In which Mrs. Heartfree Continues the Relation of Her Adventures.
The first evening after we were aboard this vessel1, which was a brigantine, we being then at no very great distance from the Madeiras, the most violent storm arose from the northwest, in which we presently lost both our masts; and indeed death now presented itself as inevitable2 to us: I need not tell my Tommy what were then my thoughts. Our danger was so great that the captain of the ship, a professed3 atheist4, betook himself to prayers, and the whole crew, abandoning themselves for lost, fell with the utmost eagerness to the emptying a cask of brandy, not one drop of which they swore should be polluted with salt water. I observed here my old friend displayed less courage than I expected from him. He seemed entirely5 swallowed up in despair. But Heaven be praised! we were all at last preserved. The storm, after above eleven hours’ continuance, began to abate6, and by degrees entirely ceased, but left us still rolling at the mercy of the waves, which carried us at their own pleasure to the south-east a vast number of leagues. Our crew were all dead drunk with the brandy which they had taken such care to preserve from the sea; but, indeed, had they been awake, their labour would have been of very little service, as we had lost all our rigging, our brigantine being reduced to a naked hulk only. In this condition we floated above thirty hours, till in the midst of a very dark night we spied a light, which seeming to approach us, grew so large that our sailors concluded it to be the lantern of a man of war; but when we were cheering ourselves with the hopes of our deliverance from this wretched situation, on a sudden, to our great concern, the light entirely disappeared, and left us in despair encreased by the remembrance of those pleasing imaginations with which we had entertained our minds during its appearance. The rest of the night we passed in melancholy7 conjectures8 on the light which had deserted9 us, which the major part of the sailors concluded to be a meteor. In this distress10 we had one comfort, which was a plentiful11 store of provisions; this so supported the spirits of the sailors, that they declared had they but a sufficient quantity of brandy they cared not whether they saw land for a month to come; but indeed we were much nearer it than we imagined, as we perceived at break of day. One of the most knowing of the crew declared we were near the continent of Africa; but when we were within three leagues of it a second violent storm arose from the north, so that we again gave over all hopes of safety. This storm was not quite so outrageous12 as the former, but of much longer continuance, for it lasted near three days, and drove us an immense number of leagues to the south. We were within a league of the shore, expecting every moment our ship to be dashed in pieces, when the tempest ceased all on a sudden; but the waves still continued to roll like mountains, and before the sea recovered its calm motion, our ship was thrown so near the land, that the captain ordered out his boat, declaring he had scarce any hopes of saving her; and indeed we had not quitted her many minutes before we saw the justice of his apprehensions13, for she struck against a rock and immediately sunk. The behaviour of the sailors on this occasion very much affected14 me; they beheld15 their ship perish with the tenderness of a lover or a parent; they spoke16 of her as the fondest husband would of his wife; and many of them, who seemed to have no tears in their composition, shed them plentifully17 at her sinking. The captain himself cried out, ‘Go thy way, charming Molly, the sea never devoured18 a lovelier morsel19. If I have fifty vessels20 I shall never love another like thee. Poor slut! I shall remember thee to my dying day.’ Well, the boat now conveyed us all safe to shore, where we landed with very little difficulty. It was now about noon, and the rays of the sun, which descended21 almost perpendicular22 on our heads, were extremely hot and troublesome. However, we travelled through this extreme heat about five miles over a plain. This brought us to a vast wood, which extended itself as far as we could see, both to the right and left, and seemed to me to put an entire end to our progress. Here we decreed to rest and dine on the provision which we had brought from the ship, of which we had sufficient for very few meals; our boat being so overloaded23 with people that we had very little room for luggage of any kind. Our repast was salt pork broiled24, which the keenness of hunger made so delicious to my companions that they fed very heartily25 upon it. As for myself, the fatigue26 of my body and the vexation of my mind had so thoroughly27 weakened me, that I was almost entirely deprived of appetite; and the utmost dexterity28 of the most accomplished29 French cook would have been ineffectual had he endeavoured to tempt30 me with delicacies31. I thought myself very little a gainer by my late escape from the tempest, by which I seemed only to have exchanged the element in which I was presently to die. When our company had sufficiently32, and indeed very plentifully feasted themselves, they resolved to enter the wood and endeavour to pass it, in expectation of finding some inhabitants, at least some provision. We proceeded therefore in the following order: one man in the front with a hatchet33, to clear our way, and two others followed him with guns, to protect the rest from wild beasts; then walked the rest of our company, and last of all the captain himself, being armed likewise with a gun, to defend us from any attack behind — in the rear, I think you call it. And thus our whole company, being fourteen in number, travelled on till night overtook us, without seeing anything unless a few birds and some very insignificant34 animals. We rested all night under the covert35 of some trees, and indeed we very little wanted shelter at that season, the heat in the day being the only inclemency36 we had to combat with in this climate. I cannot help telling you my old friend lay still nearest me on the ground, and declared he would be my protector should any of the sailors offer rudeness; but I can acquit37 them of any such attempt; nor was I ever affronted38 by any one, more than with a coarse expression, proceeding39 rather from the roughness and ignorance of their education than from any abandoned principle, or want of humanity.
“We had now proceeded very little way on our next day’s march when one of the sailors, having skipt nimbly up a hill, with the assistance of a speaking trumpet40 informed us that he saw a town a very little way off. This news so comforted me, and gave me such strength, as well as spirits, that, with the help of my old friend and another, who suffered me to lean on them, I, with much difficulty, attained41 the summit; but was so absolutely overcome in climbing it, that I had no longer sufficient strength to support my tottering42 limbs, and was obliged to lay myself again on the ground; nor could they prevail on me to undertake descending43 through a very thick wood into a plain, at the end of which indeed appeared some houses, or rather huts, but at a much greater distance than the sailor assured us; the little way, as he had called it, seeming to me full twenty miles, nor was it, I believe, much less.”
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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atheist
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| n.无神论者 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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abate
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| vi.(风势，疼痛等)减弱，减轻，减退 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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conjectures
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| 推测，猜想( conjecture的名词复数 ) | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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outrageous
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| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
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apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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plentifully
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| adv. 许多地，丰饶地 | |
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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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overloaded
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| a.超载的，超负荷的 | |
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broiled
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| a.烤过的 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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delicacies
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| n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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inclemency
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| n.险恶，严酷 | |
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acquit
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| vt.宣判无罪；(oneself)使(自己)表现出 | |
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affronted
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| adj.被侮辱的，被冒犯的v.勇敢地面对( affront的过去式和过去分词 )；相遇 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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