Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket E-book

                                      1837
                THE NARRATIVE OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM OF NANTUCKET

                               by Edgar Allan Poe









Electronically Enhanced Text (c) Copyright 1996, World Library(R)



                              PREFACE
-
    UPON my return to the United States a few months ago, after the
extraordinary series of adventure in the South Seas and elsewhere,
of which an account is given in the following pages, accident threw me
into the society of several gentlemen in Richmond, Va., who felt
deep interest in all matters relating to the regions I had visited,
and who were constantly urging it upon me, as a duty, to give my
narrative to the public. I had several reasons, however, for declining
to do so, some of which were of a nature altogether private, and
concern no person but myself, others not so much so. One consideration
which deterred me was, that, having kept no journal during a greater
portion of the time in which I was absent, I feared I should not be
able to write, from mere memory, a statement so minute and connected
as to have the appearance of that truth it would really possess,
barring only the natural and unavoidable exaggeration to which all
of us are prone when detailing events which have had powerful
influence in exciting the imaginative faculties. Another reason was,
that the incidents to be narrated were of a nature so positively
marvellous, that, unsupported as my assertions must necessarily be
(except by the evidence of a single individual, and he a half-breed
Indian), I could only hope for belief among my family, and those of my
friends who have had reason, through life, to put faith in my
veracity- the probability being that the public at large would regard
what I should put forth as merely an impudent and ingenious fiction. A
distrust in my own abilities as a writer was, nevertheless, one of the
principal causes which prevented me from complying with the suggestion
of my advisers.
    Among those gentlemen in Virginia who expressed the greatest
interest in my statement, more particularly in regard to that
portion of it which related to the Antarctic Ocean, was Mr. Poe,
lately editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, a monthly
magazine, published by Mr. Thomas W. White, in the city of Richmond.
He strongly advised me, among others, to prepare at once a full
account of what I had seen and undergone, and trust to the
shrewdness and common sense of the public- insisting, with great
plausibility, that however roughly, as regards mere authorship, my
book should be got up, its very uncouthness, if there were any,
would give it all the better chance of being received as truth.
    Notwithstanding this representation, I did not make up my mind
to do as he suggested. He afterward proposed (finding that I would not
stir in the matter) that I should allow him to draw up, in his own
words, a narrative of the earlier portion of my adventures, from facts
afforded by myself, publishing it in the Southern Messenger under
the garb of fiction. To this, perceiving no objection, I consented,
stipulating only that my real name should be retained. Two numbers
of the pretended fiction appeared, consequently, in the Messenger
for January and February, (1837), and, in order that it might
certainly be regarded as fiction, the name of Mr. Poe was affixed to
the articles in the table of contents of the magazine.
    The manner in which this ruse was received has induced me at
length to undertake a regular compilation and publication of the
adventures in question; for I found that, in spite of the air of fable
which had been so ingeniously thrown around that portion of my
statement which appeared in the Messenger (without altering or
distorting a single fact), the public were still not at all disposed
to receive it as fable, and several letters were sent to Mr. P.'s
address, distinctly expressing a conviction to the contrary. I
thence concluded that the facts of my narrative would prove of such
a nature as to carry with them sufficient evidence of their own
authenticity, and that I had consequently little to fear on the
score of popular incredulity.
    This expose being made, it will be seen at once how much of what
follows I claim to be my own writing; and it will also be understood
that no fact is misrepresented in the first few pages which were
written by Mr. Poe. Even to those readers who have not seen the
Messenger, it will be unnecessary to point out where his portion
ends and my own commences; the difference in point of style will be
readily perceived.
                                                      
                                                 A. G. PYM.
New-York, July, 1838.


                          CHAPTER I
-
    MY name is Arthur Gordon Pym. My father was a respectable trader
in sea-stores at Nantucket, where I was born. My maternal
grandfather was an attorney in good practice. He was fortunate in
every thing, and had speculated very successfully in stocks of the
Edgarton New Bank, as it was formerly called. By these and other means
he had managed to lay by a tolerable sum of money. He was more
attached to myself, I believe, than to any other person in the
world, and I expected to inherit the most of his property at his
death. He sent me, at six years of age, to the school of old Mr.
Ricketts, a gentleman with only one arm and of eccentric manners- he
is well known to almost every person who has visited New Bedford. I
stayed at his school until I was sixteen, when I left him for Mr. E.
Ronald's academy on the hill. Here I became intimate with the son of
Mr. Barnard, a sea-captain, who generally sailed in the employ of
Lloyd and Vredenburgh- Mr. Barnard is also very well known in New
Bedford, and has many relations, I am certain, in Edgarton. His son
was named Augustus, and he was nearly two years older than myself.
He had been on a whaling voyage with his father in the John Donaldson,
and was always talking to me of his adventures in the South Pacific
Ocean. I used frequently to go home with him, and remain all day,
and sometimes all night. We occupied the same bed, and he would be
sure to keep me awake until almost light, telling me stories of the
natives of the Island of Tinian, and other places he had visited in
his travels. At last I could not help being interested in what he
said, and by degrees I felt the greatest desire to go to sea. I
owned a sailboat called the Ariel, and worth about seventy-five
dollars. She had a half-deck or cuddy, and was rigged
sloop-fashion- I forget her tonnage, but she would hold ten persons
without much crowding. In this boat we were in the habit of going on
some of the maddest freaks in the world; and, when I now think of
them, it appears to me a thousand wonders that I am alive to-day.
    I will relate one of these adventures by way of introduction to
a longer and more momentous narrative. One night there was a party
at Mr. Barnard's, and both Augustus and myself were not a little
intoxicated toward the close of it. As usual, in such cases, I took
part of his bed in preference to going home. He went to sleep, as I
thought, very quietly (it being near one when the party broke up), and
without saying a word on his favorite topic. It might have been half
an hour from the time of our getting in bed, and I was just about
falling into a doze, when he suddenly started up, and swore with a
terrible oath that he would not go to sleep for any Arthur Pym in
Christendom, when there was so glorious a breeze from the southwest. I
never was so astonished in my life, not knowing what he intended, and
thinking that the wines and liquors he had drunk had set him entirely
beside himself. He proceeded to talk very coolly, however, saying he
knew that I supposed him intoxicated, but that he was never more sober
in his life. He was only tired, he added, of lying in bed on such a
fine night like a dog, and was determined to get up and dress, and go
out on a frolic with the boat. I can hardly tell what possessed me,
but the words were no sooner out of his mouth than I felt a thrill of
the greatest excitement and pleasure, and thought his mad idea one of
the most delightful and most reasonable things in the world. It was
blowing almost a gale, and the weather was very cold- it being late
in October. I sprang out of bed, nevertheless, in a kind of ecstasy,
and told him I was quite as brave as himself, and quite as tired
as he was of lying in bed like a dog, and quite as ready for any fun
or frolic as any Augustus Barnard in Nantucket.
    We lost no time in getting on our clothes and hurrying down to the
boat. She was lying at the old decayed wharf by the lumber-yard of
Pankey & Co., and almost thumping her side out against the rough logs.
Augustus got into her and bailed her, for she was nearly half full
of water. This being done, we hoisted jib and mainsail, kept full, and
started boldly out to sea.
    The wind, as I before said, blew freshly from the southwest. The
night was very clear and cold. Augustus had taken the helm, and I
stationed myself by the mast, on the deck of the cuddy. We flew
along at a great rate- neither of us having said a word since casting
loose from the wharf. I now asked my companion what course he intended
to steer, and what time he thought it probable we should get back.
He whistled for a few minutes, and then said crustily: "I am going
to sea- you may go home if you think proper." Turning my eyes upon
him, I perceived at once that, in spite of his assumed nonchalance,
he was greatly agitated. I could see him distinctly by the light of
the moon- his face was paler than any marble, and his hand shook so
excessively that he could scarcely retain hold of the tiller. I
found that something had gone wrong, and became seriously alarmed.
At this period I knew little about the management of a boat, and was
now depending entirely upon the nautical skill of my friend. The wind,
too, had suddenly increased, as we were fast getting out of the lee of
the land- still I was ashamed to betray any trepidation, and for
almost half an hour maintained a resolute silence. I could stand it
no longer, however, and spoke to Augustus about the propriety of
turning back. As before, it was nearly a minute before he made answer,
or took any notice of my suggestion. "By-and-by," said he at
length- "time enough- home by-and-by." I had expected a similar reply,
but there was something in the tone of these words which filled me
with an indescribable feeling of dread. I again looked at the
speaker attentively. His lips were perfectly livid, and his knees
shook so violently together that he seemed scarcely able to stand.
"For God's sake, Augustus," I screamed, now heartily frightened, "what
ails you?- what is the matter?- what are you going to do?" "Matter!"
he stammered, in the greatest apparent surprise, letting go the tiller
at the same moment, and falling forward into the bottom of the
boat- "matter- why, nothing is the- matter- going home- d-d-don't you
see?" The whole truth now flashed upon me. I flew to him and raised
him up. He was drunk- beastly drunk- he could no longer either stand,
speak or see. His eyes were perfectly glazed; and as I let him go in
the extremity of my despair, he rolled like a mere log into the
bilge-water, from which I had lifted him. It was evident that,
during the evening, he had drunk far more than I suspected, and that
his conduct in bed had been the result of a highly-concentrated
state of intoxication- a state which, like madness, frequently
enables the victim to imitate the outward demeanour of one in
perfect possession of his senses. The coolness of the night air,
however, had had its usual effect- the mental energy began to yield
before its influence- and the confused perception which he no doubt
then had of his perilous situation had assisted in hastening the
catastrophe. He was now thoroughly insensible, and there was no
probability that he would be otherwise for many hours.
    It is hardly possible to conceive the extremity of my terror. The
fumes of the wine lately taken had evaporated, leaving me doubly timid
and irresolute. I knew that I was altogether incapable of managing the
boat, and that a fierce wind and strong ebb tide were hurrying us to
destruction. A storm was evidently gathering behind us; we had
neither compass nor provisions; and it was clear that, if we held our
present course, we should be out of sight of land before daybreak.
These thoughts, with a crowd of others equally fearful, flashed
through my mind with a bewildering rapidity, and for some moments
paralyzed me beyond the possibility of making any exertion. The boat
was going through the water at a terrible rate- full before the wind-
no reef in either jib or mainsail- running her bows completely under
the foam. It was a thousand wonders she did not broach to- Augustus
having let go the tiller, as I said before, and I being too much
agitated to think of taking it myself. By good luck, however, she
kept steady, and gradually I recovered some degree of presence of
mind. Still the wind was increasing fearfully, and whenever we rose
from a plunge forward, the sea behind fell combing over our counter,
and deluged us with water. I was so utterly benumbed, too, in every
limb, as to be nearly unconscious of sensation. At length I summoned
up the resolution of despair, and rushing to the mainsail let it go
by the run. As might have been expected, it flew over the bows, and,
getting drenched with water, carried away the mast short off by the
board. This latter accident alone saved me from instant destruction.
Under the jib only, I now boomed along before the wind, shipping heavy
seas occasionally over the counter, but relieved from the terror of
immediate death. I took the helm, and breathed with greater freedom
as I found that there yet remained to us a chance of ultimate escape.
Augustus still lay senseless in the bottom of the boat; and as there
was imminent danger of his drowning (the water being nearly a foot
deep just where he fell), I contrived to raise him partially up, and
keep him in a sitting position, by passing a rope round his waist,
and lashing it to a ringbolt in the deck of the cuddy. Having thus
arranged every thing as well as I could in my chilled and agitated
condition, I recommended myself to God, and made up my mind to bear
whatever might happen with all the fortitude in my power.
                                                    
