

seated himself by the side of Captain Guy, pointing at the same time

to the schooner, and repeating the word Anamoo-moo! and Lama-Lama! We

now put back to the vessel, the four canoes following at a little

distance.

Upon getting alongside, the chief evinced symptoms of extreme

surprise and delight, clapping his hands, slapping his thighs and

breast, and laughing obstreperously. His followers behind joined in

his merriment, and for some minutes the din was so excessive as to be

absolutely deafening. Quiet being at length restored, Captain Guy

ordered the boats to be hoisted up, as a necessary precaution, and

gave the chief (whose name we soon found to be Too-wit) to understand

that we could admit no more than twenty of his men on deck at one

time. With this arrangement he appeared perfectly satisfied, and gave

some directions to the canoes, when one of them approached, the rest

remaining about fifty yards off. Twenty of the savages now got on

board, and proceeded to ramble over every part of the deck, and

scramble about among the rigging, making themselves much at home, and

examining every article with great inquisitiveness.

It was quite evident that they had never before seen any of the

white race- from whose complexion, indeed, they appeared to recoil.

They believed the Jane to be a living creature, and seemed to be

afraid of hurting it with the points of their spears, carefully

turning them up. Our crew were much amused with the conduct of

Too-wit in one instance. The cook was splitting some wood near the

galley, and, by accident, struck his axe into the deck, making a gash

of considerable depth. The chief immediately ran up, and pushing the

cook on one side rather roughly, commenced a half whine, half howl,

strongly indicative of sympathy in what he considered the sufferings

of the schooner, patting and smoothing the gash with his hand, and

washing it from a bucket of seawater which stood by. This was a

degree of ignorance for which we were not prepared, and for my part I

could not help thinking some of it affected.

When the visitors had satisfied, as well as they could, their

curiosity in regard to our upper works, they were admitted below,

when their amazement exceeded all bounds. Their astonishment now

appeared to be far too deep for words, for they roamed about in

silence, broken only by low ejaculations. The arms afforded them much

food for speculation, and they were suffered to handle and examine

them at leisure. I do not believe that they had the least suspicion

of their actual use, but rather took them for idols, seeing the care

we had of them, and the attention with which we watched their

movements while handling them. At the great guns their wonder was

redoubled. They approached them with every mark of the profoundest

reverence and awe, but forbore to examine them minutely. There were

two large mirrors in the cabin, and here was the acme of their

amazement. Too-wit was the first to approach them, and he had got in

the middle of the cabin, with his face to one and his back to the

other, before he fairly perceived them. Upon raising his eyes and

seeing his reflected self in the glass, I thought the savage would go

mad; but, upon turning short round to make a retreat, and beholding

himself a second time in the opposite direction, I was afraid he

would expire upon the spot. No persuasion could prevail upon him to

take another look; throwing himself upon the floor, with his face

buried in his hands, he remained thus until we were obliged to drag

him upon deck.

The whole of the savages were admitted on board in this manner,

twenty at a time, Too-wit being suffered to remain during the entire

period. We saw no disposition to thievery among them, nor did we miss

a single article after their departure. Throughout the whole of their

visit they evinced the most friendly manner. There were, however,

some points in their demeanour which we found it impossible to

understand; for example, we could not get them to approach several

very harmless objects- such as the schooner's sails, an egg, an open

book, or a pan of flour. We endeavoured to ascertain if they had

among them any articles which might be turned to account in the way

of traffic, but found great difficulty in being comprehended. We made

out, nevertheless, what greatly astonished us, that the islands

abounded in the large tortoise of the Gallipagos, one of which we saw

in the canoe of Too-wit. We saw also some biche de mer in the hands

of one of the savages, who was greedily devouring it in its natural

state. These anomalies- for they were such when considered in regard

to the latitude- induced Captain Guy to wish for a thorough

investigation of the country, in the hope of making a profitable

speculation in his discovery. For my own part, anxious as I was to

know something more of these islands, I was still more earnestly bent

on prosecuting the voyage to the southward without delay. We had now

fine weather, but there was no telling how long it would last; and

being already in the eighty-fourth parallel, with an open sea before

us, a current setting strongly to the southward, and the wind fair, I

could not listen with any patience to a proposition of stopping

longer than was absolutely necessary for the health of the crew and

the taking on board a proper supply of fuel and fresh provisions. I

represented to the captain that we might easily make this group on

our return, and winter here in the event of being blocked up by the

ice. He at length came into my views (for in some way, hardly known

to myself, I had acquired much influence over him), and it was

finally resolved that, even in the event of our finding biche de mer,

we should only stay here a week to recruit, and then push on to the

southward while we might. Accordingly we made every necessary

preparation, and, under the guidance of Too-wit, got the Jane through

the reef in safety, coming to anchor about a mile from the shore, in

an excellent bay, completely landlocked, on the southeastern coast of

the main island, and in ten fathoms of water, black sandy bottom. At

the head of this bay there were three fine springs (we were told) of

good water, and we saw abundance of wood in the vicinity. The four

canoes followed us in, keeping, however, at a respectful distance.

Too-wit himself remained on board, and, upon our dropping anchor,

invited us to accompany him on shore, and visit his village in the

interior. To this Captain Guy consented; and ten savages being left

on board as hostages, a party of us, twelve in all, got in readiness

to attend the chief. We took care to be well armed, yet without

evincing any distrust. The schooner had her guns run out, her

boarding-nettings up, and every other proper precaution was taken to

guard against surprise. Directions were left with the chief mate to

admit no person on board during our absence, and, in the event of our

not appearing in twelve hours, to send the cutter, with a swivel,

around the island in search of us.

At every step we took inland the conviction forced itself upon

us that we were in a country differing essentially from any hitherto

visited by civilized men. We saw nothing with which we had been

formerly conversant. The trees resembled no growth of either the

torrid, the temperate, of the northern frigid zones, and were

altogether unlike those of the lower southern latitudes we had

already traversed. The very rocks were novel in their mass, their

color, and their stratification; and the streams themselves, utterly

incredible as it may appear, had so little in common with those of

other climates, that we were scrupulous of tasting them, and, indeed,

had difficulty in bringing ourselves to believe that their qualities

were purely those of nature. At a small brook which crossed our path

(the first we had reached) Too-wit and his attendants halted to

drink. On account of the singular character of the water, we refused

to taste it, supposing it to be polluted; and it was not until some

time afterward we came to understand that such was the appearance of

the streams throughout the whole group. I am at a loss to give a

distinct idea of the nature of this liquid, and cannot do so without

many words. Although it flowed with rapidity in all declivities where

common water would do so, yet never, except when falling in a

cascade, had it the customary appearance of limpidity. It was,

nevertheless, in point of fact, as perfectly limpid as any limestone

water in existence, the difference being only in appearance. At first

sight, and especially in cases where little declivity was found, it

bore re. semblance, as regards consistency, to a thick infusion of

gum arabic in common water. But this was only the least remarkable of

its extraordinary qualities. It was not colourless, nor was it of any

one uniform colour- presenting to the eye, as it flowed, every

possible shade of purple; like the hues of a changeable silk. This

variation in shade was produced in a manner which excited as profound

astonishment in the minds of our party as the mirror had done in the

case of Too-wit. Upon collecting a basinful, and allowing it to

settle thoroughly, we perceived that the whole mass of liquid was

made up of a number of distinct veins, each of a distinct hue; that

these veins did not commingle; and that their cohesion was perfect in

regard to their own particles among themselves, and imperfect in

regard to neighbouring veins. Upon passing the blade of a knife

athwart the veins, the water closed over it immediately, as with us,

and also, in withdrawing it, all traces of the passage of the knife

were instantly obliterated. If, however, the blade was passed down

accurately between the two veins, a perfect separation was effected,

which the power of cohesion did not immediately rectify. The

phenomena of this water formed the first definite link in that vast

chain of apparent miracles with which I was destined to be at length

encircled.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 18 ~~~

CHAPTER 19

We were nearly three hours in reaching the village, it being

more than nine miles in the interior, and the path lying through a

rugged country. As we passed along, the party of Too-wit (the whole

hundred and ten savages of the canoes) was momentarily strengthened

by smaller detachments, of from two to six or seven, which joined us,

as if by accident, at different turns of the road. There appeared so

much of system in this that I could not help feeling distrust, and I

spoke to Captain Guy of my apprehensions. It was now too late,

however, to recede, and we concluded that our best security lay in

evincing a perfect confidence in the good faith of Too-wit. We

accordingly went on, keeping a wary eye upon the manoeuvres of the

savages, and not permitting them to divide our numbers by pushing in

between. In this way, passing through a precipitous ravine, we at

length reached what we were told was the only collection of

habitations upon the island. As we came in sight of them, the chief

set up a shout, and frequently repeated the word Klock-klock, which

we sup. posed to be the name of the village, or perhaps the generic

name for villages.

The dwellings were of the most miserable description imaginable,

and, unlike those of even the lowest of the savage races with which

mankind are acquainted, were of no uniform plan. Some of them (and

these we found belonged to the Wampoos or Yampoos, the great men of

the land) consisted of a tree cut down at about four feet from the

root, with a large black skin thrown over it, and hanging in loose

folds upon the ground. Under this the savage nestled. Others were

formed by means of rough limbs of trees, with the withered foliage

upon them, made to recline, at an angle of forty-five degrees,

against a bank of clay, heaped up, without regular form, to the

height of five or six feet. Others, again, were mere holes dug in the

earth perpendicularly, and covered over with similar branches, these

being removed when the tenant was about to enter, and pulled on again

when he had entered. A few were built among the forked limbs of trees

as they stood, the upper limbs being partially cut through, so as to

bend over upon the lower, thus forming thicker shelter from the

weather. The greater number, however, consisted of small shallow

caverns, apparently scratched in the face of a precipitous ledge of

dark stone, resembling fuller's earth, with which three sides of the

village were bounded. At the door of each of these primitive caverns

was a small rock, which the tenant carefully placed before the

entrance upon leaving his residence, for what purpose I could not

ascertain, as the stone itself was never of sufficient size to close

up more than a third of the opening.

This village, if it were worthy of the name, lay in a valley of

some depth, and could only be approached from the southward, the

precipitous ledge of which I have already spoken cutting off all

access in other directions. Through the middle of the valley ran a

brawling stream of the same magical-looking water which has been

described. We saw several strange animals about the dwellings, all

appearing to be thoroughly domesticated. The largest of these

creatures resembled our common hog in the structure of the body and

snout; the tail, however, was bushy, and the legs slender as those of

the antelope. Its motion was exceedingly awkward and indecisive, and

we never saw it attempt to run. We noticed also several animals very

similar in appearance, but of a greater length of body, and covered

with a black wool. There were a great variety of tame fowls running

about, and these seemed to constitute the chief food of the natives.

To our astonishment we saw black albatross among these birds in a

state of entire domestication, going to sea periodically for food,

but always returning to the village as a home, and using the southern

shore in the vicinity as a place of incubation. There they were

joined by their friends the pelicans as usual, but these latter never

followed them to the dwellings of the savages. Among the other kinds

of tame fowls were ducks, differing very little from the canvass-back

of our own country, black gannets, and a large bird not unlike the

buzzard in appearance, but not carnivorous. Of fish there seemed to

be a great abundance. We saw, during our visit, a quantity of dried

salmon, rock cod, blue dolphins, mackerel, blackfish, skate, conger

eels, elephantfish, mullets, soles, parrotfish, leather-jackets,

gurnards, hake, flounders, paracutas, and innumerable other

varieties. We noticed, too, that most of them were similar to the

fish about the group of Lord Auckland Islands, in a latitude as low

as fifty-one degrees south. The Gallipago tortoise was also very

plentiful. We saw but few wild animals, and none of a large size, or

of a species with which we were familiar. One or two serpents of a

formidable aspect crossed our path, but the natives paid them little

attention, and we concluded that they were not venomous.

As we approached the village with Too-wit and his party, a vast

crowd of the people rushed out to meet us, with loud shouts, among

which we could only distinguish the everlasting Anamoo-moo! and

Lama-Lama! We were much surprised at perceiving that, with one or two

exceptions, these new comers were entirely naked, and skins being

used only by the men of the canoes. All the weapons of the country

seemed also to be in the possession of the latter, for there was no

appearance of any among the villagers. There were a great many women

and children, the former not altogether wanting in what might be

termed personal beauty. They were straight, tall, and well formed,

with a grace and freedom of carriage not to be found in civilized

society. Their lips, however, like those of the men, were thick and

clumsy, so that, even when laughing, the teeth were never disclosed.

Their hair was of a finer texture than that of the males. Among these

naked villagers there might have been ten or twelve who were clothed,

like the party of Too-wit, in dresses of black skin, and armed with

lances and heavy clubs. These appeared to have great influence among

the rest, and were always addressed by the title Wampoo. These, too,

were the tenants of the black skin palaces. That of Too-wit was

situated in the centre of the village, and was much larger and

somewhat better constructed than others of its kind. The tree which

formed its support was cut off at a distance of twelve feet or

thereabouts from the root, and there were several branches left just

below the cut, these serving to extend the covering, and in this way

prevent its flapping about the trunk. The covering, too, which

consisted of four very large skins fastened together with wooden

skewers, was secured at the bottom with pegs driven through it and

into the ground. The floor was strewed with a quantity of dry leaves

by way of carpet.

To this hut we were conducted with great solemnity, and as many

of the natives crowded in after us as possible. Too-wit seated

himself on the leaves, and made signs that we should follow his

example. This we did, and presently found ourselves in a situation

peculiarly uncomfortable, if not indeed critical. We were on the

ground, twelve in number, with the savages, as many as forty, sitting

on their hams so closely around us that, if any disturbance had

arisen, we should have found it impossible to make use of our arms,

or indeed to have risen to our feet. The pressure was not only inside

the tent, but outside, where probably was every individual on the

whole island, the crowd being prevented from trampling us to death

only by the incessant exertions and vociferations of Too-wit. Our

chief security lay, however, in the presence of Too-wit himself among

us, and we resolved to stick by him closely, as the best chance of

extricating ourselves from the dilemma, sacrificing him immediately

upon the first appearance of hostile design.

After some trouble a certain degree of quiet was restored, when

the chief addressed us in a speech of great length, and very nearly

resembling the one delivered in the canoes, with the exception that

the Anamoo-moos! were now somewhat more strenuously insisted upon

than the Lama-Lamas! We listened in profound silence until the

conclusion of this harangue, when Captain Guy replied by assuring the

chief of his eternal friendship and goodwill, concluding what he had

to say be a present of several strings of blue beads and a knife. At

the former the monarch, much to our surprise, turned up his nose with

some expression of contempt, but the knife gave him the most

unlimited satisfaction, and he immediately ordered dinner. This was

handed into the tent over the heads of the attendants, and consisted

of the palpitating entrails of a specials of unknown animal, probably

one of the slim-legged hogs which we had observed in our approach to

the village. Seeing us at a loss how to proceed, he began, by way of

setting us an example, to devour yard after yard of the enticing

food, until we could positively stand it no longer, and evinced such

manifest symptoms of rebellion of stomach as inspired his majesty

with a degree of astonishment only inferior to that brought about by

the looking-glasses. We declined, however, partaking of the

delicacies before us, and endeavoured to make him understand that we

had no appetite whatever, having just finished a hearty dejeuner.

When the monarch had made an end of his meal, we commenced a

series of cross-questioning in every ingenious manner we could

devise, with a view of discovering what were the chief productions of

the country, and whether any of them might be turned to profit. At

length he seemed to have some idea of our meaning, and offered to

accompany us to a part of coast where he assured us the biche de mer

(pointing to a specimen of that animal) was to be found in great

abundance. We were glad of this early opportunity of escaping from

the oppression of the crowd, and signified our eagerness to proceed.

We now left the tent, and, accompanied by the whole population of the

village, followed the chief to the southeastern extremity of the

island, nor far from the bay where our vessel lay at anchor. We

waited here for about an hour, until the four canoes were brought

around by some of the savages to our station. the whole of our party

then getting into one of them, we were paddled along the edge of the

reef before mentioned, and of another still farther out, where we saw

a far greater quantity of biche de mer than the oldest seamen among

us had ever seen in those groups of the lower latitudes most

celebrated for this article of commerce. We stayed near these reefs

only long enough to satisfy ourselves that we could easily load a

dozen vessels with the animal if necessary, when we were taken

alongside the schooner, and parted with Too-wit, after obtaining from

him a promise that he would bring us, in the course of twenty-four

hours, as many of the canvass-back ducks and Gallipago tortoises as

his canoes would hold. In the whole of this adventure we saw nothing

in the demeanour of the natives calculated to create suspicion, with

the single exception of the systematic manner in which their party

was strengthened during our route from the schooner to the village.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 19 ~~~

CHAPTER 20

THE chief was as good as his word, and we were soon plentifully

sup. plied with fresh provisions. We found the tortoises as fine as

we had ever seen, and the ducks surpassed our best species of wild

fowl, being exceedingly tender, juicy, and well-flavoured. Besides

these, the savages brought us, upon our making them comprehend our

wishes, a vast quantity of brown celery and scurvy grass, with a

canoe-load of fresh fish and some dried. The celery was a treat

indeed, and the scurvy grass proved of incalculable benefit in

restoring those of our men who had shown symptoms of disease. In a

very short time we had not a single person on the sick-list. We had

also plenty of other kinds of fresh provisions, among which may be

mentioned a species of shellfish resembling the mussel in shape, but

with the taste of an oyster. Shrimps, too, and prawns were abundant,

and albatross and other birds' eggs with dark shells. We took in,

too, a plentiful stock of the flesh of the hog which I have mentioned

before. Most of the men found it a palatable food, but I thought it

fishy and otherwise disagreeable. In return for these good things we

presented the natives with blue beads, brass trinkets, nails, knives,

and pieces of red cloth, they being fully delighted in the exchange.

We established a regular market on shore, just under the guns of the

schooner, where our barterings were carried on with every appearance

of good faith, and a degree of order which their conduct at the

village of _Klock-klock_ had not led us to expect from the savages.

Matters went on thus very amicably for several days, during which

parties of the natives were frequently on board the schooner, and

parties of our men frequently on shore, making long excursions into

the interior, and receiving no molestation whatever. Finding the ease

with which the vessel might be loaded with _biche de mer_, owing to

the friendly disposition of the islanders, and the readiness with

which they would render us assistance in collecting it, Captain Guy

resolved to enter into negotiations with Too-wit for the erection of

suitable houses in which to cure the article, and for the services of

himself and tribe in gathering as much as possible, while he himself

took advantage of the fine weather to prosecute his voyage to the

southward. Upon mentioning this project to the chief he seemed very

willing to enter into an agreement. A bargain was accordingly struck,

perfectly satisfactory to both parties, by which it was arranged

that, after making the necessary preparations, such as laying off the

proper grounds, erecting a portion of the buildings, and doing some

other work in which the whole of our crew would be required, the

schooner should proceed on her route, leaving three of her men on the

island to superintend the fulfilment of the project, and instruct the

natives in drying the _biche de mer_. In regard to terms, these were

made to depend upon the exertions of the savages in our absence. They

were to receive a stipulated quantity of blue beads, knives, red

cloth, and so forth, for every certain number of piculs of the _biche

de mer_ which should be ready on our return.

A description of the nature of this important article of

commerce, and the method of preparing it, may prove of some interest

to my readers, and I can find no more suitable place than this for

introducing an account of it. The following comprehensive notice of

the substance is taken from a modern history of a voyage to the South

Seas.

"It is that _mollusca_ from the Indian Seas which is known to

commerce by the French name _bouche de mer_ (a nice morsel from the

sea). If I am not much mistaken, the celebrated Cuvier calls it

_gasteropeda pulmonifera_. It is abundantly gathered in the coasts of

the Pacific islands, and gathered especially for the Chinese market,

where it commands a great price, perhaps as much as their

much-talked-of edible birds' nests, which are properly made up of the

gelatinous matter picked up by a species of swallow from the body of

these molluscae. They have no shell, no legs, nor any prominent part,

except an _absorbing_ and an _excretory_, opposite organs; but, by

their elastic wings, like caterpillars or worms, they creep in

shallow waters, in which, when low, they can be seen by a kind of

swallow, the sharp bill of which, inserted in the soft animal, draws

a gummy and filamentous substance, which, by drying, can be wrought

into the solid walls of their nest. Hence the name of _gasteropeda

pulmonifera_.

"This mollusca is oblong, and of different sizes, from three to

eighteen inches in length; and I have seen a few that were not less

than two feet long. They were nearly round, a little flattish on one

side, which lies next to the bottom of the sea; and they are from one

to eight inches thick. They crawl up into shallow water at particular

seasons of the year, probably for the purpose of gendering, as we

often find them in pairs. It is when the sun has the most power on

the water, rendering it tepid, that they approach the shore; and they

often go up into places so shallow that, on the tide's receding, they

are left dry, exposed to the beat of the sun. But they do not bring

forth their young in shallow water, as we never see any of their

progeny, and full-grown ones are always observed coming in from deep

water. They feed principally on that class of zoophytes which produce

the coral.

"The _biche de mer_ is generally taken in three or four feet of

water; after which they are brought on shore, and split at one end

with a knife, the incision being one inch or more, according to the

size of the mollusca. Through this opening the entrails are forced

out by pressure, and they are much like those of any other small

tenant of  the deep. The article is then washed, and afterward boiled

to a certain degree, which must not be too much or too little. They

are then buried in the ground for four hours, then boiled again for a

short time, after which they are dried, either by the fire or the

sun. Those cured by the sun are worth the most; but where one picul

(133 1/3 lbs.) can be cured that way, I can cure thirty piculs by the

fire. When once properly cured, they can be kept in a dry place for

two or three years without any risk; but they should be examined once

in every few months, say four times a year, to see if any dampness is

likely to affect them.

"The Chinese, as before stated, consider _biche de mer_ a very

great luxury, believing that it wonderfully strengthens and nourishes

the system, and renews the exhausted system of the immoderate

voluptuary. The first quality commands a high price in Canton, being

worth ninety dollars a picul; the second quality, seventy-five

dollars; the third, fifty dollars; the fourth, thirty dollars; the

fifth, twenty dollars; the sixth, twelve dollars; the seventh, eight

dollars; and the eighth, four dollars; small cargoes, however, will

often bring more in Manilla, Singapore, and Batavia."

An agreement having been thus entered into, we proceeded

immediately to land everything necessary for preparing the buildings

and clearing the ground. A large flat space near the eastern shore of

the bay was selected, where there was plenty of both wood and water,

and within a convenient distance of the principal reefs on which the

_biche de mer_ was to be procured. We now all set to work in good

earnest, and soon, to the great astonishment of the savages, had

felled a sufficient number of trees for our purpose, getting them

quickly in order for the framework of the houses, which in two or

three days were so far under way that we could safely trust the rest

of the work to the three men whom we intended to leave behind. These

were John Carson, Alfred Harris, and ___ Peterson (all natives of

London, I believe), who volunteered their services in this respect.

By the last of the month we had everything in readiness for

departure. We had agreed, however, to pay a formal visit of

leave-taking to the village, and Too-wit insisted so pertinaciously

upon our keeping the promise that we did not think it advisable to

run the risk of offending him by a final refusal. I believe that not

one of us had at this time the slightest suspicion of the good faith

of the savages. They had uniformly behaved with the greatest decorum,

aiding us with alacrity in our work, offering us their commodities,

frequently without price, and never, in any instance, pilfering a

single article, although the high value they set upon the goods we

had with us was evident by the extravagant demonstrations of joy

always manifested upon our making them a present. The women

especially were most obliging in every respect, and, upon the whole,

we should have been the most suspicious of human beings had we

entertained a single thought of perfidy on the part of a people who

treated us so well. A very short while sufficed to prove that this

apparent kindness of disposition was only the result of a deeply laid

plan for our destruction, and that the islanders for whom we

entertained such inordinate feelings of esteem, were among the most

barbarous, subtle, and bloodthirsty wretches that ever contaminated

the face of the globe.

It was on the first of February that we went on shore for the

purpose of visiting the village. Although, as said before, we

entertained not the slightest suspicion, still no proper precaution

was neglected. Six men were left in the schooner, with instructions

to permit none of the savages to approach the vessel during our

absence, under any pretence whatever, and to remain constantly on

deck. The boarding-nettings were up, the guns double-shotted with

grape and canister, and the swivels loaded with canisters of

musket-balls. She lay, with her anchor apeak, about a mile from the

shore, and no canoe could approach her in any direction without being

distinctly seen and exposed to the full fire of our swivels

immediately.

The six men being left on board, our shore-party consisted of

thirty. two persons in all. We were armed to the teeth, having with

us muskets, pistols, and cutlasses; besides, each had a long kind of

seaman's knife, somewhat resembling the bowie knife now so much used

throughout our western and southern country. A hundred of the black

skin warriors met us at the landing for the purpose of accompanying

us on our way. We noticed, however, with some surprise, that they

were now entirely without arms; and, upon questioning Too-wit in

relation to this circumstance, he merely answered that _Mattee non we

pa pa si_ -- meaning that there was no need of arms where all were

brothers. We took this in good part, and proceeded.

We had passed the spring and rivulet of which I before spoke, and

were now entering upon a narrow gorge leading through the chain of

soapstone hills among which the village was situated. This gorge was

very rocky and uneven, so much so that it was with no little

difficulty we scrambled through it on our first visit to Klock-klock.

The whole length of the ravine might have been a mile and a half, or

probably two miles. It wound in every possible direction through the

hills (having apparently formed, at some remote period, the bed of a

torrent), in no instance proceeding more than twenty yards without an

abrupt turn. The sides of this dell would have averaged, I am sure,

seventy or eighty feet in perpendicular altitude throughout the whole

of their extent, and in some portions they arose to an astonishing

height, overshadowing the pass so completely that but little of the

light of day could penetrate. The general width was about forty feet,

and occasionally it diminished so as not to allow the passage of more

than five or six persons abreast. In short, there could be no place

in the world better adapted for the consummation of an ambuscade, and

it was no more than natural that we should look carefully to our arms

as we entered upon it. When I now think of our egregious folly, the

chief subject of astonishment seems to be, that we should have ever

ventured, under any circumstances, so completely into the power of

unknown savages as to permit them to march both before and behind us

in our progress through this ravine. Yet such was the order we

blindly took up, trusting foolishly to the force of our party, the

unarmed condition of Too-wit and his men, the certain efficacy of our

firearms (whose effect was yet a secret to the natives), and, more

than all, to the long-sustained pretension of friendship kept up by

these infamous wretches. Five or six of them went on before, as if to

lead the way, ostentatiously busying themselves in removing the

larger stones and rubbish from the path. Next came our own party. We

walked closely together, taking care only to prevent separation.

Behind followed the main body of the savages, observing unusual order

and decorum.

Dirk Peters, a man named Wilson Allen, and myself were on the

right of our companions, examining, as we went along, the singular

stratification of the precipice which overhung us. A fissure in the

soft rock attracted our attention. It was about wide enough for one

person to enter without squeezing, and extended back into the hill

some eighteen or twenty feet in a straight course, sloping afterward

to the left. The height of the opening, is far as we could see into

it from the main gorge, was perhaps sixty or seventy feet. There were

one or two stunted shrubs growing from the crevices, bearing a

species of filbert which I felt some curiosity to examine, and pushed

in briskly for that purpose, gathering five or six of the nuts at a

grasp, and then hastily retreating. As I turned, I found that Peters

and Allen had followed me. I desired them to go back, as there was

not room for two persons to pass, saying they should have some of my

nuts. They accordingly turned, and were scrambling back, Allen being

close to the mouth of the fissure, when I was suddenly aware of a

concussion resembling nothing I had ever before experienced, and

which impressed me with a vague conception, if indeed I then thought

of anything, that the whole foundations of the solid globe were

suddenly rent asunder, and that the day of universal dissolution was

at hand.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 20 ~~~

CHAPTER 21

AS soon as I could collect my scattered senses, I found myself

nearly suffocated, and grovelling in utter darkness among a quantity

of loose earth, which was also falling upon me heavily in every

direction, threatening to bury me entirely. Horribly alarmed at this

idea, I struggled to gain my feet, and at last succeeded. I then

remained motionless for some moments, endeavouring to conceive what

had happened to me, and where I was. Presently I heard a deep groan

just at my ear, and afterward the smothered voice of Peters calling

to me for aid in the name of God. I scrambled one or two paces

forward, when I fell directly over the head and shoulders of my

companion, who, I soon discovered, was buried in a loose mass of

earth as far as his middle, and struggling desperately to free

himself from the pressure. I tore the dirt from around him with all

the energy I could command, and at length succeeded in getting him

out.

