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AFLOAT AND ASHORE
right-angles. Then the air was so light, that I almost despaired
of our doing anything.
Captain Robbins put the ship into the current with great
judgment. She was kept a rap-full until near the edge of the
eddy, and then her helm was put nearly down, all at once. But
for the current’s acting, in one direction, on her starboard bow,
and the eddy’s pressing, in the other, on the larboard quarter,
the vessel would have been taken aback; but these counteracting forces brought her handsomely on her course again, and
that in a way to prevent her falling an inch to leeward.
Now came the trial. The ship was kept a rap-full, and she
went steadily across the passage, favoured, perhaps, by a little
more breeze than had blown most of the morning. Still, our
leeward set was fearful, and, as we approached the reef, I gave
all up. Marble screwed his lips together, and his eyes never
turned from the weather-leeches of the sails. Everybody appeared to me to be holding his breath, as the ship rose on the
long ground-swells, sending slowly ahead the whole time. We
passed the nearest point of the rocks on one of the rounded
risings of the water, just touching lightly as we glided by the
visible danger. The blow was light, and gave little cause for
alarm. Captain Robbins now caught Mr. Marble by the hand,
and was in the very act of heartily shaking it, when the ship
came down very much in the manner that a man unexpectedly lights on a stone, when he has no idea of having anything
within two or three yards of his feet. The blow was tremendous, throwing half the crew down; at the same instant, all
three of the topmasts went to leeward.
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
One has some difficulty in giving a reader accurate notions
of the confusion of so awful a scene. The motion of the vessel was arrested suddenly, as it might be by a wall, and the
whole fabric seemed to be shaken to dissolution. The very next
roller that came in, which would have undulated in towards
the land but for us, meeting with so large a body in its way,
piled up and broke upon our decks, covering everything with
water. At the same time, the hull lifted, and, aided by wind, sea
and current, it set still further on the reef, thumping in a way
to break strong iron bolts, like so many sticks of sealing-wax,
and cracking the solid live-oak of the floor-timbers as if they
were made of willow. The captain stood aghast! For one moment despair was painfully depicted in his countenance; then
he recovered his self-possession and seamanship. He gave the
order to stand by to carry out to windward the stream-anchor
in the launch, and to send a kedge to haul out by, in the jollyboat. Marble answered with the usual “ay, ay, sir!” but before he
sent us into the boats, he ventured to suggest that the ship had
bilged already. He had heard timbers crack, about which he
thought there could be no mistake. The pumps were sounded,
and the ship had seven feet water in her hold. This had made
in about ten minutes. Still the captain would not give up. He
ordered us to commence throwing the teas overboard, in order
to ascertain, if possible, the extent of the injury. A place was
broken out in the wake of the main-hatch, and a passage was
opened down into the lower-hold, where we met the water. In
the mean time, a South-Sea man we had picked up at Canton,
dove down under the lee of the bilge of the ship. He soon came
back and reported that a piece of sharp rock had gone quite
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AFLOAT AND ASHORE
through the planks. Everything tending to corroborate this,
the captain called a council of all hands on the quarter-deck,
to consult as to further measures.
A merchantman has no claim on the services of her crew
after she is hopelessly wrecked. The last have a lien in law, on
the ship and cargo, for their wages; and it is justly determined
that when this security fails, the claim for services ends. It followed, of course, that as soon as the John was given over, we
were all our own masters; and hence the necessity for bringing
even Neb into the consultation. With a vessel of war it would
have been different. In such a case, the United States pays for
the service, ship or no ship, wreck or no wreck; and the seaman
serves out his term of enlistment, be this longer or shorter.
Military discipline continues under all circumstances.
Captain Robbins could hardly speak when we gathered
round him on the forecastle, the seas breaking over the quarter-deck in a way to render that sanctuary a very uncomfortable berth. As soon as he could command himself, he told us
that the ship was hopelessly lost. How it had happened, he
could not very well explain himself, though he ascribed it to
the fact that the currents did not run in the direction in which,
according to all sound reasoning, they ought to run. This part
of the speech was not perfectly lucid, though, as I understood
our unfortunate captain, the laws of nature, owing to some inexplicable influence, had departed, in some way or other, from
their ordinary workings, expressly to wreck the John. If this
were not the meaning of what he said, I did not understand
this part of the address.
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
The captain was much more explicit after he got out of the
current. He told us that the island of Bourbon was only about
four hundred miles from where we then were, and he thought
it possible to go that distance, find some small craft, and come
back, and still save part of the cargo, the sails, anchors, &c.
&c. We might make such a trip of it as would give us all a lift,
in the way of salvage, that might prove some compensation
for our other losses. This sounded well, and it had at least the
effect to give us some present object for our exertions; it also
made the danger we all ran of losing our lives, less apparent.
