Rensselaer Republican, Volume 24, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 June 1892 — CAST UP BY THE SEA. [ARTICLE]

CAST UP BY THE SEA.

BY SIR SAMUEL W. BAKER.

XII. — Continued. Then was a painful stillness in the air, and the vessel rolled heavily in the long, irregular swell of the sea, as there was no wind to steady her. Suddenly there was a scream as though ten thousand furies yelled -and happed their wings high up in the dense mass of inky vapor; but. still the sjuls, hung listlessly without a breath of air; these were a storm staysail, double-reefed and spanker. It was Pearly dark, although hardly 3p. m.; the sea was black. Presently, in the far distance a bright white streak appeared low upon the horizon, which increased witn amazing rapidity until it resembled an endless line of rolling snow. There was no doubt in the minds of all on board—the hurricane was upon them! There was no breath of air to trim the sails and bring the vessel’s head to the advancing squall. She lay helplessly rolling in the disturbed and heavy-swell. __ In the mean time the roar of the approaching storm could be plainly heard as the ghastly line of foam swept ever the darkened sea with incredible velocity. Every man was on deck and at bis post, but as yet nothing could be done. The roar increased, and, as the white line advanced, the surf ace of the sea behind was like a sheet of snow after a heavy fall; the water appeared compressed and flattened by the enormous pressure of the gale. On it came! nearer and nearer, in all the madness of the hurricane, until, with a shriek of wind and tumultuous rush of foaming water, the white line reached them and pressed the noble frigate on her beam ends. The foremast snapped short off by the deck; every sail had been blown to shreds; the bowsprit was gone and, thus releived, the ship slowly recovered her position and drifted at a fearful speed before the storm. It would be impossible to describe the tempest whiehnow hurried the frigate from her course. The sea, that had at first been vanquished by thewind, now in all the ocean’s majesty; mountain and valley could be reckoned as the overwhelming masses of water swept in wi’d waves before the hurricane, their curling crests blowing off into misty spray as their tons became exposed to the force of the wind. Nothing more could be done than to loosen a few reefs of the maiu topsail and run before the storm. - Night came on. The darkness was hardly felt, as every half minute a bright flash of lightuiug illumined the scCde, succeeded bv roars of tbunderpbefore which the artillery of the ship would have appeared like a i faint echo. Running before tlnr gale, the frigate rolled to such an extent in the heavv sea that, no one could stand upon the decks without holding on. Upon several occasions 6he had shipped great seas that rushed bodily across her decks from port to port. Everything was battened down securely, and thus the Forte rushed headlong before the resistless storm. When day broke, the hurricane, if possible, increased, and a little before noun a suddCii WliirTwtrd carried away the main topmast. Cutting the wreck adrift, the "Forte, rolled worse than before, and it was considered necessary to heave shane of her guns overboard to reduce the deck load. This was effected with great difficulty; one by one her heavy guns plunged into the deep. All those horn the upper deck had disappeared,, and the effect was quickly observed: although she still rolled heavily she no longer shipped a sea at every lurch. • />-. Three days, and nights thus passed away in the gloom and misery of the hurricane. The world appeared to be made up of - thunder, lightning, wind, waves and dark ness! On the fourth morning the storm began to abate, and the wind, although stiil blowing a violent gale, was wb longer the hurricane which had driven them fr6m their course. As yet- the sky had been completely overcast: thus no observation could be taken, and the jiqsition of ilie ship couhl only -be vaguely guessed by The vessel had -been running at about an average of -eleven knots' an hour throughout the storm: and as the direction, al though varying, tended principally to north-west, it was considered that she must have either run past the northern extremity of Madagascar or still be on ihg east of that inland. In either ease it was a most dangerous positron, as the storm still blew wyth great violence, and was driviug them toward a lee shore. The seavwaS exceedingly heavy, as the huriicane had forced it toward the west; thus the full power of the Indian Ocean was surging in that direction. The (lav passed away as usual in •deep gloom, but as night came on there was a decided improvement in the weather, which, although bad. was as nothing compared; to the l storm to which they had beeu for .- o long exposed. The men began to breath again,; the ship had leaked badly, owing to the»uumerous shotholes, some, of which were insecurely stopped- thus the pumps had been kept going throughout the storm, and the men were nearly \worn out. As night dosed in, all hoped for fine weather on the morrow, and JJed Grey, who bad had little sleep, swung in his hamipock cheered with nappy dreams, in which he saw the •cottage on the cliff, and Edith , and his mother. Suddenly he was almost thrown irom bis hammock by a

