The wanderings and fortunes of some German emigrantsGerstäcker, Friedrich
General
The wanderings and fortunes of some German emigrants
Gerstäcker, Friedrich
Germany -- Emigration and immigration -- Fiction; Immigrants -- Fiction
The Captain, meanwhile, had made room in the cabin for Pastor Hehrmann's
family, and had the women at least, and their beds, removed thither.
Mrs. Hehrmann, indeed, was more dead than alive, and she scarcely could
have got through such another night of terror. The Pastor himself no
longer opposed this removal, for he could not help seeing that his
family, although not brought up in luxury, yet never had been exposed to
similar sufferings, and could hardly have borne a life surrounded by
such scenes--but he himself would not forsake the steerage.
There the scene was a shocking one, and pen or pencil would be too weak
to attempt its description.
The corpse was carried by the sailors towards the hatchway, and there
handed to those above, who laid it on a plank and bore it to the lee
side of the vessel.
In spite of the rolling of the ship, in spite of the constant washing
of the waves across the deck, although none other of the passengers, no,
not even the committee, came to his side, the worthy Pastor Hehrmann,
amidst the howling of the storm and the dashing of the waves, spoke a
brief service for the dead over the body of the poor old woman, for whom
the wild waves, instead of the arms of an affectionate son, now waited.
The corpse was then lifted on the edge of the bulwarks, which were
gliding, with an arrow's speed, through the foaming waters, and scarcely
two feet elevated above them, (so inclined was the ship,) and in the
next minute the sea engulfed its victim.
But where, in this time of need and sorrow, was the committee, who had
pledged themselves to provide during the voyage for the well-being and
comfort of the travellers who had confided themselves to their care?
Where was this committee, when all were calling for them, and wished for
their help, or at all events their sympathy? Alas, the poor committee
itself lay in the most pitiable condition, sea sick to a fearful degree,
up and down about the cabin. The Captain could not be blamed if he swore
a little, and declared that in whatever part of his cabin he got to, he
could not help treading upon some member of this "extensive" committee,
who, deaf to everything beside, only sighed and groaned, and called on
death to relieve him from his misery.
When the Captain told them of the case of death in the steerage, M. Von
Schwanthal, raising himself a little by a leg of a camp stool, dolefully
exclaimed, "Alas, who could the old woman be!" and sank back again
exhausted, whilst the other members said nothing, but merely shook their
heads gently and significantly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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