As soon as we sufficiently recovered from our fright and surprise

to be capable of conversing rationally, we both came to the

conclusion that the walls of the fissure in which we had ventured

had, by some convulsion of nature, or probably from their own weight,

caved in overhead, and that we were consequently lost for ever, being

thus entombed alive. For a long time we gave up supinely to the most

intense agony and despair, such as cannot be adequately imagined by

those who have never been in a similar position. I firmly believed

that no incident ever occurring in the course of human events is more

adapted to inspire the supremeness of mental and bodily distress than

a case like our own, of living inhumation. The blackness of darkness

which envelops the victim, the terrific oppression of lungs, the

stifling fumes from the damp earth, unite with the ghastly

considerations that we are beyond the remotest confines of hope, and

that such is the allotted portion of the dead, to carry into the

human heart a degree of appalling awe and horror not to be tolerated-

never to be conceived.

At length Peters proposed that we should endeavour to ascertain

precisely the extent of our calamity, and grope about our prison; it

being barely possible, he observed, that some opening might yet be

left us for escape. I caught eagerly at this hope, and, arousing

myself to exertion, attempted to force my way through the loose

earth. Hardly had I advanced a single step before a glimmer of light

became perceptible, enough to convince me that, at all events, we

should not immediately perish for want of air. We now took some

degree of heart, and encouraged each other to hope for the best.

Having scrambled over a bank of rubbish which impeded our farther

progress in the direction of the light, we found less difficulty in

advancing and also experienced some relief from the excessive

oppression of lungs which had tormented us. Presently we were enabled

to obtain a glimpse of the objects around, and discovered that we

were near the extremity of the straight portion of the fissure, where

it made a turn to the left. A few struggles more, and we reached the

bend, when to our inexpressible joy, there appeared a long seam or

crack extending upward a vast distance, generally at an angle of

about forty-five degrees, although sometimes much more precipitous.

We could not see through the whole extent of this opening; but, as a

good deal of light came down it, we had little doubt of finding at

the top of it (if we could by any means reach the top) a clear

passage into the open air.

I now called to mind that three of us had entered the fissure

from the main gorge, and that our companion, Allen, was still

missing; we determined at once to retrace our steps and look for him.

After a long search, and much danger from the farther caving in of

the earth above us, Peters at length cried out to me that he had hold

of our companion's foot, and that his whole body was deeply buried

beneath the rubbish beyond the possibility of extricating him. I soon

found that what he said was too true, and that, of course, life had

been long extinct. With sorrowful hearts, therefore, we left the

corpse to its fate, and again made our way to the bend.

The breadth of the seam was barely sufficient to admit us, and,

after one or two ineffectual efforts at getting up, we began once

more to despair. I have before said that the chain of hills through

which ran the main gorge was composed of a species of soft rock

resembling soap. stone. The sides of the cleft we were now attempting

to ascend were of the same material, and so excessively slippery,

being wet, that we could get but little foothold upon them even in

their least precipitous parts; in some places, where the ascent was

nearly perpendicular, the difficulty was, of course, much aggravated;

and, indeed, for some time we thought insurmountable. We took

courage, however, from despair, and what, by dint of cutting steps in

the soft stone with our bowie knives, and swinging at the risk of our

lives, to small projecting points of a harder species of slaty rock

which now and then protruded from the general mass, we at length

reached a natural platform, from which was perceptible a patch of

blue sky, at the extremity of a thickly-wooded ravine. Looking back

now, with somewhat more leisure, at the passage through which we had

thus far proceeded, we clearly saw from the appearance of its sides,

that it was of late formation, and we concluded that the concussion,

whatever it was, which had so unexpectedly overwhelmed us, had also,

at the same moment, laid open this path for escape. Being quite

exhausted with exertion, and indeed, so weak that we were scarcely

able to stand or articulate, Peters now proposed that we should

endeavour to bring our companions to the rescue by firing the pistols

which still remained in our girdles- the muskets as well as cutlasses

had been lost among the loose earth at the bottom of the chasm.

Subsequent events proved that, had we fired, we should have sorely

repented it, but luckily a half suspicion of foul play had by this

time arisen in my mind, and we forbore to let the savages know of our

whereabouts.

After having reposed for about an hour, we pushed on slowly up

the ravine, and had gone no great way before we heard a succession of

tremendous yells. At length we reached what might be called the

surface of the ground; for our path hitherto, since leaving the

platform, had lain beneath an archway of high rock and foliage, at a

vast distance overhead. With great caution we stole to a narrow

opening, through which we had a clear sight of the surrounding

country, when the whole dreadful secret of the concussion broke upon

us in one moment and at one view.

The spot from which we looked was not far from the summit of the

highest peak in the range of the soapstone hills. The gorge in which

our party of thirty-two had entered ran within fifty feet to the left

of us. But, for at least one hundred yards, the channel or bed of

this gorge was entirely filled up with the chaotic ruins of more than

a million tons of earth and stone that had been artificially tumbled

within it. The means by which the vast mass had been precipitated

were not more simple than evident, for sure traces of the murderous

work were yet remaining. In several spots along the top of the

eastern side of the gorge (we were now on the western) might be seen

stakes of wood driven into the earth. In these spots the earth had

not given way, but throughout the whole extent of the face of the

precipice from which the mass had fallen, it was clear, from marks

left in the soil resembling those made by the drill of the rock

blaster, that stakes similar to those we saw standing had been

inserted, at not more than a yard apart, for the length of perhaps

three hundred feet, and ranging at about ten feet back from the edge

of the gulf. Strong cords of grape vine were attached to the stakes

still remaining on the hill, and it was evident that such cords had

also been attached to each of the other stakes. I have already spoken

of the singular stratification of these soapstone hills; and the

description just given of the narrow and deep fissure through which

we effected our escape from inhumation will afford a further

conception of its nature. This was such that almost every natural

convulsion would be sure to split the soil into perpendicular layers

or ridges running parallel with one another, and a very moderate

exertion of art would be sufficient for effecting the same purpose.

Of this stratification the savages had availed themselves to

accomplish their treacherous ends. There can be no doubt that, by the

continuous line of stakes, a partial rupture of the soil had been

brought about probably to the depth of one or two feet, when by means

of a savage pulling at the end of each of the cords (these cords

being attached to the tops of the stakes, and extending back from the

edge of the cliff), a vast leverage power was obtained, capable of

hurling the whole face of the hill, upon a given signal, into the

bosom of the abyss below. The fate of our poor companions was no

longer a matter of uncertainty. We alone had escaped from the tempest

of that overwhelming destruction. We were the only living white men

upon the island.

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 21 ~~~

CHAPTER 22

OUR situation, as it now appeared, was scarcely less dreadful

than when we had conceived ourselves entombed forever. We saw before

us no prospect but that of being put to death by the savages, or of

dragging out a miserable existence in captivity among them. We might,

to be sure, conceal ourselves for a time from their observation among

the fastnesses of the hills, and, as a final resort, in the chasm

from which we had just issued; but we must either perish in the long

polar winter through cold and famine, or be ultimately discovered in

our efforts to obtain relief.

The whole country around us seemed to be swarming with savages,

crowds of whom, we now perceived, had come over from the islands to

the southward on flat rafts, doubtless with a view of lending their

aid in the capture and plunder of the Jane. The vessel still lay

calmly at anchor in the bay, those on board being apparently quite

unconscious of any danger awaiting them. How we longed at that moment

to be with them! either to aid in effecting their escape, or to

perish with them in attempting a defence. We saw no chance even of

warning them of their danger without bringing immediate destruction

upon our own heads, with but a remote hope of benefit to them. A

pistol fired might suffice to apprise them that something wrong had

occurred; but the report could not possibly inform them that their

only prospect of safety lay in getting out of the harbour forthwith-

nor tell them no principles of honour now bound them to remain, that

their companions were no longer among the living. Upon hearing the

discharge they could not be more thoroughly prepared to meet the foe,

who were now getting ready to attack, than they already were, and

always had been. No good, therefore, and infinite harm, would result

from our firing, and after mature deliberation, we forbore.

Our next thought was to attempt to rush toward the vessel, to

seize one of the four canoes which lay at the head of the bay, and

endeavour to force a passage on board. But the utter impossibility of

succeeding in this desperate task soon became evident. The country,

as I said before, was literally swarming with the natives, skulking

among the bushes and recesses of the hills, so as not to be observed

from the schooner. In our immediate vicinity especially, and

blockading the sole path by which we could hope to attain the shore

at the proper point were stationed the whole party of the black skin

warriors, with Too-wit at their head, and apparently only waiting for

some re-enforcement to commence his onset upon the Jane. The canoes,

too, which lay at the head of the bay, were manned with savages,

unarmed, it is true, but who undoubtedly had arms within reach. We

were forced, therefore, however unwillingly, to remain in our place

of concealment, mere spectators of the conflict which presently

ensued.

In about half an hour we saw some sixty or seventy rafts, or

flatboats, with outriggers, filled with savages, and coming round the

southern bight of the harbor. They appeared to have no arms except

short clubs, and stones which lay in the bottom of the rafts.

Immediately afterward another detachment, still larger, appeared in

an opposite direction, and with similar weapons. The four canoes,

too, were now quickly filled with natives, starting up from the

bushes at the head of the bay, and put off swiftly to join the other

parties. Thus, in less time than I have taken to tell it, and as if

by magic, the Jane saw herself surrounded by an immense multitude of

desperadoes evidently bent upon capturing her at all hazards.

That they would succeed in so doing could not be doubted for an

instant. The six men left in the vessel, however resolutely they

might engage in her defence, were altogether unequal to the proper

management of the guns, or in any manner to sustain a contest at such

odds. I could hardly imagine that they would make resistance at all,

but in this was deceived; for presently I saw them get springs upon

the cable, and bring the vessel's starboard broadside to bear upon

the canoes, which by this time were within pistol range, the rafts

being nearly a quarter of a mile to windward. Owing to some cause

unknown, but most probably to the agitation of our poor friends at

seeing themselves in so hopeless a situation, the discharge was an

entire failure. Not a canoe was hit or a single savage injured, the

shots striking short and ricocheting over their heads. The only

effect produced upon them was astonishment at the unexpected report

and smoke, which was so excessive that for some moments I almost

thought they would abandon their design entirely, and return to the

shore. And this they would most likely have done had our men followed

up their broadside by a discharge of small arms, in which, as the

canoes were now so near at hand, they could not have failed in doing

some execution, sufficient, at least, to deter this party from a

farther advance, until they could have given the rafts also a

broadside. But, in place of this, they left the canoe party to

recover from their panic, and, by looking about them, to see that no

injury had been sustained, while they flew to the larboard to get

ready for the rafts.

The discharge to larboard produced the most terrible effect. The

star and double-headed shot of the large guns cut seven or eight of

the rafts completely asunder, and killed, perhaps, thirty or forty of

the savages outright, while a hundred of them, at least, were thrown

into the water, the most of them dreadfully wounded. The remainder,

frightened out of their senses, commenced at once a precipitate

retreat, not even waiting to pick up their maimed companions, who

were swimming about in every direction, screaming and yelling for

aid. This great success, however, came too late for the salvation of

our devoted people. The canoe party were already on board the

schooner to the number of more than a hundred and fifty, the most of

them having succeeded in scrambling up the chains and over the

boarding-netting even before the matches had been applied to the

larboard guns. Nothing now could withstand their brute rage. Our men

were borne down at once, overwhelmed, trodden under foot, and

absolutely torn to pieces in an instant.

Seeing this, the savages on the rafts got the better of their

fears, and came up in shoals to the plunder. In five minutes the Jane

was a pitiable scene indeed of havoc and tumultuous outrage. The

decks were split open and ripped up; the cordage, sails, and

everything movable on deck demolished as if by magic, while, by dint

of pushing at the stern, towing with the canoes, and hauling at the

sides, as they swam in thousands around the vessel, the wretches

finally forced her on shore (the cable having been slipped), and

delivered her over to the good offices of Too-wit, who, during the

whole of the engagement, had maintained, like a skilful general, his

post of security and reconnaissance among the hills, but, now that

the victory was completed to his satisfaction, condescended to

scamper down with his warriors of the black skin, and become a

partaker in the spoils.

Too-wit's descent left us at liberty to quit our hiding place

and reconnoitre the hill in the vicinity of the chasm. At about fifty

yards from the mouth of it we saw a small spring of water, at which

we slaked the burning thirst that now consumed us. Not far from the

spring we discovered several of the filbert-bushes which I mentioned

before. Upon tasting the nuts we found them palatable, and very

nearly resembling in flavour the common English filbert. We collected

our hats full immediately, deposited them within the ravine, and

returned for more. While we were busily employed in gathering these,

a rustling in the bushes alarmed us, and we were upon the point of

stealing back to our covert, when a large black bird of the bittern

species strugglingly and slowly arose above the shrubs. I was so much

startled that I could do nothing, but Peters had sufficient presence

of mind to run up to it before it could make its escape, and seize it

by the neck. Its struggles and screams were tremendous, and we had

thoughts of letting it go, lest the noise should alarm some of the

savages who might be still lurking in the neighbourhood. A stab with

a bowie knife, however, at length brought it to the ground, and we

dragged it into the ravine, congratulating ourselves that, at all

events, we had thus obtained a supply of food enough to last us for a

week.

We now went out again to look about us, and ventured a

considerable distance down the southern declivity of the hill, but

met with nothing else which could serve us for food. We therefore

collected a quantity of dry wood and returned, seeing one or two

large parties of the natives on their way to the village, laden with

the plunder of the vessel, and who, we were apprehensive, might

discover us in passing beneath the hill.

Our next care was to render our place of concealment as secure

as possible, and with this object, we arranged some brushwood over

the aperture which I have before spoken of as the one through which

we saw the patch of blue sky, on reaching the platform from the

interior of the chasm. We left only a very small opening just wide

enough to admit of our seeing the, bay, without the risk of being

discovered from below. Having done this, we congratulated ourselves

upon the security of the position; for we were now completely

excluded from observation, as long as we chose to remain within the

ravine itself, and not venture out upon the hill, We could perceive

no traces of the savages having ever been within this hollow; but,

indeed, when we came to reflect upon the probability that the fissure

through which we attained it had been only just now created by the

fall of the cliff opposite, and that no other way of attaining it

could be perceived, we were not so much rejoiced at the thought of

being secure from molestation as fearful lest there should be

absolutely no means left us for descent. We resolved to explore the

summit of the hill thoroughly, when a good opportunity should offer.

In the meantime we watched the motions of the savages through our

loophole.

They had already made a complete wreck of the vessel, and were

now preparing to set her on fire. In a little while we saw the smoke

ascending in huge volumes from her main hatchway, and, shortly

afterward, a dense mass of flame burst up from the forecastle. The

rigging, masts and what remained of the sails caught immediately, and

the fire spread rapidly along the decks. Still a great many of the

savages retained their stations about her, hammering with large

stones, axes, and cannon balls at the bolts and other iron and copper

work. On the beach, and in canoes and rafts, there were not less,

altogether, in the immediate vicinity of the schooner, than ten

thousand natives, besides the shoals of them who, laden with booty,

were making their way inland and over to the neighbouring islands. We

now anticipated a catastrophe, and were not disappointed. First of

all there came a smart shock (which we felt as distinctly where we

were as if we had been slightly galvanized), but unattended with any

visible signs of an explosion. The savages were evidently startled,

and paused for an instant from their labours and yellings. They were

upon the point of recommencing, when suddenly a mass of smoke puffed

up from the decks, resembling a black and heavy thundercloud- then,

as if from its bowels, arose a tall stream of vivid fire to the

height, apparently, of a quarter of a mile- then there came a sudden

circular expansion of the flame- then the whole atmosphere was

magically crowded, in a single instant, with a wild chaos of wood,

and metal, and human limbs-and, lastly, came the concussion in its

fullest fury, which hurled us impetuously from our feet, while the

hills echoed and re-echoed the tumult, and a dense shower of the

minutest fragments of the ruins tumbled headlong in every direction

around us.

The havoc among the savages far exceeded our utmost expectation,

and they had now, indeed, reaped the full and perfect fruits of their

treachery. Perhaps a thousand perished by the explosion, while at

least an equal number were desperately mangled. The whole surface of

the bay was literally strewn with the struggling and drowning

wretches, and on shore matters were even worse. They seemed utterly

appalled by the suddenness and completeness of their discomfiture,

and made no efforts at assisting one another. At length we observed a

total change in their demeanour. From absolute stupor, they appeared

to be, all at once, aroused to the highest pitch of excitement, and

rushed wildly about, going to and from a certain point on the beach,

with the strangest expressions of mingled horror, rage, and intense

curiosity depicted on their countenances, and shouting, at the top of

their voices, "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"

Presently we saw a large body go off into the hills, whence they

returned in a short time, carrying stakes of wood. These they brought

to the station where the crowd was the thickest, which now separated

so as to afford us a view of the object of all this excitement. We

perceived something white lying upon the ground, but could not

immediately make out what it was. At length we saw that it was the

carcass of the strange animal with the scarlet teeth and claws which

the schooner had picked up at sea on the eighteenth of January.

Captain Guy had had the body preserved for the purpose of stuffing

the skin and taking it to England. I remember he had given some

directions about it just before our making the island, and it had

been brought into the cabin and stowed away in one of the lockers. It

had now been thrown on shore by the explosion; but why it had

occasioned so much concern among the savages was more than we could

comprehend. Although they crowded around the carcass at a little

distance, none of them seemed willing to approach it closely.

By-and-by the men with the stakes drove them in a circle around it,

and no sooner was this arrangement completed, than the whole of the

vast assemblage rushed into the interior of the island, with loud

screams of "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 22 ~~~

CHAPTER 23

DURING  the six or seven days immediately following we remained

in our hiding-place upon the hill, going out only occasionally, and

then with the greatest precaution, for water and filberts. We had

made a kind of penthouse on the platform, furnishing it with a bed of

dry leaves, and placing in it three large flat stones, which served

us for both fireplace and table. We kindled a fire without difficulty

by rubbing two pieces of dry wood together, the one soft, the other

hard. The bird we had taken in such good season proved excellent

eating, although somewhat tough. It was not an oceanic fowl, but a

species of bittern, with jet black and grizzly plumage, and

diminutive wings in proportion to its bulk. We afterward saw three of

the same kind in the vicinity of the ravine, apparently seeking for

the one we had captured; but, as they never alighted, we had no

opportunity of catching them.

As long as this fowl lasted we suffered nothing from our

situation, but it was now entirely consumed, and it became absolutely

necessary that we should look out for provision. The filberts would

not satisfy the cravings of hunger, afflicting us, too, with severe

gripings of the bowels, and, if freely indulged in, with violent

headache. We had seen several large tortoises near the seashore to

the eastward of the hill, and perceived they might be easily taken,

if we could get at them without the observation of the natives. It

was resolved, therefore, to make an attempt at descending.

We commenced by going down the southern declivity, which seemed

to offer the fewest difficulties, but had not proceeded a hundred

yards before (as we had anticipated from appearances on the hilltop)

our progress was entirely arrested by a branch of the gorge in which

our companions had perished. We now passed along the edge of this for

about a quarter of a mile, when we were again stopped by a precipice

of immense depth, and, not being able to make our way along the brink

of it, we were forced to retrace our steps by the main ravine.

We now pushed over to the eastward, but with precisely similar

fortune. After an hour's scramble, at the risk of breaking our necks,

we discovered that we had merely descended into a vast pit of black

granite, with fine dust at the bottom, and whence the only egress was

by the rugged path in which we had come down. Toiling again up this

path, we now tried the northern edge of the hill. Here we were

obliged to use the greatest possible caution in our maneuvers, as the

least indiscretion would expose us to the full view of the savages in

the village. We crawled along, therefore, on our hands and knees,

and, occasionally, were even forced to throw ourselves at full

length, dragging our bodies along by means of the shrubbery. In this

careful manner we had proceeded but a little way, when we arrived at

a chasm far deeper than any we had yet seen, and leading directly

into the main gorge. Thus our fears were fully confirmed, and we

found ourselves cut off entirely from access to the world below.

Thoroughly exhausted by our exertions, we made the best of our way

back to the platform, and throwing ourselves upon the bed of leaves,

slept sweetly and soundly for some hours.

For several days after this fruitless search we were occupied in

exploring every part of the summit of the hill, in order to inform

ourselves of its actual resources. We found that it would afford us

no food, with the exception of the unwholesome filberts, and a rank

species of scurvy grass, which grew in a little patch of not more

than four rods square, and would be soon exhausted. On the fifteenth

of February, as near as I can remember, there was not a blade of this

left, and the nuts were growing scarce; our situation, therefore,

could hardly be more lamentable. {*5} On the sixteenth we again went

round the walls of our prison, in hope of finding some avenue of

escape; but to no purpose. We also descended the chasm in which we

had been overwhelmed, with the faint expectation of discovering,

through this channel, some opening to the main ravine. Here, too, we

were disappointed, although we found and brought up with us a musket.

On the seventeenth we set out with the determination of examining

more thoroughly the chasm of black granite into which we had made our

way in the first search. We remembered that one of the fissures in

the sides of this pit had been but partially looked into, and we were

anxious to explore it, although with no expectation of discovering

here any opening.

We found no great difficulty in reaching the bottom of the hollow

as before, and were now sufficiently calm to survey it with some

attention. It was, indeed, one of the most singular-looking places

imaginable, and we could scarcely bring ourselves to believe it

altogether the work of nature. The pit, from its eastern to its

western extremity, was about five hundred yards in length, when all

its windings were threaded; the distance from east to west in a

straight line not being more (I should suppose, having no means of

accurate examination) than forty or fifty yards. Upon first

descending into the chasm, that is to say, for a hundred feet

downward from the summit of the hill, the sides of the abyss bore

little resemblance to each other, and, apparently, had at no time

been connected, the one surface being of the soapstone, and the other

of marl, granulated with some metallic matter. The average breadth or

interval between the two cliffs was probably here sixty feet, but

there seemed to be no regularity of formation. Passing down, however,

beyond the limit spoken of, the interval rapidly contracted, and the

sides began to run parallel, although, for some distance farther,

they were still dissimilar in their material and form of surface.

Upon arriving within fifty feet of the bottom, a perfect regularity

commenced. The sides were now entirely uniform in substance, in

colour, and in lateral direction, the material being a very black and

shining granite, and the distance between the two sides, at all

points facing each other, exactly twenty yards. The precise formation

of the chasm will be best understood by means of a delineation taken

upon the spot; for I had luckily with me a pocketbook and pencil,

which I preserved with great care through a long series of subsequent

adventure, and to which I am indebted for memoranda of many subjects

which would otherwise have been crowded from my remembrance.

This figure (see figure 1) {image} gives the general outlines of

the chasm, without the minor cavities in the sides, of which there

were several, each cavity having a corresponding protuberance

opposite. The bottom of the gulf was covered to the depth of three or

four inches with a powder almost impalpable, beneath which we found a

continuation of the black granite. To the right, at the lower

extremity, will be noticed the appearance of a small opening; this is

the fissure alluded to above, and to examine which more minutely than

before was the object of our second visit. We now pushed into it with

vigor, cutting away a quantity of brambles which impeded us, and

removing a vast heap of sharp flints somewhat resembling arrowheads

in shape. We were encouraged to persevere, however, by perceiving

some little light proceeding from the farther end. We at length

squeezed our way for about thirty feet, and found that the aperture

was a low and regularly formed arch, having a bottom of the same

impalpable powder as that in the main chasm. A strong light now broke

upon us, and, turning a short bend, we found ourselves in another

lofty chamber, similar to the one we had left in every respect but

longitudinal form. Its general figure is here given. (See figure 2.)

{image}

The total length of this chasm, commencing at the opening a and

proceeding round the curve _b_ to the extremity _d_, is five hundred

and fifty yards. At _c_ we discovered a small aperture similar to the

one through which we had issued from the other chasm, and this was

choked up in the same manner with brambles and a quantity of the

white arrowhead flints. We forced our way through it, finding it

about forty feet long, and emerged into a third chasm. This, too, was

precisely like the first, except in its longitudinal shape, which was

thus. (See figure 3.) {image}

We found the entire length of the third chasm three hundred and

twenty yards. At the point _a_ was an opening about six feet wide,

and extending fifteen  feet into the rock, where it terminated in a

bed of marl, there being no other chasm beyond, as we had expected.

We were about leaving this fissure, into which very little light was

admitted, when Peters called my attention to a range of

singular-looking indentures in the surface of the marl forming the

termination of the _cul-de-sac_. With a very slight exertion of the

imagination, the left, or most northern of these indentures might

have been taken for the intentional, although rude, representation of

a human figure standing erect, with outstretched arm. The rest of

them bore also some little resemblance to alphabetical characters,

and Peters was willing, at all events, to adopt the idle opinion that

they were really such. I convinced him of his error, finally, by

directing his attention to the floor of the fissure, where, among the

powder, we picked up, piece by piece, several large flakes of the

marl, which had evidently been broken off by some convulsion from the

surface where the indentures were found, and which had projecting

points exactly fitting the indentures; thus proving them to have been

the work of nature. Figure 4 {image} presents an accurate copy of the

whole.

After satisfying ourselves that these singular caverns afforded

us no means of escape from our prison, we made our way back, dejected

and dispirited, to the summit of the hill. Nothing worth mentioning

occurred during the next twenty-four hours, except that, in examining

the ground to the eastward of the third chasm, we found two

triangular holes of great depth, and also with black granite sides.

