The Survivors of the Chancellor | Page 9

of the
Bermudas, it has been sup- posed that Shakspeare was depicting them
in the terrible scenes that are found in 'The Tempest.'"
I may mention that there was not another of our fellow- passengers who
took the trouble to come on deck and give a glance at this strange
cluster of islands. Miss Herbey, it is true, was making an attempt to join
us, but she had barely reached the poop, when Mrs. Kear's languid
voice was heard recalling her for some trifling service to her side.
CHAPTER VI
THE SARGASSO SEA
OCTOBER 8 to October 13. -- The wind is blowing hard from the
northeast, and the Chancellor, under low-reefed top-sail and fore-sail,
and laboring against a heavy sea, has been obliged to be brought ahull.
The joists and girders all creak again until one's teeth are set on edge. I
am the only passenger not remaining below; but I prefer being on deck
notwithstanding the driving rain, fine as dust, which penetrates to the
very skin. We have been driven along in this fashion for the best part of
two days; the "stiffish breeze" has gradually freshened into "a gale"; the
top- gallants have been lowered, and, as I write, the wind is blowing
with a velocity of fifty or sixty miles an hour. Al- though the
Chancellor has many good points, her drift is considerable, and we
have been carried far to the south; we can only guess at our precise
position, as the cloudy at- mosphere entirely precludes us from taking
the sun's alti- tude.
All along, throughout this period, my fellow-passengers are totally
ignorant of the extraordinary course that we are taking. England lies to
the northeast, yet we are sailing directly southeast, and Robert Curtis

owns that he is quite be- wildered; he cannot comprehend why the
captain, ever since this northeasterly gale has been blowing, should
persist in allowing the ship to drive to the south, instead of tacking to
the northwest until she gets into better quarters.
I was alone with Robert Curtis to-day upon the poop, and could not
help saying to him, "Curtis, is your captain mad?"
"Perhaps, sir, I might be allowed to ask what YOU think upon that
matter," was his cautious reply.
"Well, to say the truth," I answered. "I can hardly tell; but I confess
there is every now and then a wandering in his eye, and an odd look on
his face that I do not like. Have you ever sailed with him before?"
"No; this is our first voyage together. Again last night I spoke to him
about the route we were taking, but he only said he knew all about it,
and that it was all right."
"What do Lieutenant Walter and your boatswain think of it all?" I
inquired.
"Think; why, they think just the same as I do," replied the mate; "but if
the captain chooses to take the ship to China we should obey his
orders."
"But surely," I exclaimed, "there must be some limit to your obedience!
Suppose the man is actually mad, what then?"
"If he should be mad enough, Mr. Kazallon, to bring the vessel into any
real danger, I shall know what to do."
With this assurance I am forced to be content. Matters, however, have
taken a different turn to what I bargained for when I took my passage
on board the Chancellor. The weather has become worse and worse. As
I have already said, the ship under her large low-reefed top-sail and
fore stay-sail has been brought ahull, that is to say, she copes directly
with the wind, by presenting her broad bows to the sea; and so we go
on still drift, drift, continually to the south.
How southerly our course has been is very apparent; for upon the night
of the 11th we fairly entered upon that por- tion of the Atlantic which is
known as the Sargasso Sea. An extensive tract of water is this, inclosed
by the warm current of the Gulf Stream, and thickly covered with the
wrack, called by the Spaniards "sargasso," the abundance of which so
seriously impeded the progress of Columbus's vessel on his first
voyage.

Each morning at daybreak the Atlantic has presented an aspect so
remarkable, that at my solicitation, M. Letourneur and his son have
ventured upon deck to witness the unusual spectacle. The squally gusts
make the metal shrouds vibrate like harp-strings; and unless we were
on our guard to keep our clothes wrapped tightly to us, they would have
been torn off our backs in shreds. The scene presented to our eyes is
one of strangest interest. The sea, carpeted thickly with masses of
prolific fucus, is a vast unbroken plain of vegetation, through which the
vessel makes her way as a