The Voyage Alone in the Yawl "Rob Roy" Part 16

"He rode upon a cherub and did fly; yea, He did fly upon the wings of the wind.

"He made darkness His secret place; the pavilion round about Him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

"The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave His voice: hailstones and coals of fire.

"Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered: at Thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils.

"He sent down from above, He took me, He drew me up out of many waters."

The sensations were prolonged enough to be a.n.a.lyzed and reasoned upon, and it was a difficult question which cannot yet be answered-"Would I willingly have all this over again?" Lying on a sofa in a comfortable room, I would not go out to this scene; but in a boat, if all this began again, I certainly would not go ash.o.r.e to avoid its discomforts and lose its grandeurs.

The profound uncertainty as to what was to come next moment being one of the most exciting features of the occasion; perhaps the whole scene would be tamed sadly by a mere repet.i.tion; but one sentiment was dominant over all at the time, that I had lived a long year in a night.

Soon after four o'clock, there suddenly stretched out what seemed to be a reef of breakers for miles under the sullen rain-clouds, and, with instant attention, the yawl was put about to avoid them.

This extraordinary optical illusion was the dawn opening on the coast, then actually ten miles away, and in a very few minutes, as the cloud lifted, the land seemed to rush off to its proper distance, until at last the curtain split in two, and I found to my intense delight that in the night we had crossed the bay!

Now came joyous sounds from our moist crew-"Hurrah for the day! Pipe all hands to breakfast-slack out the mainsheet, here's the west wind;" and up rose the sun, well washed by the torrents of rain.

An elaborate _friture_ of my last three eggs was soon cooked to perfection, and I held the frying-pan over the side, while it drained through a fork; when, alas! there came a heavy lurch of the boat, and all the well-deserved breakfast was pitched into the sea, with a mild but deep-meant "Oh, how provoking!" from the hapless, hungry, lonely sailor.

Shame that, preserved through such dangers, we should murmur at an omelet the less! But this tyrant stomach exacts more, and thanks less, than all the body besides.

Hastings was soon pa.s.sed, and we skirted the cliffs towards Rye. I had written to the harbourmaster {267} here to send out a boat if he saw my craft (enclosing him a sketch of it), as the entrance to that harbour seemed to be very difficult by the chart.

But the breeze was fresh and invigorating, and though sadly needing sleep after two nights without any, the idea of going to bed while such a fine breeze blew seemed preposterous, and Rye was soon left in the rear.

From this place a very low flat tongue of land stretches along in the strangest way, until at its end is the lighthouse of Dungeness. Martello towers are on the sh.o.r.e, but for miles outside of this, the nearest beach is all one can see; and therefore the tall lighthouse, viewed even through the gla.s.s, looked only like a small grey speck on the waves, without any land whatever between. About midday the yawl neared this very remarkable beacon, which is painted red and white; strong, lofty, and firm set on a cape of pure gravel, with here and there a house, not visible at all until you come close.

A heavy sea was here, and it was more and more as we came quite near the cape; until one fine bold wave, following our little craft, actually cast the dingey (then towing astern) right upon the deck of the yawl, and dealt me a severe stroke on the back, by which I was cast forward, and then an awkward thump on the head by which I was stunned. {268} Recovering again just in time, I saw another wave send the dingey once more on board with a crash, and splinters flew up, so we thought she was smashed, but it was the jigger-boom that was broken by the collision.

The very next billow broke the dingey's painter of strong canoe rope, but much worn. Away floated the tiny c.o.c.klesh.e.l.l, and it was very soon hid in the trough of the sea.

"Down with the helm!"-"Haul the sheet!"-"Slack the jib!" and we gave chase in great glee, and catching her soon with the boat-hook, we quickly pulled the dingey on board, and lashed her securely down to the deck, an arrangement that answered well.

One of the great delights of real sailing is the large variety of incident that comes. Mere sitting in a yacht, while others have all the work in a breeze, and all the responsibility, is no pleasure to me; nay, I confess frankly, it is a "bore."

