He
was a powerful swimmer, but he soon became entangled in the coil of
rope in such a manner that the more he struggled to free himself
the worse became the tangle, so that his very efforts to swim made
his position more difficult than if he had remained still.
This could all be seen from the Lydia, and ropes and life buoys,
which he failed to catch, were thrown to him as he rose for a
moment to the surface and finally disappeared.
Now this unhappy incident threw us all into such confusion and
consternation aboard the Curlew, dividing our men's attention
between attempting to reach the drowning skipper and endeavouring
to secure another rope thrown from the ship, that all control of
the boat was lost. The Curlew was capsized by the treacherous
current, and we were all engulfed without a moment's warning.
An awful exclamation of "Oh, God!" was the last thing I heard as I
sank below the waves, and then the water rushed into my open mouth,
and I felt my cap torn from my head. Down, down I sank, struggling,
yet with my eyes open, while the water became dark around me and I
was drawn along by the whirling undercurrent.
I raised my hands above my head and tried to regain the surface and
get breath; but it was many moments before my eyes were gladdened
at seeing the water grow greener and brighter.
Pages:
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162