Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex, of Nantucket;: Which Was Attacked and Finally Destroyed by a Large Spermaceti-whale, in the Pacific Ocean; With an Account of the Unparalleled Sufferings of the Captain and Crew During a Space of Ninety-three Days at Sea, in Open Boats in the Years 1819 & 1820.Chase, Owen
History
Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex, of Nantucket;: Which Was Attacked and Finally Destroyed by a Large Spermaceti-whale, in the Pacific Ocean; With an Account of the Unparalleled Sufferings of the Captain and Crew During a Space of Ninety-three Days at Sea, in Open Boats in the Years 1819 & 1820.
beasts or savages; and a momentary suspense was created, by the dangers
which might possibly arise by proceeding without due preparation and
care. Hunger and thirst, however, soon determined us, and having taken
the musket and pistols, I, with three others, effected a landing upon
some sunken rocks, and waded thence to the shore. Upon arriving at the
beach, it was necessary to take a little breath, and we laid down for a
few minutes to rest our weak bodies, before we could proceed. Let the
reader judge, if he can, what must have been our feelings now! Bereft of
all comfortable hopes of life, for the space of thirty days of terrible
suffering; our bodies wasted to mere skeletons, by hunger and thirst,
and death itself staring us in the face; to be suddenly and unexpectedly
conducted to a rich banquet of food and drink, which subsequently we
enjoyed for a few days, to our full satisfaction; and he will have but a
faint idea of the happiness that here fell to our lot. We now, after a
few minutes, separated, and went different directions in search of
water; the want of which had been our principal privation, and called
for immediate relief. I had not proceeded far in my excursion, before I
discovered a fish, about a foot and a half in length, swimming along in
the water close to the shore. I commenced an attack upon him with the
breach of my gun, and struck him, I believe, once, and he ran under a
small rock, that lay near the shore, from whence I took him with the aid
of my ramrod, and brought him up on the beach, and immediately fell to
eating. My companions soon joined in the repast; and in less than ten
minutes, the whole was consumed, bones, and skin, and scales, and all.
With full stomachs, we imagined we could now attempt the mountains,
where, if in any part of the island, we considered water would be most
probably obtained. I accordingly clambered, with excessive labour,
suffering, and pain, up amongst the bushes, roots, and underwood, of one
of the crags, looking in all directions in vain, for every appearance of
water that might present itself. There was no indication of the least
moisture to be found, within the distance to which I had ascended,
although my strength did not enable me to get higher than about 20 feet.
I was sitting down at the height that I had attained, to gather a little
breath, and ruminating upon the fruitlessness of my search, and the
consequent evils and continuation of suffering that it necessarily
implied, when I perceived that the tide had risen considerably since our
landing, and threatened to cut off our retreat to the rocks, by which
alone we should be able to regain our boats. I therefore determined to
proceed again to the shore, and inform the captain and the rest of our
want of success in procuring water, and consult upon the propriety of
remaining at the island any longer. I never for one moment lost sight of
the main chance, which I conceived we still had, of either getting to
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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