The Corvette (12 page)

‘Five oars and a sixth for steering. We prefer the oar for steering as it doth not retard the speed of a boat like a rudder. By it the boat may be turned even when stopped. By sculling, a stealthy approach may be made to a fish caught sleeping or resting upon the surface of the ocean. Of course a whale-boat may, by the same method, be propelled through a narrow ice-lead where, by the lateral extension of her oars, she would otherwise be unable to go.'

Drinkwater nodded. ‘The oars,' Sawyer tapped an ash loom, ‘are secured by rope grommets to a single thole pin and may thus be trailed without loss, clearing the boat of obstruction and allowing a man two hands to attend to any other task.'

‘Who commands the boat?'

‘In our fishery the harpooner, although in America they are sufficiently democratic to prohibit the officer from pulling an oar and he combines the duties of mate and steersman. My boats are commanded by the chief and second mates and the speksioneer, here. They pick their boat-steerers and line managers and all are men with whom they have sailed for many seasons.

‘Remember, Captain, the harpooner is the man who places the harpoon, who must cut the fish adrift if danger threatens and who, having exhausted the fish, finally comes up with him and attacks with the lance.' Sawyers pointed to half a dozen slim bladed, long shafted weapons like boarding pikes. ‘The lance is plied until the vitals of the fish are found and he is deprived of life.'

‘It is not against your sensibilities to deprive the fish of life, Captain?'

Sawyers looked surprised. ‘Genesis, Captain, Chapter One, verses twenty-six to twenty-eight, “God gave man dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” And in the Eighth Psalm “the Almighty madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet . . . the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O, Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth . . .”.'

‘Amen.' The speksioneer added fervently and then Sawyers resumed his discourse as though nothing had interrupted it.

‘It is ordained thus.' He looked at Drinkwater, ‘But I do not hold with the practice used by Jaybez Harvey and others, including thy friend Ellerby, of discharging the harpoon from a gun. It is a method lately introduced and not much in favour among the more
feeling
masters. Now there,' he said indicating a massive vertical post set near the bow of the whale-boat, ‘is the bollard, round which a turn of whale-line may be taken to retard his progress and the more quickly tire him. This is very necessary in the case of a young whale or one which swims under the ice. It is, as you see, deeply scored by the friction of the line and may require water, supplied by this piggin, to prevent it setting fire to the timber.'

‘Good heavens, and the line is able to take this strain?'

‘Aye. The line is of the very best hemp and the finest manufacture. I have seen a boat pulled under when a fish dives and towed along underwater until the fish surfaced exhausted.'

‘And you recovered the boat?'

‘Yes. It does not always occur and here is an axe with which the harpooner can, at any time, cut free. But once a boat is fast, the harpooner is reluctant to let it go and he may, as we say, give the fish the boat, to induce fatigue or drown it.'

‘Drown it? I do not understand.'

‘The fish breathes air, respiring on the surface. He is able, however, to sustain energetic swimming for many minutes before nature compels him to return to the surface for more air. Should he dive too deep, as is often the case with young fish, he may gasp many fathoms down and thus drown.'

‘I see,' said Drinkwater wondering. ‘It must be of the first importance to ensure that the line is properly coiled and does not foul.' The man in the boat grinned and nodded.

‘Aye, Cap'n, for if it fouls and the line-tender or harpooner don't cut it through quick enough, it may capsize the boat and take a man down in its 'tanglement.'

‘Thou hast seen that, Elijah, hast thou not?'

‘Aye, Cap'n. Once in the Davis Strait and once off Hackluyt's Head.'

Drinkwater shook his head in admiration. ‘I do not see a harpoon, Captain Sawyers, and am curious to do so.'

‘Ah.' Sawyers regained the deck and led Drinkwater forward. Three men sat upon a hatch, each carefully filing the head of a harpoon. A forge was set up on deck, with bellows and anvil at which a fourth man was fashioning another.

‘The harpoon is made of malleable iron allowing it to twist but not to break. Here, Matthew, pray show Captain Drinkwater what I mean.'

A huge man rose from the hatch and grasped the harpoon he was sharpening, holding it at each end of the shank. Drinkwater noted the narrow shank which terminated at one end in the barbed head and at the other in a hollow socket intended to take the wooden stock used by the harpooner to throw the deadly weapon.

The man Matthew walked to the rail and hooked the shank round a belaying pin. With a grunt he bent and then twisted it several times.

‘The devil!'

‘Old horseshoe nails, Captain, that is what the finest harpoons are made from.'

‘And the barbs on the harpoon's head are sufficient to secure it in the flesh of the fish enough to tow a boat?' Drinkwater asked uncertainly.

‘Aye, Friend. The mouth, or head as thou calls't it, has withered barbs as you see. The barbs become entangled in the immensely strong ligamentous fibres of the blubber and the very action of the fish in swimming away increases this. The reverse barb, or stop-wither, collects a number of the reticulated sinews which are very numerous near the skin and once well fast, it is unusual to draw it.'

They passed on along the deck. Sawyers pointed out the various instruments used to flens a whale. They were razor sharp and gleaming with oil as each was inspected.

‘They are cleaner than my surgeon's catling.'

The two men peered into the hold where, Sawyers explained, the ‘whale-bone' and casks of blubber would be stowed, ‘If God willed it that they had a good season.'

Drinkwater followed Sawyers into his quarters. It was a plain cabin, well lit by stern lights through which Drinkwater could see
Melusine
.

‘I see you have struck your main topgallant mast, Friend.'

‘I took your advice.' Drinkwater took the offered glass of fine port, ‘To the mortification of several officers, I am amputating the upper twelve feet.'

‘You will not regret it.'