Into these holes we did not think it worth while to attempt

descending, as they had the appearance of mere natural wells, without

outlet. They were each about twenty yards in circumference, and their

shape, as well as relative position in regard to the third chasm, is

shown in figure 5. {image}

~~~ End of Text of Chapter 23 ~~~

CHAPTER XXIV

0N the twentieth of the month, finding it altogether impossible to

subsist any longer upon the filberts, the use of which occasioned us

the most excruciating torment, we resolved to make a desperate

attempt at descending the southern declivity of the hill. The face of

the precipice was here of the softest species of soapstone, although

nearly perpendicular throughout its whole extent (a depth of a

hundred and fifty feet at the least), and in many places even

overarching. After a long search we discovered a narrow ledge about

twenty feet below the brink of the gulf; upon this Peters contrived

to leap, with what assistance I could render him by means of our

pocket-handkerchiefs tied together. With somewhat more difficulty I

also got down; and we then saw the possibility of descending the

whole way by the process in which we had clambered up from the chasm

when we had been buried by the fall of the hill-that is, by cutting

steps in the face of the soapstone with our knives. The extreme

hazard of the attempt can scarcely be conceived; but, as there was no

other resource, we determined to undertake it.

Upon the ledge where we stood there grew some filbert-bushes; and to

one of these we made fast an end of our rope of handkerchiefs. The

other end being tied round Peters' waist, I lowered him down over the

edge of the precipice until the handkerchiefs were stretched tight.

He now proceeded to dig a deep hole in the soapstone (as far in as

eight or ten inches), sloping away the rock above to the height of a

foot, or thereabout, so as to allow of his driving, with the butt of

a pistol, a tolerably strong peg into the levelled surface. I then

drew him up for about four feet, when he made a hole similar to the

one below, driving in a peg as before, and having thus a

resting-place for both feet and hands. I now unfastened the

handkerchiefs from the bush, throwing him the end, which he tied to

the peg in the uppermost hole , letting himself down gently to a

station about three feet lower than he had yet been that is, to the

full extent of the handkerchiefs. Here he dug another hole, and drove

another peg. He then drew himself up, so as to rest his feet in the

hole just cut, taking hold with his hands upon the peg in the one

above. It was now necessary to untie the handkerchiefs from the

topmost peg, with the view of fastening them to the second; and here

he found that an error had been committed in cutting the holes at so

great a distance apart. However, after one or two unsuccessful and

dangerous attempts at reaching the knot (having to hold on with his

left hand while he labored to undo the fastening with his right), he

at length cut the string, leaving six inches of it affixed to the

peg. Tying the handkerchiefs now to the second peg, he descended to a

station below the third, taking care not to go too far down. By these

means (means which I should never have conceived of myself, and for

which we were indebted altogether to Peters' ingenuity and

resolution) my companion finally succeeded, with the occasional aid

of projections in the cliff, in reaching the bottom without accident.

It was some time before I could summon sufficient resolution to

follow him; but I did at length attempt it. Peters had taken off his

shirt before descending, and this, with my own, formed the rope

necessary for the adventure. After throwing down the musket found in

the chasm, I fastened this rope to the bushes, and let myself down

rapidly, striving, by the vigor of my movements, to banish the

trepidation which I could overcome in no other manner. This answered

sufficiently well for the first four or five steps; but presently I

found my imagination growing terribly excited by thoughts of the vast

depths yet to be descended, and the precarious nature of the pegs and

soapstone holes which were my only support. It was in vain I

endeavored to banish these reflections, and to keep my eyes steadily

bent upon the flat surface of the cliff before me. The more earnestly

I struggled _not to think, _the more intensely vivid became my

conceptions, and the more horribly distinct. At length arrived that

crisis of fancy, so fearful in all similar cases, the crisis in which

we began to anticipate the feelings with which we _shall _fall-to

picture to ourselves the sickness, and dizziness, and the last

struggle, and the half swoon, and the final bitterness of the rushing

and headlong descent. And now I found these fancies creating their

own realities, and all imagined horrors crowding upon me in fact. I

felt my knees strike violently together, while my fingers were

gradually but certainly relaxing their grasp. There was a ringing in

my ears, and I said, "This is my knell of death!" And now I was

consumed with the irrepressible desire of looking below. I could not,

I would not, confine my glances to the cliff ; and, with a wild,

indefinable emotion, half of horror, half of a relieved oppression, I

threw my vision far down into the abyss. For one moment my fingers

clutched convulsively upon their hold, while, with the movement, the

faintest possible idea of ultimate escape wandered, like a shadow,

through my mind -in the next my whole soul was pervaded with a

longing to fall; a desire, a yearning, a passion utterly

uncontrollable. I let go at once my grasp upon the peg, and, turning

half round from the precipice, remained tottering for an instant

against its naked face. But now there came a spinning of the brain; a

shrill-sounding and phantom voice screamed within my ears; a dusky,

fiendish, and filmy figure stood immediately beneath me; and,

sighing, I sunk down with a bursting heart, and plunged within its

arms.

I had swooned, and Peters had caught me as I fell. He had observed my

proceedings from his station at the bottom of the cliff; and

perceiving my imminent danger, had endeavored to inspire me with

courage by every suggestion he could devise; although my confusion of

mind had been so great as to prevent my hearing what he said, or

being conscious that he had even spoken to me at all. At length,

seeing me totter, he hastened to ascend to my rescue, and arrived

just in time for my preservation. Had I fallen with my full weight,

the rope of linen would inevitably have snapped, and I should have

been precipitated into the abyss; as it was, he contrived to let me

down gently, so as to remain suspended without danger until animation

returned. This was in about fifteen minutes. On recovery, my

trepidation had entirely vanished; I felt a new being, and, with some

little further aid from my companion, reached the bottom also in

safety.

We now found ourselves not far from the ravine which had proved the

tomb of our friends, and to the southward of the spot where the hill

had fallen. The place was one of singular wildness, and its aspect

brought to my mind the descriptions given by travellers of those

dreary regions marking the site of degraded Babylon. Not to speak of

the ruins of the disrupted cliff, which formed a chaotic barrier in

the vista to the northward, the surface of the ground in every other

direction was strewn with huge tumuli, apparently the wreck of some

gigantic structures of art; although, in detail, no semblance of art

could be detected. Scoria were abundant, and large shapeless blocks

of the black granite, intermingled with others of marl, {*6} and both

granulated with metal. Of vegetation there were no traces whatsoever

throughout the whole of the desolate area within sight. Several

immense scorpions were seen, and various reptiles not elsewhere to be

found in the high latitudes. As food was our most immediate object,

we resolved to make our way to the seacoast, distant not more than

half a mile, with a view of catching turtle, several of which we had

observed from our place of concealment on the hill. We had proceeded

some hundred yards, threading our route cautiously between the huge

rocks and tumuli, when, upon turning a corner, five savages sprung

upon us from a small cavern, felling Peters to the ground with a blow

from a club. As he fell the whole party rushed upon him to secure

their victim, leaving me time to recover from my astonishment. T

still had the musket, but the barrel had received so much injury in

being thrown from the precipice that T cast it aside as useless,

preferring to trust my pistols, which had been carefully preserved in

order. With these I advanced upon the assailants, firing one after

the other in quick succession. Two savages fell, and one, who was in

the act of thrusting a spear into Peters, sprung to his feet without

accomplishing his purpose. My companion being thus released, we had

no further difficulty. He had his pistols also, but prudently

declined using them, confiding in his great personal strength, which

far exceeded that of any person I have ever known. Seizing a club

from one of the savages who had fallen, he dashed out the brains of

the three who remained, killing each instantaneously with a single

blow of the weapon, and leaving us completely masters of the field.

So rapidly bad these events passed, that we could scarcely believe in

their reality, and were standing over the bodies of the dead in a

species of stupid contemplation, when we were brought to recollection

by the sound of shouts in the distance, It was clear that the savages

had been alarmed by the firing, and that we had little chance of

avoiding discovery. To regain the cliff, it would be necessary to

proceed in the direction of the shouts, and even should we succeed in

arriving at its base, we should never be able to ascend it without

being seen. Our situation was one of the greatest peril, and we were

hesitating in which path to commence a flight, when one of the

savages _whom _I bad shot, and supposed dead, sprang briskly to his

feet, and attempted to make his escape. We overtook _him, _however,

before he had advanced many paces, and were about to put him to

death, when Peters suggested that we might derive some benefit from

forcing him to accompany us in our attempt to escape. We therefore

dragged him with us, making him understand that we would shoot him if

he offered resistance. In a few minutes he was perfectly submissive,

and ran by our sides as we pushed in among the rocks, making for the

seashore.

So far, the irregularities of the ground we had been traversing hid

the sea, except at intervals, from our sight, and, when we first had

it fairly in view, it was perhaps two hundred yards distant. As we

emerged into the open beach we saw, to our great dismay, an immense

crowd of the natives pouring from the village, and from all visible

quarters of the island, making toward us with gesticulations of

extreme fury, and howling like wild beasts. We were upon the point of

turning upon our steps, and trying to secure a retreat among the

fastnesses of the rougher ground, when I discovered the bows of two

canoes projecting from behind a large rock which ran out into the

water. Toward these we now ran with all speed, and, reaching them,

found them unguarded, and without any other freight than three of the

large Gallipago turtles and the usual supply of paddles for sixty

rowers. We instantly took possession of one of them, and, forcing our

captive on board, pushed out to sea with all the strength we could

command.

We had not made, however, more than fifty yards from the shore before

we became sufficiently calm to perceive the great oversight of which

we had been guilty in leaving the other canoe in the power of the

savages, who, by this time, were not more than twice as far from the

beach as ourselves, and were rapidly advancing to the pursuit. No

time was now to be lost. Our hope was, at best, a forlorn one, but we

had none other. It was very doubtful whether, with the utmost

exertion, we could get back in time to anticipate them in taking

possession of the canoe; but yet there was a chance that we could. We

might save ourselves if we succeeded, while not to make the attempt

was to resign ourselves to inevitable butchery.

The canoe was modelled with the bow and stern alike, and, in place of

turning it around, we merely changed our position in paddling. As

soon as the savages perceived this they redoubled their yells, as

well as their speed, and approached with inconceivable rapidity. We

pulled, however, with all the energy of desperation, and arrived at

the contested point before more than one of the natives had attained

it. This man paid dearly for his superior agility, Peters shooting

him through the head with a pistol as he approached the shore. The

foremost among the rest of his party were probably some twenty or

thirty paces distant as we seized upon the canoe. We at first

endeavored to pull her into the deep water, beyond the reach of the

savages, but, finding her too firmly aground, and there being no time

to spare, Peters, with one or two heavy strokes from the butt of the

musket, succeeded in dashing out a large portion of the bow and of

one side. We then pushed off. Two of the natives by this time had got

hold of our boat, obstinately refusing to let 90, until we were

forced to despatch them with our knives. We were now clear off, and

making great way out to sea. The main body of the savages, upon

reaching the broken canoe, set up the most tremendous yell of rage

and disappointment conceivable. In truth, from everything I could see

of these wretches, they appeared to be the most wicked, hypocritical,

vindictive, bloodthirsty, and altogether fiendish race of men upon

the face of the globe. It is clear we should have had no mercy had we

fallen into their hands. They made a mad attempt at following us in

the fractured canoe, but, finding it useless, again vented their rage

in a series of hideous vociferations, and rushed up into the hills.

We were thus relieved from immediate danger, but our situation was

still sufficiently gloomy. We knew that four canoes of the kind we

had were at one time in the possession of the savages, and were not

aware of the fact (afterward ascertained from our captive) that two

of these had been blown to pieces in the explosion of the _Jane Guy.

_We calculated, therefore, upon being yet pursued, as soon as our

enemies could get round to the bay (distant about three miles) where

the boats were usually laid up. Fearing this, we made every exertion

to leave the island behind us, and went rapidly through the water,

forcing the prisoner to take a paddle. In about half an hour, when we

had gained probably five or six miles to the southward, a large fleet

of the flat-bottomed canoes or rafts were seen to emerge from the bay

evidently with the design of pursuit. Presently they put back,

despairing to overtake us.

~~~ End of Text Chapter 24 ~~~

CHAPTER XXV

WE now found ourselves in the wide and deso late Antarctic Ocean, in

a latitude exceeding eighty-four degrees, in a frail canoe, and with

no provision but the three turtles. The long polar winter, too, could

not be considered as far distant, and it became necessary that we

should deliberate well upon the course to be pursued. There were six

or seven islands in sight belonging to the same group, and distant

from each other about five or six leagues; but upon neither of these

had we any intention to venture. In coming from the northward in the

_Jane _Guy we bad been gradually leaving behind us the severest

regions of ice-this, however little it maybe in accordance with the

generally received notions respecting the Antarctic, was a fact-

experience would not permit us to deny. To attempt, therefore,

getting back would be folly --- especially at so late a period of the

season. Only one course seemed to be left open for hope. We resolved

to steer boldly to the southward, where there was at least a

probability of discovering other lands, and more than a probability

of finding a still milder climate.

So far we had found the Antarctic, like the Arctic Ocean, peculiarly

free from violent storms or immoderately rough water; but our -canoe

was, at best, of frail structure, although large, and we set busily

to work with a view of rendering her as safe as the limited means in

our possession would admit. The body of the boat was of no better

material than bark -the bark of a tree unknown. The ribs were of a

tough osier, well adapted to the purpose for which it was used. We

had fifty feet room from stem to stern, from four to six in breadth,

and in depth throughout four feet and a half-the boats thus differing

vastly in shape from those of any other inhabitants of the Southern

Ocean with whom civilized nations are acquainted. We never did

believe them the workmanship of the ignorant islanders who owned

them; and some days after this period discovered, by questioning our

captive, that they were in fact made by the natives of a group to the

southwest of the country where we found them,, having fallen

accidentally into the hands of our barbarians. What we could do for

the security of our boat was very little indeed. Several wide rents

were discovered near both ends, and these we contrived to patch up

with pieces of woollen jacket. With the help of the superfluous

paddles, of which there were a great many, we erected a kind of

framework about the bow, so as to break the force of any seas which

might threaten to fill us in that quarter. We also set up two

paddle-blades for masts, placing them opposite each other, one by

each gunwale, thus saving the necessity of a yard. To these masts we

attached a sail made of our shirts-doing this with some difficulty,

as here we could get no assistance from our prisoner whatever,

although he bad been willing enough to labor in all the other

operations. The sight of the linen seemed to affect him in a very

singular manner. He could not be prevailed upon to touch it or go

near it, shuddering when we attempted to force him, and shrieking

out, _"Tekeli-Ii!"_

Having completed our arrangements in regard to the security of the

canoe, we now set sail to the south-southeast for the present, with

the view of weathering the most southerly of the group in sight. This

being done, we turned the bow full to the southward. The weather

could by no means be considered disagreeable. We had a prevailing

andvery gentle wind from the northward, a smooth sea, and continual

daylight. No ice whatever was to be seen; _nor did I ever see one

particle of this after leaving the parallel of Bennet's Islet.

_Indeed, the temperature of the water was here far too warm for its

existence in any quantity. Having killed the largest of our

tortoises, and obtained from him not only food but a copious supply

of water, we continued on our course, without any incident of moment,

for perhaps seven or eight days, during which period we must have

proceeded a vast distance to the southward, as the wind blew

constantly with us, and a very strong current set continually in the

direction we were pursuing.

_March 1st_. {*7}-Many unusual phenomena now -indicated that we were

entering upon a region of novelty and wonder. A high range of light

gray vapor appeared constantly in the southern horizon, flaring up

occasionally in lofty streaks, now darting from cast to west, now

from west to east, and again presenting a level and uniform summit-in

short, having all the wild variations of the Aurora Borealis. The

average height of this vapor, as apparent from our station, was about

twenty-five degrees. The temperature of the sea seemed to be

increasing momentarily, and there was a very perceptible alteration

in its color.

_March 2d._-To-day by repeated questioning of our captive, we came to

the knowledge of many particulars in regard to the island of the

massacre, its inhabitants, and customs-but with these how can I now

detain the reader? I may say, however, that we learned there were

eight islands in the group-that they were governed by a common king,

named _Tsalemon _or _Psalemoun, _who resided in one of the smallest

of the islands; that the black skins forming the dress of the

warriors came from an animal of huge size to be found only in a

valley near the court of the king-that the inhabitants of the group

fabricated no other boats than the flat-bottomed rafts; the four

canoes being all of the kind in their possession, and, these having

been obtained, by mere accident, from some large island in' the

southwest-that his own name was Nu-Nu-that he had no knowledge of

Bennet's Islet-and that the appellation of the island he had left was

Tsalal. The commencement of the words _Tsalemon _and Tsalal was given

with a prolonged hissing sound, which 'we found it impossible to

imitate, even after repeated endeavors, and which was precisely the

same with the note of the black bittern we had eaten up on the summit

of the hill.

_March 3d._-The heat of the water was now truly remarkable, and in

color was undergoing a rapid change, being no longer transparent, but

of a milky consistency and hue. In our immediate vicinity it was

usually smooth, never so rough as to endanger the canoe-but we were

frequently surprised at perceiving, to our right and left, at

different distances, sudden and extensive agitations of the surface

these, we at length noticed, were always preceded by wild flickerings

in the region of vapor to the southward.

_March 4th._-To-day, with the view of widening our sail, the breeze

from the northward dying away perceptibly, I took from my coat-pocket

a white handkerchief. Nu-Nu was seated at my elbow, and the linen

accidentally flaring in his face, he became violently affected with

convulsions. These were succeeded by drowsiness and stupor, and low

murmurings of _"'Tekeli-li! Tekeli-Ii!"_

_March _5th.-The wind had entirely ceased, but it was evident that we

were still hurrying on to the southward, under the influence of a

powerful current. And now, -indeed, it would seem reasonable that we

should experience some alarm at the turn events were taking-but we

felt none. The countenance of Peters indicated nothing of this

nature, although it wore at times an expression I could not fathom.

The polar winter appeared to be coming on-but coming without its

terrors. I felt a _numb_ness of body and mind-a dreaminess of

sensation but this was all.

_March 6th._-The gray vapor had now arisen many more degrees above

the horizon, and was gradually losing its grayness of tint. The heat

of the water was extreme, even unpleasant to the touch, and its milky

hue was more evident than ever. Today a violent agitation of the

water occurred very close to the canoe. It was attended, as usual,

with a wild flaring up of the vapor at its summit, and a momentary

division at its base. A fine white powder, resembling ashes-but

certainly not such-fell over the canoe and over a large surface of

the water, as the flickering died away among the vapor and the

commotion subsided in the sea. Nu-Nu now threw himself on his face in

the bottom of the boat, and no persuasions could induce him to arise.

_March 7th._-This day we questioned Nu-Nu concerning the motives of

his countrymen in destroying our companions; but he appeared to be

too utterly overcome by terror to afford us any rational reply. He

still obstinately lay in the bottom of the boat; and, upon

reiterating the questions as to the motive, made use only of idiotic

gesticulations, such as raising with his forefinger the upper lip,

and displaying the teeth which lay beneath it. These were black. We

had never before seen the teeth of an inhabitant of Tsalal. '

_March 8th._-To-day there floated by us one of the white animals

whose appearance upon the beach at Tsalal had occasioned so wild a

commotion among the savages. I would have picked it up, but there

came over me a sudden listlessness, and I forbore. The heat of the

water still increased, and the hand could no longer be endured within

it. Peters spoke little, and I knew not what to think of his apathy.

Nu-Nu breathed, and no more.

_March 9th._-The whole ashy material fell now continually around us,

and in vast quantities. The range of vapor to the southward had

arisen prodigiously in the horizon, and began to assume more

distinctness of form. I can liken it to nothing but a limitless

cataract, rolling silently into the sea from some immense and

far-distant rampart in the heaven. The gigantic curtain ranged along

the whole extent of the southern horizon. It emitted no sound.

_March 21st._-A sullen darkness now hovered above us-but from out the

milky depths of the ocean a luminous glare arose, and stole up along

the bulwarks of the boat. We were nearly overwhelmed by the white

ashy shower which settled upon us and upon the canoe, but melted into

the water as it fell. The summit of the cataract was utterly lost in

the dimness and the distance. Yet we were evidently approaching it

with a hideous velocity. At intervals there were visible in it wide,

yawning, but momentary rents, and from out these rents, within which

was a chaos of flitting and indistinct images, there came rushing and

mighty. but soundless winds, tearing up the enkindled ocean in their

course.

_March 22d._-The darkness had materially increased, relieved only by

the glare of the water thrown back from the white curtain before us.

Many gigantic and pallidly white birds flew continuously now from

beyond the veil, and their scream was the eternal _Tekeli-li! _as

they retreated from our vision. Hereupon Nu-Nu stirred in the bottom

of the boat; but upon touching him we found his spirit departed. And

now we rushed into the embraces of the cataract, where a chasm threw

itself open to receive us. But there arose in our pathway a shrouded

human figure, very far larger in its proportions than any dweller

among men. And the hue of the skin of the figure was of the perfect

whiteness of the snow.

NOTE

THE circumstances connected with the late sudden and distressing

death of Mr. Pym are already well known to the public through the

medium of the daily press. It is feared that the few remaining

chapters which were to have completed his narrative, and which were

retained by him, while the above were in type, for the purpose of

revision, have been irrecoverably lost through the accident by which

he perished himself. This, however, may prove not to be the case, and

the papers, if ultimately found, will be given to the public.

No means have been left untried to remedy the deficiency. The

gentleman whose name is mentioned in the preface, and who, from the

statement there made, might be supposed able to fill the vacuum, has

declined the task-this, for satisfactory reasons connected with the

general inaccuracy of the details afforded him, and his disbelief in

the entire truth of the latter portions of the narration. Peters,

from whom some information might be expected, is still alive, and a

resident of Illinois, but cannot be met with at present. He may

hereafter be found, and will, no doubt, afford material for a

conclusion of Mr. Pym's account.

The loss of two or three final chapters (for there were but two or

three) is the more deeply to be regretted, as it can not be doubted

they contained matter relative to the Pole itself, or at least to

regions in its very near proximity; and as, too, the statements of

the author in relation to these regions may shortly be verified or

contradicted by means of the governmental expedition now preparing

for the Southern Ocean.

On one point in the narrative some remarks may well be offered; and

it would afford the writer of this appendix much pleasure if what he

may here observe should have a tendency to throw credit, in any

degree, upon the very singular pages now published. We allude to the

chasms found in the island of Tsalal, and to the whole of the figures

upon pages 245-47 {of the printed edition -ed.}.

Mr. Pym has given the figures of the chasms without comment, and

speaks decidedly of the _indentures _found at the extremity of the

most easterly of these chasms as having but a fanciful resemblance to

alphabetical characters, and, in short, as being positively _not

such. _This assertion is made in a manner so simple, and sustained by

a species of demonstration so conclusive (viz., the fitting of the

projections of the fragments found among the dust into the indentures

upon the wall), that we are forced to believe the writer in earnest;

and no reasonable reader should suppose otherwise. But as the facts

in relation to all the figures are most singular (especially when

taken in connection with statements made in the body of the

narrative), it may be as well to say a word or two concerning them

all-this, too, the more especially as the facts in question have,

beyond doubt, escaped the attention of Mr. Poe.

Figure 1, then, figure 2, figure 3, and figure 5, when conjoined with

one another in the precise order which the chasms themselves

presented, and when deprived of the small lateral branches or arches

(which, it will be remembered, served only as a means of

communication between the main chambers, and were of totally distinct

character), constitute an Ethiopian verbal root-the root {image} "To

be shady,'-- whence all the inflections of shadow or darkness.

In regard to the "left or most northwardly" of the indentures in

figure 4, it is more than probable that the opinion of Peters was

correct, and that the hieroglyphical appearance was really the work

of art, and intended as the representation of a human form. The

delineation is before the reader, and he may, or may not, perceive

the resemblance suggested; but the rest of the indentures afford

strong confirmation of Peters' idea. The upper range is evidently the

Arabic verbal root {image}. "To be white," whence all the inflections

of brilliancy and whiteness. The lower range is not so immediately

perspicuous. The characters are somewhat broken and disjointed;

nevertheless, it can not be doubted that, in their perfect state,

they formed the full Egyptian word {image}. "The region of the

south.' It should be observed that these interpretations confirm the

opinion of Peters in regard to the "most northwardly" of the,

figures. The arm is outstretched toward the south.

Conclusions such as these open a wide field for speculation and

exciting conjecture. They should be regarded, perhaps, in connection

with some of the most faintly detailed incidents of the narrative;

although in no visible manner is this chain of connection complete.

Tekeli-li! was the cry of the affrighted natives of Tsalal upon

discovering the carcase of the _white _animal picked up at sea. This

also was the shuddering exclamatives of Tsalal upon discovering the

carcass of the _white _materials in possession of Mr. Pym. This also

was the shriek of the swift-flying, _white, _and gigantic birds which

issued from the vapory _white _curtain of the South. Nothing _white

_was to be found at Tsalal, and nothing otherwise in the subsequent

voyage to the region beyond. It is not impossible that "Tsalal," the

appellation of the island of the chasms, may be found, upon minute

philological scrutiny, to betray either some alliance with the chasms

themselves, or some reference to the Ethiopian characters so

mysteriously written in their windings.

_"I have graven it within the hills, and my vengeance upon the dust

within the rock."_

~~~ End of text Chapter 25 ~~~

Notes

{*1} Whaling vessels are usually fitted with iron oil-tanks- why the

_Grampus_ was not I have never been able to ascertain.

{*2} The case of the brig _Polly_, of Boston, is one so much in

point, and her fate, in many respects, so remarkably similar to our

own, that I cannot forbear alluding to it here. This vessel, of one

hundred and thirty tons burden, sailed from Boston, with a cargo of

lumber and provisions, for Santa Croix, on the twelfth of December,

1811, under the command of Captain Casneau. There were eight souls on

board besides the captain- the mate, four seamen, and the cook,

together with a Mr. Hunt, and a negro girl belonging to him. On the

fifteenth, having cleared the shoal of Georges, she sprung a leak in

a gale of wind from the southeast, and was finally capsized; but, the

masts going by the board, she afterward righted. They remained in

this situation, without fire, and with very little provision, for the

period of one hundred and ninety-one days (from December the

fifteenth to June the twentieth), when Captain Casneau and Samuel

Badger, the only survivors, were taken off the wreck by the Fame, of

Hull, Captain Featherstone, bound home from Rio Janeiro. When picked

up, they were in latitude 28 degrees N., longitude 13 degrees W.,

having drifted above two thousand miles! On the ninth of July the

Fame fell in with the brig Dromero, Captain Perkins, who landed the

two sufferers in Kennebeck. The narrative from which we gather these

details ends in the following words:

"It is natural to inquire how they could float such a vast

distance, upon the most frequented part of the Atlantic, and not be

discovered all this time. They were passed by more than a dozen sail,

one of which came so nigh them that they could distinctly see the

people on deck and on the rigging looking at them; but, to the

inexpressible disappointment of the starving and freezing men, they

stifled the dictates of compassion, hoisted sail, and cruelly

abandoned them to their fate."

{*3} Among the vessels which at various times have professed to meet

with the Auroras may be mentioned the ship San Miguel, in 1769; the

ship Aurora, in 1774; the brig Pearl, in 1779; and the ship Dolores,

in 1790. They all agree in giving the mean latitude fifty-three

degrees south.

{*4} The terms morning and evening, which I have made use of to avoid

confusion in my narrative, as far as possible, must not, of course,

be taken in their ordinary sense. For a long time past we had had no

night at all, the daylight being continual. The dates throughout are

according to nautical time, and the bearing must be understood as per

compass. I would also remark, in this place, that I cannot, in the

first portion of what is here written, pretend to strict accuracy in

respect to dates, or latitudes and longitudes, having kept no regular

journal until after the period of which this first portion treats. In

many instances I have relied altogether upon memory.

{*5} This day was rendered remarkable by our observing in the south

several huge wreaths of the grayish vapour I have spoken of.

{*6} The marl was also black; indeed, we noticed no light colored

substances of any kind upon the island.

{*7}For obvious reasons I cannot pretend to strict accuracy in these

dates. They are given principally with a view to perspicity of

naarrative, and as set down in my pencil memorandum..

~~~~~~ End of Text ~~~~~~ Narrative of A. Gordon Pym

======

LIGEIA

And the will therein lieth, which dieth not. Who knoweth the

mysteries of the will, with its vigor? For God is but a great will

pervading all things by nature of its intentness. Man doth not yield

himself to the angels, nor unto death utterly, save only through the

weakness of his feeble will. --Joseph Glanvill.

I Cannot, for my soul, remember how, when, or even precisely where, I

first became acquainted with the lady Ligeia. Long years have since

elapsed, and my memory is feeble through much suffering. Or, perhaps,

I cannot now bring these points to mind, because, in truth, the

character of my beloved, her rare learning, her singular yet placid

cast of beauty, and the thrilling and enthralling eloquence of her

low musical language, made their way into my heart by paces so

steadily and stealthily progressive that they have been unnoticed and

unknown. Yet I believe that I met her first and most frequently in

some large, old, decaying city near the Rhine. Of her family -- I

have surely heard her speak. That it is of a remotely ancient date

cannot be doubted. Ligeia! Ligeia! in studies of a nature more than

all else adapted to deaden impressions of the outward world, it is by

that sweet word alone -- by Ligeia -- that I bring before mine eyes

in fancy the image of her who is no more. And now, while I write, a

recollection flashes upon me that I have never known the paternal

name of her who was my friend and my betrothed, and who became the

partner of my studies, and finally the wife of my bosom. Was it a

playful charge on the part of my Ligeia? or was it a test of my

strength of affection, that I should institute no inquiries upon this

point? or was it rather a caprice of my own -- a wildly romantic

offering on the shrine of the most passionate devotion? I but

indistinctly recall the fact itself -- what wonder that I have

utterly forgotten the circumstances which originated or attended it?

