Shipwreck

“ Kenneth inquired.
The keeper made a significant gesture that told, without a word, the horrors of shipwreck, of the despairing efforts of the sailors to work the vessel off the lee shore when the breakers first were seen or heard; of the canvas blown to tatters, the dreadful roar and overpowering rush of the waves driving the vessel on nearer the shoal, staving the boats and washing the crew overboard; and, finally, the sickening jar and shuddering scrape of the ship on the reef. ”

“ This was all about the shipwreck I heard from Miss Alice at the time. It appeared that when the masts had been carried away, the mizen-mast had hung on by some of the rigging, and by dragging astern had assisted in making the head of the ship pay off. This caused her to drive before the gale, and saved the decks from being swept by the seas, which would otherwise have cleared them of every human being. As soon as all the damage had been committed, the wind and sea began to go down, and by the morning there was only a moderate breeze. ”

“ With so few of them remaining, the fifteen survivors were able to assemble themselves upon a little platform raised in the center of the raft and to build a slight protection of plank and spars. To rehearse their sufferings at greater length would be to repel the modern reader. It is only in fiction that shipwreck can be employed as a theme for romance and enjoyable adventure. The reality is apt to be very stark and grim. ”

“ It appears then, in conformity to what has been already observed, that accidents from shipwreck happen most frequently near shore; and that communication between the distressed vessel and the coast being cut off, prevents that timely aid which might otherwise be administered.
2. That the crazy state of a ship, previous to the voyage, must inevitably increase the danger, and hasten on the fatal catastrophe.
3. That sailors expert in the art of swimming frequently escape, while their helpless companions miserably perish. ”

“ With long boats on board that can only be hoisted out under favourable circumstances, cutters and gigs at the davits lashed and secured, and covered with tarpaulin, filled with hay perhaps, or vegetables, containing neither oars, compass, or tow-rope, is it a wonder that in nearly every case of shipwreck we find the loss of life aggravated by the confusion and mismanagement which accompanies the lowering of boats, or the attempted construction of a raft? ”

“ "The dying does not amount to much," he said. "It is the thinking about it that hurts you mortals most. I've watched many a shipwreck at sea, and the people would howl and scream for hours before the ship broke up. Their terror was very enjoyable. But when the end came, they all drowned as peacefully as if they were going to sleep, so it didn't amuse me at all." ”

“ Fiction writers have often distorted the facts sufficiently to be able to weave about the incidents of a shipwreck some romantic story, but most of the disasters which overtake those who go down to the sea in ships to do work on the great waters, partake so much of the elements of tragedy that there is little room for the entrance of romance into the situation. ”

“ Later, when he drew nearer to observe the wreck, he had only been able to see the stern of the vessel—the remainder, that is to say, the large opening where the fore-part had given way, having been concealed from him among the masses of rock. [Pg 189]
With that exception, the information given by the captain of the Shealtiel was strictly correct. The hull was useless, but the engine remained intact.
Such chances are common in the history of shipwreck. The logic of disaster at sea is beyond the grasp of human science. ”

“ It becomes our painful duty to record the most perilous shipwreck that has ever occurred on Lake Superior, and having been a passenger on board the Monticello at the time, we are enabled to give all the particulars in relation to the loss of the vessel, and the hardships of the passengers and crew. ”

“ Hence, the papers wrote up similar shipwrecks in the past, gathered [142] together summaries of the world's greatest shipwrecks, interviewed people who had been in any way connected with shipwrecks or with any phase of this shipwreck, described glaciers and icebergs, estimated the depth of the ocean where the Titanic sank, described the White Star liner and other liners, pictured real or imaginary shipwrecks, and developed every other related subject. ”

“ How constantly it happens that boats get swamped and lost while being launched in cases of shipwreck at sea, and there is nothing left for the crews and passengers, after the few remaining boats are filled, save loose spars or a hastily and ill-made raft ”

“ Then the helm is put down, and the yards are braced up till she is once more brought as close to the wind as she will lie. As she must be kept moving all this time, and as, in a gale, the ship moves very rapidly, it may be conceived that a great extent of ground must be run over before the whole manoeuvre can be completed. I thought to myself, I hope that we shall not have to tack or wear ship on a lee shore in a dark night,—for although a shipwreck is a very interesting incident to read about, it is a thoroughly disagreeable one to suffer. ”

“ Shipwreck being inevitable, it behoves him to exert himself to save as many lives as he possibly can, by a spirited and impartial conduct, 35and by a proper distribution of the cork waistcoats, ropes, implements, and whatever may seem useful; to guard against the boats being suddenly over-crowded, and also to be watchful on such critical occasions, that men apparently dead from drowning, or other accidents, be not hastily thrown overboard, until suitable means of recovery have failed, or life be totally extinguished [10] . ”

“ Well, my dear father, in the shipwreck of life—for life is an eternal shipwreck of our hopes—I cast into the sea my useless encumbrance, that is all, and I remain with my own will, disposed to live perfectly alone, and consequently perfectly free.” ”

“ On this occasion, too, were we enabled to rescue ourselves from inevitable destruction by the possession of a few nails, without which (had it not been our fortune to save some from the wreck) we would, in all human calculations, have been lost: we were still liable to a recurrence of the same accident, perhaps to a still worse one, as, in the heavy and repeated racking of the swell, the progress of our voyage would serve but to increase the incapacity and weakness of our boat, and the starting of a single nail in her bottom would most assuredly prove our certain destruction. ”

“ Judging not only by the details we receive from the survivors of lost ships, but from what actually comes before our notice as we travel to and fro, it appears as a fact indisputable, that not only are steamboats ill supplied with the requisites for saving{401} life in case of shipwreck, but that what they have are seldom of use when wanted. ”

