Your toils, and pains, and dangers, are no more;
The tempest now shall howl unheard by you,
While Ocean smites in vain the trembling shore[[2]].
[2]. See the “Shipwreck,” a pathetic poem, written con amore by the ingenious captain Falconer, who, having narrowly escaped from a similar disaster, paints the affecting scene from nature.
Attended with peculiar circumstances.
Captain M‘Kay, in a late pamphlet addressed to his father, gives some interesting particulars respecting the shipwreck of the Juno, of which he was the second officer. The ship, he remarks, was crazy, and greatly out of repair, before she set out from Rangoon, bound to Madras. This circumstance appears to have been the source of their subsequent misfortunes. For the vessel, being unequal to sustain the violence of the storm which overtook them on their voyage, became leaky, and was cast away on the coast; when the principal part of the crew miserably perished. Out of seventy-two persons on board, Captain M‘Kay, with thirteen companions, only survived. But, strange to relate (for the fact, were it not so well attested, would appear almost incredible), this unhappy remnant of the crew, being left on the wreck, subsisted not less than twenty-three days without food!
In describing their unparalleled sufferings during this forlorn situation, Captain M‘Kay observes, that the sense of hunger was very tormenting till the fifth day, when it gave way to the still more distressing sensation of extreme thirst. These painful sensations, however, were greatly mitigated whenever rain fell copiously, and wet them through their clothes. But, finding the relief only temporary, he had recourse to such other expedients as were at hand.—Sea-water drank liberally, though it operated as a severe purgative, yet afforded considerable refreshment. He next chewed pieces of lead, procured from fragments of the wreck, which, by producing a fresh flow of saliva, alleviated the intense thirst. To silence the cravings arising from that aching void produced by long fasting, and which nothing but nutritious food can fully satisfy, he tried the experiment of forcibly compressing the region of the stomach with both hands, which always afforded immediate relief. Hardened and benumbed with their sufferings, his unhappy comrades seemed to feel very little concern or sympathy one for another.
The idea every now and then of hearing a gun, or seeing a sail, when found only to be an illusion, never failed to embitter their distress. When they gave up life as utterly lost, they expressed less anguish; a state of cruel suspense being more painful than absolute despair.
The preceding melancholy cases of shipwreck are selected from several others, if possible, still more deplorable; over which, however, to spare the sympathetic feelings of the humane Reader, I shall draw the friendly veil. These already related are sufficient to suggest a variety of reflections; and it seemed necessary to give them in detail, as they may afford some useful inferences for the benefit of future navigators.
It appears then, in conformity to what has been already observed, that accidents from shipwreck happen most frequently near shore; and that communication between the distressed vessel and the coast being cut off, prevents that timely aid which might otherwise be administered.