And, indeed, if ever she, the wan and the misty-winged Ashtophet of

idolatrous Egypt, presided, as they tell, over marriages ill-omened,

then most surely she presided over mine.

There is one dear topic, however, on which my memory falls me not. It

is the person of Ligeia. In stature she was tall, somewhat slender,

and, in her latter days, even emaciated. I would in vain attempt to

portray the majesty, the quiet ease, of her demeanor, or the

incomprehensible lightness and elasticity of her footfall. She came

and departed as a shadow. I was never made aware of her entrance into

my closed study save by the dear music of her low sweet voice, as she

placed her marble hand upon my shoulder. In beauty of face no maiden

ever equalled her. It was the radiance of an opium-dream -- an airy

and spirit-lifting vision more wildly divine than the phantasies

which hovered vision about the slumbering souls of the daughters of

Delos. Yet her features were not of that regular mould which we have

been falsely taught to worship in the classical labors of the

heathen. "There is no exquisite beauty," says Bacon, Lord Verulam,

speaking truly of all the forms and genera of beauty, without some

strangeness in the proportion." Yet, although I saw that the features

of Ligeia were not of a classic regularity -- although I perceived

that her loveliness was indeed "exquisite," and felt that there was

much of "strangeness" pervading it, yet I have tried in vain to

detect the irregularity and to trace home my own perception of "the

strange." I examined the contour of the lofty and pale forehead -- it

was faultless -- how cold indeed that word when applied to a majesty

so divine! -- the skin rivalling the purest ivory, the commanding

extent and repose, the gentle prominence of the regions above the

temples; and then the raven-black, the glossy, the luxuriant and

naturally-curling tresses, setting forth the full force of the

Homeric epithet, "hyacinthine!" I looked at the delicate outlines of

the nose -- and nowhere but in the graceful medallions of the Hebrews

had I beheld a similar perfection. There were the same luxurious

smoothness of surface, the same scarcely perceptible tendency to the

aquiline, the same harmoniously curved nostrils speaking the free

spirit. I regarded the sweet mouth. Here was indeed the triumph of

all things heavenly -- the magnificent turn of the short upper lip --

the soft, voluptuous slumber of the under -- the dimples which

sported, and the color which spoke -- the teeth glancing back, with a

brilliancy almost startling, every ray of the holy light which fell

upon them in her serene and placid, yet most exultingly radiant of

all smiles. I scrutinized the formation of the chin -- and here, too,

I found the gentleness of breadth, the softness and the majesty, the

fullness and the spirituality, of the Greek -- the contour which the

god Apollo revealed but in a dream, to Cleomenes, the son of the

Athenian. And then I peered into the large eves of Ligeia.

For eyes we have no models in the remotely antique. It might have

been, too, that in these eves of my beloved lay the secret to which

Lord Verulam alludes. They were, I must believe, far larger than the

ordinary eyes of our own race. They were even fuller than the fullest

of the gazelle eyes of the tribe of the valley of Nourjahad. Yet it

was only at intervals -- in moments of intense excitement -- that

this peculiarity became more than slightly noticeable in Ligeia. And

at such moments was her beauty -- in my heated fancy thus it appeared

perhaps -- the beauty of beings either above or apart from the earth

-- the beauty of the fabulous Houri of the Turk. The hue of the orbs

was the most brilliant of black, and, far over them, hung jetty

lashes of great length. The brows, slightly irregular in outline, had

the same tint. The "strangeness," however, which I found in the eyes,

was of a nature distinct from the formation, or the color, or the

brilliancy of the features, and must, after all, be referred to the

expression. Ah, word of no meaning! behind whose vast latitude of

mere sound we intrench our ignorance of so much of the spiritual. The

expression of the eyes of Ligeia! How for long hours have I pondered

upon it! How have I, through the whole of a midsummer night,

struggled to fathom it! What was it -- that something more profound

than the well of Democritus -- which lay far within the pupils of my

beloved? What was it? I was possessed with a passion to discover.

Those eyes! those large, those shining, those divine orbs! they

became to me twin stars of Leda, and I to them devoutest of

astrologers.

There is no point, among the many incomprehensible anomalies of the

science of mind, more thrillingly exciting than the fact -- never, I

believe, noticed in the schools -- that, in our endeavors to recall

to memory something long forgotten, we often find ourselves upon the

very verge of remembrance, without being able, in the end, to

remember. And thus how frequently, in my intense scrutiny of Ligeia's

eyes, have I felt approaching the full knowledge of their expression

-- felt it approaching -- yet not quite be mine -- and so at length

entirely depart! And (strange, oh strangest mystery of all!) I found,

in the commonest objects of the universe, a circle of analogies to

theat expression. I mean to say that, subsequently to the period when

Ligeia's beauty passed into my spirit, there dwelling as in a shrine,

I derived, from many existences in the material world, a sentiment

such as I felt always aroused within me by her large and luminous

orbs. Yet not the more could I define that sentiment, or analyze, or

even steadily view it. I recognized it, let me repeat, sometimes in

the survey of a rapidly-growing vine -- in the contemplation of a

moth, a butterfly, a chrysalis, a stream of running water. I have

felt it in the ocean; in the falling of a meteor. I have felt it in

the glances of unusually aged people. And there are one or two stars

in heaven -- (one especially, a star of the sixth magnitude, double

and changeable, to be found near the large star in Lyra) in a

telescopic scrutiny of which I have been made aware of the feeling. I

have been filled with it by certain sounds from stringed instruments,

and not unfrequently by passages from books. Among innumerable other

instances, I well remember something in a volume of Joseph Glanvill,

which (perhaps merely from its quaintness -- who shall say?) never

failed to inspire me with the sentiment; -- "And the will therein

lieth, which dieth not. Who knoweth the mysteries of the will, with

its vigor? For God is but a great will pervading all things by nature

of its intentness. Man doth not yield him to the angels, nor unto

death utterly, save only through the weakness of his feeble will."

Length of years, and subsequent reflection, have enabled me to trace,

indeed, some remote connection between this passage in the English

moralist and a portion of the character of Ligeia. An intensity in

thought, action, or speech, was possibly, in her, a result, or at

least an index, of that gigantic volition which, during our long

intercourse, failed to give other and more immediate evidence of its

existence. Of all the women whom I have ever known, she, the

outwardly calm, the ever-placid Ligeia, was the most violently a prey

to the tumultuous vultures of stern passion. And of such passion I

could form no estimate, save by the miraculous expansion of those

eyes which at once so delighted and appalled me -- by the almost

magical melody, modulation, distinctness and placidity of her very

low voice -- and by the fierce energy (rendered doubly effective by

contrast with her manner of utterance) of the wild words which she

habitually uttered.

I have spoken of the learning of Ligeia: it was immense -- such as I

have never known in woman. In the classical tongues was she deeply

proficient, and as far as my own acquaintance extended in regard to

the modern dialects of Europe, I have never known her at fault.

Indeed upon any theme of the most admired, because simply the most

abstruse of the boasted erudition of the academy, have I ever found

Ligeia at fault? How singularly -- how thrillingly, this one point in

the nature of my wife has forced itself, at this late period only,

upon my attention! I said her knowledge was such as I have never

known in woman -- but where breathes the man who has traversed, and

successfully, all the wide areas of moral, physical, and mathematical

science? I saw not then what I now clearly perceive, that the

acquisitions of Ligeia were gigantic, were astounding; yet I was

sufficiently aware of her infinite supremacy to resign myself, with a

child-like confidence, to her guidance through the chaotic world of

metaphysical investigation at which I was most busily occupied during

the earlier years of our marriage. With how vast a triumph -- with

how vivid a delight -- with how much of all that is ethereal in hope

-- did I feel, as she bent over me in studies but little sought --

but less known -- that delicious vista by slow degrees expanding

before me, down whose long, gorgeous, and all untrodden path, I might

at length pass onward to the goal of a wisdom too divinely precious

not to be forbidden!

How poignant, then, must have been the grief with which, after some

years, I beheld my well-grounded expectations take wings to

themselves and fly away! Without Ligeia I was but as a child groping

benighted. Her presence, her readings alone, rendered vividly

luminous the many mysteries of the transcendentalism in which we were

immersed. Wanting the radiant lustre of her eyes, letters, lambent

and golden, grew duller than Saturnian lead. And now those eyes shone

less and less frequently upon the pages over which I pored. Ligeia

grew ill. The wild eyes blazed with a too -- too glorious effulgence;

the pale fingers became of the transparent waxen hue of the grave,

and the blue veins upon the lofty forehead swelled and sank

impetuously with the tides of the gentle emotion. I saw that she must

die -- and I struggled desperately in spirit with the grim Azrael.

And the struggles of the passionate wife were, to my astonishment,

even more energetic than my own. There had been much in her stern

nature to impress me with the belief that, to her, death would have

come without its terrors; -- but not so. Words are impotent to convey

any just idea of the fierceness of resistance with which she wrestled

with the Shadow. I groaned in anguish at the pitiable spectacle.

would have soothed -- I would have reasoned; but, in the intensity of

her wild desire for life, -- for life -- but for life -- solace and

reason were the uttermost folly. Yet not until the last instance,

amid the most convulsive writhings of her fierce spirit, was shaken

the external placidity of her demeanor. Her voice grew more gentle --

grew more low -- yet I would not wish to dwell upon the wild meaning

of the quietly uttered words. My brain reeled as I hearkened

entranced, to a melody more than mortal -- to assumptions and

aspirations which mortality had never before known.

That she loved me I should not have doubted; and I might have been

easily aware that, in a bosom such as hers, love would have reigned

no ordinary passion. But in death only, was I fully impressed with

the strength of her affection. For long hours, detaining my hand,

would she pour out before me the overflowing of a heart whose more

than passionate devotion amounted to idolatry. How had I deserved to

be so blessed by such confessions? -- how had I deserved to be so

cursed with the removal of my beloved in the hour of her making them,

But upon this subject I cannot bear to dilate. Let me say only, that

in Ligeia's more than womanly abandonment to a love, alas! all

unmerited, all unworthily bestowed, I at length recognized the

principle of her longing with so wildly earnest a desire for the life

which was now fleeing so rapidly away. It is this wild longing -- it

is this eager vehemence of desire for life -- but for life -- that I

have no power to portray -- no utterance capable of expressing.

At high noon of the night in which she departed, beckoning me,

peremptorily, to her side, she bade me repeat certain verses composed

by herself not many days before. I obeyed her. -- They were these:

Lo! 'tis a gala night

Within the lonesome latter years!

An angel throng, bewinged, bedight

In veils, and drowned in tears,

Sit in a theatre, to see

A play of hopes and fears,

While the orchestra breathes fitfully

The music of the spheres.

Mimes, in the form of God on high,

Mutter and mumble low,

And hither and thither fly;

Mere puppets they, who come and go

At bidding of vast formless things

That shift the scenery to and fro,

Flapping from out their Condor wings

Invisible Wo!

That motley drama! -- oh, be sure

It shall not be forgot!

With its Phantom chased forever more,

By a crowd that seize it not,

Through a circle that ever returneth in

To the self-same spot,

And much of Madness and more of Sin

And Horror the soul of the plot.

But see, amid the mimic rout,

A crawling shape intrude!

A blood-red thing that writhes from out

The scenic solitude!

It writhes! -- it writhes! -- with mortal pangs

The mimes become its food,

And the seraphs sob at vermin fangs

In human gore imbued.

Out -- out are the lights -- out all!

And over each quivering form,

The curtain, a funeral pall,

Comes down with the rush of a storm,

And the angels, all pallid and wan,

Uprising, unveiling, affirm

That the play is the tragedy, "Man,"

And its hero the Conqueror Worm.

"O God!" half shrieked Ligeia, leaping to her feet and extending her

arms aloft with a spasmodic movement, as I made an end of these lines

-- "O God! O Divine Father! -- shall these things be undeviatingly

so? -- shall this Conqueror be not once conquered? Are we not part

and parcel in Thee? Who -- who knoweth the mysteries of the will with

its vigor? Man doth not yield him to the angels, nor unto death

utterly, save only through the weakness of his feeble will."

And now, as if exhausted with emotion, she suffered her white arms to

fall, and returned solemnly to her bed of death. And as she breathed

her last sighs, there came mingled with them a low murmur from her

lips. I bent to them my ear and distinguished, again, the concluding

words of the passage in Glanvill -- "Man doth not yield him to the

angels, nor unto death utterly, save only through the weakness of his

feeble will."

She died; -- and I, crushed into the very dust with sorrow, could no

longer endure the lonely desolation of my dwelling in the dim and

decaying city by the Rhine. I had no lack of what the world calls

wealth. Ligeia had brought me far more, very far more than ordinarily

falls to the lot of mortals. After a few months, therefore, of weary

and aimless wandering, I purchased, and put in some repair, an abbey,

which I shall not name, in one of the wildest and least frequented

portions of fair England. The gloomy and dreary grandeur of the

building, the almost savage aspect of the domain, the many melancholy

and time-honored memories connected with both, had much in unison

with the feelings of utter abandonment which had driven me into that

remote and unsocial region of the country. Yet although the external

abbey, with its verdant decay hanging about it, suffered but little

alteration, I gave way, with a child-like perversity, and perchance

with a faint hope of alleviating my sorrows, to a display of more

than regal magnificence within. -- For such follies, even in

childhood, I had imbibed a taste and now they came back to me as if

in the dotage of grief. Alas, I feel how much even of incipient

madness might have been discovered in the gorgeous and fantastic

draperies, in the solemn carvings of Egypt, in the wild cornices and

furniture, in the Bedlam patterns of the carpets of tufted gold! I

had become a bounden slave in the trammels of opium, and my labors

and my orders had taken a coloring from my dreams. But these

absurdities must not pause to detail. Let me speak only of that one

chamber, ever accursed, whither in a moment of mental alienation, I

led from the altar as my bride -- as the successor of the unforgotten

Ligeia -- the fair-haired and blue-eyed Lady Rowena Trevanion, of

Tremaine.

There is no individual portion of the architecture and decoration of

that bridal chamber which is not now visibly before me. Where were

the souls of the haughty family of the bride, when, through thirst of

gold, they permitted to pass the threshold of an apartment so

bedecked, a maiden and a daughter so beloved? I have said that I

minutely remember the details of the chamber -- yet I am sadly

forgetful on topics of deep moment -- and here there was no system,

no keeping, in the fantastic display, to take hold upon the memory.

The room lay in a high turret of the castellated abbey, was

pentagonal in shape, and of capacious size. Occupying the whole

southern face of the pentagon was the sole window -- an immense sheet

of unbroken glass from Venice -- a single pane, and tinted of a

leaden hue, so that the rays of either the sun or moon, passing

through it, fell with a ghastly lustre on the objects within. Over

the upper portion of this huge window, extended the trellice-work of

an aged vine, which clambered up the massy walls of the turret. The

ceiling, of gloomy-looking oak, was excessively lofty, vaulted, and

elaborately fretted with the wildest and most grotesque specimens of

a semi-Gothic, semi-Druidical device. From out the most central

recess of this melancholy vaulting, depended, by a single chain of

gold with long links, a huge censer of the same metal, Saracenic in

pattern, and with many perforations so contrived that there writhed

in and out of them, as if endued with a serpent vitality, a continual

succession of parti-colored fires.

Some few ottomans and golden candelabra, of Eastern figure, were in

various stations about -- and there was the couch, too -- bridal

couch -- of an Indian model, and low, and sculptured of solid ebony,

with a pall-like canopy above. In each of the angles of the chamber

stood on end a gigantic sarcophagus of black granite, from the tombs

of the kings over against Luxor, with their aged lids full of

immemorial sculpture. But in the draping of the apartment lay, alas!

the chief phantasy of all. The lofty walls, gigantic in height --

even unproportionably so -- were hung from summit to foot, in vast

folds, with a heavy and massive-looking tapestry -- tapestry of a

material which was found alike as a carpet on the floor, as a

covering for the ottomans and the ebony bed, as a canopy for the bed,

and as the gorgeous volutes of the curtains which partially shaded

the window. The material was the richest cloth of gold. It was

spotted all over, at irregular intervals, with arabesque figures,

about a foot in diameter, and wrought upon the cloth in patterns of

the most jetty black. But these figures partook of the true character

of the arabesque only when regarded from a single point of view. By a

contrivance now common, and indeed traceable to a very remote period

of antiquity, they were made changeable in aspect. To one entering

the room, they bore the appearance of simple monstrosities; but upon

a farther advance, this appearance gradually departed; and step by

step, as the visitor moved his station in the chamber, he saw himself

surrounded by an endless succession of the ghastly forms which belong

to the superstition of the Norman, or arise in the guilty slumbers of

the monk. The phantasmagoric effect was vastly heightened by the

artificial introduction of a strong continual current of wind behind

the draperies -- giving a hideous and uneasy animation to the whole.

In halls such as these -- in a bridal chamber such as this -- I

passed, with the Lady of Tremaine, the unhallowed hours of the first

month of our marriage -- passed them with but little disquietude.

That my wife dreaded the fierce moodiness of my temper -- that she

shunned me and loved me but little -- I could not help perceiving;

but it gave me rather pleasure than otherwise. I loathed her with a

hatred belonging more to demon than to man. My memory flew back, (oh,

with what intensity of regret!) to Ligeia, the beloved, the august,

the beautiful, the entombed. I revelled in recollections of her

purity, of her wisdom, of her lofty, her ethereal nature, of her

passionate, her idolatrous love. Now, then, did my spirit fully and

freely burn with more than all the fires of her own. In the

excitement of my opium dreams (for I was habitually fettered in the

shackles of the drug) I would call aloud upon her name, during the

silence of the night, or among the sheltered recesses of the glens by

day, as if, through the wild eagerness, the solemn passion, the

consuming ardor of my longing for the departed, I could restore her

to the pathway she had abandoned -- ah, could it be forever? -- upon

the earth.

About the commencement of the second month of the marriage, the Lady

Rowena was attacked with sudden illness, from which her recovery was

slow. The fever which consumed her rendered her nights uneasy; and in

her perturbed state of half-slumber, she spoke of sounds, and of

motions, in and about the chamber of the turret, which I concluded

had no origin save in the distemper of her fancy, or perhaps in the

phantasmagoric influences of the chamber itself. She became at length

convalescent -- finally well. Yet but a brief period elapsed, ere a

second more violent disorder again threw her upon a bed of suffering;

and from this attack her frame, at all times feeble, never altogether

recovered. Her illnesses were, after this epoch, of alarming

character, and of more alarming recurrence, defying alike the

knowledge and the great exertions of her physicians. With the

increase of the chronic disease which had thus, apparently, taken too

sure hold upon her constitution to be eradicated by human means, I

could not fall to observe a similar increase in the nervous

irritation of her temperament, and in her excitability by trivial

causes of fear. She spoke again, and now more frequently and

pertinaciously, of the sounds -- of the slight sounds -- and of the

unusual motions among the tapestries, to which she had formerly

alluded.

One night, near the closing in of September, she pressed this

distressing subject with more than usual emphasis upon my attention.

She had just awakened from an unquiet slumber, and I had been

watching, with feelings half of anxiety, half of vague terror, the

workings of her emaciated countenance. I sat by the side of her ebony

bed, upon one of the ottomans of India. She partly arose, and spoke,

in an earnest low whisper, of sounds which she then heard, but which

I could not hear -- of motions which she then saw, but which I could

not perceive. The wind was rushing hurriedly behind the tapestries,

and I wished to show her (what, let me confess it, I could not all

believe) that those almost inarticulate breathings, and those very

gentle variations of the figures upon the wall, were but the natural

effects of that customary rushing of the wind. But a deadly pallor,

overspreading her face, had proved to me that my exertions to

reassure her would be fruitless. She appeared to be fainting, and no

attendants were within call. I remembered where was deposited a

decanter of light wine which had been ordered by her physicians, and

hastened across the chamber to procure it. But, as I stepped beneath

the light of the censer, two circumstances of a startling nature

attracted my attention. I had felt that some palpable although

invisible object had passed lightly by my person; and I saw that

there lay upon the golden carpet, in the very middle of the rich

lustre thrown from the censer, a shadow -- a faint, indefinite shadow

of angelic aspect -- such as might be fancied for the shadow of a

shade. But I was wild with the excitement of an immoderate dose of

opium, and heeded these things but little, nor spoke of them to

Rowena. Having found the wine, I recrossed the chamber, and poured

out a gobletful, which I held to the lips of the fainting lady. She

had now partially recovered, however, and took the vessel herself,

while I sank upon an ottoman near me, with my eyes fastened upon her

person. It was then that I became distinctly aware of a gentle

footfall upon the carpet, and near the couch; and in a second

thereafter, as Rowena was in the act of raising the wine to her lips,

I saw, or may have dreamed that I saw, fall within the goblet, as if

from some invisible spring in the atmosphere of the room, three or

four large drops of a brilliant and ruby colored fluid. If this I saw

-- not so Rowena. She swallowed the wine unhesitatingly, and I

forbore to speak to her of a circumstance which must, after all, I

considered, have been but the suggestion of a vivid imagination,

rendered morbidly active by the terror of the lady, by the opium, and

by the hour.

Yet I cannot conceal it from my own perception that, immediately

subsequent to the fall of the ruby-drops, a rapid change for the

worse took place in the disorder of my wife; so that, on the third

subsequent night, the hands of her menials prepared her for the tomb,

and on the fourth, I sat alone, with her shrouded body, in that

fantastic chamber which had received her as my bride. -- Wild

visions, opium-engendered, flitted, shadow-like, before me. I gazed

with unquiet eye upon the sarcophagi in the angles of the room, upon

the varying figures of the drapery, and upon the writhing of the

parti-colored fires in the censer overhead. My eyes then fell, as I

called to mind the circumstances of a former night, to the spot

beneath the glare of the censer where I had seen the faint traces of

the shadow. It was there, however, no longer; and breathing with

greater freedom, I turned my glances to the pallid and rigid figure

upon the bed. Then rushed upon me a thousand memories of Ligeia --

and then came back upon my heart, with the turbulent violence of a

flood, the whole of that unutterable wo with which I had regarded her

thus enshrouded. The night waned; and still, with a bosom full of

bitter thoughts of the one only and supremely beloved, I remained

gazing upon the body of Rowena.

It might have been midnight, or perhaps earlier, or later, for I had

taken no note of time, when a sob, low, gentle, but very distinct,

startled me from my revery. -- I felt that it came from the bed of

ebony -- the bed of death. I listened in an agony of superstitious

terror -- but there was no repetition of the sound. I strained my

vision to detect any motion in the corpse -- but there was not the

slightest perceptible. Yet I could not have been deceived. I had

heard the noise, however faint, and my soul was awakened within me. I

resolutely and perseveringly kept my attention riveted upon the body.

Many minutes elapsed before any circumstance occurred tending to

throw light upon the mystery. At length it became evident that a

slight, a very feeble, and barely noticeable tinge of color had

flushed up within the cheeks, and along the sunken small veins of the

eyelids. Through a species of unutterable horror and awe, for which

the language of mortality has no sufficiently energetic expression, I

felt my heart cease to beat, my limbs grow rigid where I sat. Yet a

sense of duty finally operated to restore my self-possession. I could

no longer doubt that we had been precipitate in our preparations --

that Rowena still lived. It was necessary that some immediate

exertion be made; yet turret was altogether apart from the portion of

the abbey tenanted by the servants -- there were none within call --

I had no means of summoning them to my aid without leaving the room

for many minutes -- and this I could not venture to do. I therefore

struggled alone in my endeavors to call back the spirit ill hovering.

In a short period it was certain, however, that a relapse had taken

place; the color disappeared from both eyelid and cheek, leaving a

wanness even more than that of marble; the lips became doubly

shrivelled and pinched up in the ghastly expression of death; a

repulsive clamminess and coldness overspread rapidly the surface of

the body; and all the usual rigorous illness immediately supervened.

I fell back with a shudder upon the couch from which I had been so

startlingly aroused, and again gave myself up to passionate waking

visions of Ligeia.

An hour thus elapsed when (could it be possible?) I was a second time

aware of some vague sound issuing from the region of the bed. I

listened -- in extremity of horror. The sound came again -- it was a

sigh. Rushing to the corpse, I saw -- distinctly saw -- a tremor upon

the lips. In a minute afterward they relaxed, disclosing a bright

line of the pearly teeth. Amazement now struggled in my bosom with

the profound awe which had hitherto reigned there alone. I felt that

my vision grew dim, that my reason wandered; and it was only by a

violent effort that I at length succeeded in nerving myself to the

task which duty thus once more had pointed out. There was now a

partial glow upon the forehead and upon the cheek and throat; a

perceptible warmth pervaded the whole frame; there was even a slight

pulsation at the heart. The lady lived; and with redoubled ardor I

betook myself to the task of restoration. I chafed and bathed the

temples and the hands, and used every exertion which experience, and

no little. medical reading, could suggest. But in vain. Suddenly, the

color fled, the pulsation ceased, the lips resumed the expression of

the dead, and, in an instant afterward, the whole body took upon

itself the icy chilliness, the livid hue, the intense rigidity, the

sunken outline, and all the loathsome peculiarities of that which has

been, for many days, a tenant of the tomb.

And again I sunk into visions of Ligeia -- and again, (what marvel

that I shudder while I write,) again there reached my ears a low sob

from the region of the ebony bed. But why shall I minutely detail the

unspeakable horrors of that night? Why shall I pause to relate how,

time after time, until near the period of the gray dawn, this hideous

drama of revivification was repeated; how each terrific relapse was

only into a sterner and apparently more irredeemable death; how each

agony wore the aspect of a struggle with some invisible foe; and how

each struggle was succeeded by I know not what of wild change in the

personal appearance of the corpse? Let me hurry to a conclusion.

The greater part of the fearful night had worn away, and she who had

been dead, once again stirred -- and now more vigorously than

hitherto, although arousing from a dissolution more appalling in its

utter hopelessness than any. I had long ceased to struggle or to

move, and remained sitting rigidly upon the ottoman, a helpless prey

to a whirl of violent emotions, of which extreme awe was perhaps the

least terrible, the least consuming. The corpse, I repeat, stirred,

and now more vigorously than before. The hues of life flushed up with

unwonted energy into the countenance -- the limbs relaxed -- and,

save that the eyelids were yet pressed heavily together, and that the

bandages and draperies of the grave still imparted their charnel

character to the figure, I might have dreamed that Rowena had indeed

shaken off, utterly, the fetters of Death. But if this idea was not,

even then, altogether adopted, I could at least doubt no longer,

when, arising from the bed, tottering, with feeble steps, with closed

eyes, and with the manner of one bewildered in a dream, the thing

that was enshrouded advanced boldly and palpably into the middle of

the apartment.

I trembled not -- I stirred not -- for a crowd of unutterable fancies

connected with the air, the stature, the demeanor of the figure,

rushing hurriedly through my brain, had paralyzed -- had chilled me

into stone. I stirred not -- but gazed upon the apparition. There was

a mad disorder in my thoughts -- a tumult unappeasable. Could it,

indeed, be the living Rowena who confronted me? Could it indeed be

Rowena at all -- the fair-haired, the blue-eyed Lady Rowena Trevanion

of Tremaine? Why, why should I doubt it? The bandage lay heavily

about the mouth -- but then might it not be the mouth of the

breathing Lady of Tremaine? And the cheeks-there were the roses as in

her noon of life -- yes, these might indeed be the fair cheeks of the

living Lady of Tremaine. And the chin, with its dimples, as in

health, might it not be hers? -- but had she then grown taller since

her malady? What inexpressible madness seized me with that thought?