    Hardly had I come to this resolution, when, suddenly, a loud and
long scream or yell, as if from the throats of a thousand demons,
seemed to pervade the whole atmosphere around and above the boat.
Never while I live shall I forget the intense agony of terror I
experienced at that moment. My hair stood erect on my head- I felt
the blood congealing in my veins- my heart ceased utterly to beat,
and without having once raised my eyes to learn the source of my
alarm, I tumbled headlong and insensible upon the body of my fallen
companion.
    I found myself, upon reviving, in the cabin of a large
whaling-ship (the Penguin) bound to Nantucket. Several persons were
standing over me, and Augustus, paler than death, was busily
occupied in chafing my hands. Upon seeing me open my eyes, his
exclamations of gratitude and joy excited alternate laughter and tears
from the rough-looking personages who were present. The mystery of our
being in existence was now soon explained. We had been run down by the
whaling-ship, which was close-hauled, beating up to Nantucket with
every sail she could venture to set, and consequently running almost
at right angles to our own course. Several men were on the look-out
forward, but did not perceive our boat until it was an impossibility
to avoid coming in contact- their shouts of warning upon seeing us
were what so terribly alarmed me. The huge ship, I was told, rode
immediately over us with as much ease as our own little vessel would
have passed over a feather, and without the least perceptible
impediment to her progress. Not a scream arose from the deck of the
victim- there was a slight grating sound to be heard mingling with
the roar of wind and water, as the frail bark which was swallowed up
rubbed for a moment along the keel of her destroyer- but this was all.
Thinking our boat (which it will be remembered was dismasted) some
mere shell cut adrift as useless, the captain (Captain E. T. V. Block,
of New London) was for proceeding on his course without troubling
himself further about the matter. Luckily, there were two of the
look-out who swore positively to having seen some person at our
helm, and represented the possibility of yet saving him. A
discussion ensued, when Block grew angry, and, after a while, said
that "it was no business of his to be eternally watching for
egg-shells; that the ship should not put about for any such
nonsense; and if there was a man run down, it was nobody's fault but
his own- he might drown and be d__d," or some language to that effect.
Henderson, the first mate, now took the matter up, being justly
indignant, as well as the whole ship's crew, at a speech evincing so
base a degree of heartless atrocity. He spoke plainly, seeing
himself upheld by the men, told the captain he considered him a fit
subject for the gallows, and that he would disobey his orders if he
were hanged for it the moment he set his foot on shore. He strode aft,
jostling Block (who turned pale and made no answer) on one side, and
seizing the helm, gave the word, in a firm voice, Hard-a-lee! The
men flew to their posts, and the ship went cleverly about. All this
had occupied nearly five minutes, and it was supposed to be hardly
within the bounds of possibility that any individual could be
saved- allowing any to have been on board the boat. Yet, as the
reader has seen, both Augustus and myself were rescued; and our
deliverance seemed to have been brought about by two of those almost
inconceivable pieces of good fortune which are attributed by the
wise and pious to the special interference of Providence.
    While the ship was yet in stays, the mate lowered the jolly-boat
and jumped into her with the very two men, I believe, who spoke up
as having seen me at the helm. They had just left the lee of the
vessel (the moon still shining brightly) when she made a long and
heavy roll to windward, and Henderson, at the same moment, starting up
in his seat bawled out to his crew to back water. He would say nothing
else- repeating his cry impatiently, back water! black water! The men
put back as speedily as possible, but by this time the ship had gone
round, and gotten fully under headway, although all hands on board
were making great exertions to take in sail. In despite of the
danger of the attempt, the mate clung to the main-chains as soon as
they came within his reach. Another huge lurch now brought the
starboard side of the vessel out of water nearly as far as her keel,
when the cause of his anxiety was rendered obvious enough. The body of
a man was seen to be affixed in the most singular manner to the smooth
and shining bottom (the Penguin was coppered and copper-fastened), and
beating violently against it with every movement of the hull. After
several ineffectual efforts, made during the lurches of the ship,
and at the imminent risk of swamping the boat I was finally disengaged
from my perilous situation and taken on board- for the body proved
to be my own. It appeared that one of the timber-bolts having
started and broken a passage through the copper, it had arrested my
progress as I passed under the ship, and fastened me in so
extraordinary a manner to her bottom. The head of the bolt had made
its way through the collar of the green baize jacket I had on, and
through the back part of my neck, forcing itself out between two
sinews and just below the right ear. I was immediately put to
bed- although life seemed to be totally extinct. There was no surgeon
on board. The captain, however, treated me with every attention- to
make amends, I presume, in the eyes of his crew, for his atrocious
behaviour in the previous portion of the adventure.
    In the meantime, Henderson had again put off from the ship,
although the wind was now blowing almost a hurricane. He had not
been gone many minutes when he fell in with some fragments of our
boat, and shortly afterward one of the men with him asserted that he
could distinguish a cry for help at intervals amid the roaring of
the tempest. This induced the hardy seamen to persevere in their
search for more than half an hour, although repeated signals to return
were made them by Captain Block, and although every moment on the
water in so frail a boat was fraught to them with the most imminent
and deadly peril. Indeed, it is nearly impossible to conceive how
the small jolly they were in could have escaped destruction for a
single instant. She was built, however, for the whaling service, and
was fitted, as I have since had reason to believe, with air-boxes,
in the manner of some life-boats used on the coast of Wales.
    After searching in vain for about the period of time just
mentioned, it was determined to get back to the ship. They had
scarcely made this resolve when a feeble cry arose from a dark
object that floated rapidly by. They pursued and soon overtook it.
It proved to be the entire deck of the Ariel's cuddy. Augustus was
struggling near it, apparently in the last agonies. Upon getting
hold of him it was found that he was attached by a rope to the
floating timber. This rope, it will be remembered, I had myself tied
around his waist, and made fast to a ringbolt, for the purpose of
keeping him in an upright position, and my so doing, it appeared,
had been ultimately the means of preserving his life. The Ariel was
slightly put together, and in going down her frame naturally went to
pieces; the deck of the cuddy, as might have been expected, was
lifted, by the force of the water rushing in, entirely from the main
timbers, and floated (with other fragments, no doubt) to the
surface- Augustus was buoyed up with it, and thus escaped a terrible
death.
                                                   
    It was more than an hour after being taken on board the Penguin
before he could give any account of himself, or be made to
comprehend the nature of the accident which had befallen our boat.
At length he became thoroughly aroused, and spoke much of his
sensations while in the water. Upon his first attaining any degree
of consciousness, he found himself beneath the surface, whirling round
and round with inconceivable rapidity, and with a rope wrapped in
three or four folds tightly about his neck. In an instant afterward he
felt himself going rapidly upward, when, his head striking violently
against a hard substance, he again relapsed into insensibility. Upon
once more reviving he was in fuller possession of his reason- this
was still, however, in the greatest degree clouded and confused. He
now knew that some accident had occurred, and that he was in the
water, although his mouth was above the surface, and he could
breathe with some freedom. Possibly, at this period the deck was
drifting rapidly before the wind, and drawing him after it, as he
floated upon his back. Of course, as long as he could have retained
this position, it would have been nearly impossible that he should
be drowned. Presently a surge threw him directly athwart the deck, and
this post he endeavored to maintain, screaming at intervals for
help. just before he was discovered by Mr. Henderson, he had been
obliged to relax his hold through exhaustion, and, falling into the
sea, had given himself up for lost. During the whole period of his
struggles he had not the faintest recollection of the Ariel, nor of
the matters in connexion with the source of his disaster. A vague
feeling of terror and despair had taken entire possession of his
faculties. When he was finally picked up, every power of his mind
had failed him; and, as before said, it was nearly an hour after
getting on board the Penguin before he became fully aware of his
condition. In regard to myself- I was resuscitated from a state
bordering very nearly upon death (and after every other means had been
tried in vain for three hours and a half) by vigorous friction with
flannels bathed in hot oil- a proceeding suggested by Augustus. The
wound in my neck, although of an ugly appearance, proved of little
real consequence, and I soon recovered from its effects.
    The Penguin got into port about nine o'clock in the morning, after
encountering one of the severest gales ever experienced off Nantucket.
Both Augustus and myself managed to appear at Mr. Barnard's in time
for breakfast- which, luckily, was somewhat late, owing to the party
over night. I suppose all at the table were too much fatigued
themselves to notice our jaded appearance- of course, it would not
have borne a very rigid scrutiny. Schoolboys, however, can accomplish
wonders in the way of deception, and I verily believe not one of our
friends in Nantucket had the slightest suspicion that the terrible
story told by some sailors in town of their having run down a vessel
at sea and drowned some thirty or forty poor devils, had reference
either to the Ariel, my companion, or myself. We two have since very
frequently talked the matter over- but never without a shudder. In
one of our conversations Augustus frankly confessed to me, that in his
whole life he had at no time experienced so excruciating a sense of
dismay, as when on board our little boat he first discovered the
extent of his intoxication, and felt himself sinking beneath its
influence.


