The darkness, and
complete stillness of the night, and the solitude of the ocean, gave
to the sound a dreadful and almost supernatural effect. I stood
perfectly still, and my heart beat quick. The sound woke up the rest
of the watch, who stood looking at one another. "What, in the name of
God, is that?" said the second mate, coming slowly forward. The first
thought I had was, that it might be a boat, with the crew of some
wrecked vessel, or perhaps the boat of some whaleship, out over night,
and we had run them down in the darkness. Another scream, but less
loud than the first. This started us, and we ran forward, and looked
over the bows, and over the sides, to leeward, but nothing was to be
seen or heard. What was to be done. Call the captain, and heave the
ship aback? Just at this moment, in crossing the forecastle, one of
the men saw a light below, and looking down the scuttle, saw the watch
all out of their berths, and afoul of one poor fellow, dragging him
out of his berth, and shaking him, to wake him out of a nightmare.
They had been waked out of their sleep, and as much alarmed at the
scream as we were, and were hesitating whether to come on deck, when
the second sound, coming directly from one of the berths, revealed the
cause of the alarm.
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