The South Sea Whaler

by William Henry Giles Kingston

“Then I hope that he has visited the ship,” said Walter; “and now I think of it, he must have seen the fire at a great distance, and would have come back as fast as he could. He might easily have passed us in the dark without seeing us. Perhaps his boat and the other took the people off, and he has Alice safe with him.”

“I don’t think that,” said the mate; “for from what I observed when I was on board, I am sure that they must have made a raft. The main and main-topsail-yards, and all the spare spars on deck, and a good part of the bulwarks and the hatches and gratings, were gone; had they been left, I should at all events have seen the burnt ends. I took it in at a glance, though I did not tell you so at the time.”

“But that does not prove that the boats did not visit the ship,” observed Walter. “They could not carry all the people. I rather think that my father did come back, and had the raft built under his orders.”

“Well, well, lad,” answered the mate, “as I said before, we will hope for the best; and as soon as it is daylight we must set to work and secure our raft better than it is at present, or it will not stand the sea we are likely to have on before long.”

By this time the wind had greatly increased, and the sea was tumbling the raft about from side to side in a way which would have made it impossible for any one but a practised seaman, as was the mate, and an active boy like Walter, to keep their footing. Dark clouds had gathered in the sky; the lightning flashed and the thunder roared. Still the mate and Walter did not lose courage, but exerted themselves to keep the materials with which they intended to complete their raft, together. Happily, however, though the weather was so threatening, the sea did not continue to increase, and towards dawn it once more sensibly abated.

“Now, Walter, while we have got a lull, let us set to work to finish this raft of ours,” said Mr Shobbrok.

“Ay, ay,” answered Walter; “tell me what to do, and I will do it as soon as we have got light enough to see with.”

“We shall have that before long: the first streaks of dawn are appearing in the sky,” observed the mate.

“Then I hope we may get a sight of the boats, for they are not likely to have run far from the ship,” said Walter.

As the light increased sufficiently to enable them to see objects at a distance, they stood up and took an anxious glance around; but the horizon on all sides was unusually obscured, and their view consequently limited. Walter, whose young eyes were keener than those of the mate, fancied that he caught sight of an object which looked like a boat’s sail away to leeward, but if such was the case it soon disappeared. He made out, however, on the part of the ocean where the ship had gone down, numerous pieces of wreck, casks, and spars, and other articles, which, escaping burning, had floated; but they were too far off to enable him to distinguish clearly what they were.