Once round Dungeness, we could see Folkestone and Dover cliffs; and after a few minutes of rest, to put all in readiness for a fast run before the wind, we steered straight for Dover pier.

The breeze freshened so much that the mizen had to be lowered, and as the wind was now favourable, the only thing to beware of was falling asleep; in which case the boom might jibe (swing-over from one side to the other) with great force, and if it hit me on the head, then I should certainly have either a very short nap or a _very long one_. {270}

Dover pier was, we must say, welcome to see. Often at other times we had intentionally lengthened the day's journey, in arriving near a destination sooner than it was absolutely necessary to stop the pleasure of sailing, but now we ran into Dover as fast as the flying wind would speed us.

The friends who greeted the Rob Roy here knew her well from a long way off, as she danced lightly over the sea; for hence had we started months ago, and here was, in one sense, the end of my voyage, as Ulysses said when he came alone from his raft.

"And now two nights, and now two days were past, Since wide I wandered on the wat'ry waste; Heaved on the surge with intermitting breath, And hourly panting in the arms of death."

_Pope's_ 'Odyssey,' Book V.

"Then first my eyes, by watchful toils opprest, Complied to take the balmy gifts of rest; Then first my hands did from the rudder part, So much the love of home possessed my heart."

_Ibid._, Book X.

I went up to the Lord Warden hotel, meaning to write home, dine, and go to bed after fifty-three hours without sleep; but while waiting for the servant to bring hot water, and with my jacket off, I tumbled on the bed for a moment-then it was three o'clock, P.M.

Soon (as it seemed) awake again, I saw it was still light, and with bright sun s.h.i.+ning; also my watch had run down, the water-jug was cold, and it was a puzzle to make out how I felt so wonderfully fresh.

Why, it was _next day_, and I had soundly slept on the top of the bed in my soaking wet clothes for seventeen hours!

CHAPTER XX.

Di Vernon-The Gull light-Naked warriors-Monkey-Medway-Eyes right!-Old things-Bargees-Street boys-Young skipper-Scene by night-Barge lingo-Holy Haven-Sailing solicitor-Margate.

Perhaps a sleep in wet clothes, such as we have awakened from, was more likely to do harm than any of the blasts and breezes at sea; but nothing followed, and indeed during the whole of my six voyages alone there was neither a headache nor any other ache, not even a cold, and the floating medicine-chest yawl was never opened.

Dover had been the port of departure and again of arrival, for my first canoe voyage, and the memory of that delightful tour was recalled now by seeing a canoe paddling in the harbour. On closer scrutiny it was perceived that a young lady was its crew. Now there are several fair Members {272} of our Royal Canoe Club, and we are quite prepared to ballot for some more, but the captain had not yet been fortunate enough to see one of these canoeistes on the water, so at once the dingey gave chase.

[Picture: Paddle and Parasol]

This was the lady's very first essay in a canoe, nevertheless she succeeded admirably in her effort, for it is far easier to learn a little of paddling than a little of rowing, as every neophyte can tell you.

Henceforth I shall always know that a Rob Roy can well be matched by a _Di Vernon_, and how much the most gentle movement afloat can be refined by feminine grace. A few hints from the older paddler in the dingey were rapidly taken up by the apt scholar in the canoe, while her friends rowed beside us in a boat, and at length with that English pluck which so many English girls possess, she boldly steered into a steamer's swell, and then to the open sea, where, before a soft zephyr murmuring its undertone whispers, we hoisted her parasol for a sail, and the visitors on Dover pier had a novel treat in the duet between dingey and canoe.

Fairly rested next day, the yawl sailed by Ramsgate Cliffs until calm and tide made us anchor in a hot baking sun.

The 'Gull Lights.h.i.+p' was not far off, so we sculled to her in the dingey.

