A Yacht Voyage Round England Part 11

"You have acted bravely, Harry," he said. "Now put on your clothes, and we shall soon have a communication with the vessel."

While I was dressing, the rope with the cradle was hauled up to the side of the vessel, and secured to a stanchion; when the crew, getting up a stouter warp, shouted out to us to haul it in, they having secured the cradle to it. We thus had a safe communication established with the wreck, and a stout line to draw the cradle backwards and forwards.

Greatly to our surprise, a female was the first person we drew ash.o.r.e; she burst into tears as we lifted her out of the cradle. Another and another followed; two had infants in their arms; and then came two little boys secured to the cradle. Three men followed, each with a child.

"Have all the women and children landed?" asked papa.

"All who have escaped," was the answer. "Several were washed away with the master and two mates.--"

Six more men now came, the sole survivors of the crew.

"Are all hands out of the ship?" asked papa.

"Every soul, sir," answered one of the men.

There was no time to make inquiries as to how the vessel was wrecked.

We heard that she was a homeward-bound barque from the United States, and that the pa.s.sengers on board were returning to see their friends.

We hurried over to the leeside of the rock, and at once embarked the two women with the infant, who seemed to be totally exhausted.

As soon as we got alongside, we lifted them on board, where papa and I remained, he sending the boat back with our two men. Truck had lighted the galley fire, and we soon had some hot broth for the poor creatures, who, having taken off their wet clothes, got into our beds. Papa then looked out all the blankets, and we made up as many beds as we could on the sofa and cabin deck.

By this time the boat had returned with the remaining women and children. She made no less than seven trips before all were brought off; and, as may be supposed, our little vessel was pretty well crowded.

Even the men were in a greatly exhausted state, and could not do much for themselves. Papa, however, seemed to think and act for everybody.

As soon as all were on board, we hoisted in the boat, and the wind being fair, having shaken out the reefs in the mainsail, we steered for Saint Ives. d.i.c.k, who was not fit for much when we first left the vessel, had now recovered, and a.s.sisted in getting off the wet clothes from our young pa.s.sengers, and in carrying round food.

The cabin presented a curious appearance, with the people stowed as thickly as herrings in a cask, all wrapped up in blankets and peacoats.

Fortunately, the water was smooth under the lee of the land; but the number of people on board brought the vessel much below her usual bearings.

"I am thankful we have not a long voyage to make, or we should soon be short of provisions," said papa, as we got out tin after tin of soup and meat.

The soft bread and fresh beef we had taken on board at Penzance were soon consumed by the women and children, who speedily rallied from their exhaustion.

The wind, however, fell very light, and there appeared to be a prospect of our not being able to get in that night.

On inquiry, papa found that the master and first mate of the wrecked ship had been tipsy for some days, and had quarrelled desperately with each other, and the second mate, interfering, had been nearly killed.

They had got completely out of their course, and none of them knew where they were. They had been bound for the Thames. The men said that when they saw the Longships they fancied that it was the Eddystone, and that when they struck they supposed that they were not far off Plymouth Breakwater, though they were wondering why they did not see the light.

"It is one of the many sad examples we have had of the effects of drinking," observed papa. "If I had to make a voyage, I should choose a temperance vessel. Though a master may appear sober enough in port under the eyes of his owners, unless he is a temperate man, one can never tell what he may do at sea."

On further inquiries we found that nearly half the crew were as tipsy as their officers, and that they, with the cabin pa.s.sengers who had remained aft, had been washed away. The people saved were steerage pa.s.sengers, with the exception of one little boy, whose parents and friends had perished. However, the satisfaction of having been the means of saving the lives of these poor people was to us very great. We were of course greatly interested in the boy, Nat Harvey, who was about six years old. Poor little fellow, he had been so frightened that he was not fully aware of what had occurred, and did not appear fully to realise his loss. He seemed to think that his papa and mamma, and his Aunt f.a.n.n.y and brother and sister, had gone off in a boat, and that he should see them again before long. He kept continually asking why they were not with us. When he heard that we were going to Saint Ives, he said that he hoped we should find them there. One of the women, with a kind heart, had taken him under her charge, and she sat on the cabin floor holding him in her arms with his head resting on her lap, every now and then speaking words of comfort, and endeavouring to get him to go to sleep. Papa inquired from the pa.s.sengers and crew if they knew anything of his family, or where they were going. No one could say what part of the States Mr and Mrs Harvey, with three children and a young lady, who was sister either to Mr or Mrs Harvey--these were their names--had come from.

