"Bid _him_ bow down to that which is above him,--
The overruling Infinite,--the Maker,----
Who made him not for worship,--let him kneel,
And we will kneel together."Byron.
When the bodies had been removed from the cabin, and the limbs of Daggett
were covered with snow, Roswell Gardiner took another look at the
thermometer. It had risen already to twenty degrees above zero. This was
absolutely warmth, compared with the temperature from which the men had
just escaped, and it was felt to be so, in their persons. The fire,
however, was not the only cause of this most acceptable change. One of the
men who had been outside soon came back and reported a decided improvement
in the weather. The wind, which had been coquetting with the north-east
point of the compass for several hours, now blew steadily from that
quarter. An hour later it was found, on examination, that a second
thermometer, which was outside, actually indicated ten above zero! This
sudden and great change came altogether from the wind, which was now in
the warm quarter. The men stripped themselves of most of their skins, and
the fire was suffered to go down, though care was taken that it should not
again be totally extinguished.
We have little pleasure in exhibiting pictures of human suffering; and
shall say but little of the groans and pains that Daggett uttered and
endured, while undergoing that most agonizing process of having the frost
taken out of his system by cold applications. It was the only safe way of
treating his case, however, and as he knew it, he bore his sufferings as
well as man could bear them. Long ere the return of day he was released
from his agony, and was put back into his berth, which had been
comfortably arranged for him, having the almost unheard-of luxury of
sheets, with an additional mattress.
As Stephen remarked, when the men were told to try and get a little sleep,
"There's plenty of berths empty, and each on us can have as many clothes
and as warm a bed as he can ask for, now that so many have hastened away
to their great account, as it might be, in the pride of their youth and
strength."
Activity, the responsibility of command, and the great necessity there had
been for exertion, prevented Roswell from reflecting much on what had
happened, until he lay down to catch a little sleep. Then, indeed, the
whole of the past came over him, in one sombre, terrible picture, and he
had the most lively perception of the dangers from which he had escaped,
as well as of the mercy of God's Providence. Surrounded by the dead, as it
might be, and still uncertain of the fate of the living, his views of the
past and future became much lessened in confidence and hope. The majesty
and judgment of God assumed a higher place than common in his thoughts,
while his estimate of him self was fast getting to be humble and
searching. In the midst of all these changes of views and feelings,
however, there was one image unaltered in the young man's imagination.
Mary occupied the back-ground of every picture, with her meek, gentle, but
blooming countenance. If he thought of God, _her_ eyes were elevated in
prayer; if the voyage home was in his mind, and the chances of success
were calculated, _her_ smiles and anxious watchfulness stimulated him to
adventure; if arrived and safe, her downcast but joyful looks betrayed the
modest happiness of her inmost heart. It was in the midst of some such
pictures that Roswell now fell asleep.
When the party turned out in the morning, a still more decided change had
occurred in the weather The wind had increased to a gale, bringing with it
torrents of rain. Coming from the warm quarter, a thaw had set in with a
character quite as decided as the previous frost. In that region, the
weather is usually exaggerated in its features, and the change from winter
to spring is quite as sudden as that from autumn to winter. We use the
terms "spring" and "autumn" out of complaisance to the usages of men; but,
in fact, these two seasons have scarcely any existence at all in the
antarctic seas. The change, commonly, is from winter to summer, such as
summer is, and from summer back to winter.
Notwithstanding the favourable appearances of things, when Roswell walked
out into the open air next morning, he well knew that summer had not yet
come. Many weeks must go by ere the ice could quit the bay, and even a
boat could put to sea. There were considerations of prudence, therefore,
that should not be neglected, connected with the continuance of the
supplies and the means of subsistence. In one respect the party now on the
island had been gainers by the terrible losses it had sustained in
Daggett's crew. The provisions of the two vessels might now, virtually, be
appropriated to the crew of one; and Roswell, when he came to reflect on
the circumstances, saw that a Providential interference had probably saved
the survivors from great privations, if not from absolute want.
