Survivors of the Chancellor

Jules Verne

Description

Get set for pulse-pounding adventure on the high seas with the master of the early science fiction and action genres, Jules Verne. The novel The Survivors of the Chancellor is a fictional but remarkably well researched and detailed account of the passengers who survive the disastrous final voyage of the Chancellor, a British sailing vessel.

Sujets

• Adventure (Guyana)
• Adventure

Informations

• Publié par: The Floating Press
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781775452621
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE SURVIVORS OF THE CHANCELLOR
DIARY OF J. R. KAZALLON, PASSENGER
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JULES VERNE
 
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The Survivors of the Chancellor Diary of J. R. Kazallon, Passenger First published in 1875 ISBN 978-1-775452-62-1 © 2011 The Floating Press While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike. Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
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Introduction Chapter I - The Chancellor Chapter II - Crew and Passengers Chapter III - Bill of Lading Chapter IV - Something About My Fellow Passengers Chapter V - An Unusual Route Chapter VI - The Sargasso Sea Chapter VII - Voices in the Night Chapter VIII - Fire on Board Chapter IX - Curtis Explains the Situation Chapter X - Picrate of Potash on Board Chapter XI - The Passengers Discover Their Danger Chapter XII - Curtis Becomes Captain Chapter XIII - Between Fire and Water Chapter XIV - Breakers to Starboard! Chapter XV - Shipwrecked Chapter XVI - Silas Huntly Rescued from the Waves Chapter XVII - M. Letourneur is Pessimistic Chapter XVIII - We Explore the Reef Chapter XIX - The Cargo Unloaded Chapter XX - Examination of the Hold Chapter XXI - The "Chancellor" Released from Her Prison Chapter XXII - A New Danger Chapter XXIII - An Attempt at Mutiny Chapter XXIV - Curtis Resolves to Abandon the Ship Chapter XXV - While There's Life There's Hope Chapter XXVI - Mr. Kear Makes a Business Deal Chapter XXVII - The Whale-Boat Missing Chapter XXVIII - Mrs. Kear Succumbs to Fever Chapter XXIX - We Embark on the Raft Chapter XXX - Our Situation Critical Chapter XXXI - First Day on the Raft Chapter XXXII - We Catch a Supply of Fish Chapter XXXIII - Mutiny on the Raft Chapter XXXIV - A Squall Chapter XXXV - Two Sailors Washed Overboard Chapter XXXVI - We Lose Nearly All Our Provisions Chapter XXXVII - Lieutenant Walter's Condition Chapter XXXVIII - Mutiny Again Chapter XXXIX - A Father's Love Chapter XL - Death of Lieutenant Walter Chapter XLI - Human Flesh for Bait Chapter XLII - Oxide of Copper Poisoning Chapter XLIII - Owen's Death Chapter XLIV - The Depths of Despair Chapter XLV - Our Thirst Relieved Chapter XLVI - My Fast is Broken Chapter XLVII - Hobart Hangs Himself Chapter XLVIII - Hobart's Body Stolen Chapter XLIX - The Negro Becomes Insane Chapter L - All Hope Gone Chapter LI - Flaypole Becomes Delirious Chapter LII - I Decide to Commit Suicide Chapter LIII - We Decide to Draw Lots Chapter LIV - Miss Herbey Pleads for One Day More Chapter LV - Fresh Water Chapter LVI - Near the Coast of South America Chapter LVII - Land Ahoy!
Introduction
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THE SURVIVORS OF THE CHANCELLORwas issued in 1875. Shipwrecks occurin other of Verne's tales; but this is his onlystory devoted wholly to such a disaster. In itthe author has gathered all the tragedy, themystery, and the suffering possible to the sea. All the various forms of disaster, all the possibilities of horror, thedepths of shame and agony, are heaped upon these unhappyvoyagers. The accumulation is mathematically completeand emotionally unforgettable. The tale has well been calledthe "imperishable epic of shipwreck."
The idea of the book is said to have originated in the celebrated French painting by Gericault, "the Wreck of theMedusa," now in the Louvre gallery. The Medusa was aFrench frigate wrecked off the coast of Africa in 1816.Some of the survivors, escaping on a raft, were rescued bya passing ship after many days of torture. Verne, however,seems also to have drawn upon the terrifying experiences ofthe British ship Sarah Sands in 1857, her story being freshin the public mind at the time he wrote. The Sarah Sandscaught fire off the African coast while on a voyage to Indiacarrying British troops. There was gunpowder aboard liable to blow up at any moment. Some of it did indeed explode, tearing a huge hole in the vessel's side. A stormadded to the terror, and the waters entering the breachcaused by the explosion, combated with the fire. After tendays of desperate struggle, the charred and sinking vesselreached a port.
The extreme length of life which Verne allows his peoplein their starving, thirsting condition is proven possible bymedical science and recent "fasting"' experiments. Thedramatic climax of the tale wherein the castaways find freshwater in the ocean is based upon a fact, one of those oddgeographical facts of which the author made such frequent,skillful and instructive use.