                          CHAPTER II
-
    In no affairs of mere prejudice, pro or con, do we deduce
inferences with entire certainty, even from the most simple data. It
might be supposed that a catastrophe such as I have just related would
have effectually cooled my incipient passion for the sea. On the
contrary, I never experienced a more ardent longing for the wild
adventures incident to the life of a navigator than within a week
after our miraculous deliverance. This short period proved amply
long enough to erase from my memory the shadows, and bring out in
vivid light all the pleasurably exciting points of color, all the
picturesqueness, of the late perilous accident. My conversations
with Augustus grew daily more frequent and more intensely full of
interest. He had a manner of relating his stories of the ocean (more
than one half of which I now suspect to have been sheer
fabrications) well adapted to have weight with one of my
enthusiastic temperament and somewhat gloomy although glowing
imagination. It is strange, too, that he most strongly enlisted my
feelings in behalf of the life of a seaman, when he depicted his
more terrible moments of suffering and despair. For the bright side of
the painting I had a limited sympathy. My visions were of shipwreck
and famine; of death or captivity among barbarian hordes; of a
lifetime dragged out in sorrow and tears, upon some gray and
desolate rock, in an ocean unapproachable and unknown. Such visions or
desires- for they amounted to desires- are common, I have since been
assured, to the whole numerous race of the melancholy among men- at
the time of which I speak I regarded them only as prophetic glimpses
of a destiny which I felt myself in a measure bound to fulfil.
Augustus thoroughly entered into my state of mind. It is probable,
indeed, that our intimate communion had resulted in a partial
interchange of character.
    About eighteen months after the period of the Ariel's disaster,
the firm of Lloyd and Vredenburgh (a house connected in some manner
with the Messieurs Enderby, I believe, of Liverpool) were engaged in
repairing and fitting out the brig Grampus for a whaling voyage. She
was an old hulk, and scarcely seaworthy when all was done to her
that could be done. I hardly know why she was chosen in preference
to other good vessels belonging to the same owners- but so it was.
Mr. Barnard was appointed to command her, and Augustus was going
with him. While the brig was getting ready, he frequently urged upon
me the excellency of the opportunity now offered for indulging my
desire of travel. He found me by no means an unwilling listener- yet
the matter could not be so easily arranged. My father made no direct
opposition; but my mother went into hysterics at the bare mention of
the design; and, more than all, my grandfather, from whom I expected
much, vowed to cut me off with a shilling if I should ever broach
the subject to him again. These difficulties, however, so far from
abating my desire, only added fuel to the flame. I determined to go at
all hazards; and, having made known my intentions to Augustus, we
set about arranging a plan by which it might be accomplished. In the
meantime I forbore speaking to any of my relations in regard to the
voyage, and, as I busied myself ostensibly with my usual studies, it
was supposed that I had abandoned the design. I have since
frequently examined my conduct on this occasion with sentiments of
displeasure as well as of surprise. The intense hypocrisy I made use
of for the furtherance of my project- an hypocrisy pervading every
word and action of my life for so long a period of time- could only
have been rendered tolerable to myself by the wild and burning
expectation with which I looked forward to the fulfilment of my
long-cherished visions of travel.
    In pursuance of my scheme of deception, I was necessarily
obliged to leave much to the management of Augustus, who was
employed for the greater part of every day on board the Grampus,
attending to some arrangements for his father in the cabin and cabin
hold. At night, however, we were sure to have a conference and talk
over our hopes. After nearly a month passed in this manner, without
our hitting upon any plan we thought likely to succeed, he told me
at last that he had determined upon everything necessary. I had a
relation living in New Bedford, a Mr. Ross, at whose house I was in
the habit of spending occasionally two or three weeks at a time. The
brig was to sail about the middle of June (June, 1827), and it was
agreed that, a day or two before her putting to sea, my father was
to receive a note, as usual, from Mr. Ross, asking me to come over and
spend a fortnight with Robert and Emmet (his sons). Augustus charged
himself with the inditing of this note and getting it delivered.
Having set out as supposed, for New Bedford, I was then to report
myself to my companion, who would contrive a hiding-place for me in
the Grampus. This hiding-place, he assured me, would be rendered
sufficiently comfortable for a residence of many days, during which
I was not to make my appearance. When the brig had proceeded so far on
her course as to make any turning back a matter out of question, I
should then, he said, be formally installed in all the comforts of the
cabin; and as to his father, he would only laugh heartily at the joke.
Vessels enough would be met with by which a letter might be sent
home explaining the adventure to my parents.
    The middle of June at length arrived, and every thing had been
matured. The note was written and delivered, and on a Monday morning I
left the house for the New Bedford packet, as supposed. I went,
however, straight to Augustus, who was waiting for me at the corner of
a street. It had been our original plan that I should keep out of
the way until dark, and then slip on board the brig; but, as there was
now a thick fog in our favor, it was agreed to lose no time in
secreting me. Augustus led the way to the wharf, and I followed at a
little distance, enveloped in a thick seaman's cloak, which he had
brought with him, so that my person might not be easily recognized.
just as we turned the second corner, after passing Mr. Edmund's
well, who should appear, standing right in front of me, and looking me
full in the face, but old Mr. Peterson, my grandfather. "Why, bless my
soul, Gordon," said he, after a long pause, "why, why,- whose dirty
cloak is that you have on?" "Sir!" I replied, assuming, as well as I
could, in the exigency of the moment, an air of offended surprise, and
talking in the gruffest of all imaginable tones- "sir! you are a
sum'mat mistaken- my name, in the first place, bee'nt nothing at all
like Goddin, and I'd want you for to know better, you blackguard, than
to call my new obercoat a darty one." For my life I could hardly
refrain from screaming with laughter at the odd manner in which the
old gentleman received this handsome rebuke. He started back two or
three steps, turned first pale and then excessively red, threw up
his spectacles, then, putting them down, ran full tilt at me, with his
umbrella uplifted. He stopped short, however, in his career, as if
struck with a sudden recollection; and presently, turning round,
hobbled off down the street, shaking all the while with rage, and
muttering between his teeth: "Won't do- new glasses- thought it was
Gordon- d__d good-for-nothing salt water Long Tom."
    After this narrow escape we proceeded with greater caution, and
arrived at our point of destination in safety. There were only one
or two of the hands on board, and these were busy forward, doing
something to the forecastle combings. Captain Barnard, we knew very
well, was engaged at Lloyd and Vredenburgh's, and would remain there
until late in the evening, so we had little to apprehend on his
account. Augustus went first up the vessel's side, and in a short
while I followed him, without being noticed by the men at work. We
proceeded at once into the cabin, and found no person there. It was
fitted up in the most comfortable style- a thing somewhat unusual in
a whaling-vessel. There were four very excellent staterooms, with wide
and convenient berths. There was also a large stove, I took notice,
and a remarkably thick and valuable carpet covering the floor of
both the cabin and staterooms. The ceiling was full seven feet high,
and, in short, every thing appeared of a more roomy and agreeable
nature than I had anticipated. Augustus, however, would allow me but
little time for observation, insisting upon the necessity of my
concealing myself as soon as possible. He led the way into his own
stateroom, which was on the starboard side of the brig, and next to
the bulkheads. Upon entering, he closed the door and bolted it. I
thought I had never seen a nicer little room than the one in which I
now found myself. It was about ten feet long, and had only one
berth, which, as I said before, was wide and convenient. In that
portion of the closet nearest the bulkheads there was a space of
four feet square, containing a table, a chair, and a set of hanging
shelves full of books, chiefly books of voyages and travels. There
were many other little comforts in the room, among which I ought not
to forget a kind of safe or refrigerator, in which Augustus pointed
out to me a host of delicacies, both in the eating and drinking
department.
                                                   
    He now pressed with his knuckles upon a certain spot of the carpet
in one corner of the space just mentioned, letting me know that a
portion of the flooring, about sixteen inches square, had been
neatly cut out and again adjusted. As he pressed, this portion rose up
at one end sufficiently to allow the passage of his finger beneath. In
this manner he raised the mouth of the trap (to which the carpet was
still fastened by tacks), and I found that it led into the after hold.
He next lit a small taper by means of a phosphorous match, and,
placing the light in a dark lantern, descended with it through the
opening, bidding me follow. I did so, and be then pulled the cover
upon the hole, by means of a nail driven into the under side- the
carpet, of course, resuming its original position on the floor of
the stateroom, and all traces of the aperture being concealed.
    The taper gave out so feeble a ray that it was with the greatest
difficulty I could grope my way through the confused mass of lumber
among which I now found myself. By degrees, however, my eyes became
accustomed to the gloom, and I proceeded with less trouble, holding on
to the skirts of my friend's coat. He brought me, at length, after
creeping and winding through innumerable narrow passages, to an
iron-bound box, such as is used sometimes for packing fine
earthenware. It was nearly four feet high, and full six long, but very
narrow. Two large empty oil-casks lay on the top of it, and above
these, again, a vast quantity of straw matting, piled up as high as
the floor of the cabin. In every other direction around was wedged
as closely as possible, even up to the ceiling, a complete chaos of
almost every species of ship-furniture, together with a
heterogeneous medley of crates, hampers, barrels, and bales, so that
it seemed a matter no less than miraculous that we had discovered
any passage at all to the box. I afterward found that Augustus had
purposely arranged the stowage in this hold with a view to affording
me a thorough concealment, having had only one assistant in the
labour, a man not going out in the brig.
    My companion now showed me that one of the ends of the box could
be removed at pleasure. He slipped it aside and displayed the
interior, at which I was excessively amused. A mattress from one of
the cabin berths covered the whole of its bottom, and it contained
almost every article of mere comfort which could be crowded into so
small a space, allowing me, at the same time, sufficient room for my
accommodation, either in a sitting position or lying at full length.
Among other things, there were some books, pen, ink, and paper,
three blankets, a large jug full of water, a keg of sea-biscuit, three
or four immense Bologna sausages, an enormous ham, a cold leg of roast
mutton, and half a dozen bottles of cordials and liqueurs. I proceeded
immediately to take possession of my little apartment, and this with
feelings of higher satisfaction, I am sure, than any monarch ever
experienced upon entering a new palace. Augustus now pointed out to me
the method of fastening the open end of the box, and then, holding the
taper close to the deck, showed me a piece of dark whipcord lying
along it. This, he said, extended from my hiding-place throughout an
the necessary windings among the lumber, to a nail which was driven
into the deck of the hold, immediately beneath the trap-door leading
into his stateroom. By means of this cord I should be enabled
readily to trace my way out without his guidance, provided any
unlooked-for accident should render such a step necessary. He now took
his departure, leaving with me the lantern, together with a copious
supply of tapers and phosphorous, and promising to pay me a visit as
often as he could contrive to do so without observation. This was on
the seventeenth of June.
    I remained three days and nights (as nearly as I could guess) in
my hiding-place without getting out of it at all, except twice for the
purpose of stretching my limbs by standing erect between two crates
just opposite the opening. During the whole period I saw nothing of
Augustus; but this occasioned me little uneasiness, as I knew the brig
was expected to put to sea every hour, and in the bustle he would
not easily find opportunities of coming down to me. At length I
heard the trap open and shut. and presently he called in a low
voice, asking if all was well, and if there was any thing I wanted.
"Nothing," I replied; "I am as comfortable as can be; when will the
brig sail?" "She will be under weigh in less than half an hour," he
answered. "I came to let you know, and for fear you should be uneasy
at my absence. I shall not have a chance of coming down again for some
time- perhaps for three or four days more. All is going on right
aboveboard. After I go up and close the trap, do you creep along by
the whipcord to where the nail is driven in. You will find my watch
there- it may be useful to you, as you have no daylight to keep time
by. I suppose you can't tell how long you have been buried- only
three days- this is the twentieth. I would bring the watch to your
box, but am afraid of being missed." With this he went up.
    In about an hour after he had gone I distinctly felt the brig in
motion, and congratulated myself upon having at length fairly
commenced a voyage. Satisfied with this idea, I determined to make
my mind as easy as possible, and await the course of events until I
should be permitted to exchange the box for the more roomy, although
hardly more comfortable, accommodations of the cabin. My first care
was to get the watch. Leaving the taper burning, I groped along in the
dark, following the cord through windings innumerable, in some of
which I discovered that, after toiling a long distance, I was
brought back within a foot or two of a former position. At length I
reached the nail, and securing the object of my journey, returned with
it in safety. I now looked over the books which had been so
thoughtfully provided, and selected the expedition of Lewis and Clarke
to the mouth of the Columbia. With this I amused myself for some time,
when, growing sleepy, I extinguished the light with great care, and
soon fell into a sound slumber.
                                                  