Still there was a thaw, and one of that decided character which marks a
climate of great extremes. The snows on the mountain soon began to descend
upon the plain, in foaming torrents; and, increased by the tribute
received from the last, the whole came tumbling over the cliffs in various
places in rich water-falls. There was about a mile of rock that was one
continuous cataract, the sheet being nearly unbroken for the whole
distance. The effect of this deluge from the plain above was as startling
as it was grand. All the snow along the rocky shore soon disappeared; and
the fragments of ice began rapidly to diminish in size, and to crumble. At
first, Roswell felt much concern on account of the security of the wreck;
his original apprehension being that it would be washed away. This ground
of fear was soon succeeded by another of scarcely less serious
import--that of its being crushed by the enormous cakes of ice that made
the caverns in which it lay, and which now began to settle and change
their positions, as the water washed away their bases. At one time Roswell
thought of setting the storm at defiance, and of carrying Daggett across
to the house by means of the hand-barrow; but when he came to look at the
torrents of water that were crossing the rocks, so many raging rivulets,
the idea was abandoned as impracticable. Another night was therefore
passed in the midst of the tempest.
The north-east wind, the rain, and the thaw, were all at work in concert,
when our adventurers came abroad to look upon the second day of their
sojourn in the wreck. By this time the caverns were dripping with a
thousand little streams, and every sign denoted a most rapid melting of
the ice. On carrying the thermometer into the open air it stood at
sixty-two; and the men found it necessary to lay aside their second shirt,
and all the extraordinary defences of their attire. Nor was this all; the
wind that crosses the salt water is known to have more than the usual
influence on the snows and ice; and such was the effect now produced by it
on Sealer's Land. The snow, indeed, had mostly disappeared from all places
but the drifts; while the ice was much diminished in its size and
outlines. So grateful was the change from the extreme cold that they had
so lately endured, that the men thought nothing of the rain at all; they
went about in it just as if it did not stream down upon them in little
torrents. Some of them clambered up the cliffs, and reached a point whence
it was known that they could command a view of the house. The return of
this party, which Roswell did not accompany, was waited for with a good
deal of interest. When it got back, it brought a report that was deemed
important in several particulars. The snow had gone from the plain, and
from the mountain, with the exception of a few spots where there had been
unusual accumulations of it. As respected the house, it was standing, and
the snow had entirely disappeared from its vicinity. The men could be seen
walking about on the bare rocks, and every symptom was that of settled
spring.
This was cheering news; and the torrents having much diminished in size,
some having disappeared altogether, Roswell set out for the cape, leaving
the second mate in charge of the wreck. Lee, the young Vineyarder, who had
been rescued from freezing by the timely arrival of our hero, accompanied
the tatter, having joined his fortunes to those of the Oyster Ponders. The
two reached the house before dark, where they found Hazard and his
companions in a good deal of concern touching the fate of the party that
was out. A deep impression was made by the report of what had befallen the
other crew; and that night Roswell read prayers to as attentive a
congregation as was ever assembled around a domestic hearth. As for fire,
none was now needed, except for culinary purposes, though all the
preparations to meet cold weather were maintained, it being well known
that a shift of wind might bring back the fury of the winter.
The following morning it was clear, though the wind continued warm and
balmy from the north. No such weather, indeed, had been felt by the
sealers since they reached the group; and the effect on them was highly
cheering and enlivening. Before he had breakfasted, Roswell was down in
the cove, examining into the condition of his vessel, or what remained of
her. A good deal of frozen snow still lay heaped on the mass, and he set
the hands at work to shovel it off. Before noon the craft was clear, and
most of the snow was melted, it requiring little more than exposure to the
air in order to get rid of it.
As soon as the hulk was clear, Roswell directed his men to take
everything out of it; the remains of cargo, water-casks, and some frozen
provisions, in order that it might float as light as possible. The ice was
frozen close to every part of the vessel's bottom to a depth of several
feet, following her mould, a circumstance that would necessarily prevent
her settling in the water below her timbers; but, as there was no telling
when this ice might begin to recede by melting, it was deemed prudent to
use this precaution. It was found that the experiment succeeded, the hulk
actually rising, when relieved from the weight in it, no less than four
inches.
