The South Sea Whaler

by William Henry Giles Kingston

“You, my brave fellows, who are resolved to stand faithful to the captain, be ready with your firearms,” cried the surgeon. The boatswain and the others with him on this uttered loud shouts of derision, and several shots were fired at the surgeon and his supporters. He was compelled now to give the order to fire in return. Two of his men had been wounded; and three or four of the mutineers fell from the steady fire poured in on them. The rest, led on by the boatswain, now made a fierce onslaught on the surgeon—he and Tidy being knocked over; but his party, standing firm, drove back their assailants, and he was able to recover his feet. A second attack was about to be made, when loud cries of “Fire! fire!” arose from below, and smoke and flames were seen issuing up the fore-hatchway. The danger threatening had the effect of calming the fury of the mutineers, while Mr Lawrie’s earnest appeals induced them to exert themselves in putting out the flames. Indeed, had not the explosion which has been described taken place, they might possibly have succeeded. For a few moments they stood aghast; but the boatswain, who had already shown his courage, rallied the survivors around him, and urged them to assist him in building a raft. “It’s our only chance of saving our lives,” he shouted; “and the sooner we set about it the better.” Most of the men, obeying him, began cutting loose such spars as could be most easily got at, and launching them overboard. They then, with axes, cut away the bulwarks and other materials for forming a raft; while Mr Lawrie and his party still made desperate efforts to extinguish the fire. The boatswain showed himself a thorough seaman, by the skilful way in which he put the raft together; and he had finished it before the flames had gained the mastery—thanks to the labours of the surgeon and his party, who, though they could not extinguish it, had kept down the fire. Mr Lawrie, who had not forgotten Alice, was hurrying aft with the intention of trying to save her, when some of the mutineers caught him. “Come along, sir!—come along!” they shouted; “we want a doctor among us, and cannot leave you behind;” and, in spite of his struggles, he was dragged to the side and lowered down on the raft. Dan had made a dash into the cabin, but only in time to see Nub and Alice floating away on a raft from the wreck. Notwithstanding the bruises he had received, he rushed forward in the hope of saving his life, and, unseen by the mutineers, he lowered himself down among them.

Mr Lawrie’s first inquiry on being placed on the raft, and just as they were shoving off, was whether they had brought any provisions. “If we leave the ship without any, we shall only be seeking a more lingering death than we should have found on board,” he exclaimed.

The cry arose from those near him, who saw the sense of his remark,—“What provisions have we got?” Search was made, when it was found that they were actually leaving the ship without a particle of food or a drop of water!

“This will not do,” cried the boatswain. “Who will volunteer to go back and get what we want? I’ll lead the way!” Saying this, he sprang up the side, followed by several of the more daring of the crew. They made their way to the after-hold. A cask of beef was got up; but the men, breaking into the spirit-room, insisted on having some rum. One of them, wiser than his companions, managed to lower down a couple of breakers of water, while the rest were occupied in getting up three casks of rum; precious time, which should have been employed in searching for more provisions, being thus wasted in procuring what would too likely prove their destruction. The spirit-casks had just been lowered down, when the flames, bursting out with greater fury, made them dread another explosion.

“Shove off!—shove off!” was the general cry; and the men who had been labouring on the deck for the good of the others had barely time to spring on to the raft, when the ropes which held it to the ship were cut, and they shoved away from the side.

By this time a strong breeze had sprung up; the sail was hoisted, and the raft, passing under the stern, glided rapidly away from the ship. Though it was large enough to support the people on it, they found it necessary that each man should keep a certain place in order to balance it properly. The boatswain took the command, and insisted that all the rest should obey him. His own people seemed willing to do so; but the Frenchmen, who equalled them in numbers, from the first showed an evident inclination to dispute his authority, under the leadership of their own boatswain, a man not dissimilar to him in character. Capstick had sense enough to know that he must assert his authority, and keep the Frenchmen in check, or they would very probably take the raft from him.

“I see what these fellows are after, Mr Lawrie,” he said to the surgeon, who was seated near him. “You will stick by me, I know; for it will come to a fight before long, when, if we don’t gain the upper hand, we shall all be hove overboard.”

“Then I would advise you to get rid of the rum-casks at once,” said the surgeon. “I see that your people are already eyeing one of them as if they were about to broach it; and if they get drunk, which they certainly will, we shall be in the Frenchmen’s power.”

“I believe that you are right, sir; but I would not like to lose so much good rum,” answered the boatswain, who was himself much too fond of liquor. “I will see what I can do, though.”

“Avast there, lads,” he shouted to the men. “If we wish to save our lives, all hands must be put on a limited allowance of provisions and spirits. I cannot say how far off we are from the land; but it may be many a long day before we get there.”