One bound, and I had reached her feet! Shrinking from my touch, she

let fall from her head, unloosened, the ghastly cerements which had

confined it, and there streamed forth, into the rushing atmosphere of

the chamber, huge masses of long and dishevelled hair; it was blacker

than the raven wings of the midnight! And now slowly opened the eyes

of the figure which stood before me. "Here then, at least," I

shrieked aloud, "can I never -- can I never be mistaken -- these are

the full, and the black, and the wild eyes -- of my lost love -- of

the lady -- of the LADY LIGEIA."

~~~ End of Text ~~~

======

MORELLA

Itself, by itself, solely, one everlasting, and single.

PLATO: SYMPOS.

WITH a feeling of deep yet most singular affection I regarded my

friend Morella. Thrown by accident into her society many years ago,

my soul from our first meeting, burned with fires it had never before

known; but the fires were not of Eros, and bitter and tormenting to

my spirit was the gradual conviction that I could in no manner define

their unusual meaning or regulate their vague intensity. Yet we met;

and fate bound us together at the altar, and I never spoke of passion

nor thought of love. She, however, shunned society, and, attaching

herself to me alone rendered me happy. It is a happiness to wonder;

it is a happiness to dream.

Morella's erudition was profound. As I hope to live, her talents were

of no common order -- her powers of mind were gigantic. I felt this,

and, in many matters, became her pupil. I soon, however, found that,

perhaps on account of her Presburg education, she placed before me a

number of those mystical writings which are usually considered the

mere dross of the early German literature. These, for what reason I

could not imagine, were her favourite and constant study -- and that

in process of time they became my own, should be attributed to the

simple but effectual influence of habit and example.

In all this, if I err not, my reason had little to do. My

convictions, or I forget myself, were in no manner acted upon by the

ideal, nor was any tincture of the mysticism which I read to be

discovered, unless I am greatly mistaken, either in my deeds or in my

thoughts. Persuaded of this, I abandoned myself implicitly to the

guidance of my wife, and entered with an unflinching heart into the

intricacies of her studies. And then -- then, when poring over

forbidden pages, I felt a forbidden spirit enkindling within me --

would Morella place her cold hand upon my own, and rake up from the

ashes of a dead philosophy some low, singular words, whose strange

meaning burned themselves in upon my memory. And then, hour after

hour, would I linger by her side, and dwell upon the music of her

voice, until at length its melody was tainted with terror, and there

fell a shadow upon my soul, and I grew pale, and shuddered inwardly

at those too unearthly tones. And thus, joy suddenly faded into

horror, and the most beautiful became the most hideous, as Hinnon

became Ge-Henna.

It is unnecessary to state the exact character of those disquisitions

which, growing out of the volumes I have mentioned, formed, for so

long a time, almost the sole conversation of Morella and myself. By

the learned in what might be termed theological morality they will be

readily conceived, and by the unlearned they would, at all events, be

little understood. The wild Pantheism of Fichte; the modified

Paliggenedia of the Pythagoreans; and, above all, the doctrines of

Identity as urged by Schelling, were generally the points of

discussion presenting the most of beauty to the imaginative Morella.

That identity which is termed personal, Mr. Locke, I think, truly

defines to consist in the saneness of rational being. And since by

person we understand an intelligent essence having reason, and since

there is a consciousness which always accompanies thinking, it is

this which makes us all to be that which we call ourselves, thereby

distinguishing us from other beings that think, and giving us our

personal identity. But the principium indivduationis, the notion of

that identity which at death is or is not lost for ever, was to me,

at all times, a consideration of intense interest; not more from the

perplexing and exciting nature of its consequences, than from the

marked and agitated manner in which Morella mentioned them.

But, indeed, the time had now arrived when the mystery of my wife's

manner oppressed me as a spell. I could no longer bear the touch of

her wan fingers, nor the low tone of her musical language, nor the

lustre of her melancholy eyes. And she knew all this, but did not

upbraid; she seemed conscious of my weakness or my folly, and,

smiling, called it fate. She seemed also conscious of a cause, to me

unknown, for the gradual alienation of my regard; but she gave me no

hint or token of its nature. Yet was she woman, and pined away daily.

In time the crimson spot settled steadily upon the cheek, and the

blue veins upon the pale forehead became prominent; and one instant

my nature melted into pity, but in, next I met the glance of her

meaning eyes, and then my soul sickened and became giddy with the

giddiness of one who gazes downward into some dreary and unfathomable

abyss.

Shall I then say that I longed with an earnest and consuming desire

for the moment of Morella's decease? I did; but the fragile spirit

clung to its tenement of clay for many days, for many weeks and

irksome months, until my tortured nerves obtained the mastery over my

mind, and I grew furious through delay, and, with the heart of a

fiend, cursed the days and the hours and the bitter moments, which

seemed to lengthen and lengthen as her gentle life declined, like

shadows in the dying of the day.

But one autumnal evening, when the winds lay still in heaven, Morella

called me to her bedside. There was a dim mist over all the earth,

and a warm glow upon the waters, and amid the rich October leaves of

the forest, a rainbow from the firmament had surely fallen.

"It is a day of days," she said, as I approached; "a day of all days

either to live or die. It is a fair day for the sons of earth and

life -- ah, more fair for the daughters of heaven and death!"

I kissed her forehead, and she continued:

"I am dying, yet shall I live."

"Morella!"

"The days have never been when thou couldst love me -- but her whom

in life thou didst abhor, in death thou shalt adore."

"Morella!"

"I repeat I am dying. But within me is a pledge of that affection --

ah, how little! -- which thou didst feel for me, Morella. And when my

spirit departs shall the child live -- thy child and mine, Morella's.

But thy days shall be days of sorrow -- that sorrow which is the most

lasting of impressions, as the cypress is the most enduring of trees.

For the hours of thy happiness are over and joy is not gathered twice

in a life, as the roses of Paestum twice in a year. Thou shalt no

longer, then, play the Teian with time, but, being ignorant of the

myrtle and the vine, thou shalt bear about with thee thy shroud on

the earth, as do the Moslemin at Mecca."

"Morella!" I cried, "Morella! how knowest thou this?" but she turned

away her face upon the pillow and a slight tremor coming over her

limbs, she thus died, and I heard her voice no more.

Yet, as she had foretold, her child, to which in dying she had given

birth, which breathed not until the mother breathed no more, her

child, a daughter, lived. And she grew strangely in stature and

intellect, and was the perfect resemblance of her who had departed,

and I loved her with a love more fervent than I had believed it

possible to feel for any denizen of earth.

But, ere long the heaven of this pure affection became darkened, and

gloom, and horror, and grief swept over it in clouds. I said the

child grew strangely in stature and intelligence. Strange, indeed,

was her rapid increase in bodily size, but terrible, oh! terrible

were the tumultuous thoughts which crowded upon me while watching the

development of her mental being. Could it be otherwise, when I daily

discovered in the conceptions of the child the adult powers and

faculties of the woman? when the lessons of experience fell from the

lips of infancy? and when the wisdom or the passions of maturity I

found hourly gleaming from its full and speculative eye? When, I say,

all this beeame evident to my appalled senses, when I could no longer

hide it from my soul, nor throw it off from those perceptions which

trembled to receive it, is it to be wondered at that suspicions, of a

nature fearful and exciting, crept in upon my spirit, or that my

thoughts fell back aghast upon the wild tales and thrilling theories

of the entombed Morella? I snatched from the scrutiny of the world a

being whom destiny compelled me to adore, and in the rigorous

seclusion of my home, watched with an agonizing anxiety over all

which concerned the beloved.

And as years rolled away, and I gazed day after day upon her holy,

and mild, and eloquent face, and poured over her maturing form, day

after day did I discover new points of resemblance in the child to

her mother, the melancholy and the dead. And hourly grew darker these

shadows of similitude, and more full, and more definite, and more

perplexing, and more hideously terrible in their aspect. For that her

smile was like her mother's I could bear; but then I shuddered at its

too perfect identity, that her eyes were like Morella's I could

endure; but then they, too, often looked down into the depths of my

soul with Morella's own intense and bewildering meaning. And in the

contour of the high forehead, and in the ringlets of the silken hair,

and in the wan fingers which buried themselves therein, and in the

sad musical tones of her speech, and above all -- oh, above all, in

the phrases and expressions of the dead on the lips of the loved and

the living, I found food for consuming thought and horror, for a worm

that would not die.

Thus passed away two lustra of her life, and as yet my daughter

remained nameless upon the earth. "My child," and "my love," were the

designations usually prompted by a father's affection, and the rigid

seclusion of her days precluded all other intercourse. Morella's name

died with her at her death. Of the mother I had never spoken to the

daughter, it was impossible to speak. Indeed, during the brief period

of her existence, the latter had received no impressions from the

outward world, save such as might have been afforded by the narrow

limits of her privacy. But at length the ceremony of baptism

presented to my mind, in its unnerved and agitated condition, a

present deliverance from the terrors of my destiny. And at the

baptismal font I hesitated for a name. And many titles of the wise

and beautiful, of old and modern times, of my own and foreign lands,

came thronging to my lips, with many, many fair titles of the gentle,

and the happy, and the good. What prompted me then to disturb the

memory of the buried dead? What demon urged me to breathe that sound,

which in its very recollection was wont to make ebb the purple blood

in torrents from the temples to the heart? What fiend spoke from the

recesses of my soul, when amid those dim aisles, and in the silence

of the night, I whispered within the ears of the holy man the

syllables -- Morella? What more than fiend convulsed the features of

my child, and overspread them with hues of death, as starting at that

scarcely audible sound, she turned her glassy eyes from the earth to

heaven, and falling prostrate on the black slabs of our ancestral

vault, responded -- "I am here!"

Distinct, coldly, calmly distinct, fell those few simple sounds

within my ear, and thence like molten lead rolled hissingly into my

brain. Years -- years may pass away, but the memory of that epoch

never. Nor was I indeed ignorant of the flowers and the vine -- but

the hemlock and the cypress overshadowed me night and day. And I kept

no reckoning of time or place, and the stars of my fate faded from

heaven, and therefore the earth grew dark, and its figures passed by

me like flitting shadows, and among them all I beheld only --

Morella. The winds of the firmament breathed but one sound within my

ears, and the ripples upon the sea murmured evermore -- Morella. But

she died; and with my own hands I bore her to the tomb; and I laughed

with a long and bitter laugh as I found no traces of the first in the

channel where I laid the second. -- Morella.

~~~ End of Text ~~~

======

A TALE OF THE RAGGED MOUNTAINS

DURING the fall of the year 1827, while residing near

Charlottesville, Virginia, I casually made the acquaintance of Mr.

Augustus Bedloe. This young gentleman was remarkable in every

respect, and excited in me a profound interest and curiosity. I found

it impossible to comprehend him either in his moral or his physical

relations. Of his family I could obtain no satisfactory account.

Whence he came, I never ascertained. Even about his age -- although I

call him a young gentleman -- there was something which perplexed me

in no little degree. He certainly seemed young -- and he made a point

of speaking about his youth -- yet there were moments when I should

have had little trouble in imagining him a hundred years of age. But

in no regard was he more peculiar than in his personal appearance. He

was singularly tall and thin. He stooped much. His limbs were

exceedingly long and emaciated. His forehead was broad and low. His

complexion was absolutely bloodless. His mouth was large and

flexible, and his teeth were more wildly uneven, although sound, than

I had ever before seen teeth in a human head. The expression of his

smile, however, was by no means unpleasing, as might be supposed; but

it had no variation whatever. It was one of profound melancholy -- of

a phaseless and unceasing gloom. His eyes were abnormally large, and

round like those of a cat. The pupils, too, upon any accession or

diminution of light, underwent contraction or dilation, just such as

is observed in the feline tribe. In moments of excitement the orbs

grew bright to a degree almost inconceivable; seeming to emit

luminous rays, not of a reflected but of an intrinsic lustre, as does

a candle or the sun; yet their ordinary condition was so totally

vapid, filmy, and dull as to convey the idea of the eyes of a

long-interred corpse.

These peculiarities of person appeared to cause him much annoyance,

and he was continually alluding to them in a sort of half

explanatory, half apologetic strain, which, when I first heard it,

impressed me very painfully. I soon, however, grew accustomed to it,

and my uneasiness wore off. It seemed to be his design rather to

insinuate than directly to assert that, physically, he had not always

been what he was -- that a long series of neuralgic attacks had

reduced him from a condition of more than usual personal beauty, to

that which I saw. For many years past he had been attended by a

physician, named Templeton -- an old gentleman, perhaps seventy years

of age -- whom he had first encountered at Saratoga, and from whose

attention, while there, he either received, or fancied that he

received, great benefit. The result was that Bedloe, who was wealthy,

had made an arrangement with Dr. Templeton, by which the latter, in

consideration of a liberal annual allowance, had consented to devote

his time and medical experience exclusively to the care of the

invalid.

Doctor Templeton had been a traveller in his younger days, and at

Paris had become a convert, in great measure, to the doctrines of

Mesmer. It was altogether by means of magnetic remedies that he had

succeeded in alleviating the acute pains of his patient; and this

success had very naturally inspired the latter with a certain degree

of confidence in the opinions from which the remedies had been

educed. The Doctor, however, like all enthusiasts, had struggled hard

to make a thorough convert of his pupil, and finally so far gained

his point as to induce the sufferer to submit to numerous

experiments. By a frequent repetition of these, a result had arisen,

which of late days has become so common as to attract little or no

attention, but which, at the period of which I write, had very rarely

been known in America. I mean to say, that between Doctor Templeton

and Bedloe there had grown up, little by little, a very distinct and

strongly marked rapport, or magnetic relation. I am not prepared to

assert, however, that this rapport extended beyond the limits of the

simple sleep-producing power, but this power itself had attained

great intensity. At the first attempt to induce the magnetic

somnolency, the mesmerist entirely failed. In the fifth or sixth he

succeeded very partially, and after long continued effort. Only at

the twelfth was the triumph complete. After this the will of the

patient succumbed rapidly to that of the physician, so that, when I

first became acquainted with the two, sleep was brought about almost

instantaneously by the mere volition of the operator, even when the

invalid was unaware of his presence. It is only now, in the year

1845, when similar miracles are witnessed daily by thousands, that I

dare venture to record this apparent impossibility as a matter of

serious fact.

The temperature of Bedloe was, in the highest degree sensitive,

excitable, enthusiastic. His imagination was singularly vigorous and

creative; and no doubt it derived additional force from the habitual

use of morphine, which he swallowed in great quantity, and without

which he would have found it impossible to exist. It was his practice

to take a very large dose of it immediately after breakfast each

morning -- or, rather, immediately after a cup of strong coffee, for

he ate nothing in the forenoon -- and then set forth alone, or

attended only by a dog, upon a long ramble among the chain of wild

and dreary hills that lie westward and southward of Charlottesville,

and are there dignified by the title of the Ragged Mountains.

Upon a dim, warm, misty day, toward the close of November, and during

the strange interregnum of the seasons which in America is termed the

Indian Summer, Mr. Bedloe departed as usual for the hills. The day

passed, and still he did not return.

About eight o'clock at night, having become seriously alarmed at his

protracted absence, we were about setting out in search of him, when

he unexpectedly made his appearance, in health no worse than usual,

and in rather more than ordinary spirits. The account which he gave

of his expedition, and of the events which had detained him, was a

singular one indeed.

"You will remember," said he, "that it was about nine in the morning

when I left Charlottesville. I bent my steps immediately to the

mountains, and, about ten, entered a gorge which was entirely new to

me. I followed the windings of this pass with much interest. The

scenery which presented itself on all sides, although scarcely

entitled to be called grand, had about it an indescribable and to me

a delicious aspect of dreary desolation. The solitude seemed

absolutely virgin. I could not help believing that the green sods and

the gray rocks upon which I trod had been trodden never before by the

foot of a human being. So entirely secluded, and in fact

inaccessible, except through a series of accidents, is the entrance

of the ravine, that it is by no means impossible that I was indeed

the first adventurer -- the very first and sole adventurer who had

ever penetrated its recesses.

"The thick and peculiar mist, or smoke, which distinguishes the

Indian Summer, and which now hung heavily over all objects, served,

no doubt, to deepen the vague impressions which these objects

created. So dense was this pleasant fog that I could at no time see

more than a dozen yards of the path before me. This path was

excessively sinuous, and as the sun could not be seen, I soon lost

all idea of the direction in which I journeyed. In the meantime the

morphine had its customary effect -- that of enduing all the external

world with an intensity of interest. In the quivering of a leaf -- in

the hue of a blade of grass -- in the shape of a trefoil -- in the

humming of a bee -- in the gleaming of a dew-drop -- in the breathing

of the wind -- in the faint odors that came from the forest -- there

came a whole universe of suggestion -- a gay and motley train of

rhapsodical and immethodical thought.

"Busied in this, I walked on for several hours, during which the mist

deepened around me to so great an extent that at length I was reduced

to an absolute groping of the way. And now an indescribable

uneasiness possessed me -- a species of nervous hesitation and

tremor. I feared to tread, lest I should be precipitated into some

abyss. I remembered, too, strange stories told about these Ragged

Hills, and of the uncouth and fierce races of men who tenanted their

groves and caverns. A thousand vague fancies oppressed and

disconcerted me- fancies the more distressing because vague. Very

suddenly my attention was arrested by the loud beating of a drum.

"My amazement was, of course, extreme. A drum in these hills was a

thing unknown. I could not have been more surprised at the sound of

the trump of the Archangel. But a new and still more astounding

source of interest and perplexity arose. There came a wild rattling

or jingling sound, as if of a bunch of large keys, and upon the

instant a dusky-visaged and half-naked man rushed past me with a

shriek. He came so close to my person that I felt his hot breath upon

my face. He bore in one hand an instrument composed of an assemblage

of steel rings, and shook them vigorously as he ran. Scarcely had he

disappeared in the mist before, panting after him, with open mouth

and glaring eyes, there darted a huge beast. I could not be mistaken

in its character. It was a hyena.

"The sight of this monster rather relieved than heightened my terrors

-- for I now made sure that I dreamed, and endeavored to arouse

myself to waking consciousness. I stepped boldly and briskly forward.

I rubbed my eyes. I called aloud. I pinched my limbs. A small spring

of water presented itself to my view, and here, stooping, I bathed my

hands and my head and neck. This seemed to dissipate the equivocal

sensations which had hitherto annoyed me. I arose, as I thought, a

new man, and proceeded steadily and complacently on my unknown way.

"At length, quite overcome by exertion, and by a certain oppressive

closeness of the atmosphere, I seated myself beneath a tree.

Presently there came a feeble gleam of sunshine, and the shadow of

the leaves of the tree fell faintly but definitely upon the grass. At

this shadow I gazed wonderingly for many minutes. Its character

stupefied me with astonishment. I looked upward. The tree was a palm.

"I now arose hurriedly, and in a state of fearful agitation -- for

the fancy that I dreamed would serve me no longer. I saw -- I felt

that I had perfect command of my senses -- and these senses now

brought to my soul a world of novel and singular sensation. The heat

became all at once intolerable. A strange odor loaded the breeze. A

low, continuous murmur, like that arising from a full, but gently

flowing river, came to my ears, intermingled with the peculiar hum of

multitudinous human voices.

"While I listened in an extremity of astonishment which I need not

attempt to describe, a strong and brief gust of wind bore off the

incumbent fog as if by the wand of an enchanter.

"I found myself at the foot of a high mountain, and looking down into

a vast plain, through which wound a majestic river. On the margin of

this river stood an Eastern-looking city, such as we read of in the

Arabian Tales, but of a character even more singular than any there

described. From my position, which was far above the level of the

town, I could perceive its every nook and corner, as if delineated on

a map. The streets seemed innumerable, and crossed each other

irregularly in all directions, but were rather long winding alleys

than streets, and absolutely swarmed with inhabitants. The houses

were wildly picturesque. On every hand was a wilderness of balconies,

of verandas, of minarets, of shrines, and fantastically carved

oriels. Bazaars abounded; and in these were displayed rich wares in

infinite variety and profusion -- silks, muslins, the most dazzling

cutlery, the most magnificent jewels and gems. Besides these things,

were seen, on all sides, banners and palanquins, litters with stately

dames close veiled, elephants gorgeously caparisoned, idols

grotesquely hewn, drums, banners, and gongs, spears, silver and

gilded maces. And amid the crowd, and the clamor, and the general

intricacy and confusion- amid the million of black and yellow men,

turbaned and robed, and of flowing beard, there roamed a countless

multitude of holy filleted bulls, while vast legions of the filthy

but sacred ape clambered, chattering and shrieking, about the

cornices of the mosques, or clung to the minarets and oriels. From

the swarming streets to the banks of the river, there descended

innumerable flights of steps leading to bathing places, while the

river itself seemed to force a passage with difficulty through the

vast fleets of deeply -- burthened ships that far and wide

encountered its surface. Beyond the limits of the city arose, in

frequent majestic groups, the palm and the cocoa, with other gigantic

and weird trees of vast age, and here and there might be seen a field

of rice, the thatched hut of a peasant, a tank, a stray temple, a

gypsy camp, or a solitary graceful maiden taking her way, with a

pitcher upon her head, to the banks of the magnificent river.

"You will say now, of course, that I dreamed; but not so. What I saw

-- what I heard -- what I felt -- what I thought -- had about it

nothing of the unmistakable idiosyncrasy of the dream. All was

rigorously self-consistent. At first, doubting that I was really

awake, I entered into a series of tests, which soon convinced me that

I really was. Now, when one dreams, and, in the dream, suspects that

he dreams, the suspicion never fails to confirm itself, and the

sleeper is almost immediately aroused. Thus Novalis errs not in

saying that 'we are near waking when we dream that we dream.' Had the

vision occurred to me as I describe it, without my suspecting it as a

dream, then a dream it might absolutely have been, but, occurring as

it did, and suspected and tested as it was, I am forced to class it

among other phenomena."

"In this I am not sure that you are wrong," observed Dr. Templeton,

"but proceed. You arose and descended into the city."

"I arose," continued Bedloe, regarding the Doctor with an air of

profound astonishment "I arose, as you say, and descended into the

city. On my way I fell in with an immense populace, crowding through

every avenue, all in the same direction, and exhibiting in every

action the wildest excitement. Very suddenly, and by some

inconceivable impulse, I became intensely imbued with personal

interest in what was going on. I seemed to feel that I had an

important part to play, without exactly understanding what it was.

Against the crowd which environed me, however, I experienced a deep

sentiment of animosity. I shrank from amid them, and, swiftly, by a

circuitous path, reached and entered the city. Here all was the

wildest tumult and contention. A small party of men, clad in garments

half-Indian, half-European, and officered by gentlemen in a uniform

partly British, were engaged, at great odds, with the swarming rabble

of the alleys. I joined the weaker party, arming myself with the

weapons of a fallen officer, and fighting I knew not whom with the

nervous ferocity of despair. We were soon overpowered by numbers, and

driven to seek refuge in a species of kiosk. Here we barricaded

ourselves, and, for the present were secure. From a loop-hole near

the summit of the kiosk, I perceived a vast crowd, in furious

agitation, surrounding and assaulting a gay palace that overhung the

river. Presently, from an upper window of this place, there descended

an effeminate-looking person, by means of a string made of the

turbans of his attendants. A boat was at hand, in which he escaped to

the opposite bank of the river.

"And now a new object took possession of my soul. I spoke a few

hurried but energetic words to my companions, and, having succeeded

in gaining over a few of them to my purpose made a frantic sally from

the kiosk. We rushed amid the crowd that surrounded it. They

retreated, at first, before us. They rallied, fought madly, and

retreated again. In the mean time we were borne far from the kiosk,

and became bewildered and entangled among the narrow streets of tall,

overhanging houses, into the recesses of which the sun had never been

able to shine. The rabble pressed impetuously upon us, harrassing us

with their spears, and overwhelming us with flights of arrows. These

latter were very remarkable, and resembled in some respects the

writhing creese of the Malay. They were made to imitate the body of a

creeping serpent, and were long and black, with a poisoned barb. One

of them struck me upon the right temple. I reeled and fell. An

instantaneous and dreadful sickness seized me. I struggled -- I

gasped -- I died." "You will hardly persist now," said I smiling,

"that the whole of your adventure was not a dream. You are not

prepared to maintain that you are dead?"

When I said these words, I of course expected some lively sally from

Bedloe in reply, but, to my astonishment, he hesitated, trembled,

became fearfully pallid, and remained silent. I looked toward

Templeton. He sat erect and rigid in his chair -- his teeth

chattered, and his eyes were starting from their sockets. "Proceed!"

he at length said hoarsely to Bedloe.

"For many minutes," continued the latter, "my sole sentiment -- my

sole feeling -- was that of darkness and nonentity, with the

consciousness of death. At length there seemed to pass a violent and

sudden shock through my soul, as if of electricity. With it came the

sense of elasticity and of light. This latter I felt -- not saw. In

an instant I seemed to rise from the ground. But I had no bodily, no

visible, audible, or palpable presence. The crowd had departed. The

tumult had ceased. The city was in comparative repose. Beneath me lay

my corpse, with the arrow in my temple, the whole head greatly

swollen and disfigured. But all these things I felt -- not saw. I

took interest in nothing. Even the corpse seemed a matter in which I

had no concern. Volition I had none, but appeared to be impelled into

motion, and flitted buoyantly out of the city, retracing the

circuitous path by which I had entered it. When I had attained that

point of the ravine in the mountains at which I had encountered the

hyena, I again experienced a shock as of a galvanic battery, the

sense of weight, of volition, of substance, returned. I became my

original self, and bent my steps eagerly homeward -- but the past had

not lost the vividness of the real -- and not now, even for an

instant, can I compel my understanding to regard it as a dream."

"Nor was it," said Templeton, with an air of deep solemnity, "yet it

would be difficult to say how otherwise it should be termed. Let us

suppose only, that the soul of the man of to-day is upon the verge of

some stupendous psychal discoveries. Let us content ourselves with

this supposition. For the rest I have some explanation to make. Here

is a watercolor drawing, which I should have shown you before, but

which an unaccountable sentiment of horror has hitherto prevented me

from showing."

We looked at the picture which he presented. I saw nothing in it of

an extraordinary character, but its effect upon Bedloe was

prodigious. He nearly fainted as he gazed. And yet it was but a

miniature portrait -- a miraculously accurate one, to be sure -- of

his own very remarkable features. At least this was my thought as I

regarded it.

"You will perceive," said Templeton, "the date of this picture -- it

is here, scarcely visible, in this corner -- 1780. In this year was

the portrait taken. It is the likeness of a dead friend -- a Mr.

Oldeb -- to whom I became much attached at Calcutta, during the

administration of Warren Hastings. I was then only twenty years old.

When I first saw you, Mr. Bedloe, at Saratoga, it was the miraculous

similarity which existed between yourself and the painting which

induced me to accost you, to seek your friendship, and to bring about

those arrangements which resulted in my becoming your constant

companion. In accomplishing this point, I was urged partly, and

perhaps principally, by a regretful memory of the deceased, but also,

in part, by an uneasy, and not altogether horrorless curiosity

respecting yourself.

"In your detail of the vision which presented itself to you amid the

hills, you have described, with the minutest accuracy, the Indian

city of Benares, upon the Holy River. The riots, the combat, the

massacre, were the actual events of the insurrection of Cheyte Sing,

which took place in 1780, when Hastings was put in imminent peril of

his life. The man escaping by the string of turbans was Cheyte Sing

himself. The party in the kiosk were sepoys and British officers,

headed by Hastings. Of this party I was one, and did all I could to

prevent the rash and fatal sally of the officer who fell, in the

crowded alleys, by the poisoned arrow of a Bengalee. That officer was

my dearest friend. It was Oldeb. You will perceive by these

manuscripts," (here the speaker produced a note-book in which several

pages appeared to have been freshly written,) "that at the very

period in which you fancied these things amid the hills, I was

engaged in detailing them upon paper here at home."

In about a week after this conversation, the following paragraphs

appeared in a Charlottesville paper:

"We have the painful duty of announcing the death of Mr. Augustus

Bedlo, a gentleman whose amiable manners and many virtues have long

endeared him to the citizens of Charlottesville.

