The Works of Lord Byron Volume VI Part 28

"_The Centaur laboured so much_, that I _could scarce hope she would swim_ till morning: ... our sufferings _for want of water_ were very great....

"_The weather again threatened_, and by noon _it blew a storm_. The ship laboured greatly; _the water appeared in the fore and after-hold_. I was informed by the carpenter also that _the leathers_ were nearly consumed, and the _chains of the pumps_, by constant exertion, and friction of the coils, were rendered almost useless....

"At this period the carpenter acquainted me that the well was stove in.... and the chain-pumps displaced and totally useless.... Seeing their efforts useless, many of them [the people] burst into tears, and wept like children....

"I perceived _the ship settling by the head._"--"Loss of the _Centaur_,"

_Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea_, 1812, iii. pp. 45-49.]

{92}[bd] _'T is ugly dying in the Gulf of Lyons_.--[MS.]

{93}[106] [Byron may have had in mind the story of the half-inaudible vow of a monster wax candle, to be offered to St. Christopher of Paris, which Erasmus tells in his _Naufragium_. The pa.s.sage is scored with a pencil-mark in his copy of the _Colloquies_.]

[107] [Stanza xliv. recalls Cardinal de Retz's description of the storm at sea in the Gulf of Lyons: "Everybody were at their prayers, or were confessing themselves.... The private captain of the galley caused, in the greatest height of the danger, _his embroidered coat and his red scarf_ to be brought to him, saying, that a true Spaniard ought to die bearing his King's Marks of distinction. He sat himself down in a great elbow chair, and with his foot struck a poor Neapolitan in the chops, who, not being able to stand upon the Coursey of the Galley, was crawling along, crying out aloud, _'Sennor Don Fernando, por l'amor de Dios, Confession.'_ The captain, when he struck him, said to him, _'Inimigo de Dios piedes Confession!'_ And as I was representing to him, that his inference was not right, he said that that old man gave offence to the whole galley. You can't imagine the horror of a great storm; you can as little imagine the Ridicule mixed with it. A Sicilian Observantine monk was preaching at the foot of the great mast, that St.

Francis had appeared to him, and had a.s.sured him that we should not perish. I should never have done, should I undertake to describe all the ridiculous frights that are seen on these occasions."--_Memoirs of Cardinal de Retz_, 1723, iii. 353.]

{94}[108] ["Some appeared perfectly resigned, _went to their hammocks,_ and desired their messmates _to lash them in_; others were securing themselves to gratings and small rafts; but the most predominant idea was that _of putting on their best_ and _cleanest clothes_. The boats ... were got over the side."--"Loss of the _Centaur_," _Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea_, 1812, iii. 49, 50.]

[be] _Men will prove hungry, even when next perdition_.--[MS.]

{95}[109] ["Eight bags of rice, _six casks of water_, and a _small quant.i.ty of salted beef and pork_, were put into the long-boat, as provisions for the whole."--"Wreck of the _Sidney_, 1806," _Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea_, 1812, iii. 434.]

[110] ["The _yawl was stove_ alongside and sunk."--"Loss of the _Centaur_," _ibid._, iii. 50.]

[111] ["_One oar_ was erected for a _main-mast_, and the other broke to the breadth of the _blankets for a yard_."--"Loss of the _Duke William_ Transport, 1758," _ibid_., ii. 387.]

[bf] _Which being withdrawn, discloses but the frown_.--[MS. erased.]

[bg]

_Of one who hates us, so the night was shown_ _And grimly darkled o'er their faces pale_, _And hopeless eyes, which o'er the deep alone_ _Gazed dim and desolate_----.--[MS.]

{96}[112] ["As _rafts_ had been mentioned by the carpenter, I thought it right _to make the attempt_.... It was impossible for any man to deceive himself with the hopes of being saved on a raft in such a sea."--"Loss of the _Centaur_," _Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea_, 1812, iii. 50.

51.]

[113] ["_Spars, booms, hencoops_, and _every thing_ buoyant, was therefore _cast loose_, that the men might have some chance to save themselves."--"Loss of the _Pandora_," ibid., iii. 197.]

[114] ["We had scarce quitted the ship, when she gave a heavy _lurch to port_, and _then went down, head foremost._"--"Loss of the _Lady Hobart_," ibid., iii. 378.]

