a rapid change, and the water seemed more than usually
transparent. Although I could distinctly see the
bottom, yet, heaving the lead, I found the ship in
fifteen fathoms. The air now became intolerably
hot, and was loaded with spiral exhalations similar
to those arising from heat iron. As night came
on, every breath of wind died away, an more entire
calm it is impossible to conceive. The flame
of a candle burned upon the poop without the least
perceptible motion, and a long hair, held between
the finger and thumb, hung without the possibility
of detecting a vibration. However, as the captain
said he could perceive no indication of danger, and
as we were drifting in bodily to shore, he ordered
the sails to be furled, and the anchor let go.
No watch was set, and the crew, consisting principally
of Malays, stretched themselves deliberately upon deck.
I went below — not without a full presentiment
of evil. Indeed, every appearance warranted me
in apprehending a Simoom. I told the captain
my fears; but he paid no attention to what I said,
and left me without deigning to give a reply.
My uneasiness, however, prevented me from sleeping,
and about midnight I went upon deck. — As
I placed my foot upon the upper step of the companion-ladder,
I was startled by a loud, humming noise, like that
occasioned by the rapid revolution of a mill-wheel,
and before I could ascertain its meaning, I found
the ship quivering to its centre. In the next
instant, a wilderness of foam hurled us upon our beam-ends,
and, rushing over us fore and aft, swept the entire
decks from stem to stern.
The extreme fury of the blast proved, in a great measure,
the salvation of the ship. Although completely
water-logged, yet, as her masts had gone by the board,
she rose, after a minute, heavily from the sea, and,
staggering awhile beneath the immense pressure of the
tempest, finally righted.
By what miracle I escaped destruction, it is impossible
to say. Stunned by the shock of the water, I
found myself, upon recovery, jammed in between the
stern-post and rudder. With great difficulty I
gained my feet, and looking dizzily around, was, at
first, struck with the idea of our being among breakers;
so terrific, beyond the wildest imagination, was the
whirlpool of mountainous and foaming ocean within
which we were engulfed. After a while, I heard
the voice of an old Swede, who had shipped with us
at the moment of our leaving port. I hallooed
to him with all my strength, and presently he came
reeling aft. We soon discovered that we were the
sole survivors of the accident. All on deck,
with the exception of ourselves, had been swept overboard;
— the captain and mates must have perished
as they slept, for the cabins were deluged with water.
Without assistance, we could expect to do little for
the security of the ship, and our exertions were at
first paralyzed by the momentary expectation of going
down. Our cable had, of course, parted like pack-thread,