shaf|> jerk, and waking qaicklv, he heard a confused noise and trampling of feet, together with the sound of a heavy rush of water; he sprang from his hammock, but hardly l ad he reached the deck than a tremendous shock sent him staggering against the at the same instant he heard a loud crash upon the upper deck. Recovering from the shock, he rushed up the companion; at the moment he-arrived he fortunately grasped a rope in the pitchy darkness, as a heavy wave swept across the vessel and carried several men overboard, which would have jdso , been Ned’s fate had he not held firmly on. Nothing could be seen. The wind was blowing hard, but it had much abated and the storm was evidently dying out; nevertheless the sea was running very high, and presently the vessel x-ose upon A tremendous wave, and once more Ned felt a shock that for the moment threw him off hjs legs. Again a heavv sea swept the decks and rolled completely over the hapless frigate, which, having weathered the storm, had no# been driven on a reef in the darkness of the night. The mainmast had fallen overboard at the second shock of striking; the vessel now rested the fore part, firmly wedged upon the coral reef, while every sea swept over her with fearJul vinlffiire : Some of the crew were in the mizzen rigging; this was the only mast and there was no fear of its loss, as the vessel was now stationary: a crowd of men had therefore occupied the mizzen-top. As the night wore on the Clouds began to break and the stars peeped out from the thick veil that had so long concealed them; the wind had also sensibly decreased, but the sea struck heavily upon the frigate, and as the stern hung in deep water while the fore part was fixed upon the reef, ghe had already broken her back and tilled with water; her sides had opened amidships and there was great danger of her going to pieces. When morning broke, after a long and weary night, the first .person that Ned saw was Nigger Tim, shivering with wet and cold and cltHteing to the windlass, to which he haa secured; Nero with a rope. The sea still broke over the ship at intervals, but as dayligh| had dawned Ned left his secure position and went aft to receive orders. Am id ship the deck was torn up and the stem was hanging lower than the fore part of the’ship. The lieutanautin command was missing, with-many of the crew who had been washed overboard during the night, and the scene of confusion yond description. There was no one in Command except Jem Stevens and another midshipman, and the men had lost all discipline and merely thought of saving themselves by the boats, of which few were left, as they had been dashed to pieces by the surf. It was in vain that Ned attempted to restore order; the Lascars had attempted to push off from the ship unobserved, upon the discoveiw of which a tight ensued, aud the English being the stronger threw many of them overboard. The men would listen to no commands aud simply united in their endeavors to lauuch the cutter, as they momentarily expected the vessel would part asunder and sink in deep water. Others of the crew succeeded in launching two smaller boats, and leaping wildly into them they-pushed off fi'om the ship; but being overcrowded they almost immediately filled and upset, disappearing with all hands in the raging, surf. At length, after many fruitless efforts, the cutter was safely lowered and kept away about three boats’ lengths from the ship; Jem Stevens was already in her, aud many men now sprang into the water and endeavored to reach the boat by swimming. About twenty were taken on board, and. seeing the necessity of self-pres-vat.on, Ned called to Tim to follow him, and both lads, accompanied by the dog, sprang into the *<xa. and swam toward tvxn±. In a few strokes they arrived at her side just as the crew, having manned t welve oars, were preparing to pull away from the ship. Ned clung to the stern, his example being followed by Tim. “Give a hand ’’ cried Ned to Jem Stevens, who was seated in the stern. “Hands off!” cried Stevens; “the boat’s full; you're too late;!” at the same time he threatened to cut Ned’s lingers with his knife, which he had quickly opened, unless he let go his hold. “Give way, my lads,' 1 he cried at the same time to the crew, who had not observed Ned Grey, who was concealed by the stern of the boat; at the same instant the oars dipped in the water and the large boat started forward at a powerful stroke. Ned had clung to the boat, but, seeing that Stevens actually cut at his fingers, he relaxed his hold just in time to avoid the knife, and the boat left him swimming in the water. Tim was still clinging to the gunwale, but, upon observing Ned deserted, he relinquished his Bold and swam back to his young master, at the same time shouting; “Catch de I ship. MasSa Ned! nebber mind de | boat. Debbel take Massa Stevens!” Ned followed Tim’s advice aq»d put j out for the frigate, and fortunately • both lads caught hold of ;a floating ! mast just as the vessel parted amid- ! ships, and the after portion disap- ; peared entirely in deep water; had i they not, clung to the mast they must have been sucked under by the vortex of the sinking hull. Nothing now rema ned but the forepart of the

