I have mentioned that L'Ami du Peuple, the ship in which Smith sailed for Jamaica, had her topmasts carried away by a gale of wind. This occurred when she was somewhere off the long shoal, known as the Avis bank; and the gale was but the skirt of a fearful hurricane, which we also encountered, and by which we were driven as far as to north latitude 15.30, and west longitude 63.15.
The day when Stanley made this observation had been wonderfully serene, even for the tropics; and as evening drew on, a warm lilac tint spread over sea and sky. The wind became variable—by turns stiff and light; the sails at times flapped heavily, and the loose cordage alternately blew out in wide bends, or hung listlessly and still. At such times the Etna rolled drowsily, for there was a mountainous swell upon the glassy sea.
Stanley, the middy in command, seemed to dislike the aspect of the sky; it puzzled him, and he frequently conferred with the older seamen of his crew, who, while acknowledging that they thought the appearance of the atmosphere boded something, added, they "would not have cared about it the value of a quid of bacca, but for that 'ere matter of the rats."
It would seem that the Etna, when first found at Los Santos was infested by thousands of Barbadoes rats, all of which had disappeared when she was refitted for sea; and the old proverb, that "rats leave dangerous places," was repeated gloomily as evening turned into night, and the men of the watch talked under their breath, and rehearsed to each other many a gloomy legend of dangers, to which similar disappearances had been the ominous introduction.
The wind was easterly, and, contrary to the general experience of those who have traversed the Caribean sea, we found it increase in strength, instead of sinking after sunset—till it blew so freshly that sail was taken off the ship.
The atmosphere became thick and misty; like a luminous lamp the red moon appeared for a time at the horizon, and the black and tumbling waves seemed to roll against its disc; but as the haze increased we lost sight of it altogether. Dense black clouds came rapidly up from the north-west, and as they hurried along, they seemed to meet and be torn asunder by the contrary current from the east, which bore us swiftly on. The agitation of the sea increased, and now the waves, that seethed and boiled around us, emitted a strong sulphureous odour. Every moment the wind seemed to grow stronger, and appeared to blow from every point at once.
These phenomena, though not uncommon in those latitudes, made Stanley and his crew anxious.
The sails were still more reduced; the topgallant yards were sent down, the topmasts struck, and every means were taken to make the vessel snug; but she pitched and groaned fearfully; while the atmosphere became more dense, more black, and stifling every moment.
I was sitting under the recess of the poop deck, when suddenly cries of astonishment, if not of fear, burst from the seamen; then their voices were lost in a stupendous sound, like the roaring of a mighty cataract, mingled with the rolling of thunder, while a wondrous gleam of red and ghastly light overspread the sea, revealing every crested wave that rolled in long and watery ridges towards us, and every spar, rope, and block of the vessel's rigging in a glare as from a mighty conflagration.
By one bound I gained the summit of the poop-ladder, and grasping the mizen shrouds, beheld one of those terrible phenomena incident to these tropical seas,—a sight never to be forgotten.