There She Blows! Or, The Log of the Arethusa

by William Hussey Macy

The hand lead gave eight feet of water under the bow on the starboard side. From this depth it was evident the reef rose abruptly; as, ten feet ahead of us the rock was dry and our martingale was almost touching it. Under the larboard bow we got ten feet, and a boat's length from the ship the lead indicated five fathoms. The kedge anchor was being prepared for service, for we could hear the voices of natives on the beach, and doubtless the canoes would surround us as soon as daylight should arrive, and the alarm be spread; so that whatever was to be done must be done soon or we should have to fight an army of hostile savages. But soundings taken thirty yards from the ship gave sixty fathoms off the port bow, and at fifty yards distance no bottom was reached with a hundred and fifty fathoms. No kedging could be done in that direction to swing her bow off. We sent the boat astern with no better success. The deep sea line failed to find any bottom, and it was evident the ship hung by her bow only, on the very angle of a reef which rose boldly from the depths of the ocean. Under the fore-chains we had fourteen feet, which was enough to have floated the ship. We had the satisfaction of knowing that a pull of a couple of fathoms in either of two directions would place her in her native element, but how were we to get it? Our kedge anchor was useless, owing to the great depth of water on the off side and astern of us. A strong breeze acting upon the head sails thrown aback would probably have done the work for us.

Daylight, while it gave us a clear view of our position, also brought new dangers, for several canoes were already hovering near, and others could be seen shoving out all along the beach. We could see that the men were all armed, and that no women were in any of the canoes. This was sufficient evidence that they meant mischief, and would venture an attack upon us in our crippled position, which they would not dare make if we were under way. However, we knew their wholesome dread of fire-arms, and trusted to be able to keep them at bay, if we could contrive any purchase to haul the ship off the ledge. But one way of doing this presented itself; and we at once set about the necessary preparations for availing ourselves of it.

About two hundred yards from us, in a line nearly astern, a point or projection of the coral reef made out in a south-west direction, the rock being but little more than dry at high water; and in the scanty soil on this point, three cocoanut trees had firmly rooted themselves, one of them inclining so much seaward, that its lofty tuft of branches must have almost brushed the sails of the ship as she passed in by it. If a line could be carried to these trees, and brought in at the taffrail to the capstan or windlass, we could heave the ship off, without doubt; but the undertaking involved considerable risk. The two cutting falls were unrove from the blocks and connected by a bend, which formed a rope long enough for our purpose, and of sufficient strength to bear all the strain that we should want to heave. This was all placed in one boat, in two large coils well spread out on top of the thwarts. Only one man was to go in this boat, at the steering oar, and the position was assigned to me. The other two boats were lowered, and manned with full crews, the second and third mates being placed in command. All the fire-arms had in the mean time been loaded, six-pounder and all; and most of the muskets were distributed in the boats, as there was no fear of the savages making an attack on the ship at present. They would wait to concentrate all their fighting force before doing so.

When we had completed our preparations there were not more than twenty canoes assembled, averaging about five men to each; and these were, thus far, acting only as a squadron of observation; but two had made their appearance ahead of the ship coming round the end of the reef, being the advance guard of another fleet from the north side of the island, while the number of triangular sails momentarily increasing off the lee beam and quarter promised large reinforcements from the other island. It was low tide when the ship ran ashore, and the flood was now beginning to make; a couple of hours would, doubtless, give us water enough to haul her off.

The second mate's boat, pulled in advance, towing the boat in which I was steering, loaded with the hawser. Mr. Bunker, with the third boat, followed close in my wake, as rear guard, carrying the end of a light whale line which was paid out from the ship. The six-pounder was trained for a covering fire, but no fire-arms were to be used, nor any violence offered, except in case of the last necessity. The natives in the canoes intently watched our movements, paddling a little towards us, but resting again, as they saw the number of muskets in the two boats. They, of course, understood our manœuvre, but to oppose our landing would involve more risk from the guns than they cared to run. Thus holding them in awe, the operation was performed without a shot, the first boat only being beached. The crew jumped out, pulled the end of the hawser ashore by a piece of small line, hitched it securely round two trees which grew close together, while the end of the whale line was being bent to the other end of the coil; a wave of my hat gave the signal to "haul away!" I laid the boat round, was taken in tow by the third mate, and we returned to the ship paying out the hawser from both coils at once.

When about midway between the shore and the ship, having paid all out and thrown the bight clear of the boat, I was startled by a man under water swimming towards the hawser. I called to Mr. Bunker to "heave up," for it instantly occurred to me what his purpose was. He was nearly under the head of my boat, and gradually rising towards the surface as he approached his object. My boat-spade, keen as a razor, with a light warp attached to it, lay convenient to my hand. I seized it with a nervous grasp, feeling that it had fallen to my duty to shed the first blood in this affair. The savage was coming up; already his arm was outstretched to grasp the hawser. I could see a knife gleaming in his other hand. My spade descended with careful aim upon his right arm, his ugly head rose to the surface in a pool of blood, and with an unearthly yell he struck out with one arm towards the canoes, holding aloft the stump of the other, cut clear off between the shoulder and the elbow!

The hawser was safe for the present; another minute and it was hauled taut and taken to the windlass, the tension bringing it above the surface. A boat's crew, well armed, remained on the point to protect that end; and in order to divide it at any point, the person attempting it must raise his head out of water and expose himself to almost certain death; for keen eyes were sighting loaded muskets both from the taffrail and the beach. We hove a severe strain at the windlass, but it was evident we could not start her yet; we must wait the rise of the tide, and, in the mean time, our chief attention must be devoted to the protection of our hawser. If our enemies could divide this, they would gain time and assemble a large force so as to overpower and massacre the whole of us. The division from the north side of the island were apparently all in sight now, and were forming a junction with their comrades, the whole force amounting to about forty canoes with two hundred fighting men, their arms being clubs and spears of wood, set thickly with rows of shark's teeth. We made no attempt to prevent the junction of the two fleets, for we did not mean to waste a charge of powder, but reserve it for an emergency. If we could protect our hawser and get another hour or two of flood tide, we did not fear a legion of them when under way; and this we hoped to effect before the arrival of the fleet from Woodle's island, which numbered some thirty canoes more.

The women and children of the island, with a few old men whose fighting days were gone by, had all assembled on the beach at a short distance from the ship, anxiously waiting the progress of events. They kept up a terrible yelling and shouting to the warriors in the canoes, apparently urging them on to attack us. After a time, becoming emboldened by impunity, a party of them ran down on the rocks ahead of the ship, and saluted us with a volley of stones, some of which came in over the bows, falling among us. To get rid of this annoyance the six-pounder, with only a charge of powder and wad was now trained in that direction and fired over their heads. The effect was all we could have desired; the rabble retreated to what they considered a safe distance, and ventured no more within range.

From time to time we tried a little additional strain on the hawser, and at length had the satisfaction of feeling the ship tremble and waver a little under our efforts. On sounding now we found thirteen feet as far forward as the fore-swifter, and it was evident we hung by only a few feet of the keel from the cutwater aft.