The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 3 Read online

  CHAPTER 10

  SHORTLY afterward an incident occurred which I am induced to look uponas more intensely productive of emotion, as far more replete with theextremes first of delight and then of horror, than even any of thethousand chances which afterward befell me in nine long years, crowdedwith events of the most startling and, in many cases, of the mostunconceived and unconceivable character. We were lying on the deck nearthe companion-way, and debating the possibility of yet making our wayinto the storeroom, when, looking toward Augustus, who lay frontingmyself, I perceived that he had become all at once deadly pale, and thathis lips were quivering in the most singular and unaccountable manner.Greatly alarmed, I spoke to him, but he made me no reply, and I wasbeginning to think that he was suddenly taken ill, when I took noticeof his eyes, which were glaring apparently at some object behind me. Iturned my head, and shall never forget the ecstatic joy which thrilledthrough every particle of my frame, when I perceived a large brigbearing down upon us, and not more than a couple of miles off. I sprungto my feet as if a musket bullet had suddenly struck me to the heart;and, stretching out my arms in the direction of the vessel, stood inthis manner, motionless, and unable to articulate a syllable. Petersand Parker were equally affected, although in different ways. The formerdanced about the deck like a madman, uttering the most extravagantrhodomontades, intermingled with howls and imprecations, while thelatter burst into tears, and continued for many minutes weeping like achild.

  The vessel in sight was a large hermaphrodite brig, of a Dutch build,and painted black, with a tawdry gilt figure-head. She had evidentlyseen a good deal of rough weather, and, we supposed, had sufferedmuch in the gale which had proved so disastrous to ourselves; for herforetopmast was gone, and some of her starboard bulwarks. When we firstsaw her, she was, as I have already said, about two miles off and towindward, bearing down upon us. The breeze was very gentle, and whatastonished us chiefly was, that she had no other sails set than herforemast and mainsail, with a flying jib--of course she came down butslowly, and our impatience amounted nearly to phrensy. The awkwardmanner in which she steered, too, was remarked by all of us, evenexcited as we were. She yawed about so considerably, that once or twicewe thought it impossible she could see us, or imagined that, having seenus, and discovered no person on board, she was about to tack and makeoff in another direction. Upon each of these occasions we screamed andshouted at the top of our voices, when the stranger would appear tochange for a moment her intention, and again hold on toward us--thissingular conduct being repeated two or three times, so that at last wecould think of no other manner of accounting for it than by supposingthe helmsman to be in liquor.

  No person was seen upon her decks until she arrived within about aquarter of a mile of us. We then saw three seamen, whom by their dresswe took to be Hollanders. Two of these were lying on some old sails nearthe forecastle, and the third, who appeared to be looking at us withgreat curiosity, was leaning over the starboard bow near the bowsprit.This last was a stout and tall man, with a very dark skin. He seemedby his manner to be encouraging us to have patience, nodding to us ina cheerful although rather odd way, and smiling constantly, so as todisplay a set of the most brilliantly white teeth. As his vessel drewnearer, we saw a red flannel cap which he had on fall from his head intothe water; but of this he took little or no notice, continuing hisodd smiles and gesticulations. I relate these things and circumstancesminutely, and I relate them, it must be understood, precisely as they_appeared _to us.

  The brig came on slowly, and now more steadily than before, and--Icannot speak calmly of this event--our hearts leaped up wildly withinus, and we poured out our whole souls in shouts and thanksgiving toGod for the complete, unexpected, and glorious deliverance that was sopalpably at hand. Of a sudden, and all at once, there came wafted overthe ocean from the strange vessel (which was now close upon us) asmell, a stench, such as the whole world has no name for--no conceptionof--hellish--utterly suffocating--insufferable, inconceivable. I gaspedfor breath, and turning to my companions, perceived that they were palerthan marble. But we had now no time left for question or surmise--thebrig was within fifty feet of us, and it seemed to be her intention torun under our counter, that we might board her without putting out aboat. We rushed aft, when, suddenly, a wide yaw threw her off full fiveor six points from the course she had been running, and, as she passedunder our stern at the distance of about twenty feet, we had a full viewof her decks. Shall I ever forget the triple horror of that spectacle?Twenty-five or thirty human bodies, among whom were several females, layscattered about between the counter and the galley in the last and mostloathsome state of putrefaction. We plainly saw that not a soul lived inthat fated vessel! Yet we could not help shouting to the dead for help!Yes, long and loudly did we beg, in the agony of the moment, that thosesilent and disgusting images would stay for us, would not abandon us tobecome like them, would receive us among their goodly company! We wereraving with horror and despair--thoroughly mad through the anguish ofour grievous disappointment.

