The Boats of the Glen Carrig

The Boats of the Glen Carrig

William Hope Hodgson

Being an account of their Adventures in the Strange places of the Earth,

after the foundering of the good ship Glen Carrig through striking upon

a hidden rock in the unknown seas to the Southward. As told by John

Winterstraw, Gent., to his son James Winterstraw, in the year 1757, and

by him committed very properly and legibly to manuscript.

By William Hope Hodgson

Madre Mia

People may say thou art no longer young

And yet, to me, thy youth was yesterday,

A yesterday that seems

Still mingled with my dreams.

Ah! how the years have o'er thee flung

Their soft mantilla, grey.

And e'en to them thou art not over old;

How could'st thou be! Thy hair

Hast scarcely lost its deep old glorious dark:

Thy face is scarcely lined. No mark

Destroys its calm serenity. Like gold

Of evening light, when winds scarce stir,

The soul-light of thy face is pure as prayer.

The Land of Lonesomeness

Now we had been five days in the boats, and in all this time made no

discovering of land. Then upon the morning of the sixth day came there a

cry from the bo'sun, who had the command of the lifeboat, that there was

something which might be land afar upon our larboard bow; but it was very

low lying, and none could tell whether it was land or but a morning

cloud. Yet, because there was the beginning of hope within our hearts, we

pulled wearily towards it, and thus, in about an hour, discovered it to

be indeed the coast of some flat country.

Then, it might be a little after the hour of midday, we had come so close

to it that we could distinguish with ease what manner of land lay beyond

the shore, and thus we found it to be of an abominable flatness, desolate

beyond all that I could have imagined. Here and there it appeared to be

covered with clumps of queer vegetation; though whether they were small

trees or great bushes, I had no means of telling; but this I know, that

they were like unto nothing which ever I had set eyes upon before.

So much as this I gathered as we pulled slowly along the coast, seeking

an opening whereby we could pass inward to the land; but a weary time

passed or ere we came upon that which we sought. Yet, in the end, we

found it--a slimy-banked creek, which proved to be the estuary of a great

river, though we spoke of it always as a creek. Into this we entered, and

proceeded at no great pace upwards along its winding course; and as we

made forward, we scanned the low banks upon each side, perchance there

might be some spot where we could make to land; but we found none--the

banks being composed of a vile mud which gave us no encouragement to

venture rashly upon them.

Now, having taken the boat something over a mile up the great creek, we

came upon the first of that vegetation which I had chanced to notice from

the sea, and here, being within some score yards of it, we were the

better able to study it. Thus I found that it was indeed composed largely

of a sort of tree, very low and stunted, and having what might be

described as an unwholesome look about it. The branches of this tree, I

perceived to be the cause of my inability to recognize it from a bush,

until I had come close upon it; for they grew thin and smooth through all

their length, and hung towards the earth; being weighted thereto by a

single, large cabbage-like plant which seemed to sprout from the extreme

tip of each.

Presently, having passed beyond this clump of the vegetation, and the

banks of the river remaining very low, I stood me upon a thwart, by which

means I was enabled to scan the surrounding country. This I discovered,

so far as my sight could penetrate, to be pierced in all directions with

innumerable creeks and pools, some of these latter being very great of

extent; and, as I have before made mention, everywhere the country was

low set--as it might be a great plain of mud; so that it gave me a sense

of dreariness to look out upon it. It may be, all unconsciously, that my

spirit was put in awe by the extreme silence of all the country around;

for in all that waste I could see no living thing, neither bird nor

vegetable, save it be the stunted trees, which, indeed, grew in clumps

here and there over all the land, so much as I could see.

This silence, when I grew fully aware of it was the more uncanny; for my

The Ship in the Creek

Then, it was nigh on to evening, we came upon a creek opening into the

greater one through the bank upon our left. We had been like to pass

it--as, indeed, we had passed many throughout the day--but that the

bo'sun, whose boat had the lead, cried out that there was some craft

lying-up, a little beyond the first bend. And, indeed, so it seemed; for

one of the masts of her--all jagged, where it had carried away--stuck up

plain to our view.

Now, having grown sick with so much lonesomeness, and being in fear of

the approaching night, we gave out something near to a cheer, which,

however, the bo'sun silenced, having no knowledge of those who might

occupy the stranger. And so, in silence, the bo'sun turned his craft

toward the creek, whereat we followed, taking heed to keep quietness, and

working the oars warily. So, in a little, we came to the shoulder of the

bend, and had plain sight of the vessel some little way beyond us. From

the distance she had no appearance of being inhabited; so that after some

small hesitation, we pulled towards her, though still being at pains to

keep silence.

The strange vessel lay against that bank of the creek which was upon our

right, and over above her was a thick clump of the stunted trees. For the

rest, she appeared to be firmly imbedded in the heavy mud, and there was

a certain look of age about her which carried to me a doleful suggestion

that we should find naught aboard of her fit for an honest stomach.

We had come to a distance of maybe some ten fathoms from her starboard

bow--for she lay with her head down towards the mouth of the little

creek--when the bo'sun bade his men to back water, the which Josh did

regarding our own boat. Then, being ready to fly if we had been in

danger, the bo'sun hailed the stranger; but got no reply, save that some

echo of his shout seemed to come back at us. And so he sung out again to

her, chance there might be some below decks who had not caught his first

hail; but, for the second time, no answer came to us, save the low

echo--naught, but that the silent trees took on a little quivering, as

though his voice had shaken them.

At that, being confident now within our minds, we laid alongside, and, in

a minute had shinned up the oars and so gained her decks. Here, save that

the glass of the skylight of the main cabin had been broken, and some

portion of the framework shattered, there was no extraordinary litter; so

that it appeared to us as though she had been no great while abandoned.

So soon as the bo'sun had made his way up from the boat, he turned aft

toward the scuttle, the rest of us following. We found the leaf of the

scuttle pulled forward to within an inch of closing, and so much effort

did it require of us to push it back, that we had immediate evidence of a

considerable time since any had gone down that way.

However, it was no great while before we were below, and here we found

the main cabin to be empty, save for the bare furnishings. From it there

opened off two state-rooms at the forrard end, and the captain's cabin in

the after part, and in all of these we found matters of clothing and

sundries such as proved that the vessel had been deserted apparently in

haste. In further proof of this we found, in a drawer in the captain's

room, a considerable quantity of loose gold, the which it was not to be

supposed would have been left by the free-will of the owner.