A consultation was held that night, between Gardiner, his officers, and
the oldest of the seamen. The question presented was whether the party
should attempt to quit the group in the boats, or whether they should
build a little on the hulk, deck her over, and make use of this altered
craft, to return to the northward. There was a good deal to be said on
both sides. If the boats were used, the party might leave as soon as the
weather became settled, and the season a little more advanced, by dragging
the boats on sledges across the ice to the open water, which was supposed
to be some ten or twenty miles to the northward, and a large amount of
provisions might thus be saved. On the other hand, however, as it regarded
the provisions, the boats would hold so little, that no great gain would
be made by going early in them, and leaving a sufficient supply behind to
keep all hands two or three months. This was a consideration that
presented itself, and it had its weight in the decision. Then there was
the chance of the winter's returning, bringing with it the absolute
necessity of using a great deal more fuel. This was a matter of life and
death. Comparatively pleasant as the weather had become, there was no
security for its so continuing. One entire spring month was before the
sealers, and a shift of wind might convert the weather into a wintry
temperature. Should such be the case, it might become indispensable to
burn the very materials that would be required to build up and deck over
the hulk. There were, therefore, many things to be taken into the account;
nor was the question settled without a great deal of debate and
reflection.
After discussing all these points, the decision was as follows. It was at
least a month too soon to think of trusting themselves in that stormy
ocean, on the high seas and in the open boats; and this so much the more
because nature, as if expressly to send back a reasonable amount of warm
air into the polar regions, with a view to preserve the distinction of the
seasons, caused the wind to blow most of the time from the northward. As
this month, in all prudence, must be passed on the island, it might as
well be occupied with building upon the hulk, as in any other occupation.
Should the cold weather return, the materials would still be there, and
might be burned, in the last extremity, just as well, or even with greater
facility, after being brought over to the cove, as if left where they then
were, or at the wreck. Should the winter not return, the work done on the
vessel would be so much gained, and they would be ready for an earlier
start, when the ice should move.
On this last plan the duty was commenced, very little interrupted by the
weather. For quite three weeks the wind held from points favourable to the
progress of spring, veering from east to west, but not once getting any
southing in it. Occasionally it blew in gales, sending down upon the group
a swell that made great havoc with the outer edges of the field-ice. Every
day or two a couple of hands were sent up the mountain to take a look-out,
and to report the state of matters in the adjacent seas. The fleet of
bergs had not yet come out of port, though it was in motion to the
southward, like three-deckers dropping down to outer anchorages, in
roadsteads and bays. As Roswell intended to be off before these formidable
cruisers put to sea, their smallest movement or change was watched and
noted. As for the field-ice, it was broken up, miles at at a time, until
there remained very little of it, with the exception of the portion that
was wedged in and jammed among the islands of the group. From some cause
that could not be ascertained, the waves of the ocean, which came tumbling
in before the northern gales, failed to roll home upon this ice, which
lost its margin, now it was reduced to the limits of the group, slowly and
with great resistance. Some of the sealers ascribed this obstinacy in the
bay-ice to its greater thickness; believing that the shallowness of the
water had favoured a frozen formation below, that did not so much prevail
off soundings. This theory may have been true, though there was quite as
much against it, as in its favour, for polar ice usually increases above
and not from below. The sea is much warmer than the atmosphere, in the
cold months, and the ice is made by deposites of snow, moisture and sleet,
on the surfaces of the fields and bergs.
In those three weeks, which carried forward the season to within ten days
of summer, a great deal of useful work was done. Daggett was brought over
to the house, on a handbarrow, for the second time, and made as
comfortable as circumstances would allow. From the first, Roswell saw that
his state was very precarious, the frozen legs, in particular, being
threatened with mortification. All the expedients known to a sealer's
_materia medico_, were resorted to, in order to avert consequences so
serious, but without success. The circulation could not be restored, as
nature required it to be done, and, failing of the support derived from a
healthful condition of the vital current, the fatal symptoms slowly
supervened. This change, however, was so gradual, that it scarce affected
the regular course of the duty.
