"The Next Time We See
The North Star," Said One, "We Shall Be Standing To The Northward,
The Other Side
Of the Horn." This was true enough, and no doubt it
would be a welcome sight; for sailors say that
In coming home from
round Cape Horn, and the Cape of Good Hope, the north star is the
first land you make.
These trades were the same that, in the passage out in the Pilgrim,
lasted nearly all the way from Juan Fernandez to the line; blowing
steadily on our starboard quarter for three weeks, without our
starting a brace, or even brailing down the skysails. Though we
had now the same wind, and were in the same latitude with the
Pilgrim on her passage out, yet we were nearly twelve hundred miles
to the westward of her course; for the captain, depending upon the
strong south-west winds which prevail in high southern latitudes
during the winter months, took the full advantage of the trades,
and stood well to the westward, so far that we passed within about
two hundred miles of Ducie's Island.
It was this weather and sailing that brought to my mind a little
incident that occurred on board the Pilgrim, while we were in the
same latitude. We were going along at a great rate, dead before
the wind, with studding-sails out on both sides, alow and aloft,
on a dark night, just after midnight, and everything was as still
as the grave, except the washing of the water by the vessel's side;
for, being before the wind, with a smooth sea, the little brig,
covered with canvas, was doing great business, with very little
noise. The other watch was below, and all our watch, except myself
and the man at the wheel, were asleep under the lee of the boat.
The second mate, who came out before the mast, and was always very
thick with me, had been holding a yarn with me, and just gone aft
to his place on the quarter-deck, and I had resumed my usual
walk to and from the windlass-end, when, suddenly, we heard a
loud scream coming from ahead, apparently directly from under
the bows. The darkness, and complete stillness of the night,
and the solitude of the ocean, gave to the sound a dreadful and
almost supernatural effect. I stood perfectly still, and my heart
beat quick.
The sound woke up the rest of the watch, who stood looking at one
another. "What, in the name of God, is that?" said the second mate,
coming slowly forward. The first thought I had was, that it might
be a boat, with the crew of some wrecked vessel, or perhaps the
boat of some whaleship, out over night, and we had run them down
in the darkness. Another scream, but less loud than the first.
This started us, and we ran forward, and looked over the bows,
and over the sides, to leeward, but nothing was to be seen or
heard.
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