To land on the island of Madagascar, in that day, was out of the
question. The people were then believed to be far less civilized
than in truth they were, and had a particularly bad character
among mariners. Nothing remained, therefore, but to rig the
boats, and make immediate dispositions for our departure.
Now it was that we found the advantage of the preparations already made. Little remained to be done, and that which
was done, was much better done than if we had waited until
the wreck was half full of water, and the seas were combing in
upon her. The captain took charge of the launch, putting Mr.
Marble, Rupert, Neb, myself and the cook, into the jolly-boat,
with orders to keep as close as possible to himself. Both boats
had sails, and both were so arranged as to row in calms, or
head-winds. We took in rather more than our share of provisions and water, having two skillful caterers in the chief-mate
and cook; and, having obtained a compass, quadrant, and a
chart, for our portion of the indispensables, all hands were
ready for a start, in about two hours after the ship had struck.
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AFLOAT AND ASHORE
It was just noon when we cast off from the wreck, and stood
directly off the land. According to our calculations, the wind
enabled us to run, with a clean full, on our true course. As the
boats drew out into the ocean, we had abundant opportunities
of discovering how many dangers we had escaped; and, for my
own part, I felt deeply grateful, even then, as I was going out
upon the wide Atlantic in a mere shell of a boat, at the mercy
we had experienced. No sooner were we fairly in deep water,
than the captain and mate had a dialogue on the subject of
the currents again. Notwithstanding all the difficulties his old
theory had brought him into, the former remained of opinion
that the true current set to windward, and that we should so
find it as soon as we got a little into the offing; while the mate
was frank enough to say he had been of opinion, all along, that
it ran the other way. The latter added that Bourbon was rather
a small spot to steer for, and it might be better to get into its
longitude, and then find it by meridian observations, than to
make any more speculations about matters of which we knew
nothing.
The captain and Mr. Marble saw things differently, and
we kept away accordingly, when we ought to have luffed all
we could. Fortunately the weather continued moderate, or
our little boat would have had a bad time of it. We outsailed
the launch with ease, and were forced to reef in order not to
part company. When the sun set, we were more than twenty
miles from the land, seeing no more of the coast, though the
mountains inland were still looming up grandly in the distance. I confess, when night shut in upon us, and I found myself on the wide ocean, in a boat much smaller than that with
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
which I used to navigate the Hudson, running every minute
farther and farther into the watery waste, I began to think of
Clawbonny, and its security, and quiet nights, and well-spread
board, and comfortable beds in a way I had never thought of
either before. As for food, however, we were not stinted; Mr.
Marble setting us an example of using our teeth on the half
boiled pork, that did credit to his philosophy. To do this man
justice, he seemed to think a run of four hundred miles in a
jolly-boat no great matter, but took everything as regularly as
if still on the deck of the John. Each of us got as good a nap as
our cramped situations would allow.
The wind freshened in the morning, and the sea began to
break. This made it necessary to keep still more away, to prevent filling at times, or to haul close up, which might have
done equally well. But the captain preferred the latter course,
on account of the current. We had ticklish work of it, in the
jolly-boat, more than once that day, and were compelled to
carry a whole sail in order to keep up with the launch, which
beat us, now the wind had increased. Marble was a terrible
fellow to carry on everything, ship or boat, and we kept our
station admirably, the two boats never getting a cable’s length
asunder, and running most of the time within hail of each
other. As night approached, however, a consultation was held
on the subject of keeping in company. We had now been out
thirty hours, and had made near a hundred and fifty miles, by
our calculation. Luckily the wind had got to be nearly west,
and we were running ahead famously, though it was as much
as we could do to keep the jolly-boat from filling. One hand
was kept bailing most of the time, and sometimes all four of
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AFLOAT AND ASHORE
us were busy. These matters were talked over, and the captain
proposed abandoning the jolly-boat altogether, and to take
us into the launch, though there was not much vacant space
to receive us. But the mate resisted this, answering that he
thought he could take care of our boat a while longer, at least.
Accordingly, the old arrangement was maintained, the party
endeavouring to keep as near together as possible.
About midnight it began to blow in squalls, and two or
three times we found it necessary to take in our sails, our oars,
and pull the boat head to sea, in order to prevent her swamping. The consequence was, that we lost sight of the launch,
and, though we always kept away to our course as soon as the
puffs would allow, when the sun rose we saw nothing of our
late companions. I have sometimes thought Mr. Marble parted
company on purpose, though he seemed much concerned next
morning when he had ascertained the launch was nowhere to
be seen. After looking about for an hour, and the wind moderating, we made sail close on the wind; a direction that would
soon have taken us away from the launch, had the latter been
close alongside when we first took it. We made good progress
all this day, and at evening, having now been out fifty-four
hours, we supposed ourselves to be rather more than half-way
on the road to our haven. It fell calm in the night, and the
next morning we got the wind right aft. This gave us a famous
shove, for we sometimes made six and seven knots in the hour.