frigate, which was finnly fixed upon the reef. To this portion of the wreck the lads swam, and climbed on board by means of the shrouds, broken and hanging from the forechains; they then secured the dog by arope anehhauled him up en deek. Another boat in addition to the cutter had succeeded in leaving the wreck; many people had perished #ith the sunken stern: others had been drowped in their attempts to reach the boats; some had been washed overboard in the night; and as Ned? and Tim now stood upon the forecastle with the faithful Nero, they were the only living beings that remained upon the - wreck of the once powerful frigate Forte. The boats had pulled out to sea in a direction northwest. By degrees the wind died away as the sun sunk in the evening; the clouds had broken, and as the moon rose they gradually dispersedw the stars shone brightly; the stormy sea had spent its rage and subsided into a long and sullen swell, and peace once mdre reigned among the exhausted elements. Hungry and tired the three living creatures on the wreck lay down and slept upon the deck of the forecastle. The sea "no longer broke over the fragment of the hull, but simply dashed harmlessly against the sides and splashed harmlessly into the interior of the hold where the yessel had parted amidships. CHAPTER XIII. Another morning broke; it was clear and beautiful. Not a cloud dimmed the sky in the gray dawn, and the sun rose upon a calm sea; no vestige of the tempest remained but the broken wreck 1 -the Sybille’s prize that was to have conveyed Ned to England and his home. Ned and Tim had both slept soundly, in spite of the chill of wet clothes; the leather was warm, and as the sun rose, the heat soon dried them. Ned Grey was n§t deficient in romance, but he felt that, however exciting the adventure, much remained to be done to save their lives. Tim was entirely practical, and as he felt extremely hungry he desired something to eat; judging from Nerq/S demeanor, he was of the same opinion, as he constantly pawed his young master Ned, and looked wistfully in his face, as though he thought he had forgotten to order breakfast. t All. the fowls had been washed overboard together with the hencoops and half a dozen sheep that had been taken on board for the officers; there was literally nothing to eat, unless they could discover some casks of provisions among the mass of miscellaneous cargo that occupied the fore hold. Descending into the interior of the wreck among a chaos of barrels, Ned broke in the head of a cask with a heavy iron marlingspike, and to his great joy he found that it contained biscuts, which were perfectly dry and Uninjured; aceordj ingly, lest the sea should again rise, both he and Tim employed them- | selves in carrying up large quantii ties, which they piled on deck, nor | did they relinquish their work until, *- I by means of a piece of canvas cut from a sail, they had conveyed away ! the whole contents of the barrel. Upon a further search they discovered a cask branded “India Mess ; Beef,” whereupon the head wa9 removed, and a sufficient supply was transported to the upper deck. Fortunately, several casks of fresh water were discovered, therefore their immediate wants were supplied. They had no means of lighting a fire \ until a farther search should yield the materials, therefore they break- ! fasted off biscuits and uncooked salt beef, and never had they eaten with better appetites. Nero feasted upon I biscuits soaked in water, with few pieces of small chopped meat, j Having satisfied their hunger,Ned 1 carefully surveyed their position. The vessel was lying upon a sunken reef, many portions of which were within two or three feet of the surI face. About two miles from this spot there was a long but narrow j reef that formed a coral island, to which Ned at once determined to transport all that they would require, lest another storm should destroy the wreck: from this reef he i trusted they-migfat~ffiff"alflßtoreach the mainland. . . Without any delay both he and i Tim set to work. Several empty water casks were floating about in the fore hold, and having selected ten, Ned, with Tim’s assistance, succeeded in lashing them together with spars, so as to form a most buoyant raft, twenty-two feet long by ten in width. The sea had sunk to a complete calm by the afternoon, and, as the fore part of the vessel was thrown high upon the reef, it was rather above its natural level, therefore the water only covered the bot- ' tom cargo. Fortunately, the lower deck was dry, as the ship having parted ip the middle, the water that she had shipped during the storm had run out when the sea subsided. Ned descended he at once found the ! carpenter’s • tool chest, with a large quantity of all kinds of stores, and forcing away tho bulkheads he made use of the planks to cover the raft, so. as to form a deck. From sunrise to sunset the two lads worked without ceasing, by which time thdv had decked their vessel; but much remained to begone. iV v On the following morning they again set to work, and having discovered a spare boat’s mast among the carpeuter’s stores they fitted it securely on the raft and arranged a sail. At the same time Ned constructed a rude rudder with an oar, and improvised a false keel by rum ning a plank perpendicularly through the decK, both fore and aft, so that it should project about three feet below the bottom of the raft, and thus