It was a work of great labour to transport the remaining timbers and plank
of the wreck to the cove. Without the wheels, indeed, it may be questioned
whether it could have been done at all, in a reasonable time. The breaking
up of the schooner was, in itself, no trifling job, for fully one half of
the frame remained to be pulled to pieces. In preparing the materials for
use, again, a good deal of embarrassment was experienced in consequence of
the portions of the two vessels that were left being respectively their
lower bodies, all the upper works of each having been burned, with the
exception of the after part of Daggett's craft, which had been preserved
on account of the cabin. This occasioned a good deal of trouble in
moulding and fitting the new upper works on the hulk in the cove. Roswell
had no idea of rebuilding his schooner strictly in her old form and
proportions; he did not, indeed, possess the materials for such a
reconstruction. His plan was, simply, to raise on the hulk as much as was
necessary to render her safe and convenient, and then to get as good and
secure a deck over all as circumstances would allow.
Fortunately for the progress of the work, Lee, the Vineyard man, was a
ship-carpenter, and his skill essentially surpassed that of Smith, who
filled the same station on board the Oyster Pond craft. These two men were
now of the greatest service; for, though neither understood drafting, each
was skilful in the use of tools, and had a certain readiness that enabled
him to do a hundred things that he had never found it necessary to attempt
on any former occasion. If the upper frame that was now got on the Sea
Lion was not of faultless mould, it was securely fastened, and rendered
the craft even stronger than it had been originally. Some regard was had
to resisting the pressure of ice, and experience had taught all the
sealers where the principal defences against the effects of a "nip" ought
to be placed. The lines were not perfect, it is true; but this was of less
moment, as the bottom of the craft, which alone had any material influence
on her sailing, was just as it had come from the hands of the artizan who
had originally moulded her.
By the end of a fortnight, the new top-timbers were all in their places,
and secured, while a complete set of bends were brought to them, and were
well bolted. The caulking-irons were put in requisition as soon as a
streak was on, the whole work advancing, as it might be, _pari passu_.
Planks for the decks were much wanted, for, in the terrible strait for
fuel which had caused the original assault on the schooner, this portion
of the vessel had been the first burned, as of the most combustible
materials. The quarter-deck of the Vineyard craft, luckily, was entire,
and its planks so far answered an excellent purpose. They served to make a
new quarter-deck for the repairs, but the whole of the main-deck and
forecastle remained to be provided for. Materials were gleaned from
different parts of the two vessels, until a reasonably convenient, and a
perfectly safe deck was laid over the whole craft, the coamings for the
hatches being taken from Daggett's schooner, which had not been broken up
in those parts. It is scarcely necessary to say that the ice had early
melted from the rocks of the coast. The caverns all disappeared within
the first week of the thaw, the attitudes into which the cakes had been
thrown greatly favouring the melting process, by exposing so much surface
to the joint action of wind, rain, and sun. What was viewed as a
favourable augury, the seals began to reappear. There was a remote portion
of the coast, from which the ice had been driven by the winds around the
north-west cape, that was already alive with them. Alas! these animals no
longer awakened cupidity in the breasts of the sealers. The last no longer
thought of gain, but simply of saving their lives, and of restoring
themselves to the humble places they had held in the world, previously to
having come on this ill-fated voyage.
This re-appearance of the seals produced a deep impression on Roswell
Gardiner. His mind had been much inclined of late to dwell more and more
on religious subjects, and his conversations with Stephen were still more
frequent than formerly. Not that the boat-steerer could enlighten him on
the great subject, by any learned lore, for in this Stimson was quite
deficient; but his officer found encouragement in the depth and heartiness
of his companion's faith, which seemed to be raised above all doubts and
misgivings whatever. During the gloomiest moments of that fearful winter,
Stephen had been uniformly confiding and cheerful. Not once had he been
seen to waver, though all around him were desponding and anticipating the
worst. His heart was light exactly in proportion as his faith was strong.