"Michael Strogoff" which, through its use as a stageplay, has become one of the best known books of all theworld, was first published in 1876. Its vivid, powerfulstory has made it a favorite with every red-blooded reader.Its two well-drawn female characters, the courageous heroine, and the stern, endurant, yearning mother, show howwell Verne could depict the tenderer sex when he so willed.Though usually the rapid movement and adventure of hisstories leave women in subordinate parts.
As to the picture drawn in "Michael Strogoff" of Russiaand Siberia, it is at once instructive and sympathetic.The horrors are not blinked at, yet neither is Russian patriotism ignored. The loyalty of some of the Siberian exilesto their mother country is a side of life there which is toooften ignored by writers who dwell only on the darker view.
The Czar, in our author's hands, becomes the hero figureto the erection of which French "hero worship" is everprone. The sarcasms thrown occasionally at the Britishnewspaper correspondent of the story, show the changingattitude of Verne toward England, and reflect the Frenchspirit of his day.
Chapter I - The Chancellor
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CHARLESTON, September 27, 1898. — It ishigh tide, and three o'clock in the afternoonwhen we leave the Battery quay; the ebbcarries us off shore, and as Captain Huntlyhas hoisted both main and top sails, the northerly breeze drives the Chancellor brisklyacross the bay. Fort Sumter ere long is doubled, thesweeping batteries of the mainland on our left are soonpassed, and by four o'clock the rapid current of the ebbingtide has carried us through the harbor mouth.
But as yet we have not reached the open sea we have stillto thread our way through the narrow channels which thesurge has hollowed out amongst the sand-banks. Thecaptain takes a southwest course, rounding the lighthouseat the corner of the fort; the sails are closely trimmed; thelast sandy point is safely coasted, and at length, at seveno'clock in the evening, we are out free upon the wide Atlantic.
The Chancellor is a fine square-rigged three-master, of900 tons burden, and belongs to the wealthy Liverpool firmof Laird Brothers. She is two years old, is sheathed andsecured with copper, her decks being of teak, and the baseof all her masts, except the mizzen, with all their fittings,being of iron. She is registered first class, A 1, and is nowon her third voyage between Charleston and Liverpool. Asshe wended her way through the channels of Charlestonharbor, it was the British flag that was lowered from hermast-head; but without colors at all, no sailor could havehesitated for a moment in telling her nationality, — for English she was, and nothing but English from her water-lineupward to the truck of her masts.
I must now relate how it happens that I have taken mypassage on board the Chancellor on her return voyage toEngland.
At present there is no direct steamship service betweenSouth Carolina and Great Britain, and all who wish to crossmust go either northward to New York or southward toNew Orleans. It is quite true that if I had chosen a startfrom New York I might have found plenty of vessels belonging to English, French, or Hamburg lines, any of whichwould have conveyed me by a rapid voyage to my destination; and it is equally true that if I had selected New Orleans for my embarkation I could readily have reachedEurope by one of the vessels of the National Steam Navigation Company, which join the French transatlantic lineof Colon and Aspinwall. But it was fated to be otherwise.
One day, as I was loitering about the Charleston quays,my eye lighted on this vessel. There was something aboutthe Chancellor that pleased me, and a kind of involuntaryimpulse took me on board, where I found the internal arrangements perfectly comfortable. Yielding to the ideathat a voyage in a sailing vessel had certain charms beyondthe transit in a steamer, and reckoning that with wind andwave in my favor there would be little material differencein time; considering, moreover, that in these low latitudesthe weather in early autumn is fine and unbroken, I cameto my decision, and proceeded forthwith to secure my passage by this route to Europe.
Have I done right or wrong? Whether I shall have reason to regret my determination is a problem to be solved inthe future. However, I will begin to record the incidentsof our daily experience, dubious as I feel whether the linesof my chronicle will ever find a reader.
Chapter II - Crew and Passengers
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SEPTEMBER 28. — John Silas Huntly, the captain of theChancellor, has the reputation of being a most experiencednavigator of the Atlantic. He is a Scotchman by birth,a native of Dundee, and is about fifty years of age. He isof the middle height and slight build, and has a small head,which he has a habit of holding a little over his left shoulder.I do not pretend to be much of a physiognomist, but I aminclined to believe that my few hours' acquaintance with ourcaptain has given me considerable insight into his character. That he is a good seaman and thoroughly understandshis duties I could not for a moment venture to deny; butthat he is a man of resolute temperament, o