We Were Struck Sometimes By The Centres And Sometimes By
The Sides Of These Squalls, And We Never Knew Just Where Or How We
Were To Be Hit.
The squall that rose up, covering half the heavens,
and swept down upon us, as likely as not split
Into two squalls
which passed us harmlessly on either side while the tiny, innocent
looking squall that appeared to carry no more than a hogshead of
water and a pound of wind, would abruptly assume cyclopean
proportions, deluging us with rain and overwhelming us with wind.
Then there were treacherous squalls that went boldly astern and
sneaked back upon us from a mile to leeward. Again, two squalls
would tear along, one on each side of us, and we would get a fillip
from each of them. Now a gale certainly grows tiresome after a few
hours, but squalls never. The thousandth squall in one's experience
is as interesting as the first one, and perhaps a bit more so. It
is the tyro who has no apprehension of them. The man of a thousand
squalls respects a squall. He knows what they are.
It was in the doldrums that our most exciting event occurred. On
November 20, we discovered that through an accident we had lost over
one-half of the supply of fresh water that remained to us. Since we
were at that time forty-three days out from Hilo, our supply of
fresh water was not large. To lose over half of it was a
catastrophe. On close allowance, the remnant of water we possessed
would last twenty days. But we were in the doldrums; there was no
telling where the southeast trades were, nor where we would pick
them up.
The handcuffs were promptly put upon the pump, and once a day the
water was portioned out. Each of us received a quart for personal
use, and eight quarts were given to the cook. Enters now the
psychology of the situation. No sooner had the discovery of the
water shortage been made than I, for one, was afflicted with a
burning thirst. It seemed to me that I had never been so thirsty in
my life. My little quart of water I could easily have drunk in one
draught, and to refrain from doing so required a severe exertion of
will. Nor was I alone in this. All of us talked water, thought
water, and dreamed water when we slept. We examined the charts for
possible islands to which to run in extremity, but there were no
such islands. The Marquesas were the nearest, and they were the
other side of the Line, and of the doldrums, too, which made it even
worse. We were in 3 degrees north latitude, while the Marquesas
were 9 degrees south latitude - a difference of over a thousand
miles. Furthermore, the Marquesas lay some fourteen degrees to the
west of our longitude. A pretty pickle for a handful of creatures
sweltering on the ocean in the heat of tropic calms.
We rigged lines on either side between the main and mizzen riggings.
To these we laced the big deck awning, hoisting it up aft with a
sailing pennant so that any rain it might collect would run forward
where it could be caught. Here and there squalls passed across the
circle of the sea. All day we watched them, now to port or
starboard, and again ahead or astern. But never one came near
enough to wet us. In the afternoon a big one bore down upon us. It
spread out across the ocean as it approached, and we could see it
emptying countless thousands of gallons into the salt sea. Extra
attention was paid to the awning and then we waited. Warren,
Martin, and Hermann made a vivid picture. Grouped together, holding
on to the rigging, swaying to the roll, they were gazing intently at
the squall. Strain, anxiety, and yearning were in every posture of
their bodies. Beside them was the dry and empty awning. But they
seemed to grow limp and to droop as the squall broke in half, one
part passing on ahead, the other drawing astern and going to
leeward.
But that night came rain. Martin, whose psychological thirst had
compelled him to drink his quart of water early, got his mouth down
to the lip of the awning and drank the deepest draught I ever have
seen drunk. The precious water came down in bucketfuls and tubfuls,
and in two hours we caught and stored away in the tanks one hundred
and twenty gallons. Strange to say, in all the rest of our voyage
to the Marquesas not another drop of rain fell on board. If that
squall had missed us, the handcuffs would have remained on the pump,
and we would have busied ourselves with utilizing our surplus
gasolene for distillation purposes.
Then there was the fishing. One did not have to go in search of it,
for it was there at the rail. A three-inch steel hook, on the end
of a stout line, with a piece of white rag for bait, was all that
was necessary to catch bonitas weighing from ten to twenty-five
pounds. Bonitas feed on flying-fish, wherefore they are
unaccustomed to nibbling at the hook. They strike as gamely as the
gamest fish in the sea, and their first run is something that no man
who has ever caught them will forget. Also, bonitas are the veriest
cannibals. The instant one is hooked he is attacked by his fellows.
Often and often we hauled them on board with fresh, clean-bitten
holes in them the size of teacups.
One school of bonitas, numbering many thousands, stayed with us day
and night for more than three weeks. Aided by the Snark, it was
great hunting; for they cut a swath of destruction through the ocean
half a mile wide and fifteen hundred miles in length. They ranged
along abreast of the Snark on either side, pouncing upon the flying-
fish her forefoot scared up.
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