Note.— "The MS. Found in a Bottle" was originally published in 1831, and it was not until many years afterwards that I became acquainted with the maps of Mercator, in which the ocean is represented as rushing, by four mouths, into the (northern) Polar Gulf, to be absorbed into the bowels of the earth; the Pole itself being represented by a blank rock towering to a prodigious height.
"MOTHER CAREY'S CHICKENS"
J. Cobb
(from "The Book of The Ocean" Auburn N. Y. 1857.)
WE had been nearly five weeks at sea, when the captain found, by a nautical observation, that we were within one hundred and thirty miles of the north side of Jamaica. Favorable winds and smooth seas had hitherto been our constant attendants, and every thing on board conspired to render the confinement and monotony of a long voyage less annoying than they usually are. The cabin passengers consisted of Major and Mrs. L. , a new-married couple; Miss P. , sister to the latter; Mr. D. , a young Irishman, and myself. Our captain was a man of pleasing manners and liberal ideas, and formed an important acquisition to our party, by joining in all its recreations, and affording every facility to the indulgence of them. Much of our time was spent in conversation, and in walking on deck; and as the dews of evening obliged us to descend to the cabin, the captain would often entertain us with a relation of the various dangers which he and other persons had encountered at sea, or detail, with great gravity, some of the prevailing superstitions of sailors[8].
Although he possessed more general information than usually falls to the lot of seafaring persons, his mind was tinctured with some of their weaknesses and prejudices. The ladies of our party had a great taste for natural history, and wished to obtain specimens of all the most interesting kinds of sea-birds. They had several times requested the captain to shoot one of Mother Carey's chickens, that they might take a drawing from it; however, he always declined doing so, but never gave any satisfactory reason for his unwillingness to oblige them in this respect. At last, Mr. D. killed two of the birds, after having several times missed whole flocks of them. The captain seemed very much started when he saw the animals drop on the waves; —
"Will you have the goodness to let down the boat to pick up the game?" said Mr. D . "Yes, sir," replied he, "if you'll go off in her, and never return on board this vessel —
Here is a serious business — Be assured we have not seen the end of it." He then walked away without offering to give any orders about lowering the boat; and the seamen, who witnessed the transaction, looked as if they would not have obeyed him even had he done so.
Though we saw no land, every thing proved that we were in the West India seas. The sky had, within a few days, begun to assume a more dazzling aspect, and long ranges of conical shaped clouds floated along the horizon. Land birds, with beautiful plumage, often hovered round the vessel, and we sometimes fancied we could discover a vegetable fragrance in the breezes that swelled our sails.
One delightful clear morning, when we were in hourly expectation of making the land, some dolphin appeared astern. As the weather was very moderate, the captain proposed that they should fish for them; and a great many hooks were immediately baited for that purpose by the seamen. We caught large quantities of dolphin, and of another kind of fish, and put the whole into the hands of the steward, with orders that part should be dressed for dinner, and part distributed among the crew.
When the dinner-hour arrived, we all assembled in the cabin, in high spirits, and sat down to table. It being St. George's day, the captain who was an Englishman, had ordered that every thing should be provided and set forth in the most sumptuous style, and the steward had done full justice to his directions. We made the wines, which were exquisite and abundant, circulate rapidly, and every glass increased our gaiety and good humor, while the influence of our mirth rendered the ladies additionally amusing and animated. The captain remarked that, as there were two clarionet players among the crew, we ought to have a dance upon the quarterdeck at sunset. This proposal was received with much delight, particularly by the females of our party; and the captain had just told the servant in waiting to bid the musicians prepare themselves, when the mate entered the cabin, and said, that the man at the helm had dropped down almost senseless, and that another of the crew was so ill that he could scarcely speak.
The captain, on receiving this information, grew very pale, and seemed at a loss what to reply. At last, he started from his chair, and hurried up the gangway. Our mirth ceased in a moment, though none of us appeared to know why ; but the minds of all were evidently occupied by what they had just heard, and Major L. remarked, with faltering voice, that seamen were very liable to be taken suddenly ill in hot climates.
After a little time, we sent the servant to inquire what was going forward on deck. He returned immediately, and informed us that the two sailors were worse, and that a third had just been attacked in the same way. He had scarcely said these words, when Mrs. L. gave a shriek, and cried out that her sister had fainted away. This added to our confusion and alarm; and the Major and Mr. D. trembled so, that they were hardly able to convey the young lady to her state-room.
All conversation was now at an end, and no one uttered a word till Mrs. L. returned from her sister's apartment.
While we were inquiring how the latter was, the captain entered the cabin in a state of great agitation. "This is a dreadful business," said he. "The fact is — it is my duty to tell you — I fear we are all poisoned by the fish we have eaten — One of the crew died a few minutes since, and five others are dangerously ill."
"Poisoned! my God! Do you say so? Must we all die?" exclaimed Mrs. L. , dropping on her knees. "What is to be done?" cried the Major distractedly; "are there no means of counteracting it?" — "None that I know of," returned the captain. "All remedies are vain. — The poison is always fatal, except — but I begin to feel its effects — support me — can this be imagination?" He staggered to one side, and would have fallen upon the floor, had not I assisted him. Mrs. L. , notwithstanding his apparent insensibility, clung to his arm, crying out, in a tone of despair, "Is there no help — no pity — no one to save us?" and then fainted away on her husband's bosom, who, turning to me, said, with quivering lips, "You are a happy man; you have nothing to embitter your last moments — Oh, Providence! was I permitted to escape so many dangers, merely that I might suffer this misery?"
Mrs. L. soon regained her senses, and I endeavored to calm her agitation by remarking, that we might possibly escape the fatal influence of the poison, as some constitutions were not so easily affected by it as others. "Is there then a little hope?" she exclaimed. "Oh! God grant it may be so! How dreadful to die in the midst of the ocean, far from friends and home, and then to be thrown in the deep!" — "There is one thing," said the captain, faintly, "I was going to tell you, that — but this sensation — I mean a remedy." — "Speak on," cried the major, in breathless suspense. "It may have a chance of saving you," continued the former; "you must immediately — " He gave a deep sigh, and dropped his head upon his shoulder, apparently unable to utter a word more. "Oh, this is the worst of all!" cried Mrs. L. in agony; "he was on the point of telling us how to counteract the effects of the poison — Was it heavenly mercy that deprived him of the power of speech? Can it be called mercy?" — "Hush, hush! you rave," returned her husband. "We have only to be resigned now — Let us at least die together."