The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 4Whymper, Frederick
History
The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 4
Whymper, Frederick
Adventure and adventurers; Arctic regions; Ocean; Voyages around the world
“We had,” says she, “three days of dead calm. The sun glared down upon us
pitilessly, and I thought how pleasant it would be to throw myself into
the sea, and sink calmly to death beneath its waves. I lost all wish to
live—for life seemed horrible. I cannot describe the days as they passed
separately, one by one; when I look back upon them, they all seem to have
been one misery. I remember that on the third day out poor Kitty’s baby
died—indeed, it had been dying from the first. It never had a chance of
living, for it had no fit attention and no sustenance. The poor mother
cried bitterly when at last it became cold on her bosom, but its death was
a merciful release. Wrapped in a shawl of bright colours, it was thrown
overboard, but was so light that it could not sink, and floated for hours
on a sea so calm in the hot sun that scarce a ripple could be seen. At
last it disappeared suddenly, the prey of some hungry shark, and when
afterwards the horrid monsters crowded round our boat they added to our
misery. Hitherto the children had been plunged into the sea every morning
to preserve them in health, but we dared not continue this practice with
those horrid creatures on our lee.... I must not forget one incident,
trifling in itself, but which might have caused the death of one of the
sailors. On the day of the wreck I had caused two or three bottles of ale
and one of claret to be put in the boat, thinking it might be of great use
to us. On the third or fourth night out, when we were shivering helplessly
after a drenching shower of rain, we thought that a bottle of ale should
be opened for the women and children, but not a bottle of any sort was to
be found.” The rage of the captain was awful, and but for the intercession
of the ladies, he swore that he would have thrown the man overboard.
It was on the morning of the tenth day that the frightful thought of
eating the children came into the heads of three or four desperate men,
and the captain and a few trustworthy companions had made up their minds
to slay the would‐be murderers that very night in their sleep. The last
and fatal hour of their great agony seemed to be come. On the morning of
the tenth day a sail was reported, and a white towel hoisted to attract
her attention. She came near enough for the captain to make out that she
carried the Hamburg flag, and then “passed by on the other side.” Curses
loud and deep came from the sailors’ lips. Then the women looked into each
other’s faces and the children cried, and the wolfish eyes of the would‐be
cannibals were again fixed upon them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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