ABOARD A CHOLERA SHIP

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1508, 24 January 1901, Page 12

ABOARD A CHOLERA SHIP

Now came a most trying time. Not a breath of wind ruffled the surface of the water; the ship rolled gently on the oily ©well, with all her sails— even to- the royals—set, to catch the slightest stir. The deaths continued with alarming rapidity, and then, as Lampsey had said, there was actually nothing wherewith to weight the corpses. The steward, Ross, the Scotch sailor lad, and one or two of our own private native servants —under the stimulus of reward paid down on the nail at so much a head—their mouths and noses mufHed in carbolic - saturated towels, constituted the burial party. These men, penetrating 'tween decks, dragged the corpses up the hatchway, across the deck, and pushed them through the gangway doors just as they were, for there was little time and less inclination to sew them up in canvas, as had been done at the outset. Being unweighted, the bodies refused to sink; the sharks, moreover, did not appear to fancy them, and, being impelled by the same current, they kept by the ship's side, bobbing up and down, rolling ever, new on.their backs, now face up, in the most horribly gruesome fashion. We in the cuddy were fast becoming demoralised as well; then the wretched Punjabis crowded at the doors and appealed to us in pitieous strains, invoking Allah to grant us a wind, and imploring us to pray te God with the same oljject. What y could we do? We told them that we should hail the first steame? and get her to tow us into a wind which would not ©lily fill our sails, but blow the cholera out of the ship. In the meantime we exhorted them to be patient, and obey the doctor in all things. • Several steamers passed, going in the same direction", but too far off to communicate. At last, on the tenth day of the calm, we sighted a two-funnel steamer hull down in our wake. fehe -came on slowly, and as she drew abreast of us about a mile away we hoisted cur distress signal and anxiously awaited the result. In a few minutes she replied, whereupon we displayed a whole line of hunting; on reading which she altered her course and ranged up to within speaking distance. ."Steamer ahoy!" shouted! our skipper through his trumpet. "What steamer's that?" ... . . . > ■■■'■.-, "West Indian.." bellowed a voice from the other's bridge; "Jeddah to Bombay. What ship's that?" "Zenobia; Annesley Jiay to Bombay." "What's the matter?" "Cholera! Will you tow us through the Straits?" "Sorry we can't. Port engine broken down:; much as we can do to get along ourselves. Can. we help you otherwise ? Have you a doctor ?" ' "Yes." '" ' .. "Want medicines '?" . "No thanks; have lots. Gocd-byo." . "Good-bye." , In another minute she put tip her helm and resumed her course. ~ "There's no 'elp for »t Lvtto wait for the next," said,;" the skipper. • True, there was no I olp for it, so we put on,thebest faces possible, ami called o». our',fortitude Jirid -patioiic-3 to aid us.. VVC ..'.."... V '.'■-' "'• ■ ~ . presently the crew ago r; oaiie aft, ibis tanie; on 'their -own initiative, their derbieanditr more truculent than before. . Wljetfier the disappointment had irritated 'them, or wh.2t.h3r, owing to the existing dislocated st*te of affahs, they had managed to gain accs.«s t* the spirit room, I do hot .know, but their bearing now was mutinous. .; ; ".Captain Hutchison V called Lampsey • roughly from the main deck. ""Wen."?" fepiisd th> tkipper gnlng to the rail, ■whither' we all followed him. ..v'-W© aih't to stand this here airi*t '!* yer. Suppose you think as that ;vfihere "steamboat with 'arf a lung could % ;-tiOiwedi a twelve hundred ship —■ do ""Wh|it we thinks or what we doesn't thinks 'ain't neither here nor there, but I tellyer what, this_ ship's a coffin—she is, ahdf we ain't a-goin' .to. stop in her — we ain't! Jest yer come along to the fo'castle and take a whiff o' the) stink as comes through the cracks in the bulkheads, and then say if Christian sailor men can stand it any longer!" "'Ave patience, can't yer? Another steamboat'll be along presently, and we'll stop J er." • "We calkilate as we've drifted pretty considerable out o' the course, and ne'er a craft'll be a-comin' this way, so Ave've Tirade 'tip our minds what ter do, and have come to give yer all a chance in wid us;" • "Well, out with it! What "ave yer made up yer minds to do?" - "Take to the boats, and leave the tub and the niggers to theirselves." • ' "Yes ?" "They'll all be dead afore a week, so will us if we stop here. The ship is Martin to .be picked up by some darned salvager." "Well, all I have to say is," replied the captain, leaning over the rail and speaking impressively, "that the first as touches lift or tackle I'll put a bullet through *im as sure as God made little apples." "I guess more than one can play at that game!" exclaimed Lampsey, shaking 'his fist at the captain. "Come on, mates!" he added to his fellows, and the whole crowd made off to the forecastle.

