The Survivors of the Chancellor: Chapter 35

Chapter 35

CHAPTER XXXV.

DECEMBER 21st, NIGHT.--The boatswain rushed to the halliards that
supported the sail, and instantly lowered the yard; and not a
moment too soon, for with the speed of an arrow the squall was
upon us, and if it had not been for the sailor's timely warning
we must all have been knocked down and probably precipitated into
the sea; as it was, our tent on the back of the raft was carried
away.

The raft itself, however, being so nearly level with the water,
had little peril to encounter from the actual wind; but from the
mighty waves now raised by the hurricane we had everything to
dread.  At first the waves had been crushed and flattened as it
were by the pressure of the air, but now, as though strengthened
by the reaction, they rose with the utmost fury.  The raft
followed the motions of the increasing swell, and was tossed up
and down, to and fro, and from side to side with the most violent
oscillations "Lash yourselves tight," cried the boatswain, as he
threw us some ropes; and in a few moments, with Curtis's
assistance, M. Letourneur, Andre, Falsten, and myself were
fastened so firmly to the raft, that nothing but its total
disruption could carry us away.  Miss Herbey was bound by a rope
passed round her waist to one of the uprights that had supported
our tent, and by the glare of the lightning I could see that her
countenance was as serene and composed as ever.

Then the storm began to rage indeed.  Flash followed flash, peal
followed peal in quick succession.  Our eyes were blinded, our
ears deafened, with the roar and glare.  The clouds above, the
ocean beneath, seemed verily to have taken fire, and several
times I saw forked lightnings dart upwards from the crest of the
waves, and mingle with those that radiated from the fiery vault
above.  A strong odour of sulphur pervaded the air, but though
thunderbolts fell thick around us, not one had touched our raft.

By two o'clock the storm had reached its height.  The hurricane
had increased, and the heavy waves, heated to a strange heat by
the general temperature, dashed over us until we were drenched to
the skin.  Curtis, Dowlas, the boatswain, and the sailors did
what they could to strengthen the raft with additional ropes.  M.
Letourneur placed himself in front of Andre to shelter him from
the waves.  Miss Herbey stood upright and motionless as a statue.

Soon dense masses of lurid clouds came rolling up, and a
crackling, like the rattle of musketry, resounded through the
air.  This was produced by a series of electrical concussions, in
which volleys of hailstones were discharged from the cloud-
batteries above.  In fact, as the storm-sheet came in contact
with a current of cold air, hail was formed with great rapidity,
and hailstones, large as nuts, came pelting down, making the
platform of the raft re-echo with a metallic ring.

For about half an hour the meteoric shower continued to descend,
and during that time the wind slightly abated in violence; but
after having shifted from quarter to quarter, it once more blew
with all its former fury.  The shrouds were broken, but happily
the mast, already bending almost double, was removed by the men
from its socket before it should be snapped short off.  One gust
caught away the tiller, which went adrift beyond all power of
recovery, and the same blast blew down several of the planks that
formed the low parapet on the larboard side, so that the waves
dashed in without hindrance through the breach.

The carpenter and his mates tried to repair the damage, but,
tossed from wave to wave, the raft was inclined to an angle of
more than forty-five degrees, making it impossible for them to
keep their footing, and rolling one over another, they were
thrown down by the violent shocks.  Why they were not altogether
carried away, why we were not all hurled into the sea, was to me
a mystery.  Even if the cords that bound us should retain their
hold, it seemed perfectly incredible that the raft itself should
not be overturned, so that we should be carried down and stifled
in the seething waters.

At last, towards three in the morning, when the hurricane seemed
to be raging more fiercely than ever, the raft, caught up on the
crest of an enormous wave, stood literally perpendicularly on its
edge.  For an instant, by the illumination of the lightning, we
beheld ourselves raised to an incomprehensible height above the
foaming breakers.  Cries of terror escaped our lips.  All must be
over now!  But no; another moment, and the raft had resumed its
horizontal position.  Safe, indeed, we were, but the tremendous
upheaval was not without its melancholy consequences.  The cords
that secured the cases of provisions had burst asunder.  One case
rolled overboard, and the side of one of the water-barrels was
staved in, so that the water which it contained was rapidly
escaping.  Two of the sailors rushed forward to rescue the case
of preserved meat; but one of them caught his foot between the
planks of the platform, and, unable to disengage it, the poor
fellow stood uttering-cries of distress.

I tried to go to his assistance, and had already untied the cord
that was round me; but I was too late.  Another heavy sea dashed
over us, and by the light of a dazzling flash I saw the unhappy
man, although he had managed without assistance to disengage his
foot, washed overboard before it was in my power to get near him.
His companion had also disappeared.

The same ponderous wave laid me prostrate on the platform, and as
my head came in collision with the corner of a spar, for a time I
lost all consciousness.

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