"Mr. B., for some years past, has been subject to neuralgia, which

has often threatened to terminate fatally; but this can be regarded

only as the mediate cause of his decease. The proximate cause was one

of especial singularity. In an excursion to the Ragged Mountains, a

few days since, a slight cold and fever were contracted, attended

with great determination of blood to the head. To relieve this, Dr.

Templeton resorted to topical bleeding. Leeches were applied to the

temples. In a fearfully brief period the patient died, when it

appeared that in the jar containing the leeches, had been introduced,

by accident, one of the venomous vermicular sangsues which are now

and then found in the neighboring ponds. This creature fastened

itself upon a small artery in the right temple. Its close resemblance

to the medicinal leech caused the mistake to be overlooked until too

late.

"N. B. The poisonous sangsue of Charlottesville may always be

distinguished from the medicinal leech by its blackness, and

especially by its writhing or vermicular motions, which very nearly

resemble those of a snake."

I was speaking with the editor of the paper in question, upon the

topic of this remarkable accident, when it occurred to me to ask how

it happened that the name of the deceased had been given as Bedlo.

"I presume," I said, "you have authority for this spelling, but I

have always supposed the name to be written with an e at the end."

"Authority? -- no," he replied. "It is a mere typographical error.

The name is Bedlo with an e, all the world over, and I never knew it

to be spelt otherwise in my life."

"Then," said I mutteringly, as I turned upon my heel, "then indeed

has it come to pass that one truth is stranger than any fiction --

for Bedloe, without the e, what is it but Oldeb conversed! And this

man tells me that it is a typographical error."

~~~ End of Text ~~~

======

THE SPECTACLES

MANY years ago, it was the fashion to ridicule the idea of "love at

first sight;" but those who think, not less than those who feel

deeply, have always advocated its existence. Modern discoveries,

indeed, in what may be termed ethical magnetism or magnetoesthetics,

render it probable that the most natural, and, consequently, the

truest and most intense of the human affections are those which arise

in the heart as if by electric sympathy -- in a word, that the

brightest and most enduring of the psychal fetters are those which

are riveted by a glance. The confession I am about to make will add

another to the already almost innumerable instances of the truth of

the position.

My story requires that I should be somewhat minute. I am still a very

young man -- not yet twenty-two years of age. My name, at present, is

a very usual and rather plebeian one -- Simpson. I say "at present;"

for it is only lately that I have been so called -- having

legislatively adopted this surname within the last year in order to

receive a large inheritance left me by a distant male relative,

Adolphus Simpson, Esq. The bequest was conditioned upon my taking the

name of the testator, -- the family, not the Christian name; my

Christian name is Napoleon Bonaparte -- or, more properly, these are

my first and middle appellations.

I assumed the name, Simpson, with some reluctance, as in my true

patronym, Froissart, I felt a very pardonable pride -- believing that

I could trace a descent from the immortal author of the "Chronicles."

While on the subject of names, by the bye, I may mention a singular

coincidence of sound attending the names of some of my immediate

predecessors. My father was a Monsieur Froissart, of Paris. His wife

-- my mother, whom he married at fifteen -- was a Mademoiselle

Croissart, eldest daughter of Croissart the banker, whose wife,

again, being only sixteen when married, was the eldest daughter of

one Victor Voissart. Monsieur Voissart, very singularly, had married

a lady of similar name -- a Mademoiselle Moissart. She, too, was

quite a child when married; and her mother, also, Madame Moissart,

was only fourteen when led to the altar. These early marriages are

usual in France. Here, however, are Moissart, Voissart, Croissart,

and Froissart, all in the direct line of descent. My own name,

though, as I say, became Simpson, by act of Legislature, and with so

much repugnance on my part, that, at one period, I actually hesitated

about accepting the legacy with the useless and annoying proviso

attached.

As to personal endowments, I am by no means deficient. On the

contrary, I believe that I am well made, and possess what nine tenths

of the world would call a handsome face. In height I am five feet

eleven. My hair is black and curling. My nose is sufficiently good.

My eyes are large and gray; and although, in fact they are weak a

very inconvenient degree, still no defect in this regard would be

suspected from their appearance. The weakness itself, however, has

always much annoyed me, and I have resorted to every remedy -- short

of wearing glasses. Being youthful and good-looking, I naturally

dislike these, and have resolutely refused to employ them. I know

nothing, indeed, which so disfigures the countenance of a young

person, or so impresses every feature with an air of demureness, if

not altogether of sanctimoniousness and of age. An eyeglass, on the

other hand, has a savor of downright foppery and affectation. I have

hitherto managed as well as I could without either. But something too

much of these merely personal details, which, after all, are of

little importance. I will content myself with saying, in addition,

that my temperament is sanguine, rash, ardent, enthusiastic -- and

that all my life I have been a devoted admirer of the women.

One night last winter I entered a box at the P- -- Theatre, in

company with a friend, Mr. Talbot. It was an opera night, and the

bills presented a very rare attraction, so that the house was

excessively crowded. We were in time, however, to obtain the front

seats which had been reserved for us, and into which, with some

little difficulty, we elbowed our way.

For two hours my companion, who was a musical fanatico, gave his

undivided attention to the stage; and, in the meantime, I amused

myself by observing the audience, which consisted, in chief part, of

the very elite of the city. Having satisfied myself upon this point,

I was about turning my eyes to the prima donna, when they were

arrested and riveted by a figure in one of the private boxes which

had escaped my observation.

If I live a thousand years, I can never forget the intense emotion

with which I regarded this figure. It was that of a female, the most

exquisite I had ever beheld. The face was so far turned toward the

stage that, for some minutes, I could not obtain a view of it -- but

the form was divine; no other word can sufficiently express its

magnificent proportion -- and even the term "divine" seems

ridiculously feeble as I write it.

The magic of a lovely form in woman -- the necromancy of female

gracefulness -- was always a power which I had found it impossible to

resist, but here was grace personified, incarnate, the beau ideal of

my wildest and most enthusiastic visions. The figure, almost all of

which the construction of the box permitted to be seen, was somewhat

above the medium height, and nearly approached, without positively

reaching, the majestic. Its perfect fullness and tournure were

delicious. The head of which only the back was visible, rivalled in

outline that of the Greek Psyche, and was rather displayed than

concealed by an elegant cap of gaze aerienne, which put me in mind of

the ventum textilem of Apuleius. The right arm hung over the

balustrade of the box, and thrilled every nerve of my frame with its

exquisite symmetry. Its upper portion was draperied by one of the

loose open sleeves now in fashion. This extended but little below the

elbow. Beneath it was worn an under one of some frail material,

close-fitting, and terminated by a cuff of rich lace, which fell

gracefully over the top of the hand, revealing only the delicate

fingers, upon one of which sparkled a diamond ring, which I at once

saw was of extraordinary value. The admirable roundness of the wrist

was well set off by a bracelet which encircled it, and which also was

ornamented and clasped by a magnificent aigrette of jewels-telling,

in words that could not be mistaken, at once of the wealth and

fastidious taste of the wearer.

I gazed at this queenly apparition for at least half an hour, as if I

had been suddenly converted to stone; and, during this period, I felt

the full force and truth of all that has been said or sung concerning

"love at first sight." My feelings were totally different from any

which I had hitherto experienced, in the presence of even the most

celebrated specimens of female loveliness. An unaccountable, and what

I am compelled to consider a magnetic, sympathy of soul for soul,

seemed to rivet, not only my vision, but my whole powers of thought

and feeling, upon the admirable object before me. I saw -- I felt --

I knew that I was deeply, madly, irrevocably in love -- and this even

before seeing the face of the person beloved. So intense, indeed, was

the passion that consumed me, that I really believe it would have

received little if any abatement had the features, yet unseen, proved

of merely ordinary character, so anomalous is the nature of the only

true love -- of the love at first sight -- and so little really

dependent is it upon the external conditions which only seem to

create and control it.

While I was thus wrapped in admiration of this lovely vision, a

sudden disturbance among the audience caused her to turn her head

partially toward me, so that I beheld the entire profile of the face.

Its beauty even exceeded my anticipations -- and yet there was

something about it which disappointed me without my being able to

tell exactly what it was. I said "disappointed," but this is not

altogether the word. My sentiments were at once quieted and exalted.

They partook less of transport and more of calm enthusiasm of

enthusiastic repose. This state of feeling arose, perhaps, from the

Madonna-like and matronly air of the face; and yet I at once

understood that it could not have arisen entirely from this. There

was something else- some mystery which I could not develope -- some

expression about the countenance which slightly disturbed me while it

greatly heightened my interest. In fact, I was just in that condition

of mind which prepares a young and susceptible man for any act of

extravagance. Had the lady been alone, I should undoubtedly have

entered her box and accosted her at all hazards; but, fortunately,

she was attended by two companions -- a gentleman, and a strikingly

beautiful woman, to all appearance a few years younger than herself.

I revolved in my mind a thousand schemes by which I might obtain,

hereafter, an introduction to the elder lady, or, for the present, at

all events, a more distinct view of her beauty. I would have removed

my position to one nearer her own, but the crowded state of the

theatre rendered this impossible; and the stern decrees of Fashion

had, of late, imperatively prohibited the use of the opera-glass in a

case such as this, even had I been so fortunate as to have one with

me -- but I had not -- and was thus in despair.

At length I bethought me of applying to my companion.

"Talbot," I said, "you have an opera-glass. Let me have it."

"An opera -- glass! -- no! -- what do you suppose I would be doing

with an opera-glass?" Here he turned impatiently toward the stage.

"But, Talbot," I continued, pulling him by the shoulder, "listen to

me will you? Do you see the stage -- box? -- there! -- no, the next.

-- did you ever behold as lovely a woman?"

"She is very beautiful, no doubt," he said.

"I wonder who she can be?"

"Why, in the name of all that is angelic, don't you know who she is?

'Not to know her argues yourself unknown.' She is the celebrated

Madame Lalande -- the beauty of the day par excellence, and the talk

of the whole town. Immensely wealthy too -- a widow, and a great

match -- has just arrived from Paris."

"Do you know her?"

"Yes; I have the honor."

"Will you introduce me?"

"Assuredly, with the greatest pleasure; when shall it be?"

"To-morrow, at one, I will call upon you at B--'s.

"Very good; and now do hold your tongue, if you can."

In this latter respect I was forced to take Talbot's advice; for he

remained obstinately deaf to every further question or suggestion,

and occupied himself exclusively for the rest of the evening with

what was transacting upon the stage.

In the meantime I kept my eyes riveted on Madame Lalande, and at

length had the good fortune to obtain a full front view of her face.

It was exquisitely lovely -- this, of course, my heart had told me

before, even had not Talbot fully satisfied me upon the point -- but

still the unintelligible something disturbed me. I finally concluded

that my senses were impressed by a certain air of gravity, sadness,

or, still more properly, of weariness, which took something from the

youth and freshness of the countenance, only to endow it with a

seraphic tenderness and majesty, and thus, of course, to my

enthusiastic and romantic temperment, with an interest tenfold.

While I thus feasted my eyes, I perceived, at last, to my great

trepidation, by an almost imperceptible start on the part of the

lady, that she had become suddenly aware of the intensity of my gaze.

Still, I was absolutely fascinated, and could not withdraw it, even

for an instant. She turned aside her face, and again I saw only the

chiselled contour of the back portion of the head. After some

minutes, as if urged by curiosity to see if I was still looking, she

gradually brought her face again around and again encountered my

burning gaze. Her large dark eyes fell instantly, and a deep blush

mantled her cheek. But what was my astonishment at perceiving that

she not only did not a second time avert her head, but that she

actually took from her girdle a double eyeglass -- elevated it --

adjusted it -- and then regarded me through it, intently and

deliberately, for the space of several minutes.

Had a thunderbolt fallen at my feet I could not have been more

thoroughly astounded -- astounded only -- not offended or disgusted

in the slightest degree; although an action so bold in any other

woman would have been likely to offend or disgust. But the whole

thing was done with so much quietude -- so much nonchalance -- so

much repose- with so evident an air of the highest breeding, in short

-- that nothing of mere effrontery was perceptible, and my sole

sentiments were those of admiration and surprise.

I observed that, upon her first elevation of the glass, she had

seemed satisfied with a momentary inspection of my person, and was

withdrawing the instrument, when, as if struck by a second thought,

she resumed it, and so continued to regard me with fixed attention

for the space of several minutes -- for five minutes, at the very

least, I am sure.

This action, so remarkable in an American theatre, attracted very

general observation, and gave rise to an indefinite movement, or

buzz, among the audience, which for a moment filled me with

confusion, but produced no visible effect upon the countenance of

Madame Lalande.

Having satisfied her curiosity -- if such it was -- she dropped the

glass, and quietly gave her attention again to the stage; her profile

now being turned toward myself, as before. I continued to watch her

unremittingly, although I was fully conscious of my rudeness in so

doing. Presently I saw the head slowly and slightly change its

position; and soon I became convinced that the lady, while pretending

to look at the stage was, in fact, attentively regarding myself. It

is needless to say what effect this conduct, on the part of so

fascinating a woman, had upon my excitable mind.

Having thus scrutinized me for perhaps a quarter of an hour, the fair

object of my passion addressed the gentleman who attended her, and

while she spoke, I saw distinctly, by the glances of both, that the

conversation had reference to myself.

Upon its conclusion, Madame Lalande again turned toward the stage,

and, for a few minutes, seemed absorbed in the performance. At the

expiration of this period, however, I was thrown into an extremity of

agitation by seeing her unfold, for the second time, the eye-glass

which hung at her side, fully confront me as before, and,

disregarding the renewed buzz of the audience, survey me, from head

to foot, with the same miraculous composure which had previously so

delighted and confounded my soul.

This extraordinary behavior, by throwing me into a perfect fever of

excitement -- into an absolute delirium of love-served rather to

embolden than to disconcert me. In the mad intensity of my devotion,

I forgot everything but the presence and the majestic loveliness of

the vision which confronted my gaze. Watching my opportunity, when I

thought the audience were fully engaged with the opera, I at length

caught the eyes of Madame Lalande, and, upon the instant, made a

slight but unmistakable bow.

She blushed very deeply -- then averted her eyes -- then slowly and

cautiously looked around, apparently to see if my rash action had

been noticed -- then leaned over toward the gentleman who sat by her

side.

I now felt a burning sense of the impropriety I had committed, and

expected nothing less than instant exposure; while a vision of

pistols upon the morrow floated rapidly and uncomfortably through my

brain. I was greatly and immediately relieved, however, when I saw

the lady merely hand the gentleman a play-bill, without speaking, but

the reader may form some feeble conception of my astonishment -- of

my profound amazement -- my delirious bewilderment of heart and soul

-- when, instantly afterward, having again glanced furtively around,

she allowed her bright eyes to set fully and steadily upon my own,

and then, with a faint smile, disclosing a bright line of her pearly

teeth, made two distinct, pointed, and unequivocal affirmative

inclinations of the head.

It is useless, of course, to dwell upon my joy -- upon my transport-

upon my illimitable ecstasy of heart. If ever man was mad with excess

of happiness, it was myself at that moment. I loved. This was my

first love -- so I felt it to be. It was love supreme-indescribable.

It was "love at first sight;" and at first sight, too, it had been

appreciated and returned.

Yes, returned. How and why should I doubt it for an instant. What

other construction could I possibly put upon such conduct, on the

part of a lady so beautiful -- so wealthy -- evidently so

accomplished -- of so high breeding -- of so lofty a position in

society -- in every regard so entirely respectable as I felt assured

was Madame Lalande? Yes, she loved me -- she returned the enthusiasm

of my love, with an enthusiasm as blind -- as uncompromising -- as

uncalculating -- as abandoned -- and as utterly unbounded as my own!

These delicious fancies and reflections, however, were now

interrupted by the falling of the drop-curtain. The audience arose;

and the usual tumult immediately supervened. Quitting Talbot

abruptly, I made every effort to force my way into closer proximity

with Madame Lalande. Having failed in this, on account of the crowd,

I at length gave up the chase, and bent my steps homeward; consoling

myself for my disappointment in not having been able to touch even

the hem of her robe, by the reflection that I should be introduced by

Talbot, in due form, upon the morrow.

This morrow at last came, that is to say, a day finally dawned upon a

long and weary night of impatience; and then the hours until "one"

were snail-paced, dreary, and innumerable. But even Stamboul, it is

said, shall have an end, and there came an end to this long delay.

The clock struck. As the last echo ceased, I stepped into B--'s and

inquired for Talbot.

"Out," said the footman -- Talbot's own.

"Out!" I replied, staggering back half a dozen paces -- "let me tell

you, my fine fellow, that this thing is thoroughly impossible and

impracticable; Mr. Talbot is not out. What do you mean?"

"Nothing, sir; only Mr. Talbot is not in, that's all. He rode over to

S--, immediately after breakfast, and left word that he would not be

in town again for a week."

I stood petrified with horror and rage. I endeavored to reply, but my

tongue refused its office. At length I turned on my heel, livid with

wrath, and inwardly consigning the whole tribe of the Talbots to the

innermost regions of Erebus. It was evident that my considerate

friend, il fanatico, had quite forgotten his appointment with myself

-- had forgotten it as soon as it was made. At no time was he a very

scrupulous man of his word. There was no help for it; so smothering

my vexation as well as I could, I strolled moodily up the street,

propounding futile inquiries about Madame Lalande to every male

acquaintance I met. By report she was known, I found, to all- to many

by sight -- but she had been in town only a few weeks, and there were

very few, therefore, who claimed her personal acquaintance. These

few, being still comparatively strangers, could not, or would not,

take the liberty of introducing me through the formality of a morning

call. While I stood thus in despair, conversing with a trio of

friends upon the all absorbing subject of my heart, it so happened

that the subject itself passed by.

"As I live, there she is!" cried one.

"Surprisingly beautiful!" exclaimed a second.

"An angel upon earth!" ejaculated a third.

I looked; and in an open carriage which approached us, passing slowly

down the street, sat the enchanting vision of the opera, accompanied

by the younger lady who had occupied a portion of her box.

"Her companion also wears remarkably well," said the one of my trio

who had spoken first.

"Astonishingly," said the second; "still quite a brilliant air, but

art will do wonders. Upon my word, she looks better than she did at

Paris five years ago. A beautiful woman still; -- don't you think so,

Froissart? -- Simpson, I mean."

"Still!" said I, "and why shouldn't she be? But compared with her

friend she is as a rush -- light to the evening star -- a glow --

worm to Antares.

"Ha! ha! ha! -- why, Simpson, you have an astonishing tact at making

discoveries -- original ones, I mean." And here we separated, while

one of the trio began humming a gay vaudeville, of which I caught

only the lines-

Ninon, Ninon, Ninon a bas-

A bas Ninon De L'Enclos!

During this little scene, however, one thing had served greatly to

console me, although it fed the passion by which I was consumed. As

the carriage of Madame Lalande rolled by our group, I had observed

that she recognized me; and more than this, she had blessed me, by

the most seraphic of all imaginable smiles, with no equivocal mark of

the recognition.

As for an introduction, I was obliged to abandon all hope of it until

such time as Talbot should think proper to return from the country.

In the meantime I perseveringly frequented every reputable place of

public amusement; and, at length, at the theatre, where I first saw

her, I had the supreme bliss of meeting her, and of exchanging

glances with her once again. This did not occur, however, until the

lapse of a fortnight. Every day, in the interim, I had inquired for

Talbot at his hotel, and every day had been thrown into a spasm of

wrath by the everlasting "Not come home yet" of his footman.

Upon the evening in question, therefore, I was in a condition little

short of madness. Madame Lalande, I had been told, was a Parisian --

had lately arrived from Paris -- might she not suddenly return? --

return before Talbot came back -- and might she not be thus lost to

me forever? The thought was too terrible to bear. Since my future

happiness was at issue, I resolved to act with a manly decision. In a

word, upon the breaking up of the play, I traced the lady to her

residence, noted the address, and the next morning sent her a full

and elaborate letter, in which I poured out my whole heart.

I spoke boldly, freely -- in a word, I spoke with passion. I

concealed nothing -- nothing even of my weakness. I alluded to the

romantic circumstances of our first meeting -- even to the glances

which had passed between us. I went so far as to say that I felt

assured of her love; while I offered this assurance, and my own

intensity of devotion, as two excuses for my otherwise unpardonable

conduct. As a third, I spoke of my fear that she might quit the city

before I could have the opportunity of a formal introduction. I

concluded the most wildly enthusiastic epistle ever penned, with a

frank declaration of my worldly circumstances -- of my affluence --

and with an offer of my heart and of my hand.

In an agony of expectation I awaited the reply. After what seemed the

lapse of a century it came.

Yes, actually came. Romantic as all this may appear, I really

received a letter from Madame Lalande -- the beautiful, the wealthy,

the idolized Madame Lalande. Her eyes -- her magnificent eyes, had

not belied her noble heart. Like a true Frenchwoman as she was she

had obeyed the frank dictates of her reason -- the generous impulses

of her nature -- despising the conventional pruderies of the world.

She had not scorned my proposals. She had not sheltered herself in

silence. She had not returned my letter unopened. She had even sent

me, in reply, one penned by her own exquisite fingers. It ran thus:

"Monsieur Simpson vill pardonne me for not compose de butefulle tong

of his contree so vell as might. It is only de late dat I am arrive,

and not yet ave do opportunite for to -- l'etudier.

"Vid dis apologie for the maniere, I vill now say dat, helas!-

Monsieur Simpson ave guess but de too true. Need I say de more?

Helas! am I not ready speak de too moshe?

"EUGENIE LALAND."

This noble -- spirited note I kissed a million times, and committed,

no doubt, on its account, a thousand other extravagances that have

now escaped my memory. Still Talbot would not return. Alas! could he

have formed even the vaguest idea of the suffering his absence had

occasioned his friend, would not his sympathizing nature have flown

immediately to my relief? Still, however, he came not. I wrote. He

replied. He was detained by urgent business -- but would shortly

return. He begged me not to be impatient -- to moderate my transports

-- to read soothing books -- to drink nothing stronger than Hock --

and to bring the consolations of philosophy to my aid. The fool! if

he could not come himself, why, in the name of every thing rational,

could he not have enclosed me a letter of presentation? I wrote him

again, entreating him to forward one forthwith. My letter was

returned by that footman, with the following endorsement in pencil.

The scoundrel had joined his master in the country:

"Left S- -- yesterday, for parts unknown -- did not say where -- or

when be back -- so thought best to return letter, knowing your

handwriting, and as how you is always, more or less, in a hurry.

"Yours sincerely,

"STUBBS."

After this, it is needless to say, that I devoted to the infernal

deities both master and valet: -- but there was little use in anger,

and no consolation at all in complaint.

But I had yet a resource left, in my constitutional audacity.

Hitherto it had served me well, and I now resolved to make it avail

me to the end. Besides, after the correspondence which had passed

between us, what act of mere informality could I commit, within

bounds, that ought to be regarded as indecorous by Madame Lalande?

Since the affair of the letter, I had been in the habit of watching

her house, and thus discovered that, about twilight, it was her

custom to promenade, attended only by a negro in livery, in a public

square overlooked by her windows. Here, amid the luxuriant and

shadowing groves, in the gray gloom of a sweet midsummer evening, I

observed my opportunity and accosted her.

The better to deceive the servant in attendance, I did this with the

assured air of an old and familiar acquaintance. With a presence of

mind truly Parisian, she took the cue at once, and, to greet me, held

out the most bewitchingly little of hands. The valet at once fell

into the rear, and now, with hearts full to overflowing, we

discoursed long and unreservedly of our love.

As Madame Lalande spoke English even less fluently than she wrote it,

our conversation was necessarily in French. In this sweet tongue, so

adapted to passion, I gave loose to the impetuous enthusiasm of my

nature, and, with all the eloquence I could command, besought her to

consent to an immediate marriage.

At this impatience she smiled. She urged the old story of decorum-

that bug-bear which deters so many from bliss until the opportunity

for bliss has forever gone by. I had most imprudently made it known

among my friends, she observed, that I desired her acquaintance- thus

that I did not possess it -- thus, again, there was no possibility of

concealing the date of our first knowledge of each other. And then

she adverted, with a blush, to the extreme recency of this date. To

wed immediately would be improper -- would be indecorous -- would be

outre. All this she said with a charming air of naivete which

enraptured while it grieved and convinced me. She went even so far as

to accuse me, laughingly, of rashness -- of imprudence. She bade me

remember that I really even know not who she was -- what were her

prospects, her connections, her standing in society. She begged me,

but with a sigh, to reconsider my proposal, and termed my love an

infatuation -- a will o' the wisp -- a fancy or fantasy of the moment

-- a baseless and unstable creation rather of the imagination than of

the heart. These things she uttered as the shadows of the sweet

twilight gathered darkly and more darkly around us -- and then, with

a gentle pressure of her fairy-like hand, overthrew, in a single

sweet instant, all the argumentative fabric she had reared.

I replied as best I could -- as only a true lover can. I spoke at

length, and perseveringly of my devotion, of my passion -- of her

exceeding beauty, and of my own enthusiastic admiration. In

conclusion, I dwelt, with a convincing energy, upon the perils that

encompass the course of love -- that course of true love that never

did run smooth -- and thus deduced the manifest danger of rendering

that course unnecessarily long.

This latter argument seemed finally to soften the rigor of her

determination. She relented; but there was yet an obstacle, she said,

which she felt assured I had not properly considered. This was a

delicate point -- for a woman to urge, especially so; in mentioning

it, she saw that she must make a sacrifice of her feelings; still,

for me, every sacrifice should be made. She alluded to the topic of

age. Was I aware -- was I fully aware of the discrepancy between us?

That the age of the husband, should surpass by a few years -- even by

fifteen or twenty -- the age of the wife, was regarded by the world

as admissible, and, indeed, as even proper, but she had always

entertained the belief that the years of the wife should never exceed

in number those of the husband. A discrepancy of this unnatural kind

gave rise, too frequently, alas! to a life of unhappiness. Now she

was aware that my own age did not exceed two and twenty; and I, on

the contrary, perhaps, was not aware that the years of my Eugenie

extended very considerably beyond that sum.

About all this there was a nobility of soul -- a dignity of candor-

which delighted -- which enchanted me -- which eternally riveted my

chains. I could scarcely restrain the excessive transport which

possessed me.

"My sweetest Eugenie," I cried, "what is all this about which you are

discoursing? Your years surpass in some measure my own. But what

then? The customs of the world are so many conventional follies. To

those who love as ourselves, in what respect differs a year from an

hour? I am twenty-two, you say, granted: indeed, you may as well call

me, at once, twenty-three. Now you yourself, my dearest Eugenie, can

have numbered no more than -- can have numbered no more than -- no

more than -- than -- than -- than-"

Here I paused for an instant, in the expectation that Madame Lalande

would interrupt me by supplying her true age. But a Frenchwoman is

seldom direct, and has always, by way of answer to an embarrassing

query, some little practical reply of her own. In the present

instance, Eugenie, who for a few moments past had seemed to be

searching for something in her bosom, at length let fall upon the

grass a miniature, which I immediately picked up and presented to

her.

"Keep it!" she said, with one of her most ravishing smiles. "Keep it

for my sake -- for the sake of her whom it too flatteringly

represents. Besides, upon the back of the trinket you may discover,

perhaps, the very information you seem to desire. It is now, to be

sure, growing rather dark -- but you can examine it at your leisure

in the morning. In the meantime, you shall be my escort home

to-night. My friends are about holding a little musical levee. I can

promise you, too, some good singing. We French are not nearly so

punctilious as you Americans, and I shall have no difficulty in

smuggling you in, in the character of an old acquaintance."

With this, she took my arm, and I attended her home. The mansion was

quite a fine one, and, I believe, furnished in good taste. Of this

latter point, however, I am scarcely qualified to judge; for it was

just dark as we arrived; and in American mansions of the better sort

lights seldom, during the heat of summer, make their appearance at

this, the most pleasant period of the day. In about an hour after my

arrival, to be sure, a single shaded solar lamp was lit in the

principal drawing-room; and this apartment, I could thus see, was

arranged with unusual good taste and even splendor; but two other

rooms of the suite, and in which the company chiefly assembled,

remained, during the whole evening, in a very agreeable shadow. This

is a well-conceived custom, giving the party at least a choice of

light or shade, and one which our friends over the water could not do

better than immediately adopt.

The evening thus spent was unquestionably the most delicious of my

life. Madame Lalande had not overrated the musical abilities of her

friends; and the singing I here heard I had never heard excelled in

any private circle out of Vienna. The instrumental performers were

many and of superior talents. The vocalists were chiefly ladies, and

no individual sang less than well. At length, upon a peremptory call

for "Madame Lalande," she arose at once, without affectation or

demur, from the chaise longue upon which she had sat by my side, and,

accompanied by one or two gentlemen and her female friend of the

opera, repaired to the piano in the main drawing-room. I would have

escorted her myself, but felt that, under the circumstances of my

introduction to the house, I had better remain unobserved where I

was. I was thus deprived of the pleasure of seeing, although not of

hearing, her sing.

The impression she produced upon the company seemed electrical but

the effect upon myself was something even more. I know not how

adequately to describe it. It arose in part, no doubt, from the

sentiment of love with which I was imbued; but chiefly from my

conviction of the extreme sensibility of the singer. It is beyond the

reach of art to endow either air or recitative with more impassioned

expression than was hers. Her utterance of the romance in Otello --

the tone with which she gave the words "Sul mio sasso," in the

Capuletti -- is ringing in my memory yet. Her lower tones were

absolutely miraculous. Her voice embraced three complete octaves,

extending from the contralto D to the D upper soprano, and, though

sufficiently powerful to have filled the San Carlos, executed, with

the minutest precision, every difficulty of vocal

composition-ascending and descending scales, cadences, or fiorituri.

In the final of the Somnambula, she brought about a most remarkable

effect at the words:

Ah! non guinge uman pensiero

Al contento ond 'io son piena.

Here, in imitation of Malibran, she modified the original phrase of

Bellini, so as to let her voice descend to the tenor G, when, by a

rapid transition, she struck the G above the treble stave, springing

over an interval of two octaves.

Upon rising from the piano after these miracles of vocal execution,

she resumed her seat by my side; when I expressed to her, in terms of

the deepest enthusiasm, my delight at her performance. Of my surprise

I said nothing, and yet was I most unfeignedly surprised; for a

certain feebleness, or rather a certain tremulous indecision of voice

in ordinary conversation, had prepared me to anticipate that, in

singing, she would not acquit herself with any remarkable ability.

Our conversation was now long, earnest, uninterrupted, and totally

unreserved. She made me relate many of the earlier passages of my

life, and listened with breathless attention to every word of the

narrative. I concealed nothing -- felt that I had a right to conceal

nothing -- from her confiding affection. Encouraged by her candor

upon the delicate point of her age, I entered, with perfect

frankness, not only into a detail of my many minor vices, but made

full confession of those moral and even of those physical

infirmities, the disclosure of which, in demanding so much higher a

degree of courage, is so much surer an evidence of love. I touched

upon my college indiscretions -- upon my extravagances -- upon my

carousals- upon my debts -- upon my flirtations. I even went so far

as to speak of a slightly hectic cough with which, at one time, I had

been troubled -- of a chronic rheumatism -- of a twinge of hereditary

gout- and, in conclusion, of the disagreeable and inconvenient, but

hitherto carefully concealed, weakness of my eyes.

"Upon this latter point," said Madame Lalande, laughingly, "you have

been surely injudicious in coming to confession; for, without the

confession, I take it for granted that no one would have accused you

of the crime. By the by," she continued, "have you any recollection-"

and here I fancied that a blush, even through the gloom of the

apartment, became distinctly visible upon her cheek -- "have you any

recollection, mon cher ami of this little ocular assistant, which now

depends from my neck?"

As she spoke she twirled in her fingers the identical double

eye-glass which had so overwhelmed me with confusion at the opera.

"Full well -- alas! do I remember it," I exclaimed, pressing

passionately the delicate hand which offered the glasses for my

inspection. They formed a complex and magnificent toy, richly chased

and filigreed, and gleaming with jewels, which, even in the deficient

light, I could not help perceiving were of high value.

"Eh bien! mon ami" she resumed with a certain empressment of manner

that rather surprised me -- "Eh bien! mon ami, you have earnestly

besought of me a favor which you have been pleased to denominate

priceless. You have demanded of me my hand upon the morrow. Should I

yield to your entreaties -- and, I may add, to the pleadings of my

own bosom -- would I not be entitled to demand of you a very -- a

very little boon in return?"

"Name it!" I exclaimed with an energy that had nearly drawn upon us

the observation of the company, and restrained by their presence

alone from throwing myself impetuously at her feet. "Name it, my

beloved, my Eugenie, my own! -- name it! -- but, alas! it is already

yielded ere named."

"You shall conquer, then, mon ami," said she, "for the sake of the

Eugenie whom you love, this little weakness which you have at last

confessed -- this weakness more moral than physical -- and which, let

me assure you, is so unbecoming the nobility of your real nature --

so inconsistent with the candor of your usual character -- and which,

if permitted further control, will assuredly involve you, sooner or

later, in some very disagreeable scrape. You shall conquer, for my

sake, this affectation which leads you, as you yourself acknowledge,

to the tacit or implied denial of your infirmity of vision. For, this

infirmity you virtually deny, in refusing to employ the customary

means for its relief. You will understand me to say, then, that I

wish you to wear spectacles; -- ah, hush! -- you have already

consented to wear them, for my sake. You shall accept the little toy

which I now hold in my hand, and which, though admirable as an aid to

vision, is really of no very immense value as a gem. You perceive

that, by a trifling modification thus -- or thus -- it can be adapted

to the eyes in the form of spectacles, or worn in the waistcoat

pocket as an eye-glass. It is in the former mode, however, and

habitually, that you have already consented to wear it for my sake."

This request -- must I confess it? -- confused me in no little

degree. But the condition with which it was coupled rendered

hesitation, of course, a matter altogether out of the question.

"It is done!" I cried, with all the enthusiasm that I could muster at

the moment. "It is done -- it is most cheerfully agreed. I sacrifice

every feeling for your sake. To-night I wear this dear eye-glass, as

an eye-glass, and upon my heart; but with the earliest dawn of that

morning which gives me the pleasure of calling you wife, I will place

it upon my -- upon my nose, -- and there wear it ever afterward, in

the less romantic, and less fashionable, but certainly in the more

serviceable, form which you desire."

Our conversation now turned upon the details of our arrangements for

the morrow. Talbot, I learned from my betrothed, had just arrived in

town. I was to see him at once, and procure a carriage. The soiree

would scarcely break up before two; and by this hour the vehicle was

to be at the door, when, in the confusion occasioned by the departure

of the company, Madame L. could easily enter it unobserved. We were

then to call at the house of a clergyman who would be in waiting;

there be married, drop Talbot, and proceed on a short tour to the

East, leaving the fashionable world at home to make whatever comments

upon the matter it thought best.

Having planned all this, I immediately took leave, and went in search

of Talbot, but, on the way, I could not refrain from stepping into a

hotel, for the purpose of inspecting the miniature; and this I did by

the powerful aid of the glasses. The countenance was a surpassingly

beautiful one! Those large luminous eyes! -- that proud Grecian nose!

-- those dark luxuriant curls! -- "Ah!" said I, exultingly to myself,

"this is indeed the speaking image of my beloved!" I turned the

reverse, and discovered the words -- "Eugenie Lalande -- aged

twenty-seven years and seven months."

I found Talbot at home, and proceeded at once to acquaint him with my

good fortune. He professed excessive astonishment, of course, but

congratulated me most cordially, and proffered every assistance in

his power. In a word, we carried out our arrangement to the letter,

and, at two in the morning, just ten minutes after the ceremony, I

found myself in a close carriage with Madame Lalande -- with Mrs.

Simpson, I should say -- and driving at a great rate out of town, in

a direction Northeast by North, half-North.

It had been determined for us by Talbot, that, as we were to be up

all night, we should make our first stop at C--, a village about

twenty miles from the city, and there get an early breakfast and some

repose, before proceeding upon our route. At four precisely,

therefore, the carriage drew up at the door of the principal inn. I

handed my adored wife out, and ordered breakfast forthwith. In the

meantime we were shown into a small parlor, and sat down.

It was now nearly if not altogether daylight; and, as I gazed,

enraptured, at the angel by my side, the singular idea came, all at

once, into my head, that this was really the very first moment since

my acquaintance with the celebrated loveliness of Madame Lalande,

that I had enjoyed a near inspection of that loveliness by daylight

at all.

"And now, mon ami," said she, taking my hand, and so interrupting

this train of reflection, "and now, mon cher ami, since we are

indissolubly one -- since I have yielded to your passionate

entreaties, and performed my portion of our agreement -- I presume

you have not forgotten that you also have a little favor to bestow --

a little promise which it is your intention to keep. Ah! let me see!

Let me remember! Yes; full easily do I call to mind the precise words

of the dear promise you made to Eugenie last night. Listen! You spoke

thus: 'It is done! -- it is most cheerfully agreed! I sacrifice every

feeling for your sake. To-night I wear this dear eye-glass as an

eye-glass, and upon my heart; but with the earliest dawn of that

morning which gives me the privilege of calling you wife, I will

place it upon my -- upon my nose, -- and there wear it ever

afterward, in the less romantic, and less fashionable, but certainly

in the more serviceable, form which you desire.' These were the exact

words, my beloved husband, were they not?"

"They were," I said; "you have an excellent memory; and assuredly, my

beautiful Eugenie, there is no disposition on my part to evade the

performance of the trivial promise they imply. See! Behold! they are

becoming -- rather -- are they not?" And here, having arranged the

glasses in the ordinary form of spectacles, I applied them gingerly

in their proper position; while Madame Simpson, adjusting her cap,

and folding her arms, sat bolt upright in her chair, in a somewhat

stiff and prim, and indeed, in a somewhat undignified position.

"Goodness gracious me!" I exclaimed, almost at the very instant that

the rim of the spectacles had settled upon my nose -- "My goodness

gracious me! -- why, what can be the matter with these glasses?" and

taking them quickly off, I wiped them carefully with a silk

handkerchief, and adjusted them again.

But if, in the first instance, there had occurred something which

occasioned me surprise, in the second, this surprise became elevated

into astonishment; and this astonishment was profound -- was extreme-

indeed I may say it was horrific. What, in the name of everything

hideous, did this mean? Could I believe my eyes? -- could I? -- that

was the question. Was that -- was that -- was that rouge? And were

those- and were those -- were those wrinkles, upon the visage of

Eugenie Lalande? And oh! Jupiter, and every one of the gods and

goddesses, little and big! what -- what -- what -- what had become of

her teeth? I dashed the spectacles violently to the ground, and,

leaping to my feet, stood erect in the middle of the floor,

confronting Mrs. Simpson, with my arms set a-kimbo, and grinning and

foaming, but, at the same time, utterly speechless with terror and

with rage.

Now I have already said that Madame Eugenie Lalande -- that is to

say, Simpson -- spoke the English language but very little better

than she wrote it, and for this reason she very properly never

attempted to speak it upon ordinary occasions. But rage will carry a

lady to any extreme; and in the present care it carried Mrs. Simpson

to the very extraordinary extreme of attempting to hold a

conversation in a tongue that she did not altogether understand.

"Vell, Monsieur," said she, after surveying me, in great apparent

astonishment, for some moments -- "Vell, Monsieur? -- and vat den? --

vat de matter now? Is it de dance of de Saint itusse dat you ave? If

not like me, vat for vy buy de pig in the poke?"

"You wretch!" said I, catching my breath -- "you -- you -- you

villainous old hag!"

"Ag? -- ole? -- me not so ver ole, after all! Me not one single day

more dan de eighty-doo."

"Eighty-two!" I ejaculated, staggering to the wall -- "eighty-two

hundred thousand baboons! The miniature said twenty-seven years and

seven months!"

"To be sure! -- dat is so! -- ver true! but den de portraite has been

take for dese fifty-five year. Ven I go marry my segonde usbande,

Monsieur Lalande, at dat time I had de portraite take for my daughter

by my first usbande, Monsieur Moissart!"

"Moissart!" said I.

"Yes, Moissart," said she, mimicking my pronunciation, which, to

speak the truth, was none of the best, -- "and vat den? Vat you know

about de Moissart?"

"Nothing, you old fright! -- I know nothing about him at all; only I

had an ancestor of that name, once upon a time."

"Dat name! and vat you ave for say to dat name? 'Tis ver goot name;

and so is Voissart -- dat is ver goot name too. My daughter,

Mademoiselle Moissart, she marry von Monsieur Voissart, -- and de

name is bot ver respectaable name."

"Moissart?" I exclaimed, "and Voissart! Why, what is it you mean?"

"Vat I mean? -- I mean Moissart and Voissart; and for de matter of

dat, I mean Croissart and Froisart, too, if I only tink proper to

mean it. My daughter's daughter, Mademoiselle Voissart, she marry von

Monsieur Croissart, and den again, my daughter's grande daughter,

Mademoiselle Croissart, she marry von Monsieur Froissart; and I

suppose you say dat dat is not von ver respectaable name.-"

"Froissart!" said I, beginning to faint, "why, surely you don't say

Moissart, and Voissart, and Croissart, and Froissart?"

"Yes," she replied, leaning fully back in her chair, and stretching

out her lower limbs at great length; "yes, Moissart, and Voissart,

and Croissart, and Froissart. But Monsieur Froissart, he vas von ver

big vat you call fool -- he vas von ver great big donce like yourself

-- for he lef la belle France for come to dis stupide Amerique- and

ven he get here he went and ave von ver stupide, von ver, ver stupide

sonn, so I hear, dough I not yet av ad de plaisir to meet vid him --

neither me nor my companion, de Madame Stephanie Lalande. He is name

de Napoleon Bonaparte Froissart, and I suppose you say dat dat, too,

is not von ver respectable name."

Either the length or the nature of this speech, had the effect of

working up Mrs. Simpson into a very extraordinary passion indeed; and

as she made an end of it, with great labor, she lumped up from her

chair like somebody bewitched, dropping upon the floor an entire

universe of bustle as she lumped. Once upon her feet, she gnashed her

gums, brandished her arms, rolled up her sleeves, shook her fist in

my face, and concluded the performance by tearing the cap from her

head, and with it an immense wig of the most valuable and beautiful

black hair, the whole of which she dashed upon the ground with a

yell, and there trammpled and danced a fandango upon it, in an

absolute ecstasy and agony of rage.

Meantime I sank aghast into the chair which she had vacated.

"Moissart and Voissart!" I repeated, thoughtfully, as she cut one of

her pigeon-wings, and "Croissart and Froissart!" as she completed

another -- "Moissart and Voissart and Croissart and Napoleon

Bonaparte Froissart! -- why, you ineffable old serpent, that's me --

that's me -- d'ye hear? that's me" -- here I screamed at the top of

my voice -- "that's me-e-e! I am Napoleon Bonaparte Froissart! and if

I havn't married my great, great, grandmother, I wish I may be

everlastingly confounded!"

Madame Eugenie Lalande, quasi Simpson -- formerly Moissart -- was, in

sober fact, my great, great, grandmother. In her youth she had been

beautiful, and even at eighty-two, retained the majestic height, the

sculptural contour of head, the fine eyes and the Grecian nose of her

girlhood. By the aid of these, of pearl-powder, of rouge, of false

hair, false teeth, and false tournure, as well as of the most skilful

modistes of Paris, she contrived to hold a respectable footing among

the beauties en peu passees of the French metropolis. In this

respect, indeed, she might have been regarded as little less than the

equal of the celebrated Ninon De L'Enclos.

She was immensely wealthy, and being left, for the second time, a

widow without children, she bethought herself of my existence in

America, and for the purpose of making me her heir, paid a visit to

the United States, in company with a distant and exceedingly lovely

relative of her second husband's -- a Madame Stephanie Lalande.

At the opera, my great, great, grandmother's attention was arrested

by my notice; and, upon surveying me through her eye-glass, she was

struck with a certain family resemblance to herself. Thus interested,

and knowing that the heir she sought was actually in the city, she

made inquiries of her party respecting me. The gentleman who attended

her knew my person, and told her who I was. The information thus

obtained induced her to renew her scrutiny; and this scrutiny it was

which so emboldened me that I behaved in the absurd manner already

detailed. She returned my bow, however, under the impression that, by

some odd accident, I had discovered her identity. When, deceived by

my weakness of vision, and the arts of the toilet, in respect to the

age and charms of the strange lady, I demanded so enthusiastically of

Talbot who she was, he concluded that I meant the younger beauty, as

a matter of course, and so informed me, with perfect truth, that she

was "the celebrated widow, Madame Lalande."

In the street, next morning, my great, great, grandmother encountered

Talbot, an old Parisian acquaintance; and the conversation, very

naturally turned upon myself. My deficiencies of vision were then

explained; for these were notorious, although I was entirely ignorant

of their notoriety, and my good old relative discovered, much to her

chagrin, that she had been deceived in supposing me aware of her

identity, and that I had been merely making a fool of myself in

making open love, in a theatre, to an old woman unknown. By way of

punishing me for this imprudence, she concocted with Talbot a plot.

He purposely kept out of my way to avoid giving me the introduction.

My street inquiries about "the lovely widow, Madame Lalande," were

supposed to refer to the younger lady, of course, and thus the

conversation with the three gentlemen whom I encountered shortly

after leaving Talbot's hotel will be easily explained, as also their

allusion to Ninon De L'Enclos. I had no opportunity of seeing Madame

Lalande closely during daylight; and, at her musical soiree, my silly

weakness in refusing the aid of glasses effectually prevented me from

making a discovery of her age. When "Madame Lalande" was called upon

to sing, the younger lady was intended; and it was she who arose to

obey the call; my great, great, grandmother, to further the

deception, arising at the same moment and accompanying her to the

piano in the main drawing-room. Had I decided upon escorting her

thither, it had been her design to suggest the propriety of my

remaining where I was; but my own prudential views rendered this

unnecessary. The songs which I so much admired, and which so

confirmed my impression of the youth of my mistress, were executed by

Madame Stephanie Lalande. The eyeglass was presented by way of adding

a reproof to the hoax -- a sting to the epigram of the deception. Its

presentation afforded an opportunity for the lecture upon affectation

with which I was so especially edified. It is almost superfluous to

add that the glasses of the instrument, as worn by the old lady, had

been exchanged by her for a pair better adapted to my years. They

suited me, in fact, to a T.

The clergyman, who merely pretended to tie the fatal knot, was a boon

companion of Talbot's, and no priest. He was an excellent "whip,"

however; and having doffed his cassock to put on a great-coat, he

drove the hack which conveyed the "happy couple" out of town. Talbot

took a seat at his side. The two scoundrels were thus "in at the

death," and through a half-open window of the back parlor of the inn,

amused themselves in grinning at the denouement of the drama. I

believe I shall be forced to call them both out.

Nevertheless, I am not the husband of my great, great, grandmother;

and this is a reflection which affords me infinite relief, -- but I

am the husband of Madame Lalande -- of Madame Stephanie Lalande --

with whom my good old relative, besides making me her sole heir when

she dies -- if she ever does -- has been at the trouble of concocting

me a match. In conclusion: I am done forever with billets doux and am

never to be met without SPECTACLES.

