Chapter 5 Section 5 The Distressed

In the first half month of the night of March 15th and March 16th, the American clipper Jonathan left San Francisco, California, and sailed for South Africa. This crossing journey takes about five weeks to reach the destination, as far as the ship is concerned. This sailing ship has a load capacity of 3,500 tons, and is equipped with four masts, a square, a mainmast, and two schooners and jibs: the mizzen and the topmast.The captain was Le Carre, a fine sailor in the prime of his life, with first mate Misgraf, second mate Mayretti, boatswain Alturble, and twenty-seven male sailors, all American.

The Jonadan is not a cargo ship, but a passenger ship carrying more than a thousand immigrants recruited by an immigration company to Lagoa Bay, where the Portuguese government has granted them land development and management rights. In addition to the supplies needed for the journey, the ship was also loaded with the necessities of the new life of these immigrants in the early stage of entrepreneurship, such as: flour, canned food, wine, etc., which can ensure the supply of hundreds of immigrants for several months, and at the same time I brought some materials and equipment for camping: such as tents, boards for assembled houses and daily utensils for home use.

In order to let the rented land get a good harvest immediately, the company also bought some agricultural tools for these immigrants, as well as various plants, vegetables, grain seeds, and a certain number of cattle, sheep, and pigs. and poultry raised by the family; as well as weapons and ammunition, in this way, the life of these new immigrants can be guaranteed for a long time, and self-sufficiency is not a problem. When the Jonathan returned to San Francisco, another cargo and people were loaded to supplement the shortage of the previous batch.And if the company thinks there is merit in this move, it will also send a group of immigrants to Lagoa Bay.

Poor people!Everywhere, their lives are poor, and they really want to create a more affluent living environment. Unexpectedly, at the beginning of the trip, things backfired!After this accident, the company's expected success came to naught. After a difficult voyage, under the attack of violent wind and rain, the Jonathan only reached the heights of the Cape Orles. Due to the lack of observation of the sun, Captain Lecar failed to grasp the position of the ship. He thought that he was not far from the land. This also prompted him to order the ship to sail on the port side of the wind, so he deviated too much from the course. Sailing will lead to the Atlantic Ocean, where the weather will be sunny and calm, which will be favorable for sailing.

The crew had just carried out his orders when a huge wave hit the ropes of the port bilge and threw it into the sea with several passengers and crew. At this time people wanted to rescue these unfortunate people, but In vain and in vain, in the blink of an eye the waves swept them away and disappeared without a trace. After this catastrophe, the Jonathan began to fire a cannon, and it was this cannon that Le Corgi and his companions heard. Captain Le Carre had not seen the fire that Le Corgis and the others had lit on the top of the headland; otherwise, they could have corrected their mistake, and perhaps could have repaired it.In his absence, however, Miesgraf's mate tried to turn the bows around and rush across, but the hurricane made the sea roll and the sails were damaged, and these maneuvers were almost impossible.

After many efforts with little success, but by his excellent efforts the ship was still going, when the mizzenmast fell again and fell on the heads of him and Madison, the second mate, and knocked them into the sea, while the In an instant the bosun's head was hit by the block, wobbled by the waves, and he was knocked unconscious on the deck, and so on, we have seen. The so-called current trip is over, and the Jonathan was firmly stuck between the tentacles of the reef, lying on the shore of Khost Island, and ran aground!It looks like it will never move!How far is it from land?Only after dawn will we know.But no matter what, at present, there will be no more precarious and dangerous situations. Because the hull itself is very heavy, it is suddenly inserted into the middle of the reef, so no matter how big the waves hit it, it will remain motionless.Now there is only some insignificant foam around the hull, so you can rest easy, the ship will not be in danger of being destroyed again, at least tonight will be safe, and besides, the ship will not sink, and the reef supporting the bottom of the ship will not be damaged. The weight of the hull collapsed.

Le Corgi, through the boatswain of Altleble, told the new situation to the densely packed and panicked crowd on the deck. It turned out that several immigrants had jumped into the water in panic, some because of the ship and the reef. The power of the collision threw them into the water, and they fell on the reef and were smashed to pieces, and then they were swept away by the waves. Is there any hope of surviving? !The ship is not moving at all now, which makes the hearts of those in distress drop, men, women, old and young, gradually go to the deck cabin or the middle cabin to find a place to rest Avoiding the downpour accompanied by the rolling dark clouds, as for Le Corgi, Algie, Calori, and the boatswain, they went to inspect everywhere, and at the same time soothed everyone's frightened mood.

When they got into the cabin, it was relatively peaceful there. Most of the migrants had already fallen asleep due to the panic and fatigue of the whole day.These poor people, once they feel that there is a power and wisdom in front of them to help them, they will be full of confidence, so they look up to others, which seems to be created by heaven and earth. To the end, they are willing to entrust themselves to him; their destiny is in his hands; their safety is guaranteed by him. Just like the ordeal just now, they were not mentally prepared for it in advance.Faced with this sudden abnormal situation, they were even more helpless, and subconsciously expected someone to come forward to command, arrange and offer advice.

Most of them come from North American countries, including: France, Italy, Russia, Ireland, England, Germany, and even Japan.The industries they are engaged in are as diverse as their races.As far as most people make their living from farming, some are workers, and even some people are freelance before emigrating abroad. They are generally bachelors, and only one hundred or one hundred and fifty of them are married and have families. Children and daughters. But what they have in common is: poverty and desperation.They are all innocent victims, some born at the wrong time, some immoral, some stupid, some sickly, and some undeservedly ill-fated. The society was out of place, and I had no choice but to make up my mind to go to another world and want to start a career.

The mixed population is the epitome of society and the embodiment of the human race. Apart from wealth, all kinds of situations in society can be seen at any time, and they are not all poor, because the immigration company requires applicants to have no less than five hundred francs An individual's property can be multiplied twenty or thirty times when calculating its principal. In a word, this mass of beings is neither good nor bad compared with other people. This is a group of unknown people, and they occasionally have one or all wishes. , the situation of combining and dispersing is almost the same.

What will become of these people thrown on this desolate shore by this accident?How will they solve this eternal problem in life? !