The Boats of the "Glen Carrig": Being an account of their Adventures in the Strange places of the Earth, after the foundering of the good ship Glen Carrig through striking upon a hidden rock in the unknown seas to the Southward; as told by John Winterstraw, Gent., to his son James Winterstraw, in the year 1757, and by him committed very properly and legibly to manuscriptHodgson, William Hope
Science
The Boats of the "Glen Carrig": Being an account of their Adventures in the Strange places of the Earth, after the foundering of the good ship Glen Carrig through striking upon a hidden rock in the unknown seas to the Southward; as told by John Winterstraw, Gent., to his son James Winterstraw, in the year 1757, and by him committed very properly and legibly to manuscript
Then I caught the bo'sun by the arm, and pointed; for whether it was a
part of the tree or not, it was a work of the devil; but the bo'sun, on
seeing it, ran straightway so close to the tree that he might have
touched it with his hand, and I found myself beside him. Now, George, who
was on the bo'sun's other side, whispered that there was another face,
not unlike to a woman's, and, indeed, so soon as I perceived it, I saw
that the tree had a second excrescence, most strangely after the face of
a woman. Then the bo'sun cried out with an oath, at the strangeness of
the thing, and I felt the arm, which I held, shake somewhat, as it might
be with a deep emotion. Then, far away, I heard again the sound of the
wailing and, immediately, from among the trees about us, there came
answering wails and a great sighing. And before I had time to be more
than aware of these things, the tree wailed again at us. And at that, the
bo'sun cried out suddenly that he knew; though of what it was that he
_knew_ I had at that time no knowledge. And, immediately, he began with
his cutlass to strike at the tree before us, and to cry upon God to blast
it; and lo! at his smiting a very fearsome thing happened, for the tree
did bleed like any live creature. Thereafter, a great yowling came from
it, and it began to writhe. And, suddenly, I became aware that all about
us the trees were a-quiver.
Then George cried out, and ran round upon my side of the bo'sun, and I
saw that one of the great cabbage-like things pursued him upon its stem,
even as an evil serpent; and very dreadful it was, for it had become
blood red in color; but I smote it with the sword, which I had taken from
the lad, and it fell to the ground.
Now from the brig I heard them hallooing, and the trees had become
like live things, and there was a vast growling in the air, and
hideous trumpetings. Then I caught the bo'sun again by the arm, and
shouted to him that we must run for our lives; and this we did,
smiting with our swords as we ran; for there came things at us, out
from the growing dusk.
Thus we made the brig, and, the boats being ready, I scrambled after the
bo'sun into his, and we put straightway into the creek, all of us,
pulling with so much haste as our loads would allow. As we went I looked
back at the brig, and it seemed to me that a multitude of things hung
over the bank above her, and there seemed a flicker of things moving
hither and thither aboard of her. And then we were in the great creek up
which we had come, and so, in a little, it was night.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account