CHAPTER IV. The chiding billows seem to pelt the clouds ; I never did like molestation view Of the enchafed flood. OTHELLO. Ar day-break there was not a trace of the other ships to be discovered, and the ladies endeavoured to console themselves with the knowledge that their friends were free from the distresses it was their lot to suffer. Of their nature and extent they were entirely ignorant, though they could anticipate nothing less than a French prison, without money and without friends. Several months must necessarily elapse before they could make their relations in India acquainted with their situation. They trembled at the bare possibility of being conveyed to Europe, and, in addition to all other evils, were racked by suspense. her Miss Panton endeavoured by every means in power to ascertain from some of those on board what was the probable place of their destination; but this was a question to which she could never procure any satisfactory answer. All seemed equally guarded; one pretended that he did not know; another said, as they were merely on a cruise, it was quite uncertain. Captain Lavardine, though very polite, always found means to turn the conversation when it approached this point. The situation of the ladies on board the frigate was in every respect uncomfortable, and their resources few. Miss Percy and Miss Hume deemed it prudent that they should all keep their cabins as much as possible, and neither ask or receive any favour they could do without. In this manner time passed heavily, uncheered even by the prospect of amelioration, until by chance Miss Owen overheard a conversation between some of the people, who were not aware that she understood their language. She found that the Mars had sailed from Port Louis, that it was Captain Lavardine's intention to cruise off Madagascar and the Isle of Bourbon as long as his provisions would hold out, and then return to the Isle of France. It was some relief to find that there was no chance of revisiting Europe, though the probability of being kept prisoners at sea such a length of time as might possibly happen, considerably lessened the satisfaction it afforded. Miss Owen endeavoured by every argument she could suggest to persuade Capt. Lavardine to land her and the other ladies at the first port he could make, representing the uselessness to him, and hardship to them, of their being detained in a floating prison, exposed to the hazards of war and of weather; but he was not to be persuaded. Though he professed to regret the inconvenience they suffered, he did not take even the means in his power to remedy it, and the representations made to him were only answered by an abundance of fine speeches. Every day their situation was becoming more deplorable; they were in want of all the necessaries of life; its most common comforts they had never enjoyed since they were taken from the Cumberland. They lived upon salt provi sions; now their biscuit and water were running so low that their daily allowance was reduced to to a very small portion; the heat of the weather augmented these privations; there was neither milk, tea, nor coffee on board, nor indeed any thing beyond the poorest rations for the sailors; their clothes were almost worn out, a very heavy aggravation of all their other sufferings. Their utmost resignation was hardly sufficient at all times to enable them to bear with tolerable composure the accumulated miseries they were exposed to, and which day by day became greater as their provisions and water were reduced lower and lower, until the Captain, no longer able to keep the sea, and despairing of any thing to indemnify him for the prize he had lost, determined upon making Port Louis as soon as the weather should permit; but for several days the wind had been contrary, the weather broken and squally, and the marine barometer falling, all circumstances indicating one of the hurricanes so common in these latitudes. This was an additional trial of fortitude for our poor friends. Fortunately Miss Percy had her pocket bible, the only book within their reach, and it proved a treasure and a consolation in their darkest hours. The indication of coming storm forced the Captain to take every precaution to make all tight. The sun set amidst large masses of bright copper-coloured clouds, so brilliant that the faces of those on deck shone in the portentous light as if they had been burnished. Clouds of an inky blackness were rising upon the horizon, and though there was not much wind, the swell was great. At midnight the hurricane came on in all its fury, and for some hours the ladies remained in their cots in the vain hope that it would moderate, but unable any longer to bear the state of suspense and the total darkness in which they were, they sat up, and endeavoured to dress themselves. Mrs. Morris went forward to seek a light, but all was confusion and uproar; the heat could only be equalled by the Black Hole of Calcutta; the ports had been shut for several days, the dead lights were in, and darkness |