The fair wind lasted thirty hours, during which time we must
have made more than a hundred and fifty miles, it falling
nearly calm about an hour before dawn, on the morning of the
fourth day out. Everybody was anxious to see the horizon that
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
morning, and every eye was turned to the east, with intense
expectation, as the sun rose. It was in vain; there was not the
least sign of land visible. Marble looked sadly disappointed,
but he endeavoured to cheer us up with the hope of seeing
the island shortly. We were then heading due east, with a very
light breeze from the north-west. I happened to stand up in
the boat, on a thwart, and, turning my face to the southward, I
caught a glimpse of something that seemed like a hummock of
land in that quarter. I saw it but for an instant; but, whatever it
was, I saw it plain enough. Mr. Marble now got on the thwart,
and looked in vain to catch the same object. He said there was
no land in that quarter – could be none – and resumed his
seat to steer to the eastward, a little north. I could not be easy,
however, but remained on the thwart until the boat lifted on
a swell higher than common, and then I saw the brown, hazylooking spot on the margin of the ocean again. My protestations now became so earnest, that Marble consented to stand
for an hour in the direction I pointed out to him. “One hour,
boy, I will grant you, to shut your mouth,” the mate said, taking out his watch, “and that you need lay nothing to my door
hereafter.” To make the most of this hour, I got my companions
at the oars, and we all pulled with hearty good-will. So much
importance did I attach to every fathom of distance made, that
we did not rise from our seats until the mate told us to stop
rowing, for the hour was up. As for himself, he had not risen
either, but kept looking behind him to the eastward, still hoping to see land somewhere in that quarter.
My heart beat violently as I got upon the thwart, but there
lay my hazy object, now never dipping at all. I shouted “land
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AFLOAT AND ASHORE
ho!” Marble jumped up on a thwart, too and no longer disputed my word. It was land, he admitted, and it must be the island
of Bourbon, which we had passed to the northward, and must
soon have given a hopelessly wide berth. We went to the oars
again with renewed life, and soon made the boat spin. All that
day we kept rowing, until about five in the afternoon, when we
found ourselves within a few leagues of the island of Bourbon,
where we were met by a fresh breeze from the southward, and
were compelled to make sail. The wind was dead on end, and
we made stretches under the lee of the island, going about as
we found the sea getting to be too heavy for us, as was invariably the case whenever we got too far east or west. In a word, a
lee was fast becoming necessary. By ten, we were within a mile
of the shore, but saw no place where we thought it safe to attempt a landing in the dark; a long, heavy sea setting in round
both sides of the island, though the water did not break much
where we remained. At length the wind got to be so heavy, that
we could not carry even our sail double-reefed, and we kept
two oars pulling lightly in, relieving each other every hour. By
daylight it blew tremendously, and glad enough were we to
find a little cove where it was possible to get ashore. I had then
never felt so grateful to Providence as I did when I got my feet
on terra-firma.
We remained on the island a week, hoping to see the
launch and her crew; but neither appeared. Then we got a
passage to the Isle of France, on arriving at which place we
found the late gale was considered to have been very serious.
There was no American consul in the island, at that time; and
Mr. Marble, totally without credit or means, found it impos-
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
sible to obtain a craft of any sort to go to the wreck in. We
were without money, too, and, a homeward-bound Calcutta
vessel coming in, we joined her to work our passages home,
Mr. Marble as dickey, and the rest of us in the forecastle. This
vessel was called the Tigris, and belonged to Philadelphia. She
was considered one of the best ships out of America, and her
master had a high reputation for seamanship and activity. He
was a little man of the name of Digges, and was under thirty
at the time I first knew him. He took us on board purely out of
a national feeling, for his ship was strong-handed without us,
having thirty-two souls, all told, when he received us five. We
afterwards learned that letters sent after the ship had induced
Captain Digges to get five additional hands in Calcutta, in order to be able to meet the picaroons that were then beginning
to plunder American vessels, even on their own coast, under
the pretence of their having violated certain regulations made
by the two great belligerents of the day, in Europe. This was
just the commencement of the quasi war which broke out a
few weeks later with France.
Of all these hostile symptoms, however, I then knew little
and cared less. Even Mr. Marble had never heard of them and
we five joined the Tigris merely to get passages home, without entertaining second thoughts of running any risk, further
than the ordinary dangers of the seas.
The Tigris sailed the day we joined her, which was the third
after we reached Mauritius, and just fifteen days after we had
left the wreck. We went to sea with the wind at the southward,
and had a good run off the island, making more than a hundred miles that afternoon and in the course of the night. Next
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