"As long as we were in sight of the land we were kept down in the hold, and carefully guarded day and night by armed men, and I was quite thankful when we got well out to sea, and were allowed to go on deck. We soon found, however, that our masters had no intention of letting us be idle during the voyage, for we were kept constantly employed about the ship, and made to do all the hardest and dirtiest work. This was very distasteful to me with my lazy habits, for I had never done a day's hard work before in my life, and latterly even study had become quite irksome to me. The curse which my father had pronounced upon me had already begun to be terribly fulfilled, and I now began to believe that it was indeed to follow me always."
CHAPTER VI.
The Tempest—All Hope Lost—The Ship Founders—The only Survivor—The Spar—Remorse—The Rock—A Sail in Sight—The Signal—Despair—The Sail in Sight again—The Signal Seen—Saved—He Works his Passage to England—Is Tired of a Seafaring Life.
"Colder and louder blew the wind,
A gale from the north-east;
The snow fell hissing in the brine,
And the billows frothed like yeast.
"Down came the storm and smote amain
The vessel in its strength;
She shuddered and paused, like a frighted steed,
Then leaped her cable's length."
—LONGFELLOW.
"When I was at the university, I had indeed been accustomed to low society; but when I came to hear the conversation of some of the sailors on board, my hair stood on end with horror. I would have given anything to have been employed in some way, so that I might have avoided hearing all day long the terrible oaths of these wicked men, compared with whom I seemed to myself to be a very model of excellence; but as I had neglected the study of mathematics when I had the opportunity, I had not sufficient knowledge of the principles of navigation to be employed in anything but manual labour.
"Our ship was freighted for Batavia, so that I had no hope of any change for the better in my miserable condition for a long time, and my wretchedness reached its height when I was told that on our arrival I should be compelled to join a regiment of Dutch troops. No life, indeed, could be less to my taste than that of a soldier, on account of the strict discipline which is always enforced in the army. It was, however, decreed that we should never reach our destination.
"Soon after we had crossed the Line, a sudden and violent gale drove our vessel out of her course, and for two days and nights we were driving at the mercy of the wind. No sooner had we succeeded in making some little way against this gale, than a violent tempest arose, and we were obliged to devote all our attention to saving the ship. AH round the ship the sea and sky were enveloped in thick darkness, broken by repeated flashes of lightning, which served only to show us the danger of our position. At one moment the vessel rose on the tops of the immense mountain-like waves, and the instant after plunged down into a vast hollow, leaving the waters standing up around us like a wall. While one party of the sailors were trying in vain to furl the sails, the rest were kept busily at work at the pumps. By this time the hold was half full of water, and every moment we were expecting the ship to go to pieces, as her timbers were too old and rotten to bear the strain upon them. Soon we lost all hope of saving the ship, and the crew ceased making any further exertions, every one seeking for some means of saving his own life. The vessel then began to settle deeper and deeper in the water, and soon after disappeared beneath the waves. Before this, however, I had thrown myself into the sea, and was then clinging to a part of the mast, which had been washed away. Several of the crew beside myself had sought for safety in a similar way; but when the sky grew a little lighter, and I was able to look around me, I could see no one, I seemed to be the only survivor.
"Clinging to a part of the mast which had been washed away."
"The storm continued to rage furiously all night, and it was with difficulty that I managed to keep on the slippery spar which was now my only support. All night long, amid the howling of the tempest, I seemed to hear my father's words ringing in my ears. I tried to pray, but remorse was busy in my heart, and conscience kept repeating to me, 'Why did you not return to your father, like the prodigal son, when you knew he was ready to forgive you, and to receive you with outstretched arms?' At length this terrible night, the longest I have ever passed through, came to an end, and when at last daylight returned, I was very thankful to see, close by me, a large rock, which I managed to reach, though not without great difficulty. Benumbed as I was with passing the night in the water, I clung eagerly to it, and, after resting a while, dragged my weary limbs as high above the water as I could, and gazed eagerly out over the wide expanse of sea. For a long time, however, I looked in vain for any signs of help; but at length, to my great joy, I descried a sail far away in the distance, apparently making towards me.