There were two boats in the water, and along-side of the brig. One was
the Swash's yawl, a small but convenient craft, while the other was much
larger, fitted with a sail, and had all the appearance of having been
built to withstand breezes and seas. Mulford felt perfectly satisfied,
the moment he saw this boat, which had come into the haven in tow of the
schooner, that it had been originally in the service of the light-house
keeper. As there was a very general desire among those on the
quarter-deck to go to the assistance of the schooner, Spike ordered both
boats manned, jumping into the yawl himself, accompanied by Don Juan
Montefalderon, and telling Mulford to follow with the larger craft,
bringing with him as many of the females as might choose to accompany
him. As Mrs. Budd thought it incumbent on her to be active in such a
scene, all did go, including Biddy, though with great reluctance on the
part of Rose.
With the buoy for a guide, Spike had no difficulty in finding the spot
where the schooner lay. She had scarcely shifted her berth in the least,
there having been no time for her even to swing to the gust, but she had
probably cap-sized at the first blast, filled, and gone down instantly.
The water was nearly as clear as the calm, mild atmosphere of the
tropics; and it was almost as easy to discern the vessel, and all her
hamper, as if she lay on a beach. She had sunk as she filled, or on her
side, and still continued in that position. As the water was little more
than three fathoms deep, the upper side was submerged but a few
inches, and her yard-arms would have been out of the water, but for the
circumstance that the yards had canted under the pressure.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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