Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy; between 1793 and 1849 Part 26

This officer, from the time the boat quitted the Avenger, had, notwithstanding his own personal sufferings, set a n.o.ble example to his comrades, by exerting every effort to sustain their drooping spirits. As he approached the sh.o.r.e, he exclaimed in a cheerful voice, 'This is something like Don Juan's s.h.i.+pwreck; I only hope we shall find a Haidee.' It must not be supposed that this was said out of bravado, or because he was not perfectly aware of the danger, but from the necessity of his duty, as their commanding officer, to infuse a new spirit into his exhausted crew, and to encourage them in the approaching struggle, which he well knew would he 'life or death.' On hearing the above words, poor Steel, the doctor, exclaimed, 'Rooke!

Rooke! there are other things to think of now.' The words were prophetic, for before many minutes had elapsed, he had ceased to exist. As they approached the sh.o.r.e, the sail was s.h.i.+fted from the port side to the starboard, and the sheet which had been held by Hills, the captain's steward, for ten hours, was fastened to the thwarts.

Mr. Rooke now again resigned his place as steerer to Larcom, the gunner, and a.s.sisted the others in baling out the boat, which had s.h.i.+pped a heavy sea on the quarter. The boat was steered within about one hundred and fifty yards of the beach, when the rollers caught her, first lifting her upright, and, as there was not water enough to float her whole length, she filled and capsized. Larcom, Lieutenant Rooke, Hills, the captain's steward, and the boy Morley, succeeded in gaining the beach, but the rest of their unfortunate comrades perished.

We should here mention that this was the second occasion on which the boy Morley narrowly escaped a watery grave.

When the Avenger was at Lisbon, the boy fell overboard, and would have perished, had it not been for Lieutenant Marryat, who, at the risk of his own life, sprung into the sea, and rescued the boy.

In a few minutes a Bedouin Arab, who had been watching the boat from some high ground, came toward them and conducted them to his hut, where he supplied them with some milk; and having lighted a fire, they were enabled to dry their clothes.

They remained with their hospitable entertainer during that day, and in the evening made a supper of maize-cake and sour milk. In the meantime, Mr. Rooke had made the Arab understand their situation, and their wish to get to Tunis; and after some trouble and promise of reward, he agreed to conduct them next morning to Biserta. The wearied men then threw themselves on the ground, where they pa.s.sed the night in company with dogs, cows, and goats, exposed to a violent wind and pouring rain.

Their subsequent proceedings are thus related by Lieutenant Rooke:--

'Wednesday, December 22nd.--At about 9 A.M. we started. Our road lay at first over a ridge of high hills, from which we saw nothing of the s.h.i.+p. We then crossed a sandy plain covered with the cactus, which severely wounded my feet. Afterwards pa.s.sed through some wooded ravines, and over an extensive marsh intersected with brooks. Towards the evening a horseman overtook us, who seeing the tired condition of the steward, his feet bleeding, and also suffering from a gash on his head, received whilst landing, carried him for about four miles, and when his road lay in a different direction, gave our guide his gun, and a piece of silver for us.

'The night being now dark, and all of us exhausted, we stopped at a Bedouin encampment, and asked for shelter, which after some time was granted. We had been walking about ten hours, and got over more than thirty miles of broken ground, having stopped once for a few minutes to pick the berries off some arbutus trees, being our only food since breakfast till late that night. We were wet, coverless, and all except myself shoeless.

'They gave us some maize-cake and milk. Seeing horses, I made them understand that they would be well paid if they let us have them to take us on to Biserta that night, when they made signs that the gates were locked, but that we should have them in the morning.

'Thursday, December 23rd.--At daylight we set out, but none of us could walk from swollen feet. After a ride of about fifteen miles, sometimes fording streams, and at others nearly up to our horses'

knees in mud, we arrived about ten A.M., at Biserta, and went to the house of our consular agent, an Italian, whom I immediately asked to prepare a boat for Tunis.