    Upon awakening I felt strangely confused in mind, and some time
elapsed before I could bring to recollection all the various
circumstances of my situation. By degrees, however, I remembered
all. Striking a light, I looked at the watch; but it was run down, and
there were, consequently, no means of determining how long I slept. My
limbs were greatly cramped, and I was forced to relieve them by
standing between the crates. Presently feeling an almost ravenous
appetite, I bethought myself of the cold mutton, some of which I had
eaten just before going to sleep, and found excellent. What was my
astonishment in discovering it to be in a state of absolute
putrefaction! This circumstance occasioned me great disquietude;
for, connecting it with the disorder of mind I experienced upon
awakening, I began to suppose that I must have slept for an
inordinately long period of time. The close atmosphere of the hold
might have had something to do with this, and might, in the end, be
productive of the most serious results. My head ached excessively; I
fancied that I drew every breath with difficulty; and, in short, I was
oppressed with a multitude of gloomy feelings. Still I could not
venture to make any disturbance by opening the trap or otherwise, and,
having wound up the watch, contented myself as well as possible.
    Throughout the whole of the next tedious twenty-four hours no
person came to my relief, and I could not help accusing Augustus of
the grossest inattention. What alarmed me chiefly was, that the
water in my jug was reduced to about half a pint, and I was
suffering much from thirst, having eaten freely of the Bologna
sausages after the loss of my mutton. I became very uneasy, and
could no longer take any interest in my books. I was overpowered, too,
with a desire to sleep, yet trembled at the thought of indulging it,
lest there might exist some pernicious influence, like that of burning
charcoal, in the confined air of the hold. In the meantime the roll of
the brig told me that we were far in the main ocean, and a dull
humming sound, which reached my ears as if from an immense distance,
convinced me no ordinary gale was blowing. I could not imagine a
reason for the absence of Augustus. We were surely far enough advanced
on our voyage to allow of my going up. Some accident might have
happened to him- but I could think of none which would account for
his suffering me to remain so long a prisoner, except, indeed, his
having suddenly died or fallen overboard, and upon this idea I could
not dwell with any degree of patience. It was possible that we had
been baffled by head winds, and were still in the near vicinity of
Nantucket. This notion, however, I was forced to abandon; for such
being the case, the brig must have frequently gone about; and I was
entirely satisfied, from her continual inclination to the larboard,
that she had been sailing all along with a steady breeze on her
starboard quarter. Besides, granting that we were still in the
neighborhood of the island, why should not Augustus have visited me
and informed me of the circumstance? Pondering in this manner upon the
difficulties of my solitary and cheerless condition, I resolved to
wait yet another twenty-four hours, when, if no relief were obtained,
I would make my way to the trap, and endeavour either to hold a
parley with my friend, or get at least a little fresh air through the
opening, and a further supply of water from the stateroom. While
occupied with this thought, however, I fell in spite of every exertion
to the contrary, into a state of profound sleep, or rather stupor.
My dreams were of the most terrific description. Every species of
calamity and horror befell me. Among other miseries I was smothered to
death between huge pillows, by demons of the most ghastly and
ferocious aspect. Immense serpents held me in their embrace, and
looked earnestly in my face with their fearfully shining eyes. Then
deserts, limitless, and of the most forlorn and awe-inspiring
character, spread themselves out before me. Immensely tall trunks of
trees, gray and leafless, rose up in endless succession as far as
the eye could reach. Their roots were concealed in wide-spreading
morasses, whose dreary water lay intensely black, still, and
altogether terrible, beneath. And the strange trees seemed endowed
with a human vitality, and waving to and fro their skeleton arms, were
crying to the silent waters for mercy, in the shrill and piercing
accents of the most acute agony and despair. The scene changed; and
I stood, naked and alone, amidst the burning sand-plains of Sahara. At
my feet lay crouched a fierce lion of the tropics. Suddenly his wild
eyes opened and fell upon me. With a conculsive bound he sprang to his
feet, and laid bare his horrible teeth. In another instant there burst
from his red throat a roar like the thunder of the firmament, and I
fell impetuously to the earth. Stifling in a paroxysm of terror, I
at last found myself partially awake. My dream, then, was not all a
dream. Now, at least, I was in possession of my senses. The paws of
some huge and real monster were pressing heavily upon my bosom- his
hot breath was in my ear- and his white and ghastly fangs were
gleaming upon me through the gloom.
    Had a thousand lives hung upon the movement of a limb or the
utterance of a syllable, I could have neither stirred nor spoken.
The beast, whatever it was, retained his position without attempting
any immediate violence, while I lay in an utterly helpless, and, I
fancied, a dying condition beneath him. I felt that my powers of
body and mind were fast leaving me- in a word, that I was perishing,
and perishing of sheer fright. My brain swam- I grew deadly sick- my
vision failed- even the glaring eyeballs above me grew dim. Making a
last strong effort, I at length breathed a faint ejaculation to God,
and resigned myself to die. The sound of my voice seemed to arouse all
the latent fury of the animal. He precipitated himself at full
length upon my body; but what was my astonishment, when, with a long
and low whine, he commenced licking my face and hands with the
greatest eagerness, and with the most extravagant demonstration of
affection and joy! I was bewildered, utterly lost in amazement- but I
could not forget the peculiar whine of my Newfoundland dog Tiger,
and the odd manner of his caresses I well knew. It was he. I
experienced a sudden rush of blood to my temples- a giddy and
overpowering sense of deliverance and reanimation. I rose hurriedly
from the mattress upon which I had been lying, and, throwing myself
upon the neck of my faithful follower and friend, relieved the long
oppression of my bosom in a flood of the most passionate tears.
    As upon a former occasion my conceptions were in a state of the
greatest indistinctness and confusion after leaving the mattress.
For a long time I found it nearly impossible to connect any ideas;
but, by very slow degrees, my thinking faculties returned, and I again
called to memory the several incidents of my condition. For the
presence of Tiger I tried in vain to account; and after busying myself
with a thousand different conjectures respecting him, was forced to
content myself with rejoicing that he was with me to share my dreary
solitude, and render me comfort by his caresses. Most people love
their dogs, but for Tiger I had an affection far more ardent than
common; and never, certainly, did any creature more truly deserve
it. For seven years he had been my inseparable companion, and in a
multitude of instances had given evidence of all the noble qualities
for which we value the animal. I had rescued him, when a puppy, from
the clutches of a malignant little villain in Nantucket who was
leading him, with a rope around his neck, to the water; and the
grown dog repaid the obligation, about three years afterward, by
saving me from the bludgeon of a street robber.
    Getting now hold of the watch, I found, upon applying it to my
ear, that it had again run down; but at this I was not at all
surprised, being convinced, from the peculiar state of my feelings,
that I had slept, as before, for a very long period of time, how long,
it was of course impossible to say. I was burning up with fever, and
my thirst was almost intolerable. I felt about the box for my little
remaining supply of water, for I had no light, the taper having
burnt to the socket of the lantern, and the phosphorus-box not
coming readily to hand. Upon finding the jug, however, I discovered it
to be empty- Tiger, no doubt, having been tempted to drink it, as
well as to devour the remnant of mutton, the bone of which lay, well
picked, by the opening of the box. The spoiled meat I could well
spare, but my heart sank as I thought of the water. I was feeble in
the extreme- so much so that I shook all over, as with an ague, at
the slightest movement or exertion. To add to my troubles, the brig
was pitching and rolling with great violence, and the oil-casks
which lay upon my box were in momentary danger of falling down, so
as to block up the only way of ingress or egress. I felt, also,
terrible sufferings from sea-sickness. These considerations determined
me to make my way, at all hazards, to the trap, and obtain immediate
relief, before I should be incapacitated from doing so altogether.
Having come to this resolve, I again felt about for the phosphorus-box
and tapers. The former I found after some little trouble; but, not
discovering the tapers as soon as I had expected (for I remembered
very nearly the spot in which I had placed them), I gave up the search
for the present, and bidding Tiger lie quiet, began at once my journey
toward the trap.
                                                  
    In this attempt my great feebleness became more than ever
apparent. It was with the utmost difficulty I could crawl along at
all, and very frequently my limbs sank suddenly from beneath me; when,
falling prostrate on my face, I would remain for some minutes in a
state bordering on insensibility. Still I struggled forward by slow
degrees, dreading every moment that I should swoon amid the narrow and
intricate windings of the lumber, in which event I had nothing but
death to expect as the result. At length, upon making a push forward
with all the energy I could command, I struck my forehead violently
against the sharp corner of an iron-bound crate. The accident only
stunned me for a few moments; but I found, to my inexpressible
grief, that the quick and violent roll of the vessel had thrown the
crate entirely across my path, so as effectually to block up the
passage. With my utmost exertions I could not move it a single inch
from its position, it being closely wedged in among the surrounding
boxes and ship-furniture. It became necessary, therefore, enfeebled as
I was, either to leave the guidance of the whipcord and seek out a new
passage, or to climb over the obstacle, and resume the path on the
other side. The former alternative presented too many difficulties and
dangers to be thought of without a shudder. In my present weak state
of both mind and body, I should infallibly lose my way if I
attempted it, and perish miserably amid the dismal and disgusting
labyrinths of the hold. I proceeded, therefore, without hesitation, to
summon up all my remaining strength and fortitude, and endeavour, as I
best might, to clamber over the crate.
    Upon standing erect, with this end in view, I found the
undertaking even a more serious task than my fears had led me to
imagine. On each side of the narrow passage arose a complete wall of
various heavy lumber, which the least blunder on my part might be
the means of bringing down upon my head; or, if this accident did
not occur, the path might be effectually blocked up against my
return by the descending mass, as it was in front by the obstacle
there. The crate itself was a long and unwieldy box, upon which no
foothold could be obtained. In vain I attempted, by every means in
my power, to reach the top, with the hope of being thus enabled to
draw myself up. Had I succeeded in reaching it, it is certain that
my strength would have proved utterly inadequate to the task of
getting over, and it was better in every respect that I failed. At
length, in a desperate effort to force the crate from its ground, I
felt a strong vibration in the side next me. I thrust my hand
eagerly to the edge of the planks, and found that a very large one was
loose. With my pocket-knife, which, luckily, I had with me, I
succeeded, after great labour, in prying it entirely off; and getting
it through the aperture, discovered, to my exceeding joy, that there
were no boards on the opposite side- in other words, that the top was
wanting, it being the bottom through which I had forced my way.
I now met with no important difficulty in proceeding along the line
until I finally reached the nail. With a beating heart I stood
erect, and with a gentle touch pressed against the cover of the
trap. It did not rise as soon as I had expected, and I pressed it with
somewhat more determination, still dreading lest some other person
than Augustus might be in his state-room. The door, however, to my
astonishment, remained steady, and I became somewhat uneasy, for I
knew that it had formerly required but little or no effort to remove
it. I pushed it strongly- it was nevertheless firm: with all my
strength- it still did not give way: with rage, with fury, with
despair- it set at defiance my utmost efforts; and it was evident,
from the unyielding nature of the resistance, that the hole had either
been discovered and effectually nailed up, or that some immense weight
had been placed upon it, which it was useless to think of removing.
    My sensations were those of extreme horror and dismay. In vain I
attempted to reason on the probable cause of my being thus entombed. I
could summon up no connected chain of reflection, and, sinking on
the floor, gave way, unresistingly, to the most gloomy imaginings,
in which the dreadful deaths of thirst, famine, suffocation, and
premature interment crowded upon me as the prominent disasters to be
encountered. At length there returned to me some portion of presence
of mind. I arose, and felt with my fingers for the seams or cracks
of the aperture. Having found them, I examined them closely to
ascertain if they emitted any light from the state-room; but none
was visible. I then forced the blade of my pen-knife through them,
until I met with some hard obstacle. Scraping against it, I discovered
it to be a solid mass of iron, which, from its peculiar wavy feel as I
passed the blade along it, I concluded to be a chain-cable. The only
course now left me was to retrace my way to the box, and there
either yield to my sad fate, or try so to tranquilize my mind as to
admit of my arranging some plan of escape. I immediately set about the
attempt, and succeeded, after innumerable difficulties, in getting
back. As I sank, utterly exhausted, upon the mattress, Tiger threw
himself at full length by my side, and seemed as if desirous, by his
caresses, of consoling me in my troubles, and urging me to bear them
with fortitude.
    The singularity of his behavior at length forcibly arrested my
attention. After licking my face and hands for some minutes, he
would suddenly cease doing so, and utter a low whine. Upon reaching
out my hand toward him, I then invariably found him lying on his back,
with his paws uplifted. This conduct, so frequently repeated, appeared
strange, and I could in no manner account for it. As the dog seemed
distressed, I concluded that he had received some injury; and,
taking his paws in my hands, I examined them one by one, but found
no sign of any hurt. I then supposed him hungry, and gave him a
large piece of ham, which he devoured with avidity- afterward,
however, resuming his extraordinary manoeuvres. I now imagined that
he was suffering, like myself, the torments of thirst, and was about
adopting this conclusion as the true one, when the idea occurred to
me that I had as yet only examined his paws, and that there might
possibly be a wound upon some portion of his body or head. The latter
I felt carefully over, but found nothing. On passing my hand, however,
along his back, I perceived a slight erection of the hair extending
completely across it. Probing this with my finger, I discovered a
string, and tracing it up, found that it encircled the whole body.
Upon a closer scrutiny, I came across a small slip of what had the
feeling of letter paper, through which the string had been fastened in
such a manner as to bring it immediately beneath the left shoulder
of the animal.


