" Boston obliged him, and the doctor, picking his way forward,
then aft, struck each tank with the oar. "Empty--all of them," he said.
He dug out with his knife a piece of the whitish substance under foot,
and examined it closely in the light from the hatch.
"Boston," he said, impressively, "this ship was loaded with lime,
tallow, and acids--acids above, lime and tallow down here. This stuff
is neither; it is lime-soap. And, moreover, it had not been touched by
acids." The doctor's ruddy face was ashen.
"Well?" asked Boston.
"Lime soap is formed by the cauticizing action of lime on tallow in the
presence of water and heat. It is easy to understand this fire. One
of those tanks leaked and dribbled down on the cargo, attacking the
lime--which was stowed underneath, as all these staves we see on top
are from tallow-kids. The heat generated by the slaking lime set fire
to the barrels in contact, which in turn set fire to others, and they
burned until the air was exhausted, and then went out. See, they are
but partly consumed. There was intense heat in this hold, and
expansion of the water in all the tanks. Are tanks at sea filled to
the top?"
"Chock full, and a cap screwed down on the upper end of the pipes.
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