"We shall neither freeze nor starve," he used to say, "unless it be God's
will; and, when it is his pleasure, depend on it, friends, it will be for
our good." As for Daggett, he had finally given up his hold on the wreck,
and it seemed no longer to fill his thoughts. When he was told that the
seals had come back, his eye brightened, and his nature betrayed some of
its ardent longings. But it was no more than a gleaming of the former
spirit of the man, now becoming dim under the darkness that was fast
encircling all his views of this world.
"It's a pity, Gar'ner, that we have no craft ready for the work," he said,
under the first impulse of the intelligence.
"At this early time in the season, a large ship might be filled!"
"We have other matters on our hands, Captain Daggett," was the answer;
"they must be looked to first. If we can get off the island at all and
return safe to those who, I much fear, are now mourning us as dead, we
shall have great reason to thank God."
"A few skins would do no great harm, Gar'ner, even to a craft cut down and
reduced."
"We have more cargo now than we shall be able to take with us. Quite one
half of all our skins must be left behind us, and all of the oil. The hold
of the schooner is too shallow to carry enough of anything to make out a
voyage. I shall ballast with water and provisions, and fill up all the
spare room with the best of our skins. The rest of the property must be
abandoned."
"Why abandoned? Leave a hand or two to take care of it, and send a craft
out to look for it, as soon as you get home. Leave me, Gar'ner, I am
willing to stay."
Roswell thought that the poor man would be left, whether he wished to
remain or not, for the symptoms that are known to be so fatal in cases
like that of Daggett's, were making themselves so apparent as to leave
little doubt of the result. What rendered this display of the
master-passion somewhat remarkable, was the fact that our hero had, on
several occasions, conversed with the invalid, concealing no material
feature of his case, and the latter had expressed his expectation of a
fatal termination, if not an absolute willingness to die. Stimson had
frequently prayed with Daggett, and Roswell had often read particular
chapters of the bible to him, at his own request, creating an impression
that the Vineyarder was thinking more of his end than of any interests
connected with this life. Such might have been, probably _was_, the case,
until the seeming return of what had once been deemed good luck awakened
old desires, and brought out traits of character that were about to be
lost in the near views of a future world. All this Roswell saw and noted,
and the reflections produced by his own perilous condition, the certain
loss of so many companions, the probable death of Daggett, and the humble
but impressive example and sympathy of Stimson, were such as would have
delighted the tender spirit of Mary Pratt, could she have known of their
existence.
But the great consideration of the moment, the centre of all the hopes and
fears of our sealers, was the rebuilding of the mutilated Sea Lion.
Although the long thaw did so much for them, the reader is not to regard
it as such a spell of warm weather as one enjoys in May within the
temperate zone. There were no flowers, no signs of vegetation, and
whenever the wind ceased to blow smartly from the northward, there was
frost. At two or three intervals cold snaps set in that looked seriously
like a return to winter, and, at the end of the third week of pleasant
weather mentioned, it began to blow a gale from the southward, to snow,
and to freeze. The storm commenced about ten in the forenoon; ere the sun
went down, the days then being of great length, every passage around the
dwelling was already blocked up with banks of snow. Several times had the
men asked permission to remove the sails from the house, to admit air and
light; but it was now found that the tent-like verandah they formed was of
as much use as it had been at any time during the season. Without it,
indeed, it would not have been possible for the people to quit their
dwelling during three entire days. Everything like work was, of course,
suspended during this tempest, which seriously menaced the unfortunate
sealers with the necessity of again breaking up their schooner, now nearly
completed, with a view again to keep themselves from freezing. The weather
was not so intensely cold as it had been, continuously, for months during
the past winter; but, coming as it did, after so long a spell of what
might be considered as a balmy atmosphere in that region, it found the
people unbraced and little prepared for it. At no time was the thermometer
lower than twenty degrees below zero; this was near morning, after a sharp
and stinging night; nor was it for any succession of hours much below
zero. But zero was now hard to bear, and fires, and good fires too, were
absolutely necessary to keep the men from suffering, as well as from
despondency. Perhaps the spectacle of Daggett, dying from the effects of
frost before their eyes, served to increase the uneasiness of the people,
and to cause them to be less sparing of the fuel than persons in their
situation ought to have been. It is certain that a report was brought to
Roswell, in the height of the tempest, and when the thermometer was at the
lowest, that there was not wood enough left from the plunder of the two
vessels, exclusively of that which had been worked up in the repairs, to
keep the fires going eight-and-forty hours longer! It was true, a little
wood, intended to be used in the homeward passage, enough to last as far
as Rio possibly, had been used in stowing the hold; and that might be got
at first, if it ever ceased to snow. Without that addition to the stock in
the house, it would not be within the limits of probability to suppose the
people could hold out against the severity of such weather a great while
longer.