"We can't turn the poor child adrift among strangers," observed papa.

"We must take him with us, and try to find out his friends."

"Oh pray do!" d.i.c.k and I exclaimed. "I'll look after him, and keep him out of mischief," added d.i.c.k.

At last papa agreed that the best thing he could do for the child was to keep him on board, unless some kind person of influence at Saint Ives would take charge of him, and endeavour to find out his friends.

When speaking of the way the wreck occurred, papa said he was not surprised, as he had known an instance of the master of a vessel who with his mate had got drunk, and who had managed to take his vessel to the south of Jersey, while all the time he fancied that he was among the Scilly Islands.

The wind had fallen, and we feared that a calm would come on and keep us all night, which would have been a great trial to our poor pa.s.sengers.

It was therefore with much satisfaction that, the wind holding fair, we came in sight of the peninsula on which part of Saint Ives is situated, the remainder being on the mainland on the south side of Saint Ives Bay.

The water was smooth, the sky bright, and as papa looked at the town he exclaimed--"Why, I could almost fancy myself among the Greek islands, so exactly does the place, in its form and picturesque beauty, remind me of a Greek village."

We stood on until, running under a battery which defends the town on the seaside, we anch.o.r.ed off a pier. The view was indeed highly picturesque. The town has an ancient appearance, the houses being built without any regard to order, many of them looking as if destined ere long to tumble down. Then our eyes wandered round the deep bay, on the surrounding broken ground, and the commanding cliffs, lighted up by the rays of the setting sun, which cast a dark shadow over the town itself on the western side.

Papa, hastening on sh.o.r.e, immediately applied to the authorities, who received the shipwrecked crew. The poor people expressed their grat.i.tude for the service we had rendered them; and papa, to a.s.sist them still further, healed a subscription which was raised in the town for their relief.

We were very thankful when we got them all on sh.o.r.e. We looked out on entering the bay for the Dolphin; but among the various vessels which had brought-up there, she was not to be seen; and on inquiring on sh.o.r.e we could gain no tidings of her. Papa now thought, or hoped, as he had at first supposed, that she had got safely into Saint Mary's.

Of course our cabins had not been improved by being occupied by so many pa.s.sengers. We therefore slept on sh.o.r.e, that our bedclothes might be washed and the cabin cleaned; and we had also to replenish our stock of provisions, which had been almost exhausted. Papa's first care was to arrange an outfit for little Nat, as he had only the garments he wore.

We soon had him rigged out in a regular sailor's suit, with a piece of c.r.a.pe round his arm, for we could find no black clothes ready. He frequently asked for his papa and mamma, as well as for his Aunt f.a.n.n.y.

"You must not expect to see them, my boy," answered papa; "but we will take care of you; and Harry here will give you your lessons, as I dare say you do not wish to be idle."

"Oh yes, I like lessons. Aunt f.a.n.n.y used to teach me," answered Nat; "but if she doesn't come back soon I should like to learn of Harry."

I gladly promised to be his tutor while he remained on board, and felt not a little proud of the position. I at times fancied that he had a suspicion of what had happened to his friends. The first time we were alone together he looked up into my face, while the tears sprang into his eyes, as he said, "Do you know, Harry, that I am afraid that the sea washed papa and mamma and Aunt f.a.n.n.y and dear Reuben and Mary away? I don't like to ask, because I am afraid of anybody telling me that I shall never see them again."

I had not the heart to say that his suspicions were correct, so I at once got out a book and said, "Come, Nat, you shall read to me, then I will read to you, and then we will talk about what we have read." I did the same whenever he again mentioned the subject.

Saint Ives itself was soon seen. There is a church standing so close to the sea that when there is a strong wind it is almost covered with spray. Most of the inhabitants are engaged in the pilchard and herring fishery.