                          CHAPTER III
-
    The thought instantly occurred to me that the paper was a note
from Augustus, and that some unaccountable accident having happened to
prevent his relieving me from my dungeon, he had devised this method
of acquainting me with the true state of affairs. Trembling with
eagerness, I now commenced another search for my phosphorus matches
and tapers. I had a confused recollection of having put them carefully
away just before falling asleep; and, indeed, previously to my last
journey to the trap, I had been able to remember the exact spot
where I had deposited them. But now I endeavored in vain to call it to
mind, and busied myself for a full hour in a fruitless and vexatious
search for the missing articles; never, surely, was there a more
tantalizing state of anxiety and suspense. At length, while groping
about, with my head close to the ballast, near the opening of the box,
and outside of it, I perceived a faint glimmering of light in the
direction of the steerage. Greatly surprised, I endeavored to make
my way toward it, as it appeared to be but a few feet from my
position. Scarcely had I moved with this intention, when I lost
sight of the glimmer entirely, and, before I could bring it into
view again, was obliged to feel along by the box until I had exactly
resumed my original situation. Now, moving my head with caution to and
fro, I found that, by proceeding slowly, with great care, in an
opposite direction to that in which I had at first started, I was
enabled to draw near the light, still keeping it in view. Presently
I came directly upon it (having squeezed my way through innumerable
narrow windings), and found that it proceeded from some fragments of
my matches lying in an empty barrel turned upon its side. I was
wondering how they came in such a place, when my hand fell upon two or
three pieces of taper wax, which had been evidently mumbled by the
dog. I concluded at once that he had devoured the whole of my supply
of candles, and I felt hopeless of being ever able to read the note of
Augustus. The small remnants of the wax were so mashed up among
other rubbish in the barrel, that I despaired of deriving any
service from them, and left them as they were. The phosphorus, of
which there was only a speck or two, I gathered up as well as I could,
and returned with it, after much difficulty, to my box, where Tiger
had all the while remained.
    What to do next I could not tell. The hold was so intensely dark
that I could not see my hand, however close I would hold it to my
face. The white slip of paper could barely be discerned, and not
even that when I looked at it directly; by turning the exterior
portions of the retina toward it- that is to say, by surveying it
slightly askance, I found that it became in some measure
perceptible. Thus the gloom of my prison may be imagined, and the note
of my friend, if indeed it were a note from him, seemed only likely to
throw me into further trouble, by disquieting to no purpose my already
enfeebled and agitated mind. In vain I revolved in my brain a
multitude of absurd expedients for procuring light- such expedients
precisely as a man in the perturbed sleep occasioned by opium would be
apt to fall upon for a similar purpose- each and all of which appear
by turns to the dreamer the most reasonable and the most
preposterous of conceptions, just as the reasoning or imaginative
faculties flicker, alternately, one above the other. At last an idea
occurred to me which seemed rational, and which gave me cause to
wonder, very justly, that I had not entertained it before. I placed
the slip of paper on the back of a book, and, collecting the fragments
of the phosphorus matches which I had brought from the barrel, laid
them together upon the paper. I then, with the palm of my hand, rubbed
the whole over quickly, yet steadily. A clear light diffused itself
immediately throughout the whole surface; and had there been any
writing upon it, I should not have experienced the least difficulty, I
am sure, in reading it. Not a syllable was there, however- nothing
but a dreary and unsatisfactory blank; the illumination died away in a
few seconds, and my heart died away within me as it went.
    I have before stated more than once that my intellect, for some
period prior to this, had been in a condition nearly bordering on
idiocy. There were, to be sure, momentary intervals of perfect sanity,
and, now and then, even of energy; but these were few. It must be
remembered that I had been, for many days certainly, inhaling the
almost pestilential atmosphere of a close hold in a whaling vessel,
and for a long portion of that time but scantily supplied with
water. For the last fourteen or fifteen hours I had none- nor had I
slept during that time. Salt provisions of the most exciting kind
had been my chief, and, indeed, since the loss of the mutton, my
only supply of food, with the exception of the sea-biscuit; and
these latter were utterly useless to me, as they were too dry and hard
to be swallowed in the swollen and parched condition of my throat. I
was now in a high state of fever, and in every respect exceedingly
ill. This will account for the fact that many miserable hours of
despondency elapsed after my last adventure with the phosphorus,
before the thought suggested itself that I had examined only one
side of the paper. I shall not attempt to describe my feelings of rage
(for I believe I was more angry than any thing else) when the
egregious oversight I had committed flashed suddenly upon my
perception. The blunder itself would have been unimportant, had not my
own folly and impetuosity rendered it otherwise- in my disappointment
at not finding some words upon the slip, I had childishly torn it in
pieces and thrown it away, it was impossible to say where.
    From the worst part of this dilemma I was relieved by the sagacity
of Tiger. Having got, after a long search, a small piece of the
note, I put it to the dog's nose, and endeavored to make him
understand that he must bring me the rest of it. To my astonishment,
(for I had taught him none of the usual tricks for which his breed are
famous,) he seemed to enter at once into my meaning, and, rummaging
about for a few moments, soon found another considerable portion.
Bringing me this, he paused awhile, and, rubbing his nose against my
hand, appeared to be waiting for my approval of what he had done. I
patted him on the head, when he immediately made off again. It was now
some minutes before he came back- but when he did come, he brought
with him a large slip, which proved to be all the paper missing- it
having been torn, it seems, only into three pieces. Luckily, I had no
trouble in finding what few fragments of the phosphorus were left-
being guided by the indistinct glow one or two of the particles still
emitted. My difficulties had taught me the necessity of caution, and
I now took time to reflect upon what I was about to do. It was very
probable, I considered, that some words were written upon that side of
the paper which had not been examined- but which side was that?
Fitting the pieces together gave me no clew in this respect, although
it assured me that the words (if there were any) would be found all
on one side, and connected in a proper manner, as written. There was
the greater necessity of ascertaining the point in question beyond a
doubt, as the phosphorus remaining would be altogether insufficient
for a third attempt, should I fail in the one I was now about to make.
I placed the paper on a book as before, and sat for some minutes
thoughtfully revolving the matter over in my mind. At last I thought
it barely possible that the written side might have some unevenness on
its surface, which a delicate sense of feeling might enable me to
detect. I determined to make the experiment and passed my finger
very carefully over the side which first presented itself. Nothing,
however, was perceptible, and I turned the paper, adjusting it on
the book. I now again carried my forefinger cautiously along, when I
was aware of an exceedingly slight, but still discernable glow,
which followed as it proceeded. This, I knew, must arise from some
very minute remaining particles of the phosphorus with which I had
covered the paper in my previous attempt. The other, or under side,
then, was that on which lay the writing, if writing there should
finally prove to be. Again I turned the note, and went to work as I
had previously done. Having rubbed in the phosphorus, a brilliancy
ensued as before- but this time several lines of MS. in a large hand,
and apparently in red ink, became distinctly visible. The glimmer,
although sufficiently bright, was but momentary. Still, had I not been
too greatly excited, there would have been ample time enough for me to
peruse the whole three sentences before me- for I saw there were
three. In my anxiety, however, to read all at once, I succeeded only
in reading the seven concluding words, which thus appeared- "blood-
your life depends upon lying close."
    Had I been able to ascertain the entire contents of the note-the
full meaning of the admonition which my friend had thus attempted to
convey, that admonition, even although it should have revealed a story
of disaster the most unspeakable, could not, I am firmly convinced,
have imbued my mind with one tithe of the harrowing and yet
indefinable horror with which I was inspired by the fragmentary
warning thus received. And "blood," too, that word of all words- so
rife at all times with mystery, and suffering, and terror- how trebly
full of import did it now appear- how chilly and heavily (disjointed,
as it thus was, from any foregoing words to qualify or render it
distinct) did its vague syllables fall, amid the deep gloom of my
prison, into the innermost recesses of my soul!
                                                  
