Soon after the moon had arisen Erasmus was strutting the deck with his thumbs in the guilt lined pockets of his colourful waist coat. Erasmus was born into a rich farming family that dressed him well as a child. He never lost touch with the working class, even making tea for the labourers on his farm as a 7 years old. His mother always taught him to be polite and say “Gooday to you sir”. As he strode the length of the deck, he was heard commenting on the strange dark cloud that seemed to be racing across the horizon. Erasmus and Judith were some of the most experienced, of the enthusiasts on the ship.
Judith’s early life was lived in the centre of London business district. Her Father insisted she be educated and engaged a series of scholars to do just that. Judith developed a cocky attitude that saw a few of her tutors leave in a huff, those who stayed learnt just how clever a girl could be. In fact Judith soon became an equal to most tutors and those that appreciated this became her companions in education on various subject matters. One day her father came into her study, where she was to be receiving a mathematics classes with her private tutor. The first thing he noticed, was how she was dressed. The smooth texture of the purple velvet fabric gave a shine and highlighted the shape of her well formed figure. She was pointing to a blackboard with her stick. She, was explaining Isaac Newtons invention of differential calculus to the tutor, not the other way around.
As the cloud passed in front of the moon the shape was visible to Erasmus, and it seemed to be a huge water spout. The shape was a spiral of dark blue and white, it reached to the sky. On the seas surface it had a thin trunk, and it opened to an enourmous top near the clouds. Being in the distance it was more of an interest piece. Erasmus pointed to it as he told Judith to look. As the spout passed over the silver moon, all went black, nothing on deck could be seen. Within seconds a screaming roar could be heard coming from the spout. Judith ran, slipped and stumbled down to the captains quarters. She banged on the captains door with a clenched fist, and there was no response. Time was of the essence, she flung the door open and saw the captain unconscious on his bed with bottle of rum rolling around him on the floor. The room stank like a urinal that had never been cleaned. She shouted then pushed him with her foot, he could not be woken. Judith then ran to the crews quarters, as she opened the door, she was at first threatened by the lecherous men, then ridiculed. She was unable to communicate the impending storm to the drunken crew as they were either fighting, asleep or they frightened her with their actions.
Judith was on her way back to deck when she heard some screams from below deck. The ship at this stage was lurching from side to side and she was flung from wall to wall in the dark corridor. She made her way towards the screams. Judith had never been to the lower deck as it was forbidden, but the screams were now louder and her instincts were to help. As she went down stairs, she could smell stinky bodies and placed her handkerchief over her nose. She squeezed through a tight corridor and could see convicts through bars which formed the walls of rooms. A candle stand flickered wildly as it went to nearly horizontal whilst the ship was lurching side to side. Each room was full of ragged people. Amongst the smell of vomit and faeces, their faces expressed pain and horror. There must have been more than 100 people down there.
Judith could hear screams at the back of a cell. A young woman had been injured and was profusely bleeding, the boat was now violently banging up and down, side to side. The poor convicts were being tossed on top of each other and Judith was holding on to the bars in fear of being slammed into the walls. Knowing there were much better conditions on the upper decks her instincts took over. She fumbled with latches on doors and managed to unlock all the doors. In the dark the prisoners did not know what to do, they were not steady on their feet. They fell into walls and buckets of food or was it the toilets of those less fortunate. Dazed, they somewhat patiently made their way out of their cages and up the stairs. As they walked past the crew and captains quarters there was nothing to be heard. The liqueur or fighting must have finally reduced them to a stupor. Judith carrying a bleeding child tried once more to wake the captain. By this time he had rolled off the bed and was out cold in the corner of the room, beside a flickering candle. Pushing the convicts ahead of her, she struggled wards to the deck, holding on to everything solid to avoid falling over, as the ship heaved to and fro. As she climbed the last flight of stairs, which was more like a waterfall, she could hear shouting and the roar of the wind on the deck.
The last 2 steps saw her trip, crashing onto the deck. Probably because of fear from the high winds and monstrous waves, there was a type of calm cooperation. The moon was out full now, white as a fresh cut radish. Two large dinghy’s were being untied and groups had formed at both boats. Waves crashed around them but all held onto the rails or ropes.
Mathew an enthusiast was a close friend of the King. He was on the deck and taking a commanding roll in organising the movement of people and dinghy’s. Previously the King had fallen for Mathew’s keen eye for nature, a forester by profession. Mathew was a stocky Scotsman with a broad accent, he joked about his height by saying he was brought up on shortbread!. He would take the King for forest walks around Edinburgh and would identify all manner of flora and fauna. To meet Matthew was an experience the King loved, he was funny, knowledgeable and when you shook his hand you knew he made his living with hard work.
The ship was lurching and people were soaked with salt water. Mathew made a final attempt to head down to the gantry. But just as he put his foot on the first step others yelled pointing to the horizon. The moonlight glistened on foamy froth. For anyone looking, it would surely have given them no doubt, life was about to end. Mathew could see an approaching wave, it was like a mountain, higher than even the ships mast. Before he could turn to the lifeboats, the wave picked up the whole enormous ship and dumped it upside down. There was total chaos. There were around 90 people present on the deck before the dumping. For those who could lift their head above froth, there was nothing but black to see. Pieces of wood and debris was dangerously crunching amongst them. The two dinghy’s were floating, one upside down and the other the right way up with two dozen or so people inside. A frantic period ensued where those in the dinghy, dragged those out of a mix of sea smashed wood. The large wave seemed to be a freak occurrence and the seas were now just heaving. As for the ship, the wave had split the hull in half. There was now only around a quarter of it above the water. The crew and captain inside must be in grave danger.
Some hours later the two dinghy’s were both upright and all the survivors were either in these boats of hanging onto floating refuse from the ship and its cargo. The ship had now completely disappeared, no other ships from the fleet could be seen. The moon was full in the sky.
As day broke the seas where as smooth as glass, sunlight spread on the water and clouds above were perfectly reflected . The survivors were exhausted, some asleep and others soothed by the calm. The survivors first heard voices, even children’s laughter in the distance. They were drifting and could see land. Mathew the Scot, was feeling lucky to have survived the night. He was keenly looking to the horizon and land. As he saw small canoes, he was full of hope and yelled it out for all to hear. Word soon spread to the remaining survivors clinging to the ships refuse. The survivors started to talk and spirits were lifting that land and help was on the way. Within a few minutes the canoes approach closely, faces appeard and for a time two very different people were looking at each other face to face. For the Europeans time below and above the deck had prepared them for what they might find on arrival. Rumours spread on the ship of dark skin people who spoke another language. Someone had told them about strange animals that jumped. Those coming on canoes also remember the pale skinned travellers from their previous visits.