We made an excursion along the coast to visit the ruins of the church of Perranzabuloe, supposed to be the most ancient in Britain. It had for centuries been covered up by the sand. We had left Nat under the charge of the landlady, and engaged a boat to carry us round to visit these interesting ruins. After a long pull we landed up a little creek, near which stand two rocks, known as "The Old Man and his Wife." Near at hand was a small fishing-village, in the neighbourhood of which we visited an ancient amphitheatre, still wonderfully perfect. We here obtained a guide to conduct us to the church. It must be understood that the whole sh.o.r.e is covered with fine sand, which is moved in a wonderful manner by northerly winds. It has gradually swept over the country, destroying vegetation and covering up buildings as effectually as has been done by ashes from burning mountains. The progress of the sand is sometimes gradual and almost imperceptible; at other times, in the course of a gale, whole villages have been overwhelmed, allowing the inhabitants scarcely time to escape. Such was the case with this ancient church and the surrounding habitations. So completely had the sand swept over it, that it had quite disappeared; and it was only, after the lapse of centuries, discovered about forty years ago, though a tradition existed in the neighbourhood that a church had once stood there. It was discovered by a Mr Mitch.e.l.l, who, undeterred by difficulties, succeeded in removing a ma.s.s of sand and exposing the building which had so long been covered up. The masonry is rude, but the walls are solid and complete. The interior was perfectly free from the modern accompaniments of Roman Catholic places of worship. There was no rood-loft, no confessional, no pictures of the Virgin and saints, nothing to indicate the unscriptural adoration of the wafer, or ma.s.ses for the dead. The most diligent search was made for beads and pyxes, censers and crucifixes; not a fragment of either could be discovered.

At the eastern end we saw a plain, unornamental chancel; in the nave are stone seats attached to the walls.

Near the church were discovered three skeletons, one of gigantic dimensions, the second of moderate size, and the third apparently that of a female; and the wind blowing off the sand, the ground around was found covered with human bones.

We were deeply interested with our visit to this ancient church, which tends to prove that our ancestors worshipped G.o.d in simplicity and truth, and that they knew nothing of the forms and ceremonies of Rome.

With regard to these sand-dunes we heard a curious circ.u.mstance, that even a narrow stream will stop the advance of the sand, which will acc.u.mulate on its banks, but has not the power to cross to the opposite side.

On returning on board, we found that our stock of provisions had arrived, that our blankets were dried, and the cabin cleaned out. We therefore immediately got under weigh, and stood out for the bay.

"What!" exclaimed d.i.c.k, "is this the Saint Ives I've heard of all my life?" and he repeated--

"As I was going to Saint Ives I met a man with seven wives; Seven wives had seven sacks, Seven sacks had seven cats, Seven cats had seven kits, Kits, cats, sacks, and wives, How many were going to Saint Ives?"

Papa laughed, and said he believed that the honour was also claimed by a little town in Huntingdonshire of the same name. "The two," he said, "may fight it out. It is not very important."

The wind now blew from the northward, and in a short time we opened the Longships, bearing due south-west. It had hitherto been hidden by the land, so that we knew perfectly well where we were. We then kept away until we came in sight of the two lights of the Seven Stones Lightship, until we brought them on our starboard beam, when we were within the radius of Saint Agnes Lighthouse just before daybreak.

We were hoping to get in or off Saint Mary's in the morning, when it fell calm; and there we lay, with our sails flapping idly, and rolling in the swell of the Atlantic, which came in from the southward. We could see through our gla.s.ses the Longships Lighthouse on one side and the light-vessel on the other, while the Scilly Islands rose blue and indistinct out of the ocean. One tide carried us to the northward; but in the next we regained our lost ground. It was, however, very tantalising, as we were anxious to ascertain what had become of the Dolphin.

Though papa always hoped for the best, he could not help acknowledging that he feared that she might have met with some accident. At length a breeze sprang up, but it was against us; still, that was better than a calm, as we could gain ground by tacking. d.i.c.k and Nat asked more than once why we were sailing away from the land when we wanted to get there.

At last we came in sight of a lofty tower on the top of a hill in Saint Martin's Island, with the long low outline of Saint Mary's beyond.