~~~ End of Text ~~~

======

KING PEST.

A Tale Containing an Allegory.

The gods do bear and will allow in kings

The things which they abhor in rascal routes.

_Buckhurst's Tragedy of Ferrex and Porrex._

ABOUT twelve o'clock, one night in the month of October, and during

the chivalrous reign of the third Edward, two seamen belonging to the

crew of the "Free and Easy," a trading schooner plying between Sluys

and the Thames, and then at anchor in that river, were much

astonished to find themselves seated in the tap-room of an ale-house

in the parish of St. Andrews, London -- which ale-house bore for sign

the portraiture of a "Jolly Tar."

The room, although ill-contrived, smoke-blackened, low-pitched, and

in every other respect agreeing with the general character of such

places at the period -- was, nevertheless, in the opinion of the

grotesque groups scattered here and there within it, sufficiently

well adapted to its purpose.

Of these groups our two seamen formed, I think, the most interesting,

if not the most conspicuous.

The one who appeared to be the elder, and whom his companion

addressed by the characteristic appellation of "Legs," was at the

same time much the taller of the two. He might have measured six feet

and a half, and an habitual stoop in the shoulders seemed to have

been the necessary consequence of an altitude so enormous. --

Superfluities in height were, however, more than accounted for by

deficiencies in other respects. He was exceedingly thin; and might,

as his associates asserted, have answered, when drunk, for a pennant

at the mast-head, or, when sober, have served for a jib-boom. But

these jests, and others of a similar nature, had evidently produced,

at no time, any effect upon the cachinnatory muscles of the tar. With

high cheek-bones, a large hawk-nose, retreating chin, fallen

under-jaw, and huge protruding white eyes, the expression of his

countenance, although tinged with a species of dogged indifference to

matters and things in general, was not the less utterly solemn and

serious beyond all attempts at imitation or description.

The younger seaman was, in all outward appearance, the converse of

his companion. His stature could not have exceeded four feet. A pair

of stumpy bow-legs supported his squat, unwieldy figure, while his

unusually short and thick arms, with no ordinary fists at their

extremities, swung off dangling from his sides like the fins of a

sea-turtle. Small eyes, of no particular color, twinkled far back in

his head. His nose remained buried in the mass of flesh which

enveloped his round, full, and purple face; and his thick upper-lip

rested upon the still thicker one beneath with an air of complacent

self-satisfaction, much heightened by the owner's habit of licking

them at intervals. He evidently regarded his tall shipmate with a

feeling half-wondrous, half-quizzical; and stared up occasionally in

his face as the red setting sun stares up at the crags of Ben Nevis.

Various and eventful, however, had been the peregrinations of the

worthy couple in and about the different tap-houses of the

neighbourhood during the earlier hours of the night. Funds even the

most ample, are not always everlasting: and it was with empty pockets

our friends had ventured upon the present hostelrie.

At the precise period, then, when this history properly commences,

Legs, and his fellow Hugh Tarpaulin, sat, each with both elbows

resting upon the large oaken table in the middle of the floor, and

with a hand upon either cheek. They were eyeing, from behind a huge

flagon of unpaid-for "humming-stuff," the portentous words, "No

Chalk," which to their indignation and astonishment were scored over

the doorway by means of that very mineral whose presence they

purported to deny. Not that the gift of decyphering written

characters -- a gift among the commonalty of that day considered

little less cabalistical than the art of inditing -- could, in strict

justice, have been laid to the charge of either disciple of the sea;

but there was, to say the truth, a certain twist in the formation of

the letters -- an indescribable lee-lurch about the whole -- -which

foreboded, in the opinion of both seamen, a long run of dirty

weather; and determined them at once, in the allegorical words of

Legs himself, to "pump ship, clew up all sail, and scud before the

wind."

Having accordingly disposed of what remained of the ale, and looped

up the points of their short doublets, they finally made a bolt for

the street. Although Tarpaulin rolled twice into the fire-place,

mistaking it for the door, yet their escape was at length happily

effected -- and half after twelve o'clock found our heroes ripe for

mischief, and running for life down a dark alley in the direction of

St. Andrew's Stair, hotly pursued by the landlady of the "Jolly Tar."

At the epoch of this eventful tale, and periodically, for many years

before and after, all England, but more especially the metropolis,

resounded with the fearful cry of "Plague!" The city was in a great

measure depopulated -- and in those horrible regions, in the vicinity

of the Thames, where amid the dark, narrow, and filthy lanes and

alleys, the Demon of Disease was supposed to have had his nativity,

Awe, Terror, and Superstition were alone to be found stalking abroad.

By authority of the king such districts were placed under ban, and

all persons forbidden, under pain of death, to intrude upon their

dismal solitude. Yet neither the mandate of the monarch, nor the huge

barriers erected at the entrances of the streets, nor the prospect of

that loathsome death which, with almost absolute certainty,

overwhelmed the wretch whom no peril could deter from the adventure,

prevented the unfurnished and untenanted dwellings from being

stripped, by the hand of nightly rapine, of every article, such as

iron, brass, or lead-work, which could in any manner be turned to a

profitable account.

Above all, it was usually found, upon the annual winter opening of

the barriers, that locks, bolts, and secret cellars, had proved but

slender protection to those rich stores of wines and liquors which,

in consideration of the risk and trouble of removal, many of the

numerous dealers having shops in the neighbourhood had consented to

trust, during the period of exile, to so insufficient a security.

But there were very few of the terror-stricken people who attributed

these doings to the agency of human hands. Pest-spirits,

plague-goblins, and fever-demons, were the popular imps of mischief;

and tales so blood-chilling were hourly told, that the whole mass of

forbidden buildings was, at length, enveloped in terror as in a

shroud, and the plunderer himself was often scared away by the

horrors his own depreciations had created; leaving the entire vast

circuit of prohibited district to gloom, silence, pestilence, and

death.

It was by one of the terrific barriers already mentioned, and which

indicated the region beyond to be under the Pest-ban, that, in

scrambling down an alley, Legs and the worthy Hugh Tarpaulin found

their progress suddenly impeded. To return was out of the question,

and no time was to be lost, as their pursuers were close upon their

heels. With thorough-bred seamen to clamber up the roughly fashioned

plank-work was a trifle; and, maddened with the twofold excitement of

exercise and liquor, they leaped unhesitatingly down within the

enclosure, and holding on their drunken course with shouts and

yellings, were soon bewildered in its noisome and intricate recesses.

Had they not, indeed, been intoxicated beyond moral sense, their

reeling footsteps must have been palsied by the horrors of their

situation. The air was cold and misty. The paving-stones, loosened

from their beds, lay in wild disorder amid the tall, rank grass,

which sprang up around the feet and ankles. Fallen houses choked up

the streets. The most fetid and poisonous smells everywhere

prevailed; -- and by the aid of that ghastly light which, even at

midnight, never fails to emanate from a vapory and pestilential at

atmosphere, might be discerned lying in the by-paths and alleys, or

rotting in the windowless habitations, the carcass of many a

nocturnal plunderer arrested by the hand of the plague in the very

perpetration of his robbery.

-- But it lay not in the power of images, or sensations, or

impediments such as these, to stay the course of men who, naturally

brave, and at that time especially, brimful of courage and of

"humming-stuff!" would have reeled, as straight as their condition

might have permitted, undauntedly into the very jaws of Death. Onward

-- still onward stalked the grim Legs, making the desolate solemnity

echo and re-echo with yells like the terrific war-whoop of the

Indian: and onward, still onward rolled the dumpy Tarpaulin, hanging

on to the doublet of his more active companion, and far surpassing

the latter's most strenuous exertions in the way of vocal music, by

bull-roarings in basso, from the profundity of his stentorian lungs.

They had now evidently reached the strong hold of the pestilence.

Their way at every step or plunge grew more noisome and more horrible

-- the paths more narrow and more intricate. Huge stones and beams

falling momently from the decaying roofs above them, gave evidence,

by their sullen and heavy descent, of the vast height of the

surrounding houses; and while actual exertion became necessary to

force a passage through frequent heaps of rubbish, it was by no means

seldom that the hand fell upon a skeleton or rested upon a more

fleshly corpse.

Suddenly, as the seamen stumbled against the entrance of a tall and

ghastly-looking building, a yell more than usually shrill from the

throat of the excited Legs, was replied to from within, in a rapid

succession of wild, laughter-like, and fiendish shrieks. Nothing

daunted at sounds which, of such a nature, at such a time, and in

such a place, might have curdled the very blood in hearts less

irrevocably on fire, the drunken couple rushed headlong against the

door, burst it open, and staggered into the midst of things with a

volley of curses.