Every expedient that could be devised to save wood, and to obtain warmth
from other sources, was resorted to, of course, by Roswell's orders. Lamps
were burned with great freedom; not little vessels invented to give light,
but such torches as one sees at the lighting up of a princely court-yard
on the occasion of a _fête_, in which wicks are made by the pound, and
unctuous matter is used by the gallon. Old canvass and elephants' oil
supplied the materials; and the spare camboose, which had been brought
over to the house to be set up there, while the other galley was being
placed on board, very well answered the purpose of a lamp. Some warmth was
obtained by these means, but much more of a glaring and unpleasant light.
It was during the height of this tempest that the soul of Daggett took its
flight towards the place of departed spirits, in preparation for the hour
when it was to be summoned before the judgment-seat of God. Previously to
his death, the unfortunate Vineyarder held a frank and confidential
discourse with Roswell. As his last hour approached, his errors and
mistakes became more distinctly apparent, as is usual with men, while his
sins of omission seemed to crowd the vista of by-gone days. Then it was
that the whole earth did not contain that which, in his dying eyes, would
prove an equivalent for one hour passed in a sincere, devout, and humble
service of the Deity!
"I'm afraid that I've loved money most too well," he said to Roswell, not
an hour before he drew his last breath; "but I hope it was not so much for
myself, as for others. A wife and children, Gar'ner, tie a man to 'arth
in a most unaccountable manner. Sealers' companions are used to hearing of
misfortunes, and the Vineyard women know that few on 'em live to see a
husband at their side in old age. Still, it is hard on a mother and wife,
to l'arn that her chosen friend has been cut off in the pride of his days
and in a distant land. Poor Betsey! It would have been better for us both,
had we been satisfied with the little we had; for now the good woman will
have to look to all matters for herself."
Daggett now remained silent for some time, though his lips moved, most
probably in prayer. It was a melancholy sight to see a man in the vigour
of his manhood, whose voice was strong, and whose heart was still beating
with vigour and vitality, standing, as it were, on the brink of a
precipice, down which all knew he was to be so speedily hurled. But the
decree had gone forth, and no human skill could arrest it. Shortly after
the confession and lamentation we have recorded, the decay reached the
vitals, and the machine of clay stopped. To avoid the unpleasant
consequences of keeping the body in so warm a place, it was buried in the
snow at a short distance from the house, within an hour after it had
ceased to breathe.
When Roswell Gardiner saw this man, who had so long adhered to him, like a
leech, in the pursuit of gold, laid a senseless corpse among the frozen
flakes of the antarctic seas, he felt that a lively admonition of the
vanity of the world was administered to himself. How little had he been
able to foresee all that had happened, and how mistaken had been his own
calculations and hopes! What, then, was that intellect of which he had
been so proud, and what reason had he to rely on himself in those matters
that lay equally beyond the cradle and the grave--that incomprehensible
past, and the unforeseen future, towards which all those in existence were
hastening! Roswell had received many lessons in humility, the most useful
of all the lessons that man can receive in connection with the relation
that really exists between the Deity and himself. Often had he wondered,
while reading the Bible Mary Pratt had put into his hand, at the stubborn
manner in which the chosen people of God had returned to their "idols,"
and their "groves," and their "high places;" but he was now made to
understand that others still erred in this great particular, and that of
all the idols men worship, that of self was perhaps the most
objectionable.