[115] ["At this moment, one of the officers told the captain that she was going down.... and bidding him farewell, leapt overboard: ... the crew had just time to _leap overboard_, which they did, uttering _a most dreadful yell_."--"Loss of the _Pandora_," ibid., iii. 198.]

{98}[116] ["The boat, being fastened to the rigging, was no sooner cleared of the greatest part of the water, than a dog of mine came to me running along the gunwale. _I took him in_."--"Shipwreck of the Sloop _Betsy_, on the Coast of Dutch Guiana, August 5, 1756 (Philip Aubin, Commander)," _Remarkable Shipwrecks_, Hartford, 1813, p. 175.]

[117] [Qy. "My good Sir! when the sea runs very high this is the case, as _I know_, but if _my authority_ is not enough, see Bligh's account of his run to Timor, after being cut adrift by the mutineers headed by Christian."--[B.]

"Pray tell me who was the Lubber who put the query? surely not _you_, Hobhouse! We have both of us seen too much of the sea for that. You may rely on my using no nautical word not founded on authority, and no circ.u.mstances not grounded in reality."]

{99}[118] ["It blew a violent storm, and the sea ran very high, so that between the seas the sail was becalmed; and when _on the top of the sea, it was too much to have set_, but I was obliged to carry it, for we were now in very imminent danger and distress; _the sea curling over the stern_ of the boat, which obliged us _to bale with all our might_."--_A Narrative of the Mutiny of the Bounty_, by William Bligh, 1790, p. 23.]

[119] ["Before it was dark, _a blanket_ was discovered in the boat. This was immediately bent to one of the stretchers, and under it, _as a sail_, we scudded all night, in expectation of being _swallowed up by every wave._"--"Loss of the _Centaur_," _Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea_, 1812, iii. 52.]

[120] ["_The sun rose very fiery and red, a sure indication of a severe gale of wind_.--We could do nothing more than keep before the sea.--_I now served a tea-spoonful of rum to each person_, ... with a quarter of a bread-fruit, which was scarce eatable, for dinner."--_A Narrative, etc._, by W. Bligh, 1790, pp. 23, 24.]

{100}[121] ["[As] our lodgings were very miserable and confined, I had only in my power to remedy the latter defect, by putting ourselves _at watch and watch_; so that _one half_ always sat up, while the other half _lay down_ on the boat's bottom, with _nothing to cover us but the heavens."--A Narrative of the Mutiny of the Bounty_, by William Bligh, 1790, p. 28.]

[122] [For Byron's debts to Mrs. Ma.s.singberd, "Jew" King, etc., and for money raised on annuities, see _Letters_, 1898, ii. 174, note 2, and letter to Hanson, December 11, 1817, _Letters_, 1900, iv. 187, "The list of annuities sent by Mr. Kinnaird, including Jews and Sawbridge, amounts to twelve thousand eight hundred and some odd pounds."]

{101}[123] ["The third day we began to suffer exceedingly ... from hunger and thirst. I then seized my dog, and plunged the knife in his throat. We caught his blood in the hat, receiving in our hands and drinking what ran over; we afterwards drank in turn out of the hat, and felt ourselves refreshed."--"Shipwreck of the _Betsy_," _Remarkable Shipwrecks_, Hartford, 1813, p. 177.]

{102}[124] ["One day, when I was at home in my hut with my Indian dog, a party came to my door, and told me their necessities were such that they must eat the creature or starve. Though their plea was urgent, I could not help using some arguments to endeavour to dissuade them from killing him, as his faithful services and fondness deserved it at my hands; but, without weighing my arguments, they took him away by force and killed him.... Three weeks after that I was glad to make a meal of his paws and skin which, upon recollecting the spot where they had killed him, I found thrown aside and rotten."--_The Narrative of the Honourable John Byron, etc._, 1768, pp. 47, 48.]

{103}[125] [Being driven to distress for want of food, "they _soaked their shoes_, and two _hairy caps_ in water; and when sufficiently softened ate portions of the leather." But day after day having pa.s.sed, and the cravings of hunger pressing hard upon them, they fell upon the horrible and dreadful expedient of eating each other; and in order to prevent any contention about who should become the food of the others, "they cast lots to determine the sufferer."--"Sufferings of the Crew of the _Thomas_ [Twelve Men in an Open Boat, 1797]," _Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea_, 1812, iii 356.]