“ The prospect of obtaining any provisions or water from the ship, to subsist upon during the time, was at least now doubtful. How many long and watchful nights, thought I, are to be passed? How many tedious days of partial starvation are to be endured, before the least relief or mitigation of our sufferings can be reasonably anticipated. We lay at this time in our boat, about two ship lengths off from the wreck, in perfect silence, calmly contemplating her situation, and absorbed in our own melancholy reflections, when the other boats were discovered rowing up to us. ”

“ Well, then--our course is chosen--spread the sail-- Heave oft the lead, and mark the soundings well-- Look to the helm, good master--many a shoal Marks this stern coast, and rocks, where sits the Siren, Who, like ambition, lures men to their ruin.--THE SHIPWRECK. ”

“ George.—V. Land of Athens appears—Helmsman struck blind by Lightning—Ship laid broadside to the Shore—Bowsprit, Foremast, and Main Top-mast carried away—Albert, Rodmond, Arion, and Palemon strive to save themselves on the wreck of the Foremast—The Ship parts asunder—Death of Albert and Rodmond—Arion reaches the Shore—Finds Palemon expiring on the Beach—His dying Address to Arion, who is led away by the humane Natives.
THE
SHIPWRECK.
CANTO III.
Hadst thou, soft Maiden! ”

“ The light-keepers at the Bishop have no means of telling the people at St. Mary’s that a ship full of passengers is slowly but surely tearing to pieces on the Retarrier reef; and the hundreds of vessels that yearly are in deadly peril on the Goodwins, the Kentish Knock, the Norfolk Sands, and elsewhere, have no means of summoning prompt aid from the land, though they are only a few miles distant from it.”87 The writer notes that the number of cases of shipwreck, where the vessels might have been saved, which reach the National Life-boat Institution is considerable. ”

“ We continued to watch the wreck for any serviceable articles that might float from her, and kept one man during the day, on the stump of her foremast, on the lookout for vessels. Our work was very much impeded by the increase of the wind and sea, and the surf breaking almost continually into the boats gave us many fears that we should not be able to prevent our provisions from getting wet ”

“ From the many shipwrecks which have happened on our coasts, during the last year, and the number of lives and aggregate of property which must consequently have been lost, it is highly desirable that some mode should be adopted of lessening the dangers which so frequently menace such vessels as approach the rocky shores of these kingdoms, in boisterous and stormy weather. ”

“ The wreck of the ship furnished them with many necessaries; for, getting together some broken pieces of boards and planks, sails and rigging, with the help of poles they made themselves tents; and having got wood for firing, and three or four sea gowns to cover them, making the negro their centry, they slept soundly all night, having been without sleep for several nights before. ”

“ Accordingly, by agreement, all set to work in stripping off the light sails of the ship, for sails to our boats; and the day was consumed in making them up and fitting them. We furnished ourselves with masts and other light spars that were necessary, from the wreck. Each boat was rigged with two masts, to carry a flying-jib and two sprit-sails; the sprit-sails were made so that two reefs could be taken in them, in case
42
of heavy blows. ”

“ I told him I presumed it was one of the stoutest of the seamen, who had fortunately cleared himself from the ship, without much damage, and had resolutely continued ‘breasting the lofty surge,’ till he reached the middle of the breakers; when, being there overpowered, he expired and sunk; and the force of the waves then propelled the body to the shore before it descended to the bottom.
It is surprising that human bodies will, when dead, sink and continue at the bottom, unmoveable; while other substances, of much greater proportionate weight, will be thrown on shore by the sea. ”

“ Our observation now proved us to be in latitude 0° 13' N. longitude 120° 00' W. as near as we could determine it, having crossed the equator during the night, and drifted nineteen miles. The wind had veered considerably to the eastward, during the last twenty-four hours. Our nautical calculations having been completed, the captain, after visiting the wreck, called a council, consisting of himself and the first and second mates, who all repaired to his boat, to interchange
47
opinions and devise the best means for our security and preservation. ”

“ That a human being could live through such a night as that, in that icy water and retain his hold upon any part of those ice covered timbers and sea swept wreck seemed incredible. But the chapter of horrors was not yet complete in this wretched disaster. Piece by piece the sea tore away what remained of the wreck until nothing but the deck house roof remained above the sea; as wave after wave hurled itself against the battered top it was seen to lift from its fastenings that held it to the submerged wreck and the next wave bore it off far into the thrashing sea. ”

“ The sea was strewed with spars, masts, chests, boats stove in or otherwise injured, casks, empty hencoops, and innumerable pieces of floating wreck, that were continually dashed against the rocks, or were washed ashore, wherever an opening for the sea presented itself. At a little distance lay the remains of a fine ship, her masts gone by the board, her decks open, in fact a complete wreck, over which the sea had but lately been making a clean sweep, carrying overboard everything that could not resist its fury. ”

“ When day dawned upon the cheerless group, its light only revealed new horrors: the sea on all sides was strewed with fragments of the wreck; not a sail was visible on the waters, and many of their comrades were seen clinging to spars and planks, tossed hither and thither by the waves. The situation of the survivors was truly distressing; they were at least twelve miles from the nearest island, and their only chance of relief was in the possibility of a ship passing near enough to see the signal which they hoisted on a long pole fixed to the rocks. ”

“ Once more, Captain Temple and above two hundred men and officers said farewell to the companions of their toils and dangers—once more they bade God speed to the frail bark—their own last chance of escape—and watched it as it was now borne aloft on the crested wave, now buried in the briny furrow. For a time they forgot their own danger in anxiety for the others; but they were soon recalled to what was passing around them—the groaning of the timbers, as every sea struck the wreck with an increasing shock, forewarned them that she could not long resist that mighty force. ”