The room within which they found themselves proved to be the shop of

an undertaker; but an open trap-door, in a corner of the floor near

the entrance, looked down upon a long range of wine-cellars, whose

depths the occasional sound of bursting bottles proclaimed to be well

stored with their appropriate contents. In the middle of the room

stood a table -- in the centre of which again arose a huge tub of

what appeared to be punch. Bottles of various wines and cordials,

together with jugs, pitchers, and flagons of every shape and quality,

were scattered profusely upon the board. Around it, upon

coffin-tressels, was seated a company of six. This company I will

endeavor to delineate one by one.

Fronting the entrance, and elevated a little above his companions,

sat a personage who appeared to be the president of the table. His

stature was gaunt and tall, and Legs was confounded to behold in him

a figure more emaciated than himself. His face was as yellow as

saffron -- but no feature excepting one alone, was sufficiently

marked to merit a particular description. This one consisted in a

forehead so unusually and hideously lofty, as to have the appearance

of a bonnet or crown of flesh superadded upon the natural head. His

mouth was puckered and dimpled into an expression of ghastly

affability, and his eyes, as indeed the eyes of all at table, were

glazed over with the fumes of intoxication. This gentleman was

clothed from head to foot in a richly-embroidered black silk-velvet

pall, wrapped negligently around his form after the fashion of a

Spanish cloak. -- His head was stuck full of sable hearse-plumes,

which he nodded to and fro with a jaunty and knowing air; and, in his

right hand, he held a huge human thigh-bone, with which he appeared

to have been just knocking down some member of the company for a

song.

Opposite him, and with her back to the door, was a lady of no whit

the less extraordinary character. Although quite as tall as the

person just described, she had no right to complain of his unnatural

emaciation. She was evidently in the last stage of a dropsy; and her

figure resembled nearly that of the huge puncheon of October beer

which stood, with the head driven in, close by her side, in a corner

of the chamber. Her face was exceedingly round, red, and full; and

the same peculiarity, or rather want of peculiarity, attached itself

to her countenance, which I before mentioned in the case of the

president -- that is to say, only one feature of her face was

sufficiently distinguished to need a separate characterization:

indeed the acute Tarpaulin immediately observed that the same remark

might have applied to each individual person of the party; every one

of whom seemed to possess a monopoly of some particular portion of

physiognomy. With the lady in question this portion proved to be the

mouth. Commencing at the right ear, it swept with a terrific chasm to

the left -- the short pendants which she wore in either auricle

continually bobbing into the aperture. She made, however, every

exertion to keep her mouth closed and look dignified, in a dress

consisting of a newly starched and ironed shroud coming up close

under her chin, with a crimpled ruffle of cambric muslin.

At her right hand sat a diminutive young lady whom she appeared to

patronise. This delicate little creature, in the trembling of her

wasted fingers, in the livid hue of her lips, and in the slight

hectic spot which tinged her otherwise leaden complexion, gave

evident indications of a galloping consumption. An air of gave

extreme haut ton, however, pervaded her whole appearance; she wore in

a graceful and degage manner, a large and beautiful winding-sheet of

the finest India lawn; her hair hung in ringlets over her neck; a

soft smile played about her mouth; but her nose, extremely long,

thin, sinuous, flexible and pimpled, hung down far below her under

lip, and in spite of the delicate manner in which she now and then

moved it to one side or the other with her tongue, gave to her

countenance a somewhat equivocal expression.

Over against her, and upon the left of the dropsical lady, was seated

a little puffy, wheezing, and gouty old man, whose cheeks reposed

upon the shoulders of their owner, like two huge bladders of Oporto

wine. With his arms folded, and with one bandaged leg deposited upon

the table, he seemed to think himself entitled to some consideration.

He evidently prided himself much upon every inch of his personal

appearance, but took more especial delight in calling attention to

his gaudy-colored surtout. This, to say the truth, must have cost him

no little money, and was made to fit him exceedingly well -- being

fashioned from one of the curiously embroidered silken covers

appertaining to those glorious escutcheons which, in England and

elsewhere, are customarily hung up, in some conspicuous place, upon

the dwellings of departed aristocracy.

Next to him, and at the right hand of the president, was a gentleman

in long white hose and cotton drawers. His frame shook, in a

ridiculous manner, with a fit of what Tarpaulin called "the horrors."

His jaws, which had been newly shaved, were tightly tied up by a

bandage of muslin; and his arms being fastened in a similar way at

the wrists, I I prevented him from helping himself too freely to the

liquors upon the table; a precaution rendered necessary, in the

opinion of Legs, by the peculiarly sottish and wine-bibbing cast of

his visage. A pair of prodigious ears, nevertheless, which it was no

doubt found impossible to confine, towered away into the atmosphere

of the apartment, and were occasionally pricked up in a spasm, at the

sound of the drawing of a cork.

Fronting him, sixthly and lastly, was situated a singularly

stiff-looking personage, who, being afflicted with paralysis, must,

to speak seriously, have felt very ill at ease in his unaccommodating

habiliments. He was habited, somewhat uniquely, in a new and handsome

mahogany coffin. Its top or head-piece pressed upon the skull of the

wearer, and extended over it in the fashion of a hood, giving to the

entire face an air of indescribable interest. Arm-holes had been cut

in the sides, for the sake not more of elegance than of convenience;

but the dress, nevertheless, prevented its proprietor from sitting as

erect as his associates; and as he lay reclining against his tressel,

at an angle of forty-five degrees, a pair of huge goggle eyes rolled

up their awful whites towards the celling in absolute amazement at

their own enormity.

Before each of the party lay a portion of a skull, which was used as

a drinking cup. Overhead was suspended a human skeleton, by means of

a rope tied round one of the legs and fastened to a ring in the

ceiling. The other limb, confined by no such fetter, stuck off from

the body at right angles, causing the whole loose and rattling frame

to dangle and twirl about at the caprice of every occasional puff of

wind which found its way into the apartment. In the cranium of this

hideous thing lay quantity of ignited charcoal, which threw a fitful

but vivid light over the entire scene; while coffins, and other wares

appertaining to the shop of an undertaker, were piled high up around

the room, and against the windows, preventing any ray from escaping

into the street.

At sight of this extraordinary assembly, and of their still more

extraordinary paraphernalia, our two seamen did not conduct

themselves with that degree of decorum which might have been

expected. Legs, leaning against the wall near which he happened to be

standing, dropped his lower jaw still lower than usual, and spread

open his eyes to their fullest extent: while Hugh Tarpaulin, stooping

down so as to bring his nose upon a level with the table, and

spreading out a palm upon either knee, burst into a long, loud, and

obstreperous roar of very ill-timed and immoderate laughter.

Without, however, taking offence at behaviour so excessively rude,

the tall president smiled very graciously upon the intruders --

nodded to them in a dignified manner with his head of sable plumes --

and, arising, took each by an arm, and led him to a seat which some

others of the company had placed in the meantime for his

accommodation. Legs to all this offered not the slightest resistance,

but sat down as he was directed; while tile gallant Hugh, removing

his coffin tressel from its station near the head of the table, to

the vicinity of the little consumptive lady in the winding sheet,

plumped down by her side in high glee, and pouring out a skull of red

wine, quaffed it to their better acquaintance. But at this

presumption the stiff gentleman in the coffin seemed exceedingly

nettled; and serious consequences might have ensued, had not the

president, rapping upon the table with his truncheon, diverted the

attention of all present to the following speech:

"It becomes our duty upon the present happy occasion" --

"Avast there!" interrupted Legs, looking very serious, "avast there a

bit, I say, and tell us who the devil ye all are, and what business

ye have here, rigged off like the foul fiends, and swilling the snug

blue ruin stowed away for the winter by my honest shipmate, Will

Wimble the undertaker!"

At this unpardonable piece of ill-breeding, all the original company

half started to their feet, and uttered the same rapid succession of

wild fiendish shrieks which had before caught the attention of the

seamen. The president, however, was the first to recover his

composure, and at length, turning to Legs with great dignity,

recommenced:

"Most willingly will we gratify any reasonable curiosity on the part

of guests so illustrious, unbidden though they be. Know then that in

these dominions I am monarch, and here rule with undivided empire

under the title of 'King Pest the First.'

"This apartment, which you no doubt profanely suppose to be the shop

of Will Wimble the undertaker -- a man whom we know not, and whose

plebeian appellation has never before this night thwarted our royal

ears -- this apartment, I say, is the Dais-Chamber of our Palace,

devoted to the councils of our kingdom, and to other sacred and lofty

purposes.

"The noble lady who sits opposite is Queen Pest, our Serene Consort.

The other exalted personages whom you behold are all of our family,

and wear the insignia of the blood royal under the respective titles

of 'His Grace the Arch Duke Pest-Iferous' -- 'His Grace the Duke

Pest-Ilential' -- 'His Grace the Duke Tem-Pest' -- and 'Her Serene

Highness the Arch Duchess Ana-Pest.'

"As regards," continued he, "your demand of the business upon which

we sit here in council, we might be pardoned for replying that it

concerns, and concerns alone, our own private and regal interest, and

is in no manner important to any other than ourself. But in

consideration of those rights to which as guests and strangers you

may feel yourselves entitled, we will furthermore explain that we are

here this night, prepared by deep research and accurate

investigation, to examine, analyze, and thoroughly determine the

indefinable spirit -- the incomprehensible qualities and nature -- of

those inestimable treasures of the palate, the wines, ales, and

liqueurs of this goodly metropolis: by so doing to advance not more

our own designs than the true welfare of that unearthly sovereign

whose reign is over us all, whose dominions are unlimited, and whose

name is 'Death.'

"Whose name is Davy Jones!" ejaculated Tarpaulin, helping the lady by

his side to a skull of liqueur, and pouring out a second for himself.

"Profane varlet!" said the president, now turning his attention to

the worthy Hugh, "profane and execrable wretch! -- we have said, that

in consideration of those rights which, even in thy filthy person, we

feel no inclination to violate, we have condescended to make reply to

thy rude and unseasonable inquiries. We nevertheless, for your

unhallowed intrusion upon our councils, believe it our duty to mulct

thee and thy companion in each a gallon of Black Strap -- having

imbibed which to the prosperity of our kingdom -- at a single draught

-- and upon your bended knees -- ye shall be forthwith free either to

proceed upon your way, or remain and be admitted to the privileges of

our table, according to your respective and individual pleasures."

"It would be a matter of utter impossibility," replied Legs, whom the

assumptions and dignity of King Pest the First had evidently inspired

some feelings of respect, and who arose and steadied himself by the

table as he spoke -- "It would, please your majesty, be a matter of

utter impossibility to stow away in my hold even one-fourth part of

the same liquor which your majesty has just mentioned. To say nothing

of the stuffs placed on board in the forenoon by way of ballast, and

not to mention the various ales and liqueurs shipped this evening at

different sea-ports, I have, at present, a full cargo of 'humming

stuff' taken in and duly paid for at the sign of the 'Jolly Tar.' You

will, therefore, please your majesty, be so good as to take the will

for the deed -- for by no manner of means either can I or will I

swallow another drop -- least of all a drop of that villainous

bilge-water that answers to the hall of 'Black Strap.'"

"Belay that!" interrupted Tarpaulin, astonished not more at the

length of his companion's speech than at the nature of his refusal --

"Belay that you tubber! -- and I say, Legs, none of your palaver! My

hull is still light, although I confess you yourself seem to be a

little top-heavy; and as for the matter of your share of the cargo,

why rather than raise a squall I would find stowageroom for it

myself, but" --

"This proceeding," interposed the president, "is by no means in

accordance with the terms of the mulct or sentence, which is in its

nature Median, and not to be altered or recalled. The conditions we

have imposed must be fulfilled to the letter, and that without a

moment's hesitation -- in failure of which fulfilment we decree that

you do here be tied neck and heels together, and duly drowned as

rebels in yon hogshead of October beer!"

"A sentence! -- a sentence! -- a righteous and just sentence! -- a

glorious decree! -- a most worthy and upright, and holy

condemnation!" shouted the Pest family altogether. The king elevated

his forehead into innumerable wrinkles; the gouty little old man

puffed like a pair of bellows; the lady of the winding sheet waved

her nose to and fro; the gentleman in the cotton drawers pricked up

his ears; she of the shroud gasped like a dying fish; and he of the

coffin looked stiff and rolled up his eyes.

"Ugh! ugh! ugh!" chuckled Tarpaulin without heeding the general

excitation, "ugh! ugh! ugh! -- ugh! ugh! ugh! -- ugh! ugh! ugh! -- I

was saying," said he, "I was saying when Mr. King Pest poked in his

marlin-spike, that as for the matter of two or three gallons more or

less of Black Strap, it was a trifle to a tight sea-boat like myself

not overstowed -- but when it comes to drinking the health of the

Devil (whom God assoilzie) and going down upon my marrow bones to his

ill-favored majesty there, whom I know, as well as I know myself to

be a sinner, to be nobody in the whole world, but Tim Hurlygurly the

stage-player -- why! it's quite another guess sort of a thing, and

utterly and altogether past my comprehension."

He was not allowed to finish this speech in tranquillity. At the name

Tim Hurlygurly the whole assembly leaped from their name seats.

"Treason!" shouted his Majesty King Pest the First.

"Treason!" said the little man with the gout.

"Treason!" screamed the Arch Duchess Ana-Pest.

"Treason!" muttered the gentleman with his jaws tied up.

"Treason!" growled he of the coffin.

"Treason! treason!" shrieked her majesty of the mouth; and, seizing

by the hinder part of his breeches the unfortunate Tarpaulin, who had

just commenced pouring out for himself a skull of liqueur, she lifted

him high into the air, and let him fall without ceremony into the

huge open puncheon of his beloved ale. Bobbing up and down, for a few

seconds, like an apple in a bowl of toddy, he, at length, finally

disappeared amid the whirlpool of foam which, in the already

effervescent liquor, his struggles easily succeeded in creating.

Not tamely, however, did the tall seaman behold the discomfiture of

his companion. Jostling King Pest through the open trap, the valiant

Legs slammed the door down upon him with an oath, and strode towards

the centre of the room. Here tearing down the skeleton which swung

over the table, he laid it about him with so much energy and good

will, that, as the last glimpses of light died away within the

apartment, he succeeded in knocking out the brains of the little

gentleman with the gout. Rushing then with all his force against the

fatal hogshead full of October ale and Hugh Tarpaulin, he rolled it

over and over in an instant. Out burst a deluge of liquor so fierce

-- so impetuous -- so overwhelming -- that the room was flooded from

wall to wall -- the loaded table was overturned -- the tressels were

thrown upon their backs -- the tub of punch into the fire-place --

and the ladies into hysterics. Piles of death-furniture floundered

about. Jugs, pitchers, and carboys mingled promiscuously in the

melee, and wicker flagons encountered desperately with bottles of

junk. The man with the horrors was drowned upon the spot-the little

stiff gentleman floated off in his coffin -- and the victorious Legs,

seizing by the waist the fat lady in the shroud, rushed out with her

into the street, and made a bee-line for the "Free and Easy,"

followed under easy sail by the redoubtable Hugh Tarpaulin, who,

having sneezed three or four times, panted and puffed after him with

the Arch Duchess Ana-Pest.

~~~ End of Text ~~~

======

THREE SUNDAYS IN A WEEK

YOU hard-headed, dunder-headed, obstinate, rusty, crusty, musty,

fusty, old savage!" said I, in fancy, one afternoon, to my grand

uncle Rumgudgeon -- shaking my fist at him in imagination.

Only in imagination. The fact is, some trivial discrepancy did exist,

just then, between what I said and what I had not the courage to say

-- between what I did and what I had half a mind to do.

The old porpoise, as I opened the drawing-room door, was sitting with

his feet upon the mantel-piece, and a bumper of port in his paw,

making strenuous efforts to accomplish the ditty.

Remplis ton verre vide!

Vide ton verre plein!

"My dear uncle," said I, closing the door gently, and approaching him

with the blandest of smiles, "you are always so very kind and

considerate, and have evinced your benevolence in so many -- so very

many ways -- that -- that I feel I have only to suggest this little

point to you once more to make sure of your full acquiescence."

"Hem!" said he, "good boy! go on!"

"I am sure, my dearest uncle [you confounded old rascal!], that you

have no design really, seriously, to oppose my union with Kate. This

is merely a joke of yours, I know -- ha! ha! ha! -- how very pleasant

you are at times."

"Ha! ha! ha!" said he, "curse you! yes!"

"To be sure -- of course! I knew you were jesting. Now, uncle, all

that Kate and myself wish at present, is that you would oblige us

with your advice as -- as regards the time -- you know, uncle -- in

short, when will it be most convenient for yourself, that the wedding

shall -- shall come off, you know?"

"Come off, you scoundrel! -- what do you mean by that? -- Better wait

till it goes on."

"Ha! ha! ha! -- he! he! he! -- hi! hi! hi! -- ho! ho! ho! -- hu! hu!

hu!- that's good! -- oh that's capital -- such a wit! But all we want

just now, you know, uncle, is that you would indicate the time

precisely."

"Ah! -- precisely?"

"Yes, uncle -- that is, if it would be quite agreeable to yourself."

"Wouldn't it answer, Bobby, if I were to leave it at random -- some

time within a year or so, for example? -- must I say precisely?"

"If you please, uncle -- precisely."

"Well, then, Bobby, my boy -- you're a fine fellow, aren't you? --

since you will have the exact time I'll -- why I'll oblige you for

once:"

"Dear uncle!"

"Hush, sir!" [drowning my voice] -- I'll oblige you for once. You

shall have my consent -- and the plum, we mus'n't forget the plum --

let me see! when shall it be? To-day's Sunday -- isn't it? Well,

then, you shall be married precisely -- precisely, now mind! -- when

three Sundays come together in a week! Do you hear me, sir! What are

you gaping at? I say, you shall have Kate and her plum when three

Sundays come together in a week -- but not till then -- you young

scapegrace -- not till then, if I die for it. You know me -- I'm a

man of my word -- now be off!" Here he swallowed his bumper of port,

while I rushed from the room in despair.

A very "fine old English gentleman," was my grand-uncle Rumgudgeon,

but unlike him of the song, he had his weak points. He was a little,

pursy, pompous, passionate semicircular somebody, with a red nose, a

thick scull, [sic] a long purse, and a strong sense of his own

consequence. With the best heart in the world, he contrived, through

a predominant whim of contradiction, to earn for himself, among those

who only knew him superficially, the character of a curmudgeon. Like

many excellent people, he seemed possessed with a spirit of

tantalization, which might easily, at a casual glance, have been

mistaken for malevolence. To every request, a positive "No!" was his

immediate answer, but in the end -- in the long, long end -- there

were exceedingly few requests which he refused. Against all attacks

upon his purse he made the most sturdy defence; but the amount

extorted from him, at last, was generally in direct ratio with the

length of the siege and the stubbornness of the resistance. In

charity no one gave more liberally or with a worse grace.

For the fine arts, and especially for the belles-lettres, he

entertained a profound contempt. With this he had been inspired by

Casimir Perier, whose pert little query "A quoi un poete est il bon?"

he was in the habit of quoting, with a very droll pronunciation, as

the ne plus ultra of logical wit. Thus my own inkling for the Muses

had excited his entire displeasure. He assured me one day, when I

asked him for a new copy of Horace, that the translation of "Poeta

nascitur non fit" was "a nasty poet for nothing fit" -- a remark

which I took in high dudgeon. His repugnance to "the humanities" had,

also, much increased of late, by an accidental bias in favor of what

he supposed to be natural science. Somebody had accosted him in the

street, mistaking him for no less a personage than Doctor Dubble L.

Dee, the lecturer upon quack physics. This set him off at a tangent;

and just at the epoch of this story -- for story it is getting to be

after all -- my grand-uncle Rumgudgeon was accessible and pacific

only upon points which happened to chime in with the caprioles of the

hobby he was riding. For the rest, he laughed with his arms and legs,

and his politics were stubborn and easily understood. He thought,

with Horsley, that "the people have nothing to do with the laws but

to obey them."

I had lived with the old gentleman all my life. My parents, in dying,

had bequeathed me to him as a rich legacy. I believe the old villain

loved me as his own child -- nearly if not quite as well as he loved

Kate -- but it was a dog's existence that he led me, after all. From

my first year until my fifth, he obliged me with very regular

floggings. From five to fifteen, he threatened me, hourly, with the

House of Correction. From fifteen to twenty, not a day passed in

which he did not promise to cut me off with a shilling. I was a sad

dog, it is true -- but then it was a part of my nature -- a point of

my faith. In Kate, however, I had a firm friend, and I knew it. She

was a good girl, and told me very sweetly that I might have her (plum

and all) whenever I could badger my grand-uncle Rumgudgeon, into the

necessary consent. Poor girl! -- she was barely fifteen, and without

this consent, her little amount in the funds was not come-at-able

until five immeasurable summers had "dragged their slow length

along." What, then, to do? At fifteen, or even at twenty-one [for I

had now passed my fifth olympiad] five years in prospect are very

much the same as five hundred. In vain we besieged the old gentleman

with importunities. Here was a piece de resistance (as Messieurs Ude

and Careme would say) which suited his perverse fancy to a T. It

would have stiffed the indignation of Job himself, to see how much

like an old mouser he behaved to us two poor wretched little mice. In

his heart he wished for nothing more ardently than our union. He had

made up his mind to this all along. In fact, he would have given ten

thousand pounds from his own pocket (Kate's plum was her own) if he

could have invented any thing like an excuse for complying with our

very natural wishes. But then we had been so imprudent as to broach

the subject ourselves. Not to oppose it under such circumstances, I

sincerely believe, was not in his power.

I have said already that he had his weak points; but in speaking of

these, I must not be understood as referring to his obstinacy: which

was one of his strong points -- "assurement ce n' etait pas sa

foible." When I mention his weakness I have allusion to a bizarre

old-womanish superstition which beset him. He was great in dreams,

portents, et id genus omne of rigmarole. He was excessively

punctilious, too, upon small points of honor, and, after his own

fashion, was a man of his word, beyond doubt. This was, in fact, one

of his hobbies. The spirit of his vows he made no scruple of setting

at naught, but the letter was a bond inviolable. Now it was this

latter peculiarity in his disposition, of which Kates ingenuity

enabled us one fine day, not long after our interview in the

dining-room, to take a very unexpected advantage, and, having thus,

in the fashion of all modern bards and orators, exhausted in

prolegomena, all the time at my command, and nearly all the room at

my disposal, I will sum up in a few words what constitutes the whole

pith of the story.

It happened then -- so the Fates ordered it -- that among the naval

acquaintances of my betrothed, were two gentlemen who had just set

foot upon the shores of England, after a year's absence, each, in

foreign travel. In company with these gentlemen, my cousin and I,

preconcertedly paid uncle Rumgudgeon a visit on the afternoon of

Sunday, October the tenth, -- just three weeks after the memorable

decision which had so cruelly defeated our hopes. For about half an

hour the conversation ran upon ordinary topics, but at last, we

contrived, quite naturally, to give it the following turn:

CAPT. PRATT. "Well I have been absent just one year. -- Just one year

to-day, as I live -- let me see! yes! -- this is October the tenth.

You remember, Mr. Rumgudgeon, I called, this day year to bid you

good-bye. And by the way, it does seem something like a coincidence,

does it not -- that our friend, Captain Smitherton, here, has been

absent exactly a year also -- a year to-day!"

SMITHERTON. "Yes! just one year to a fraction. You will remember, Mr.

Rumgudgeon, that I called with Capt. Pratol on this very day, last

year, to pay my parting respects."

UNCLE. "Yes, yes, yes -- I remember it very well -- very queer

indeed! Both of you gone just one year. A very strange coincidence,

indeed! Just what Doctor Dubble L. Dee would denominate an

extraordinary concurrence of events. Doctor Dub-"

KATE. [Interrupting.] "To be sure, papa, it is something strange; but

then Captain Pratt and Captain Smitherton didn't go altogether the

same route, and that makes a difference, you know."

UNCLE. "I don't know any such thing, you huzzy! How should I? I think

it only makes the matter more remarkable, Doctor Dubble L. Dee-

KATE. Why, papa, Captain Pratt went round Cape Horn, and Captain

Smitherton doubled the Cape of Good Hope."

UNCLE. "Precisely! -- the one went east and the other went west, you

jade, and they both have gone quite round the world. By the by,

Doctor Dubble L. Dee-

MYSELF. [Hurriedly.] "Captain Pratt, you must come and spend the

evening with us to-morrow -- you and Smitherton -- you can tell us

all about your voyage, and well have a game of whist and-

PRATT. "Wist, my dear fellow -- you forget. To-morrow will be Sunday.

Some other evening-

KATE. "Oh, no. fie! -- Robert's not quite so bad as that. To-day's

Sunday."

PRATT. "I beg both your pardons -- but I can't be so much mistaken. I

know to-morrow's Sunday, because-"

SMITHERTON. [Much surprised.] "What are you all thinking about?

Wasn't yesterday, Sunday, I should like to know?"

ALL. "Yesterday indeed! you are out!"

UNCLE. "To-days Sunday, I say -- don't I know?"

PRATT. "Oh no! -- to-morrow's Sunday."

SMITHERTON. "You are all mad -- every one of you. I am as positive

that yesterday was Sunday as I am that I sit upon this chair."

KATE. [jumping up eagerly.] "I see it -- I see it all. Papa, this is

a judgment upon you, about -- about you know what. Let me alone, and

I'll explain it all in a minute. It's a very simple thing, indeed.

Captain Smitherton says that yesterday was Sunday: so it was; he is

right. Cousin Bobby, and uncle and I say that to-day is Sunday: so it

is; we are right. Captain Pratt maintains that to-morrow will be

Sunday: so it will; he is right, too. The fact is, we are all right,

and thus three Sundays have come together in a week."

SMITHERTON. [After a pause.] "By the by, Pratt, Kate has us

completely. What fools we two are! Mr. Rumgudgeon, the matter stands

thus: the earth, you know, is twenty-four thousand miles in

circumference. Now this globe of the earth turns upon its own axis-

revolves -- spins round -- these twenty-four thousand miles of

extent, going from west to east, in precisely twenty-four hours. Do

you understand Mr. Rumgudgeon?-"

UNCLE. "To be sure -- to be sure -- Doctor Dub-"

SMITHERTON. [Drowning his voice.] "Well, sir; that is at the rate of

one thousand miles per hour. Now, suppose that I sail from this

position a thousand miles east. Of course I anticipate the rising of

the sun here at London by just one hour. I see the sun rise one hour

before you do. Proceeding, in the same direction, yet another

thousand miles, I anticipate the rising by two hours -- another

thousand, and I anticipate it by three hours, and so on, until I go

entirely round the globe, and back to this spot, when, having gone

twenty-four thousand miles east, I anticipate the rising of the

London sun by no less than twenty-four hours; that is to say, I am a

day in advance of your time. Understand, eh?"

UNCLE. "But Double L. Dee-"

SMITHERTON. [Speaking very loud.] "Captain Pratt, on the contrary,

when he had sailed a thousand miles west of this position, was an

hour, and when he had sailed twenty-four thousand miles west, was

twenty-four hours, or one day, behind the time at London. Thus, with

me, yesterday was Sunday -- thus, with you, to-day is Sunday -- and

thus, with Pratt, to-morrow will be Sunday. And what is more, Mr.

Rumgudgeon, it is positively clear that we are all right; for there

can be no philosophical reason assigned why the idea of one of us

should have preference over that of the other."

UNCLE. "My eyes! -- well, Kate -- well, Bobby! -- this is a judgment

upon me, as you say. But I am a man of my word -- mark that! you

shall have her, boy, (plum and all), when you please. Done up, by

Jove! Three Sundays all in a row! I'll go, and take Dubble L. Dee's

opinion upon that."

End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Works of Edgar Allan Poe V. 3