Jules Verne

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 978-1-62011-907-5
Duke Classics
© 2012 Duke Classics and its licensors. All rights reserved.

While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in this edition, Duke Classics does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. Duke Classics does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book.

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 CHANCELLOR was issued in 1875. Shipwrecks occur in other of Verne's tales; but this is his only story devoted wholly to such a disaster. In it the author has gathered all the tragedy, the mystery, and the suffering possible to the sea. All the various forms of disaster, all the possibilities of horror, the depths of shame and agony, are heaped upon these unhappy voyagers. The accumulation is mathematically complete and emotionally unforgettable. The tale has well been called the "imperishable epic of shipwreck."

The idea of the book is said to have originated in the celebrated French painting by Gericault, "the Wreck of the Medusa," now in the Louvre gallery. The Medusa was a French frigate wrecked off the coast of Africa in 1816. Some of the survivors, escaping on a raft, were rescued by a passing ship after many days of torture. Verne, however, seems also to have drawn upon the terrifying experiences of the British ship Sarah Sands in 1857, her story being fresh in the public mind at the time he wrote. The Sarah Sands caught fire off the African coast while on a voyage to India carrying 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 storm added to the terror, and the waters entering the breach caused by the explosion, combated with the fire. After ten days of desperate struggle, the charred and sinking vessel reached a port.

The extreme length of life which Verne allows his people in their starving, thirsting condition is proven possible by medical science and recent "fasting"' experiments. The dramatic climax of the tale wherein the castaways find fresh water in the ocean is based upon a fact, one of those odd geographical facts of which the author made such frequent, skillful and instructive use.

"Michael Strogoff" which, through its use as a stage play, has become one of the best known books of all the world, was first published in 1876. Its vivid, powerful story 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 how well Verne could depict the tenderer sex when he so willed. Though usually the rapid movement and adventure of his stories leave women in subordinate parts.

As to the picture drawn in "Michael Strogoff" of Russia and 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 exiles to their mother country is a side of life there which is too often ignored by writers who dwell only on the darker view.

The Czar, in our author's hands, becomes the hero figure to the erection of which French "hero worship" is ever prone. The sarcasms thrown occasionally at the British newspaper correspondent of the story, show the changing attitude of Verne toward England, and reflect the French spirit of his day.

Chapter I - The Chancellor

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CHARLESTON, September 27, 1898. — It is high tide, and three o'clock in the afternoon when we leave the Battery quay; the ebb carries us off shore, and as Captain Huntly has hoisted both main and top sails, the northerly breeze drives the Chancellor briskly across the bay. Fort Sumter ere long is doubled, the sweeping batteries of the mainland on our left are soon passed, and by four o'clock the rapid current of the ebbing tide has carried us through the harbor mouth.

But as yet we have not reached the open sea we have still to thread our way through the narrow channels which the surge has hollowed out amongst the sand-banks. The captain takes a southwest course, rounding the lighthouse at the corner of the fort; the sails are closely trimmed; the last sandy point is safely coasted, and at length, at seven o'clock in the evening, we are out free upon the wide Atlantic.

The Chancellor is a fine square-rigged three-master, of 900 tons burden, and belongs to the wealthy Liverpool firm of Laird Brothers. She is two years old, is sheathed and secured with copper, her decks being of teak, and the base of all her masts, except the mizzen, with all their fittings, being of iron.