    Augustus had, undoubtedly, good reasons for wishing me to remain
concealed, and I formed a thousand surmises as to what they could
be- but I could think of nothing affording a satisfactory solution of
the mystery. just after returning from my last journey to the trap,
and before my attention had been otherwise directed by the singular
conduct of Tiger, I had come to the resolution of making myself
heard at all events by those on board, or, if I could not succeed in
this directly, of trying to cut my way through the orlop deck. The
half certainty which I felt of being able to accomplish one of these
two purposes in the last emergency, had given me courage (which I
should not otherwise have had) to endure the evils of my situation.
The few words I had been able to read, however, had cut me off from
these final resources, and I now, for the first time, felt all the
misery of my fate. In a paroxysm of despair I threw myself again
upon the mattress, where, for about the period of a day and night, I
lay in a kind of stupor, relieved only by momentary intervals of
reason and recollection.
    At length I once more arose, and busied myself in reflection
upon the horrors which encompassed me. For another twenty-four hours
it was barely possible that I might exist without water- for a longer
time I could not do so. During the first portion of my imprisonment
I had made free use of the cordials with which Augustus had supplied
me, but they only served to excite fever, without in the least
degree assuaging thirst. I had now only about a gill left, and this
was of a species of strong peach liqueur at which my stomach revolted.
The sausages were entirely consumed; of the ham nothing remained but a
small piece of the skin; and all the biscuit, except a few fragments
of one, had been eaten by Tiger. To add to my troubles, I found that
my headache was increasing momentarily, and with it the species of
delirium which had distressed me more or less since my first falling
asleep. For some hours past it had been with the greatest difficulty I
could breathe at all, and now each attempt at so doing was attended
with the most depressing spasmodic action of the chest. But there
was still another and very different source of disquietude, and one,
indeed, whose harassing terrors had been the chief means of arousing
me to exertion from my stupor on the mattress. It arose from the
demeanor of the dog.
    I first observed an alteration in his conduct while rubbing in the
phosphorus on the paper in my last attempt. As I rubbed, he ran his
nose against my hand with a slight snarl; but I was too greatly
excited at the time to pay much attention to the circumstance. Soon
afterward, it will be remembered, I threw myself on the mattress,
and fell into a species of lethargy. Presently I became aware of a
singular hissing sound close at my ears, and discovered it to
proceed from Tiger, who was panting and wheezing in a state of the
greatest apparent excitement, his eyeballs flashing fiercely through
the gloom. I spoke to him, when he replied with a low growl, and
then remained quiet. Presently I relapsed into my stupor, from which I
was again awakened in a similar manner. This was repeated three or
four times, until finally his behaviour inspired me with so great a
degree of fear, that I became fully aroused. He was now lying close by
the door of the box, snarling fearfully, although in a kind of
undertone, and grinding his teeth as if strongly convulsed. I had no
doubt whatever that the want of water or the confined atmosphere of
the hold had driven him mad, and I was at a loss what course to
pursue. I could not endure the thought of killing him, yet it seemed
absolutely necessary for my own safety. I could distinctly perceive
his eyes fastened upon me with an expression of the most deadly
animosity, and I expected every instant that he would attack me. At
last I could endure my terrible situation no longer, and determined to
make my way from the box at all hazards, and dispatch him, if his
opposition should render it necessary for me to do so. To get out, I
had to pass directly over his body, and he already seemed to
anticipate my design- missing himself upon his fore. legs (as I
perceived by the altered position of his eyes), and displayed the
whole of his white fangs, which were easily discernible. I took the
remains of the ham-skin, and the bottle containing the liqueur, and
secured them about my person, together with a large carving-knife
which Augustus had left me- then, folding my cloak around me as
closely as possible, I made a movement toward the mouth of the box.
No sooner did I do this, than the dog sprang with a loud growl toward
my throat. The whole weight of his body struck me on the right
shoulder, and I fell violently to the left, while the enraged animal
passed entirely over me. I had fallen upon my knees, with my head
buried among the blankets, and these protected me from a second
furious assault, during which I felt the sharp teeth pressing
vigorously upon the woollen which enveloped my neck- yet, luckily,
without being able to penetrate all the folds. I was now beneath the
dog, and a few moments would place me completely in his power. Despair
gave me strength, and I rose boldly up, shaking him from me by main
force, and dragging with me the blankets from the mattress. These I
now threw over him, and before he could extricate himself, I had got
through the door and closed it effectually against his pursuit. In
this struggle, however, I had been forced to drop the morsel of
ham-skin, and I now found my whole stock of provisions reduced to a
single gill of liqueur, As this reflection crossed my mind, I felt
myself actuated by one of those fits of perverseness which might be
supposed to influence a spoiled child in similar circumstances, and,
raising the bottle to my lips, I drained it to the last drop, and
dashed it furiously upon the floor.
    Scarcely had the echo of the crash died away, when I heard my name
pronounced in an eager but subdued voice, issuing from the direction
of the steerage. So unexpected was anything of the kind, and so
intense was the emotion excited within me by the sound, that I
endeavoured in vain to reply. My powers of speech totally failed,
and in an agony of terror lest my friend should conclude me dead,
and return without attempting to reach me, I stood up between the
crates near the door of the box, trembling convulsively, and gasping
and struggling for utterance. Had a thousand words depended upon a
syllable, I could not have spoken it. There was a slight movement
now audible among the lumber somewhere forward of my station. The
sound presently grew less distinct, then again less so, and still
less. Shall I ever forget my feelings at this moment? He was going-
my friend, my companion, from whom I had a right to expect so much-
he was going- he would abandon me- he was gone! He would leave me
to perish miserably, to expire in the most horrible and loathesome
of dungeons- and one word, one little syllable, would save me- yet
that single syllable I could not utter! I felt, I am sure, more than
ten thousand times the agonies of death itself. My brain reeled, and I
fell, deadly sick, against the end of the box.
    As I fell the carving-knife was shaken out from the waist-band
of my pantaloons, and dropped with a rattling sound to the floor.
Never did any strain of the richest melody come so sweetly to my ears!
With the intensest anxiety I listened to ascertain the effect of the
noise upon Augustus- for I knew that the person who called my name
could be no one but himself. All was silent for some moments. At
length I again heard the word "Arthur!" repeated in a low tone, and
one full of hesitation. Reviving hope loosened at once my powers of
speech, and I now screamed at the top of my voice, "Augustus! oh,
Augustus!" "Hush! for God's sake be silent!" he replied, in a voice
trembling with agitation; "I will be with you immediately- as soon as
I can make my way through the hold." For a long time I heard him
moving among the lumber, and every moment seemed to me an age. At
length I felt his hand upon my shoulder, and he placed, at the same
moment, a bottle of water to my lips. Those only who have been
suddenly redeemed from the jaws of the tomb, or who have known the
insufferable torments of thirst under circumstances as aggravated as
those which encompassed me in my dreary prison, can form any idea of
the unutterable transports which that one long draught of the
richest of all physical luxuries afforded.
                                                 
    When I had in some degree satisfied my thirst, Augustus produced
from his pocket three or four boiled potatoes, which I devoured with
the greatest avidity. He had brought with him a light in a dark
lantern, and the grateful rays afforded me scarcely less comfort
than the food and drink. But I was impatient to learn the cause of his
protracted absence, and he proceeded to recount what had happened on
board during my incarceration.


                          CHAPTER IV
-
    The brig put to sea, as I had supposed, in about an hour after
he had left the watch. This was on the twentieth of June. It will be
remembered that I had then been in the hold for three days; and,
during this period, there was so constant a bustle on board, and so
much running to and fro, especially in the cabin and staterooms,
that he had had no chance of visiting me without the risk of having
the secret of the trap discovered. When at length he did come, I had
assured him that I was doing as well as possible; and, therefore,
for the two next days be felt but little uneasiness on my
account- still, however, watching an opportunity of going down. It
was not until the fourth day that he found one. Several times during
this interval he had made up his mind to let his father know of the
adventure, and have me come up at once; but we were still within
reaching distance of Nantucket, and it was doubtful, from some
expressions which had escaped Captain Barnard, whether he would not
immediately put back if he discovered me to be on board. Besides, upon
thinking the matter over, Augustus, so he told me, could not imagine
that I was in immediate want, or that I would hesitate, in such
case, to make myself heard at the trap. When, therefore, he considered
everything he concluded to let me stay until he could meet with an
opportunity of visiting me unobserved. This, as I said before, did not
occur until the fourth day after his bringing me the watch, and the
seventh since I had first entered the hold. He then went down
without taking with him any water or provisions, intending in the
first place merely to call my attention, and get me to come from the
box to the trap,- when he would go up to the stateroom and thence
hand me down a sup. ply. When he descended for this purpose he found
that I was asleep, for it seems that I was snoring very loudly. From
all the calculations I can make on the subject, this must have been
the slumber into which I fell just after my return from the trap
with the watch, and which, consequently, must have lasted for more
than three entire days and nights at the very least. Latterly, I
have had reason both from my own experience and the assurance of
others, to be acquainted with the strong soporific effects of the
stench arising from old fish-oil when closely confined; and when I
think of the condition of the hold in which I was imprisoned, and
the long period during which the brig had been used as a whaling
vessel, I am more inclined to wonder that I awoke at all, after once
falling asleep, than that I should have slept uninterruptedly for
the period specified above.
    Augustus called to me at first in a low voice and without
closing the trap- but I made him no reply. He then shut the trap, and
spoke to me in a louder, and finally in a very loud tone- still I
continued to snore. He was now at a loss what to do. It would take him
some time to make his way through the lumber to my box, and in the
meanwhile his absence would be noticed by Captain Barnard, who had
occasion for his services every minute, in arranging and copying
papers connected with the business of the voyage. He determined,
therefore, upon reflection, to ascend, and await another opportunity
of visiting me. He was the more easily induced to this resolve, as
my slumber appeared to be of the most tranquil nature, and he could
not suppose that I had undergone any inconvenience from my
incarceration. He had just made up his mind on these points when his
attention was arrested by an unusual bustle, the sound of which
proceeded apparently from the cabin. He sprang through the trap as
quickly as possible, closed it, and threw open the door of his
stateroom. No sooner had he put his foot over the threshold than a
pistol flashed in his face, and he was knocked down, at the same
moment, by a blow from a handspike.
    A strong hand held him on the cabin floor, with a tight grasp upon
his throat; still he was able to see what was going on around him. His
father was tied hand and foot, and lying along the steps of the
companion-way, with his head down, and a deep wound in the forehead,
from which the blood was flowing in a continued stream. He spoke not a
word, and was apparently dying. Over him stood the first mate,
eyeing him with an expression of fiendish derision, and deliberately
searching his pockets, from which he presently drew forth a large
wallet and a chronometer. Seven of the crew (among whom was the
cook, a negro) were rummaging the staterooms on the larboard for arms,
where they soon equipped themselves with muskets and ammunition.
Besides Augustus and Captain Barnard, there were nine men altogether
in the cabin, and these among the most ruffianly of the brig's
company. The villains now went upon deck, taking my friend with them
after having secured his arms behind his back. They proceeded straight
to the forecastle, which was fastened down- two of the mutineers
standing by it with axes- two also at the main hatch. The mate called
out in a loud voice: "Do you hear there below? tumble up with you, one
by one- now, mark that- and no grumbling!" It was some minutes before
any one appeared:- at last an Englishman, who had shipped as a raw
hand, came up, weeping piteously, and entreating the mate, in the most
humble manner, to spare his life. The only reply was a blow on the
forehead from an axe. The poor fellow fell to the deck without a
groan, and the black cook lifted him up in his arms as he would a
child, and tossed him deliberately into the sea. Hearing the blow
and the plunge of the body, the men below could now be induced to
venture on deck neither by threats nor promises, until a proposition
was made to smoke them out. A general rush then ensued, and for a
moment it seemed possible that the brig might be retaken. The
mutineers, however, succeeded at last in closing the forecastle
effectually before more than six of their opponents could get up.
These six, finding themselves so greatly outnumbered and without arms,
submitted after a brief struggle. The mate gave them fair words- no
doubt with a view of inducing those below to yield, for they had no
difficulty in hearing all that was said on deck. The result proved his
sagacity, no less than his diabolical villainy. All in the
forecastle presently signified their intention of submitting, and,
ascending one by one, were pinioned and then thrown on their backs,
together with the first six- there being in all, of the crew who were
not concerned in the mutiny, twenty-seven.
    A scene of the most horrible butchery ensued. The bound seamen
were dragged to the gangway. Here the cook stood with an axe, striking
each victim on the head as he was forced over the side of the vessel
by the other mutineers. In this manner twenty-two perished, and
Augustus had given himself up for lost, expecting every moment his own
turn to come next. But it seemed that the villains were now either
weary, or in some measure disgusted with their bloody labour; for
the four remaining prisoners, together with my friend, who had been
thrown on the deck with the rest, were respited while the mate sent
below for rum, and the whole murderous party held a drunken carouse,
which lasted until sunset. They now fell to disputing in regard to the
fate of the survivors, who lay not more than four paces off, and could
distinguish every word said. Upon some of the mutineers the liquor
appeared to have a softening effect, for several voices were heard
in favor of releasing the captives altogether, on condition of joining
the mutiny and sharing the profits. The black cook, however (who in
all respects was a perfect demon, and who seemed to exert as much
influence, if not more, than the mate himself), would listen to no
proposition of the kind, and rose repeatedly for the purpose of
resuming his work at the gangway. Fortunately he was so far overcome
by intoxication as to be easily restrained by the less bloodthirsty of
the party, among whom was a line-manager, who went by the name of Dirk
Peters. This man was the son of an Indian squaw of the tribe of
Upsarokas, who live among the fastnesses of the Black Hills, near
the source of the Missouri. His father was a fur-trader, I believe, or
at least connected in some manner with the Indian trading-posts on
Lewis river. Peter himself was one of the most ferocious-looking men I
ever beheld. He was short in stature, not more than four feet eight
inches high, but his limbs were of Herculean mould. His hands,
especially, were so enormously thick and broad as hardly to retain a
human shape. His arms, as well as legs, were bowed in the most
singular manner, and appeared to possess no flexibility whatever.
His head was equally deformed, being of immense size, with an
indentation on the crown (like that on the head of most negroes),
and entirely bald. To conceal this latter deficiency, which did not
proceed from old age, he usually wore a wig formed of any hair-like
material which presented itself- occasionally the skin of a Spanish
dog or American grizzly bear. At the time spoken of, he had on a
portion of one of these bearskins; and it added no little to the
natural ferocity of his countenance, which betook of the Upsaroka
character. The mouth extended nearly from ear to ear, the lips were
thin, and seemed, like some other portions of his frame, to be devoid
of natural pliancy, so that the ruling expression never varied under
the influence of any emotion whatever. This ruling expression may be
conceived when it is considered that the teeth were exceedingly long
and protruding, and never even partially covered, in any instance,
by the lips. To pass this man with a casual glance, one might
imagine him to be convulsed with laughter, but a second look would
induce a shuddering acknowledgment, that if such an expression were
indicative of merriment, the merriment must be that of a demon. Of
this singular being many anecdotes were prevalent among the
seafaring men of Nantucket. These anecdotes went to prove his
prodigious strength when under excitement, and some of them had
given rise to a doubt of his sanity. But on board the Grampus, it
seems, he was regarded, at the time of the mutiny, with feelings
more of derision than of anything else. I have been thus particular in
speaking of Dirk Peters, because, ferocious as he appeared, he
proved the main instrument in preserving the life of Augustus, and
because I shall have frequent occasion to mention him hereafter in the
course of my narrative- a narrative, let me here say, which, in its
latter portions, will be found to include incidents of a nature so
entirely out of the range of human experience, and for this reason
so far beyond the limits of human credulity, that I proceed in utter
hopelessness of obtaining credence for all that I shall tell, yet
confidently trusting in time and progressing science to verify some of
the most important and most improbable of my statements.
    After much indecision and two or three violent quarrels, it was
determined at last that all the prisoners (with the exception of
Augustus, whom Peters insisted in a jocular manner upon keeping as his
clerk) should be set adrift in one of the smallest whaleboats. The
mate went down into the cabin to see if Captain Barnard was still
living- for, it will be remembered, he was left below when the
mutineers came up. Presently the two made their appearance, the
captain pale as death, but somewhat recovered from the effects of
his wound. He spoke to the men in a voice hardly articulate, entreated
them not to set him adrift, but to return to their duty, and promising
to land them wherever they chose, and to take no steps for bringing
them to justice. He might as well have spoken to the winds. Two of the
ruffians seized him by the arms and hurled him over the brig's side
into the boat, which had been lowered while the mate went below. The
four men who were lying on the deck were then untied and ordered to
follow, which they did without attempting any resistance- Augustus
being still left in his painful position, although he struggled and
prayed only for the poor satisfaction of being permitted to bid his
father farewell. A handful of sea-biscuit and a jug of water were
now handed down; but neither mast, sail, oar, nor compass. The boat
was towed astern for a few minutes, during which the mutineers held
another consultation- it was then finally cut adrift. By this time
night had come on- there were neither moon nor stars visible- and a
short and ugly sea was running, although there was no great deal of
wind. The boat was instantly out of sight, and little hope could be
entertained for the unfortunate sufferers who were in it. This event
happened, however, in latitude 35 degrees 30' north, longitude 61
degrees 20' west, and consequently at no very great distance from the
Bermuda Islands. Augustus therefore endeavored to console himself with
the idea that the boat might either succeed in reaching the land, or
come sufficiently near to be fallen in with by vessels off the coast.
                                                   