prevent it from drifting to leeward. By the evening of the second day the raft was thoroughly complete. Ned had arranged two empty watercases amidships, to which the mast was lashed. Both be and Tim then busied themselves in carrying fresh water in buckets from the. full casks onboard the wreck, until they had completely filled casks on the raft. Everything was in perfect order bj the evening of the second day, aDd Ned looked forward to the morrow with eagerness, as he then wpuld try the sea-going qualities of their vessel. Before sunrise both Ned and Tim were engaged in collecting all that they considered useful. They had discovered a couple of double-bar : reled guns among the gunner’s outfit, and having selected half a dozen good muskets and pistols, they took a barrel of gunpowder, ’ a hundred flints and a large quantity of bullets and shot, together with a couple of cutlasses and a quantity of fishing tackle, including a shark hook and a harpoon. They they then emptied the carpenter's chest, together with several ®f the sailors’ boxes, and carried them to the raft, whsj-e they stowed them around the mast, after which they replaced the tools in the carpenter’s chest, and filled the others with biscuits and salt beef.

Tim, having been cook’s mate, did not forget his pots and pans, but visited the galley and selected a couple of sauce pans and a good kettle, with a gridiron. By noon they were ready to sail, and having taken a large parcel of the best clothes they could select from the sailor's kits, together with a supply of needles, thread, buttons, etc., they placed several large sails x|pon their cargo, that would afterward serve as an awning on shore, with a quantity of small spars and ropes, and pushed off from the wreck. The wind was light and the sea smooth, thus the raft, although very heavily laden, sailed easy, without . wetting her cargo; and as the breeze set directly toward the coral island there was no difficulty in the navigation the two boys were in high spirits at the success of the. raft, which both sailed and steered well; and, although alone on the wild east coast of Africa,' with no other companion than the dog Nero f such is the elasticity of youth and the excitement of vanquishing a difficulty that they were for the moment thoroughly happy and free from every care. The water was as clear as glass, and as they passed over the coral reefs at various depths they could be seen below like gardens of brilliant flowers glistening with every color, while the fish of many kinds, also varying in bright colors of gold, red and blue, swam in large shoals among the coral groves, and sometimes sprang high from The water in their delight at the warm sun' and the calm surface of the sea.