This was the very first time I had myself actually seen the Rob Roy on the water with all sails set, nor dare I conceal the pride that was felt in looking at her graceful contour, her smart and sensible rig, and her snowy sails so beautifully set, as the sunbeams lit them up; viewed from a little distance, the yawl was only like a toy boat resting on a sheet of gla.s.s.

The men of the 'Gull' with its red sides and red lantern masts, received me with surprise, but with most grateful thanks for books to read, and then they pressed their visitor to stop for dinner!

But he could not well feast in comfort while the Rob Roy was left alone and all sails up, and especially as one of the numerous vessels then drifting past (we had counted more than forty in sight at one time) seemed to be borne dangerously near to the little craft.

On this lights.h.i.+p there are seven men, and four more on land to relieve them regularly. {275} In the course of a lively conversation with their visitor, they said, "How lonely you must be!" Surely when the men exiled to a lights.h.i.+p p.r.o.nounce the Rob Roy "lonely" there must be something in the charge; but my obtuse perception has not yet enabled me to find it out.

Meantime the tide had turned strongly, and my row back from the lights.h.i.+p in the hot sun was one of the hardest pulls I ever had, so that the lesson will not be forgotten "stick by your s.h.i.+p in a tideway."

In pa.s.sing along the fine gravel beach near Walmer, a curious sound was heard through the quiet haze; it was distant and continuous, but like the gabble of 10,000 ducks, and, though staring hard through the binocular gla.s.s, one could only make out a confused jumble of lightish-coloured forms all in a row afar off. Soon, however, a bugle sounded the "Retire," and then it was plain that a whole regiment of soldiers was in the water bathing; their merry shouts and play had resounded along the level sea, and at the bugle order they all marched ash.o.r.e in naked array, forming altogether one of the oddest of martial sights.

The vessels now constantly crossing my course were of all sizes, and in the quiet air we could hear their various sounds that seemed to tell in each of a self-contained world, where every item of life was summarized on board. Men chatting, women laughing, dogs barking, c.o.c.ks crowing, and pigs squealing, a floating farmyard, such is life on the sea. For the Rob Roy I had tried to get a monkey as a funny friend, if not as a tractable mids.h.i.+pman, but an end was put to the idea by the solemn warning of an experienced comrade, who stated, that after the first two days, a monkey pursues steadily one line of conduct afloat-he throws everything into the sea.

Rounding the Foreland in a lovely afternoon, we observed how the corn-fields had become ripe and yellow, that were only growing and green when our yawl pa.s.sed the cape before. Here is the "Long Nose" buoy again, and all the familiar landmarks, and once more Margate, where the people very warmly welcomed the little Rob Roy, which they had sped on its way outward bound with a parting cheer.

The next dawn from its grey curtain rising, saw her sailing from Margate up the Thames, but so light was the baffling wind, that we could not reach Sheerness that night, and so had to anchor in five fathoms not far from Cheney Rock, with dense fog closing round, and the Nore gong ringing, while my bright little cabin glowed with comfort, and the newspapers were studied in peace. Thence sailing into Sheerness and up to Queenborough, we anch.o.r.ed close by the Coastguard hulk, in safe and quiet waters. Sunday was a delicious rest, and the dingey took me aboard the hulk, where a number of sailors and their large families with them, gave a very remarkable appearance to the vessel 'tween decks. The children were delighted to receive books and pictures, and until late in the dark the infantile menagerie squalled with all its might.

An expedition of river discovery up the Medway seemed to be worth trying now, for no bonds of time or engagements fettered that glorious freedom of action which is one of the prize features of sailing thus. The yawl went bowling along on this new errand amid huge old hulks, tall-masted frigates, black warrior-like ironclads, gay yachts, odoriferous fis.h.i.+ng-smacks, and a fleet of steady, brown-sailed, business-like barges. This is a pleasant and a cheerful river for some days'

excursion, with a mild excitement in sailing over banks and shoals, and yet not striking once, although we had no chart.