    All sail was now put upon the brig, and she continued her original
course to the southwest- the mutineers being bent upon some piratical
expedition, in which, from all that could be understood, a ship was to
be intercepted on her way from the Cape Verd Islands to Porto Rico. No
attention was paid to Augustus, who was untied and suffered to go
about anywhere forward of the cabin companion-way. Dirk Peters treated
him with some degree of kindness, and on one occasion saved him from
the brutality of the cook. His situation was still one of the most
precarious, as the men were continually intoxicated, and there was
no relying upon their continued good-humor or carelessness in regard
to himself. His anxiety on my account be represented, however, as
the most distressing result of his condition; and, indeed, I had never
reason to doubt the sincerity of his friendship. More than once he had
resolved to acquaint the mutineers with the secret of my being on
board, but was restrained from so doing, partly through recollection
of the atrocities he had already beheld, and partly through a hope
of being able soon to bring me relief. For the latter purpose he was
constantly on the watch; but, in spite of the most constant vigilance,
three days elapsed after the boat was cut adrift before any chance
occurred. At length, on the night of the third day, there came on a
heavy blow from the eastward, and all hands were called up to take
in sail. During the confusion which ensued, he made his way below
unobserved, and into the stateroom. What was his grief and horror in
discovering that the latter had been rendered a place of deposit for a
variety of sea-stores and ship-furniture, and that several fathoms
of old chain-cable, which had been stowed away beneath the
companion-ladder, had been dragged thence to make room for a chest,
and were now lying immediately upon the trap! To remove it without
discovery was impossible, and he returned on deck as quickly as he
could. As be came up, the mate seized him by the throat, and demanding
what he had been doing in the cabin, was about flinging him over the
larboard bulwark, when his life was again preserved through the
interference of Dirk Peters. Augustus was now put in handcuffs (of
which there were several pairs on board), and his feet lashed
tightly together. He was then taken into the steerage, and thrown into
a lower berth next to the forecastle bulkheads, with the assurance
that he should never put his foot on deck again "until the brig was no
longer a brig." This was the expression of the cook, who threw him
into the berth- it is hardly possible to say what precise meaning
intended by the phrase. The whole affair, however, proved the ultimate
means of my relief, as will presently appear.


                          CHAPTER V
-
    For some minutes after the cook had left the forecastle,
Augustus abandoned himself to despair, never hoping to leave the berth
alive. He now came to the resolution of acquainting the first of the
men who should come down with my situation, thinking it better to
let me take my chance with the mutineers than perish of thirst in
the hold,- for it had been ten days since I was first imprisoned, and
my jug of water was not a plentiful supply even for four. As he was
thinking on this subject, the idea came all at once into his head that
it might be possible to communicate with me by the way of the main
hold. In any other circumstances, the difficulty and hazard of the
undertaking would have pre. vented him from attempting it; but now
he had, at all events, little prospect of life, and consequently
little to lose, he bent his whole mind, therefore, upon the task.
    His handcuffs were the first consideration. At first he saw no
method of removing them, and feared that he should thus be baffled
in the very outset; but upon a closer scrutiny he discovered that
the irons could be slipped off and on at pleasure, with very little
effort or inconvenience, merely by squeezing his hands through
them,- this species of manacle being altogether ineffectual in
confining young persons, in whom the smaller bones readily yield to
pressure. He now untied his feet, and, leaving the cord in such a
manner that it could easily be readjusted in the event of any person's
coming down, proceeded to examine the bulkhead where it joined the
berth. The partition here was of soft pine board, an inch thick, and
he saw that he should have little trouble in cutting his way
through. A voice was now heard at the forecastle companion-way, and he
had just time to put his right hand into its handcuff (the left had
not been removed) and to draw the rope in a slipknot around his ankle,
when Dirk Peters came below, followed by Tiger, who immediately leaped
into the berth and lay down. The dog had been brought on board by
Augustus, who knew my attachment to the animal, and thought it would
give me pleasure to have him with me during the voyage. He went up
to our house for him immediately after first taking me into the
hold, but did not think of mentioning the circumstance upon his
bringing the watch. Since the mutiny, Augustus had not seen him before
his appearance with Dirk Peters, and had given him up for lost,
supposing him to have been thrown overboard by some of the malignant
villains belonging to the mate's gang. It appeared afterward that he
had crawled into a hole beneath a whale-boat, from which, not having
room to turn round, he could not extricate himself. Peters at last let
him out, and, with a species of good feeling which my friend knew well
how to appreciate, had now brought him to him in the forecastle as a
companion, leaving at the same time some salt junk and potatoes,
with a can of water, he then went on deck, promising to come down with
something more to eat on the next day.
    When he had gone, Augustus freed both hands from the manacles
and unfastened his feet. He then turned down the head of the
mattress on which he had been lying, and with his penknife (for the
ruffians had not thought it worth while to search him) commenced
cutting vigorously across one of the partition planks, as closely as
possible to the floor of the berth. He chose to cut here, because,
if suddenly interrupted, he would be able to conceal what had been
done by letting the head of the mattress fall into its proper
position. For the remainder of the day, however, no disturbance
occurred, and by night he had completely divided the plank. It
should here be observed that none of the crew occupied the
forecastle as a sleeping-place, living altogether in the cabin since
the mutiny, drinking the wines and feasting on the sea-stores of
Captain Barnard, and giving no more heed than was absolutely necessary
to the navigation of the brig. These circumstances proved fortunate
both for myself and Augustus; for, had matters been otherwise, he
would have found it impossible to reach me. As it was, he proceeded
with confidence in his design. It was near daybreak, however, before
he completed the second division of the board (which was about a
foot above the first cut), thus making an aperture quite large
enough to admit his passage through with facility to the main orlop
deck. Having got here, he made his way with but little trouble to
the lower main hatch, although in so doing he had to scramble over
tiers of oil-casks piled nearly as high as the upper deck, there being
barely room enough left for his body. Upon reaching the hatch he found
that Tiger had followed him below, squeezing between two rows of the
casks. It was now too late, however, to attempt getting to me before
dawn, as the chief difficulty lay in passing through the close stowage
in the lower hold. He therefore resolved to return, and wait till
the next night. With this design, he proceeded to loosen the hatch, so
that he might have as little detention as possible when he should come
again. No sooner had he loosened it than Tiger sprang eagerly to the
small opening produced, snuffed for a moment, and then uttered a
long whine, scratching at the same time, as if anxious to remove the
covering with his paws. There could be no doubt, from his behaviour,
that he was aware of my being in the hold, and Augustus thought it
possible that he would be able to get to me if he put him down. He now
hit upon the expedient of sending the note, as it was especially
desirable that I should make no attempt at forcing my way out at least
under existing circumstances, and there could be no certainty of his
getting to me himself on the morrow as he intended. After-events
proved how fortunate it was that the idea occurred to him as it did;
for, had it not been for the receipt of the note, I should undoubtedly
have fallen upon some plan, however desperate, of alarming the crew,
and both our lives would most probably have been sacrificed in
consequence.
    Having concluded to write, the difficulty was now to procure the
mate. rials for so doing. An old toothpick was soon made into a pen;
and this by means of feeling altogether, for the between-decks was
as dark as pitch. Paper enough was obtained from the back of a
letter- a duplicate of the forged letter from Mr. Ross. This had been
the original draught; but the handwriting not being sufficiently
well imitated, Augustus had written another, thrusting the first, by
good fortune, into his coat-pocket, where it was now most
opportunely discovered. Ink alone was thus wanting, and a substitute
was immediately found for this by means of a slight incision with
the pen-knife on the back of a finger just above the nail- a copious
flow of blood ensuing, as usual, from wounds in that vicinity. The
note was now written, as well as it could be in the dark and under the
circumstances. It briefly explained that a mutiny had taken place;
that Captain Barnard was set adrift; and that I might expect immediate
relief as far as provisions were concerned, but must not venture
upon making any disturbance. It concluded with these words: "I have
scrawled this with blood- your life depends upon lying close."
    This slip of paper being tied upon the dog, he was now put down
the hatchway, and Augustus made the best of his way back to the
forecastle, where be found no reason to believe that any of the crew
had been in his absence. To conceal the hole in the partition, he
drove his knife in just above it, and hung up a pea-jacket which he
found in the berth. His handcuffs were then replaced, and also the
rope around his ankles.
                                                    