'The boats here were all too small to send to the wreck, and for which the wind was foul, with a fresh breeze. About 1 P.M. I started for Tunis, and arrived about 11 P.M. at the Goletta, where I landed, and sent to our Vice-Consul, who after some difficulty, owing to the port regulations, came to see me, and tried to pa.s.s me through the gates, but did not succeed. He promised to get two vessels ready, as unfortunately there were no steamers here at the time of our arrival.

In one I meant to have sent Mr. Larcom to Galita, and the other I intended to take to the wreck.

'Friday, December 24th.--At daylight, when the gates opened, I entered a carriage, and drove up to our consul-general, who ordered his agent to forward my views in every way, sending his son to hurry matters, whilst he communicated with the Bey, who ordered his squadron to sea.

'Whilst my boat was preparing (a Maltese speronara, with a crew of twelve men, selected for their knowledge of the coast,) I wrote two letters, one to Malta, and the other to Lisbon, stating the loss of the s.h.i.+p. Not having slept for four nights, and being thoroughly tired, would account for the vague statement I sent. I then breakfasted, and started about two P.M., having put on board such provisions as my hurried departure admitted of--tea, coffee, biscuits, and spirits, in case I should be fortunate enough to save anybody.

'Sat.u.r.day, December 25th, on my pa.s.sage, and at daylight on Sunday I was close to the spot where the Avenger was wrecked, although there was no broken or discoloured water to mark it. I cruised about till satisfied she had either broken up or sunk. Whilst here I saw two steamers (Lavoisier and Pasha) come up and cruise about Galita together: a merchant s.h.i.+p, and a gun-boat of the Bey's, with which I communicated, asking them to take me to Galita, which I wished to examine personally, as also to speak the steamers, my own crew, with whom I had great trouble, refusing to do so. They declined, when I asked them to take half my crew out, and lend me two men, to which request I also received a negative; so I returned to Tunis, arriving at about 1 A.M. on the morning of Tuesday, December 28th. Sir Thomas Reade took all to his house, and made it a home for us. I went on board the French steamer Lavoisier, to thank the captain for his a.s.sistance, and also waited on the governor for the same purpose.'

During the summer of the present year, the French government directed Captain Bouchet Riviere to make a survey of the Sorelle. In conclusion, therefore, we will give the following extract from that officer's letter, as it throws some light upon the circ.u.mstances which led to the loss of the Avenger:--

'The English frigate, Avenger, was lost on the two Sorelle; I saw between the two heads of rocks, which are aptly named 'Sisters,' her entire engine, two anchors, a sh.e.l.l gun, and some loose parts of the wreck. I recovered and took on board some pieces of iron from the bed of the engine, and a boarding cutla.s.s. The engine lies in a medium depth of ten metres (thirty-three feet).

'From information which has been given me by boats which saw the Avenger at sea the day of her loss, and adding the observations which I was enabled to make on the spot itself, I have every reason to believe that the event happened in the following manner:--

'The Avenger had, during the day, run along the coast of Algeria, but on the approach of night, being then north of Calle, and the weather having suddenly become very bad, with a great deal of wind from the north-west, the captain of the Avenger altered her course immediately to the northward, in order not to be caught in the middle of a dangerous channel. As soon as he thought that the s.h.i.+p had pa.s.sed the parallel of the Sorelle, he resumed his course to the eastward, satisfied that he would pa.s.s several miles to the northward of them.

He had not calculated on the currents which I have found at this dangerous spot, and which, with a north-west wind, set to the south-eastward with a rapidity of about 3 miles an hour. The track of the Avenger must have been materially altered by this cause. When she steered east, she was only in the lat.i.tude of the Sorelle, and was shortly afterwards, on a very dark night, shattered against these rocks. The first shock must have been dreadful. It took place on the point south-east of the north-west rock; when she cleared this rock, which is at this spot thirteen feet below the surface, leaving a large white furrow, she ran a hundred and sixty feet further, and struck on the south-east rock, which is only about four feet (one metre twenty centimetres) below the surface. She again marked the rock very distinctly. The sea, which is often very rough on this spot, has left nothing remaining but the ma.s.sive part of the engine, where it can be perceived between the two rocks, covered with thick weed.