Sailing quietly along the beautiful gardens of the deep, the raft approached the coral island, which appeared to form the centre of the surrounding shallow reefs. It was a long and perfectly flat island, that might be upward of a mile in extent, although not many hundred yards in width; it was protected by an outer reef, which girded the island like an artificial outwork, upon which the waves broke as upon a breakwater, and left a perfectly smooth harbor within, but extremely shallow- Such are the wonderful works of the minute coral insects, those apparently insignificant but mighty engineers, whose works are never washed away and who alone can safely struggle, with the power of the ocean. Although the sea was calm, the swell broke with considerable force upon the outer reef, and it required some caution in coasting along the line until an entrance could be discovered through the natural breakwater; The raftTnow felt the advantage of Ned’s false keel, without which it must have drifted directly upon the reef.

After having coasted about a quarter of a mile, a gap was discovered in the reef, through which the raft safely steered, and in the next minute they found themselves in a perfectly calm basin of crystal water of that beautiful pale green that is "exhibited in the precious stone called aqua-marina. The basin was shallow, ana once or twice the planks that formed the false keel touched the rocky bottom as the raft slowly glided over the lovely corals and disturbed the numerous fish. Beautiful sheels were seen among the coral branches, while in many places large rocks were entirely covered with dense masses,of oysters, that looked as though they had Swarmed like a hive of bees. Many delicate but widely-spreading brauches of coral were a brilliant scarlet; others were a deep blue, some were variegated with several colors. But Tim, who could nqt resist the temptation of dragging some on board, quickly discovered the deception, as the bright tint rapidly faded upon being exposed to the air; these flowers of the ocean, like the flowers of the earth, soon lost their behuty when broken from the stem.

Gliding over this fairy like sea, they neared the island, and a£> the water was very shallow, Ned took in the shil,and both boys jumping overboard, they gently towed tne raft to the land, and moored it to a large mass of coral. There was no necessity for precaution, as the natural but well protected harbor could never be disturbed; and the island, that was flat and sandy, was perfectly uninhabited. A large quantity of drift timber, portions Of the wreck, had drifted through the.gap, s,ome of which was stranded on the island, while much was still floating in ttie

calm basin; among other things,NeA observed a box Shat had evidently belonged to the late frigate. As tho raft was secured, and both boys' were already wet, they waded to-' j ward tiie case and dragged it from the water. It was a strong and well finished oak chest, and being locked | they were obliged to break it ©pen. It contained several suits of officers’ clothes, with shirts, socks, shoes, a’ looking glass, brushes and combs, a, brace of beautiUl pistols with ten-! inch barrels carrying an ounce ball, a bag of bullets, powderi flask, a telescopy, sextant and compass, a silver pirit drinking cup, and a Prayer book and Bible.in the latter of which was written the name, “James Ste--, vens.” . “Jem Stevens chest!” exclaimed Ned, in astonishment; “what luck to find "the sextant and the compass!” he continued, as he examined both the instruments, of which he had fortunately learned the use when on board the Sybille and the Forte. a Tim had in the mean time taken the looking glass, in which he was scrutinizing his own countenance with evident satisfaction; but upon hearing that it was Stevens’ property that had thus fortuitously come into their possession he burst into a fit of laughter, exclaiming, “Ha ha! Tim knows. Debbie take care of Massa Stevens, God take care of Massa Ned, send him Massa Ste-' vens’ chest! Ha, ha, ha,” continued the delighted Tim. “what Massa Stevens do? Got no chest, no 15oking glass, no clothe'sLHa, ha, ha! don’t want Massa Stevens, got his chest. Debbel catch Massa Stevens, Tim catch" his box. Ha, ha! dat’s what Tim call the right ting’xactly. ” No one wouldjhave supposed from Tim’s merriment that they were two wretched castaways! on a desolate coral reef upon the savage coast of Africa. Although Ned did not share the full extent of Tim’s hilarity, he was delighted at the inestimable treasure that had fallen into his hands in the shape of a sextant and compass, which was further increased by the discovery of a small bottle of mercury and trough for an artificial horizon, which had been packed’ up by the optician in case astronomical observations on shore should be required. (to be continued.)