    These arrangements were scarcely completed when Dirk Peters came
below, very drunk, but in excellent humour, and bringing with him my
friend's allowance of provision for the day. This consisted of a dozen
large Irish potatoes roasted, and a pitcher of water. He sat for
some time on a chest by the berth, and talked freely about the mate
and the general concerns of the brig. His demeanour was exceedingly
capricious, and even grotesque. At one time Augustus was much
alarmed by odd conduct. At last, however, he went on deck, muttering a
promise to bring his prisoner a good dinner on the morrow. During
the day two of the crew (harpooners) came down, accompanied by the
cook, all three in nearly the last stage of intoxication. Like Peters,
they made no scruple of talking unreservedly about their plans. It
appeared that they were much divided among themselves as to their
ultimate course, agreeing in no point, except the attack on the ship
from the Cape Verd Islands, with which they were in hourly expectation
of meeting. As far as could be ascertained, the mutiny had not been
brought about altogether for the sake of booty; a private pique of the
chief mate's against Captain Barnard having been the main instigation.
There now seemed to be two principal factions among the crew- one
headed by the mate, the other by the cook. The former party were for
seizing the first suitable vessel which should present itself, and
equipping it at some of the West India Islands for a piratical cruise.
The latter division, however, which was the stronger, and included
Dirk Peters among its partisans, were bent upon pursuing the course
originally laid out for the brig into the South Pacific; there
either to take whale, or act otherwise, as circumstances should
suggest. The representations of Peters, who had frequently visited
these regions, had great weight, apparently, with the mutineers,
wavering, as they were, between half-engendered notions of profit
and pleasure. He dwelt on the world of novelty and amusement to be
found among the innumerable islands of the Pacific, on the perfect
security and freedom from all restraint to be enjoyed, but, more
particularly, on the deliciousness of the climate, on the abundant
means of good living, and on the voluptuous beauty of the women. As
yet, nothing had been absolutely determined upon; but the pictures
of the hybrid line-manager were taking strong hold upon the ardent
imaginations of the seamen, and there was every possibility that his
intentions would be finally carried into effect.
    The three men went away in about an hour, and no one else
entered the forecastle all day. Augustus lay quiet until nearly night.
He then freed himself from the rope and irons, and prepared for his
attempt. A bottle was found in one of the berths, and this he filled
with water from the pitcher left by Peters, storing his pockets at the
same time with cold potatoes. To his great joy he also came across a
lantern, with a small piece of tallow candle in it. This he could
light at any moment, as be had in his possession a box of phosphorus
matches. When it was quite dark, he got through the hole in the
bulkhead, having taken the precaution to arrange the bedclothes in the
berth so as to convey the idea of a person covered up. When through,
he hung up the pea-jacket on his knife, as before, to conceal the
aperture- this manoeuvre being easily effected, as he did not
readjust the piece of plank taken out until afterward. He was now on
the main orlop deck, and proceeded to make his way, as before, between
the upper deck and the oil-casks to the main hatchway. Having
reached this, he lit the piece of candle, and descended, groping
with extreme difficulty among the compact stowage of the hold. In a
few moments he became alarmed at the insufferable stench and the
closeness of the atmosphere. He could not think it possible that I had
survived my confinement for so long a period breathing so oppressive
an air. He called my name repeatedly, but I made him no reply, and his
apprehensions seemed thus to be confirmed. The brig was rolling
violently, and there was so much noise in consequence, that it was
useless to listen for any weak sound, such as those of my breathing or
snoring. He threw open the lantern, and held it as high as possible,
whenever an opportunity occurred, in order that, by observing the
light, I might, if alive, be aware that succor was approaching.
Still nothing was heard from me, and the supposition of my death began
to assume the character of certainty. He determined, nevertheless,
to force a passage, if possible, to the box, and at least ascertain
beyond a doubt the truth of his surmises. He pushed on for some time
in a most pitiable state of anxiety, until, at length, he found the
pathway utterly blocked up, and that there was no possibility of
making any farther way by the course in which he had set out. Overcome
now by his feelings, he threw himself among the lumber in despair, and
wept like a child. It was at this period that he heard the crash
occasioned by the bottle which I had thrown down. Fortunate, indeed,
was it that the incident occurred- for, upon this incident, trivial
as it appears, the thread of my destiny depended. Many years
elapsed, however, before I was aware of this fact. A natural shame and
regret for his weakness and indecision prevented Augustus from
confiding to me at once what a more intimate and unreserved
communion afterward induced him to reveal. Upon finding his further
progress in the hold impeded by obstacles which he could not overcome,
he had resolved to abandon his attempt at reaching me, and return at
once to the forecastle. Before condemning him entirely on this head,
the harassing circumstances which embarrassed him should be taken into
consideration. The night was fast wearing away, and his absence from
the forecastle might be discovered; and indeed would necessarily be
so, if be should fail to get back to the berth by daybreak. His candle
was expiring in the socket, and there would be the greatest difficulty
in retracing his way to the hatchway in the dark. It must be
allowed, too, that he had every good reason to believe me dead; in
which event no benefit could result to me from his reaching the box,
and a world of danger would be encountered to no purpose by himself.
He had repeatedly called, and I had made him no answer. I had been now
eleven days and nights with no more water than that contained in the
jug which he had left with me- a supply which it was not at all
probable I had boarded in the beginning of my confinement, as I had
every cause to expect a speedy release. The atmosphere of the hold,
too, must have appeared to him, coming from the comparatively open air
of the steerage, of a nature absolutely poisonous, and by far more
intolerable than it had seemed to me upon my first taking up my
quarters in the box- the hatchways at that time having been
constantly open for many months previous. Add to these
considerations that of the scene of bloodshed and terror so lately
witnessed by my friend; his confinement, privations, and narrow
escapes from death, together with the frail and equivocal tenure by
which he still existed- circumstances all so well calculated to
prostrate every energy of mind- and the reader will be easily
brought, as I have been, to regard his apparent falling off in
friendship and in faith with sentiments rather of sorrow than of
anger.
    The crash of the bottle was distinctly heard, yet Augustus was not
sure that it proceeded from the hold. The doubt, however, was
sufficient inducement to persevere. He clambered up nearly to the
orlop deck by means of the stowage, and then, watching for a lull in
the pitchings of the vessel, he called out to me in as loud a tone
as he could command, regardless, for the moment, of being overheard by
the crew. It will be remembered that on this occasion the voice
reached me, but I was so entirely overcome by violent agitation as
to be incapable of reply. Confident, now, that his worst apprehensions
were well founded, be descended, with a view of getting back to the
forecastle without loss of time. In his haste some small boxes were
thrown down, the noise occasioned by which I heard, as will be
recollected. He had made considerable progress on his return when
the fall of the knife again caused him to hesitate. He retraced his
steps immediately, and, clambering up the stowage a second time,
called out my name, loudly as before, having watched for a lull.
This time I found voice to answer. Overjoyed at discovering me to be
still alive, he now resolved to brave every difficulty and danger in
reaching me. Having extricated himself as quickly as possible from the
labyrinth of lumber by which he was hemmed in, he at length struck
into an opening which promised better, and finally, after a series
of struggles, arrived at the box in a state of utter exhaustion.


                          CHAPTER VI
-
    The leading particulars of this narration were all that Augustus
communicated to me while we remained near the box. It was not until
afterward that he entered fully into all the details. He was
apprehensive of being missed, and I was wild with impatience to
leave my detested place of confinement. We resolved to make our way at
once to the hole in the bulkhead, near which I was to remain for the
present, while he went through to reconnoiter. To leave Tiger in the
box was what neither of us could endure to think of, yet, how to act
otherwise was the question. He now seemed to be perfectly quiet, and
we could not even distinguish the sound of his breathing upon applying
our ears closely to the box. I was convinced that he was dead, and
determined to open the door. We found him lying at full length,
apparently in a deep stupor, yet still alive. No time was to be
lost, yet I could not bring myself to abandon an animal who had now
been twice instrumental in saving my life, without some attempt at
preserving him. We therefore dragged him along with us as well as we
could, although with the greatest difficulty and fatigue; Augustus,
during part of the time, being forced to clamber over the
impediments in our way with the huge dog in his arms- a feat to which
the feebleness of my frame rendered me totally inadequate. At length
we succeeded in reaching the hole, when Augustus got through, and
Tiger was pushed in afterward. All was found to be safe, and we did
not fail to return sincere thanks to God for our deliverance from
the imminent danger we had escaped. For the present, it was agreed
that I should remain near the opening, through which my companion
could readily supply me with a part of his daily provision, and
where I could have the advantages of breathing an atmosphere
comparatively pure.
    In explanation of some portions of this narrative, wherein I
have spoken of the stowage of the brig, and which may appear ambiguous
to some of my readers who may have seen a proper or regular stowage, I
must here state that the manner in which this most important duty
had been per formed on board the Grampus was a most shameful piece
of neglect on the part of Captain Barnard, who was by no means as
careful or as experienced a seaman as the hazardous nature of the
service on which he was employed would seem necessarily to demand. A
proper stowage cannot be accomplishe