  As our first loud yell of terror broke forth, it was replied to bysomething, from near the bowsprit of the stranger, so closely resemblingthe scream of a human voice that the nicest ear might have been startledand deceived. At this instant another sudden yaw brought the region ofthe forecastle for a moment into view, and we beheld at once the originof the sound. We saw the tall stout figure still leaning on the bulwark,and still nodding his head to and fro, but his face was now turned fromus so that we could not behold it. His arms were extended over the rail,and the palms of his hands fell outward. His knees were lodged upona stout rope, tightly stretched, and reaching from the heel of thebowsprit to a cathead. On his back, from which a portion of the shirthad been torn, leaving it bare, there sat a huge sea-gull, busilygorging itself with the horrible flesh, its bill and talons deep buried,and its white plumage spattered all over with blood. As the brig movedfarther round so as to bring us close in view, the bird, with muchapparent difficulty, drew out its crimsoned head, and, after eyeing usfor a moment as if stupefied, arose lazily from the body upon which ithad been feasting, and, flying directly above our deck, hovered therea while with a portion of clotted and liver-like substance in its beak.The horrid morsel dropped at length with a sullen splash immediatelyat the feet of Parker. May God forgive me, but now, for the first time,there flashed through my mind a thought, a thought which I will notmention, and I felt myself making a step toward the ensanguined spot.I looked upward, and the eyes of Augustus met my own with a degree ofintense and eager meaning which immediately brought me to my senses. Isprang forward quickly, and, with a deep shudder, threw the frightfulthing into the sea.

  The body from which it had been taken, resting as it did upon the rope,had been easily swayed to and fro by the exertions of the carnivorousbird, and it was this motion which had at first impressed us with thebelief of its being alive. As the gull relieved it of its weight,it swung round and fell partially over, so that the face was fullydiscovered. Never, surely, was any object so terribly full of awe! Theeyes were gone, and the whole flesh around the mouth, leaving the teethutterly naked. This, then, was the smile which had cheered us on tohope! this the--but I forbear. The brig, as I have already told, passedunder our stern, and made its way slowly but steadily to leeward. Withher and with her terrible crew went all our gay visions of deliveranceand joy. Deliberately as she went by, we might possibly have found meansof boarding her, had not our sudden disappointment and the appallingnature of the discovery which accompanied it laid entirely prostrateevery active faculty of mind and body. We had seen and felt, butwe could neither think nor act, until, alas! too late. How much ourintellects had been weakened by this incident may be estimated by thefact, that when the vessel had proceeded so far that we could perceiveno more than the half of her hull, the proposition was seriouslyentertained of attempting to overtake her by swimming!

  I have, since this period, vainly endeavoured to obtain some clew to thehideous uncertainty which enveloped the fate
of the stranger. Her buildand general appearance, as I have before stated, led us to the beliefthat she was a Dutch trader, and the dresses of the crew also sustainedthis opinion. We might have easily seen the name upon her stern, and,indeed, taken other observations, which would have guided us in makingout her character; but the intense excitement of the moment blinded usto every thing of that nature. From the saffron-like hue of such of thecorpses as were not entirely decayed, we concluded that the whole of hercompany had perished by the yellow fever, or some other virulent diseaseof the same fearful kind. If such were the case (and I know not whatelse to imagine), death, to judge from the positions of the bodies, musthave come upon them in a manner awfully sudden and overwhelming, in away totally distinct from that which generally characterizes eventhe most deadly pestilences with which mankind are acquainted. It ispossible, indeed, that poison, accidentally introduced into some oftheir sea-stores, may have brought about the disaster, or that theeating of some unknown venomous species of fish, or other marine animal,or oceanic bird, might have induced it--but it is utterly useless toform conjectures where all is involved, and will, no doubt, remain forever involved, in the most appalling and unfathomable mystery.