A sterna was brewing, and we unanimously ranged ourselves on the side of law and order. I and the other passengers fished out revolvers, loaded them, and stuck them in our belts ; the skipper similarly armed l himself and the officers, and several of us, descending the poop ladder, c-ast loose the two small brass guns which the ship carried, and trundled them into the cuddy. Rob, Corsy, the steward, and. the lad Ross all came aft, while the crew gathered m clusters in the forecastle head, and appeared to be in deep consultation. Thus there ensued a lull. We were in the cuddy, talking over the state of affairs, Ross at the whell, and O’Keily, the chief mate, on deck locking out for steamers. The peor, plague-stricken Punjabis frequently came to the door and! asked if there were any signs c-f wind, for they had evidently become imbued with the truth of what we had tdld them earlier in the day—that a breeze in all probability would rid them of the scourge. The atmosphere was dense and hot, without the slightest breath of air, and! we sat anxious ends watchful, expecting at any moment to come to open loggerheads with the crew. “Below there!” suddenly called O’Kelly through the skylight. “’Uilo!” responded the skipper. “Sure, sir, it looks black and .threatening to the west; it’s a breeze of wind, I’m thinking. At the welcome words we all followed! the captain, and rushed on deck. The mate pointed to the west, and, true enough, the horizon in that, direction presented a dark-brewn aspect. There was something in the air too, —an oppressive stillness—that presaged an atmospheric" disturbance of some sort, and! we eagerly waited to hear the captain’s opinion. “A" sand squall, by thunder!” exclaimed he. “’Twill he down on us in no time! All hands t2ke in. sail!” re roared, in the direction of the forecastle. “Be smart, lad's; ’tis' one o’ them confounded tornadoes.”

“Stow yer slack as well as yer .sails yerselves!” retorted Lampsey, with his hand to his mouth.' “We ain’t a-gom’ to budge!” I don’t know what may have passed through the captain’s mind at this terrible juncture, for every sail was set, and a'squall fast bearing down on his ship—a full-rigged' ship, fitted with the more cumbersome and old-fashioned tackle of that day—carrying quite five hundred souls all told, allowing for deaths, and a valuable Government cargo. I know not what he contemplated, I say, but at that moment an unwonted commotion was observed among the hitherto apathetic Punjabis. They, too, had noticed the change in the sky’s aspect, and,. following our glancete, had heard the short altercation between poop and forecastle, had! seen; the threatening gestures of the disputants, and, without understanding what was being said, guessed its purport. Then scores’ of them suddenly casting off their lethargy, and ignorant of marine etiquette, swarmed up the poop ladders and asked what was the matter. Was a breeze coming at last? If so, why did not the sailors do what had been ordered ? They knew enough to tell them that the canvas ought to be taken in. Devine and I, who were ,tlie / only men on board conversant with Punjab Hindustani, hastily explained the situation, the advancing storm, the consequent danger to the ship, clothed as she was to the mastheads, and the refusal of the crew to do their duty.' The Mahommedaii mule-drivers : at once realised the situation. “We wiH make them!” they shouted’, their blood now thoroughly up. “God has sent' the wind to drive away the cholera, and shall we go to another death because your men are untrue to their salt ? a No; we will aid you. You are our protectors! After Allah we look to you, and will stand by you! On, then, in the name of God! We will force these sens of'defiled mothers to do their duty!” Before we could stay them, some two hundred Punjabis rushed along the inaiii deck and mounted the forecastle. The crew were ready to receive them. There ensued a fierce fight; knives were freely used against the now infuriated natives, who were, however, entirely unarmed, their cutlasses being in chests below decks. Shrieks and groans assailed our ears, and we were about charging forward, revolvers in hand, to quell the disturbance, when, numbers having gained) the day, we saw the sailors driven along with kicks and cuffs by the victorious Punjabis! We saw them ascend the ratlines followed by the swarms' of muledrivers, who threatened by gestures to throw them into the sea if they did not immediately furl sail. The seamen not dlaring to disobey, worked in fear of their lives, and in a few minutes- tne Zenobia floated! under bare poles. With a low rumble the squall came on. Sand was in the air ; it invaded our eyes,: nostrils, and mouths; the hurricane struck the ship with terrific force, and swept on. leaving us well-nigh on cur beamends, but safe! The gust proved to be a precursor of a stiff but favourable breeze, sail was speedily made on the ship, and in. due course we bowled along to our destination, thankful for our deliverance from a combination of perils that once seemed to threaten us with annihilation.

Only two deaths occurred after that terrible day. Next morning the crew expressed contrition for their behaviour ; the Punjabis, now full of renewed spirits, came aft in a. body and interceded for their late antagonists; cuts and bruises were forgotten, and both

parties shook hands in token of amity and absence of ill-will. The skipper, nothing loth, accorded his forgiveness, ordered extra grog to. be served, and so, without further adventure or misadventure, we arrived safely in Bombay Harbour on the twenty-eighth day after weighing anchor off the Abyssinian coast. —' ‘Chambers’s Journal.”