At The Commencement Of November, I Again Found Myself On The Salt
Water, On My Way To Spain.
I had returned to England shortly after
the events which have been narrated in the last chapter, for the
purpose of consulting with my friends, and for planning the opening
of a biblical campaign in Spain.
It was now determined by us to
print the New Testament, with as little delay as possible, at
Madrid; and I was to be entrusted with the somewhat arduous task of
its distribution. My stay in England was very short, for time was
precious, and I was eager to return to the field of action.
I embarked in the Thames, on board the M- steamer. We had a most
unpleasant passage to Falmouth; the ship was crowded with
passengers, most of them poor consumptive individuals, and other
invalids fleeing from the cold blasts of England's winter to the
sunny shores of Portugal and Madeira. In a more uncomfortable
vessel, especially steam ship, it has never been my fate to make a
voyage. The berths were small and insupportably close, and of
these wretched holes mine was amongst the worst, the rest having
been bespoken before I arrived on board; so that to avoid the
suffocation which seemed to threaten me should I enter it, I lay
upon the floor of one of the cabins throughout the voyage. We
remained at Falmouth twenty-four hours, taking in coal, and
repairing the engine, which had sustained considerable damage.
On Monday, the seventh, we again started, and made for the Bay of
Biscay. The sea was high and the wind strong and contrary;
nevertheless, on the morning of the fourth day, we were in sight of
the rocky coast to the north of Cape Finisterre. I must here
observe, that this was the first voyage that the captain who
commanded the vessel had ever made on board of her, and that he
knew little or nothing of the coast towards which we were bearing.
He was a person picked up in a hurry, the former captain having
resigned his command on the ground that the ship was not seaworthy,
and that the engines were frequently unserviceable. I was not
acquainted with these circumstances at the time, or perhaps I
should have felt more alarmed than I did, when I saw the vessel
approaching nearer and nearer the shore, till at last we were only
a few hundred yards distant. As it was, however, I felt very much
surprised; for having passed it twice before, both times in steam
vessels, and having seen with what care the captains endeavoured to
maintain a wide offing, I could not conceive the reason of our
being now so near this dangerous region. The wind was blowing hard
towards the shore, if that can be called a shore which consists of
steep abrupt precipices, on which the surf was breaking with the
noise of thunder, tossing up clouds of spray and foam to the height
of a cathedral. We coasted slowly along, rounding several tall
forelands, some of them piled up by the hand of nature in the most
fantastic shapes. About nightfall Cape Finisterre was not far
ahead, - a bluff, brown, granite mountain, whose frowning head may
be seen far away by those who traverse the ocean. The stream which
poured round its breast was terrific, and though our engines plied
with all their force, we made little or no way.
By about eight o'clock at night the wind had increased to a
hurricane, the thunder rolled frightfully, and the only light which
we had to guide us on our way was the red forked lightning, which
burst at times from the bosom of the big black clouds which lowered
over our heads. We were exerting ourselves to the utmost to
weather the cape, which we could descry by the lightning on our
lee, its brow being frequently brilliantly lighted up by the
flashes which quivered around it, when suddenly, with a great
crash, the engine broke, and the paddles, on which depended our
lives, ceased to play.
I will not attempt to depict the scene of horror and confusion
which ensued; it may be imagined, but never described. The
captain, to give him his due, displayed the utmost coolness and
intrepidity; he and the whole crew made the greatest exertions to
repair the engine, and when they found their labour in vain,
endeavoured, by hoisting the sails, and by practising all possible
manoeuvres, to preserve the ship from impending destruction; but
all was of no avail, we were hard on a lee shore, to which the
howling tempest was impelling us. About this time I was standing
near the helm, and I asked the steersman if there was any hope of
saving the vessel, or our lives. He replied, "Sir, it is a bad
affair, no boat could live for a minute in this sea, and in less
than an hour the ship will have her broadside on Finisterre, where
the strongest man-of-war ever built must go to shivers instantly -
none of us will see the morning." The captain, likewise, informed
the other passengers in the cabin to the same effect, telling them
to prepare themselves; and having done so, he ordered the door to
be fastened, and none to be permitted to come on deck. I, however,
kept my station, though almost drowned with water, immense waves
continually breaking over our windward side and flooding the ship.
The water casks broke from their lashings, and one of them struck
me down, and crushed the foot of the unfortunate man at the helm,
whose place was instantly taken by the captain. We were now close
to the rocks, when a horrid convulsion of the elements took place.
The lightning enveloped us as with a mantle, the thunders were
louder than the roar of a million cannon, the dregs of the ocean
seemed to be cast up, and in the midst of all this turmoil, the
wind, without the slightest intimation, VEERED RIGHT ABOUT, and
pushed us from the horrible coast faster than it had previously
driven us towards it.
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