'The dangerous Sorelle are formed by two tables of rocks, distant about a hundred and sixty feet from each other, and separated by a channel of a medium depth of thirty-nine to forty-nine feet (twelve to fifteen metres). These two tables of rocks extend from the north-west to the south-east. The north-west one has a diameter of 66 English feet (twenty metres), its highest point is to the eastward, 16 feet under water (five metres). The southeastern has a diameter of 197 feet (sixty metres), and its highest point is only at a depth of 4 feet.

This last point is situated, according to my observations, which agree with the position laid down in the chart of Admiral Berard, in 37 24'

of north lat.i.tude, and 6 16' 25" of east longitude from Paris, (or 8 36' 45" east of Greenwich); 17'.4 miles S. 65 15' W. of the east point of the Island of Galita, and 27'.3 miles N. 0 30' E. of Cape Roux.'

The fate of the Avenger leads to many sad reflections. The last of the wrecks described in this volume, one of yesterday, as it were, was more disastrous than many others. It is painful to contemplate the scene of dismay, when the s.h.i.+p struck, so unlike the presence of mind and calm deportment which we have recorded on similar occasions. But every allowance is to be made for the panic which followed a catastrophe so sudden and so overwhelming. The night was dark and tempestuous, the sea was running high, and all the elements were in a state of uproar. The paralyzing effect of this acc.u.mulation of horrors appears in the fact, that even after the small party of eight had so far secured their preservation as to be in possession of the cutter, and were within sight of the Island of Galita, two of them were found to be bereft of their reason.

The first crash, and the rapid plunge of the s.h.i.+p into the gulf that opened for her, and the loss of their captain among the first that perished, left the crew without that guidance and control to which seamen are in the habit of looking for support.

But though we have to regret the consternation that prevailed, there was no gross neglect or misconduct to throw a darker shade over the last hours of the Avenger. Captain Napier had been in consultation in his cabin with the master and second-master, examining the charts, and had also been on deck, giving directions to the officer of the watch, but a short time before the first alarm. When the panic was at its height, there was no act of dastardly selfishness for personal preservation, to the disregard of the safety of others. The officers are not accused of losing their composure. Lieut. Marryat is stated to have been 'calm and self-possessed;' and Mr. Rooke's strenuous efforts to lower the cutter, and his manly resolution to remain by the s.h.i.+p, as long as there was any chance of saving the lives of some of the survivors, attest his devotion to his duty to the very last.

The French officer, Captain Bouchier Riviere, who made a survey of the Sorelle after the wreck, and who deliberately considered all the circ.u.mstances, imputes no blame to the officers of the Avenger, but generously accounts for the misfortune by referring to the dangers of the spot, the force of the currents, the wildness of the weather, and the darkness of the night. 'The first shock,' says he, 'must have been dreadful.'

It would have been humiliating and afflicting, had this record of the s.h.i.+pwrecks of the Royal Navy, in which there is so much to admire, been closed with the details of a calamity in any way disgraceful to the service. Truth has required that the words '_dismay_' and '_panic_' should be used in the foregoing relation; but the terrible suddenness of the event, the instantaneous shock which broke up the Avenger in a moment, without the preparatory warning of 'breakers ahead,' or the previous notice of rocks or shoals in sight, will more than account for the helplessness to which the crew were reduced.

They had not time to brace up their shattered nerves. The n.o.ble bearing of the two lieutenants, Rooke and Marryat, cool as they were, and in full command of their energies in the midst of cras.h.i.+ng timbers and peris.h.i.+ng men, places the character of the British seaman in its t.i.tle light, and winds up our narrative with two more examples of naval heroism.

FOOTNOTES:

[19] The party in the boat consisted of Lieutenant Rooke; Mr. Betts, second master; Mr. Ayling, master's a.s.sistant; Mr. Larcom, gunner; Dr.

Steel, the surgeon; Wm. Hills, captain's steward: John Owen, stoker; and the boy Morley.