[126] ["_The lots were drawn_: 'the captain, summoning all his strength, wrote upon slips of paper the name of each man, folded them up, put them into a hat, and shook them together. The crew, meanwhile, preserved _an awful silence_; each eye was fixed and each mouth open, while terror was strongly impressed upon every countenance.' The unhappy person, with manly fort.i.tude, resigned himself to his miserable a.s.sociates."--"Famine in the American Ship _Peggy_, 1765," _Remarkable Shipwrecks_, Hartford, 1813, pp. 358, 359.]

[127] ["_He requested to be bled to death, the surgeon_ being with them, and having _his case of instruments_ in his pocket when he quitted the vessel."--"Sufferings of the Crew of the _Thomas," Shipwrecks, etc._, 1812, iii. 357.]

{104}[128] ["Yet scarce was the vein divided when the operator, applying his own parched lips, _drank the stream as it flowed_, and his comrades anxiously watched the last breath of the victim, that they might prey upon his flesh."--_Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea_, 1812, iii. 357.]

[129] ["Those who indulged their cannibal appet.i.te to excess speedily perished in _raging madness_," etc.--_Ibid_.]

{105}[130] ["Another expedient we had frequent recourse to, on finding it supplied our mouths with temporary moisture, was _chewing_ any substance we could find, generally a bit of canvas, or even _lead_."--"The Shipwreck of the _Juno_ on the Coast of Aracan," 1795, _Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea_, 1812, iii. 270.]

[131] ["At noon, some noddies came so near to us that one of them was caught by hand.... I divided it into eighteen portions. In the evening we saw several _b.o.o.bies_."--_A Narrative of the Mutiny of the Bounty_, by William Bligh, 1790, p. 41.]

[132]

["Quand' ebbe detto ci, con gli occhi torti Riprese il teschio misero coi denti, Che furo all' osso, come d'un can forti."

Dante, _Inferno_, canto x.x.xiii. lines 76-78.]

{106}[133] ["Whenever a heavy shower afforded us a few mouthfuls of fresh water, either by catching the drops as they fell or by squeezing them out of our clothes, it infused new life and vigour into us, and for a while we had almost forgot our misery."--_Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea_, 1812, iii. 270. Compare _The Island_, Canto I. stanza ix. lines 193, 194, _Poetical Works_, 1901, v. 595.]

[134] [Compare--

"With throats unslaked, with black lips baked."

_Ancient Mariner_, Part III. line 157.]

{107}[135] ["Mr. Wade's boy, a _stout healthy lad, died early_, and almost without a groan; while another, of the same age, but of a less promising appearance, held out much longer. Their fathers were both in the fore-top, when the boys were taken ill. [Wade], hearing of his son's illness, answered, with indifference, that _he could do nothing for him_, and left him to his fate."--"Narrative of the Shipwreck of the _Juno_, 1795," _Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea_, 1812, iii. 273.]

[136] ["_The other [Father]_ hurried down.... By that time only three or four planks of the quarter-deck remained, just over the quarter gallery.

To this spot the unhappy man led his son, making him fast to the rail, to prevent his being washed away."--_Ibid_.]

[137] ["Whenever the _boy was seized_ with a fit of retching, the father lifted him up and _wiped away the foam from his lips_; and if a _shower came_, he made him open his mouth to _receive the drops_, or gently _squeezed them into it from a rag."--Ibid_.]

{108}[138] ["In this affecting situation both remained four or five days, till _the boy expired_. The unfortunate parent, as if unwilling to believe the fact, raised the body, looked _wistfully_ at it, and when he could no _longer entertain any doubt_, watched it in silence _until_ it was carried _off by sea_; then wrapping himself in a piece of canvas, _sunk down_, and rose no more; though he must have lived two days longer, as we judged from the _quivering of his limbs_ when a wave broke over him."--"Narrative of the Shipwreck of the _Juno_, 1795,"

_Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea_, p. 274.]

{109}[139] [_"About this time a beautiful white bird, web-footed, and not unlike a dove in size and plumage_, hovered over the mast-head of the cutter, and, notwithstanding the pitching of the boat, frequently _attempted to perch on it_, and continued _fluttering there till dark_.