‘Thank you for your hospitality, Captain Sawyers. I have to admit to being impressed.'

Sawyers smiled with evident pleasure. ‘The ship is but a piece of
man's
ingenuity, Captain Drinkwater. You have yet to see the wonders of the Almighty in the Arctic Seas.'

‘Oh Greenland is a cold country,

And seldom is seen the sun;

The keen frost and snow continually blow,

And the daylight never is done,

Brave boys!

And the daylight never is done.'

Sea-song,
The Man O' War's Man

‘You are entirely to blame, Mr Singleton,' shouted Drinkwater above the howl of the wind in the rigging. He stood at the windward rail, holding a backstay and staring down at the missionary who leaned into the gale on the canting deck.

‘For what, sir?' Singleton clasped the borrowed tarpaulins tightly, aware that they were billowing dangerously. In an instant they were as wet with rain and spray as the captain's.

‘For the gale!'

‘The gale?
I
am to blame?' Singleton made a grab for a rope as
Melusine
gave a lee lurch. ‘But that is preposterous . . .'

Drinkwater smiled, Singleton's colour was a singular, pallid green. ‘Breathe deeply through the nose, you'll find it revivifying.'

Singleton did as he was bid and a little shudder passed through him. ‘That is a ridiculous superstition, Captain Drinkwater. Surely you do not encourage superstition?'

‘It don't matter what
I
think, Mr Singleton. The people believe a parson brings bad weather and you cannot deny it's blowing.'

‘It is blowing exceedingly hard, sir.' Singleton looked to windward as a wave top reared above the horizon.
Melusine
dropped into the trough and it seemed to Singleton that the wave crest, rolling over in an avalanche of foam, would descend onto
Melusine
's exposed side. Singleton's mouth opened as
Melusine
felt the sudden lift of the advancing sea imparted to her quarter. The horizon disappeared and Singleton's stomach seemed far beneath the soles of his feet. He gasped with surprise as the breaking crest crashed with a judder against
Melusine
's spirketting and shot a column of spray into the air. As
Melusine
felt the full force of the wind on the wave-crest she leaned to leeward and dropped into the next trough. Singleton's stomach seemed to pass his eyes as the wind whipped the spray horizontally over the rail with a spiteful patter. Beside him an apparently heartless Captain Drinkwater raised his speaking trumpet.

‘Mr Rispin, you must clear that raffle away properly before starting the fid or you will lose gear.' He turned to the missionary, ‘It is an article of faith to a seaman, Mr Singleton,' he grinned, ‘but it is, I agree, both superstitious and preposterous. As for the wind I must disagree, if only to prepare you for what may yet come. It blows hard, but not
exceedingly
hard. This is what we term a whole gale. It is quite distinct from a storm. The wind-note in the rigging will rise another octave in a storm.'

‘Mr Bourne sent below to the cockpit to turn the young gentlemen out to strike the topgallant masts,' Singleton said, the colour creeping back into his cheeks and checking the corpse-like blue of his jaw. ‘I had supposed the term to apply to some form of capitulation to the elements.'

Drinkwater smiled and shook his head. ‘Not at all. The ship will ride easier from a reduction in her top hamper. It will lower her centre of gravity and reduce windage, thus rendering her both more comfortable and more manageable.' He pointed to leeward. ‘Besides we do not want to outrun our charges.' Singleton stared into the murk to starboard and caught the pale glimpse of sails above the harder solidity of wallowing hulls that first showed a dull gleam of copper and then seemed to disappear altogether.

‘And this,' Singleton said, feeling better and aware that any distraction, even that of watching the sailors, was better than the eternal preoccupation with his guts, ‘is what Rispin is presently engaged upon?'

‘Aye, Mr Singleton, that was my intention,' the speaking trumpet came up again. ‘Have a care there, sir! Watch the roll of the ship, God damn it!' The trumpet was lowered. ‘Saving your cloth, Mr Singleton.'

‘I begin to see a certain necessity for strong expressions, sir.'

Drinkwater grinned again. ‘A harsh environment engenders a vocabulary to match, Mr Singleton. This ain't a drawing-room at Tunbridge nor, for that matter, rooms at . . . at, er at whatever college you were at.'

‘Jesus.'

‘I beg your pardon?'

‘Jesus College, Oxford University.' There was a second's pause and both men laughed.

‘Ah. I'm afraid I graduated from the cockpit of a man o' war.'

‘Not an
alma mater
to be recommended, sir, if my own experiences . . .'

‘A cesspit, sir,' said Drinkwater with sudden asperity, ‘but I do
assure you that England has been saved by its products more than by all the professors in history . . .'

‘I did not mean to . . .'

‘No matter, no matter.' Drinkwater instantly regretted his intemperance. But the moment had passed and it was not what he had summoned Singleton for. Such levity ill became the captain of a man o' war. ‘We were talking of the wind, Mr Singleton, and the noise made by a storm, beside which this present gale is nothing. I believe, Mr Singleton, that the wind in Greenland is commonly at storm force, that the particles of ice carried in it can wound the flesh like buckshot and that a man cannot exist for more than a few minutes in such conditions.'

‘Sir, the eskimos manage . . .'

‘Mr Singleton,' Drinkwater hurried on, ‘what I am trying to say is that I need your services here. On this ship, God damn it. If the eskimos manage so well without you, Mr Singleton, cannot you leave them in their primitive state of savagery? What benefits can you confer . . .?'

‘Captain Drinkwater! You amaze me! What are you saying? Surely you do not deny the unfortunate natives the benefits of Christianity?'

‘There are those who consider your religion to be as superstitious in its tenets as the people's belief that you can raise a gale, Mr Singleton.'