The Castaways

A boat upon the open sea--no land in sight!It is an open boat, the size and form showing it to be the pinnace of amerchant-ship.It is a tropical sea, with a fiery sun overhead, slowly coursing through a skyof brilliant azure.The boat has neither sail nor mast. There are oars, but no one is usingthem. They lie athwart the tholes, their blades dipping in the water, with nohand upon the grasp.And yet the boat is not empty. Seven human forms are seen within it,--sixof them living, and one...
More Description

A boat upon the open sea--no land in sight!It is an open boat, the size and form showing it to be the pinnace of amerchant-ship.It is a tropical sea, with a fiery sun overhead, slowly coursing through a skyof brilliant azure.The boat has neither sail nor mast. There are oars, but no one is usingthem. They lie athwart the tholes, their blades dipping in the water, with nohand upon the grasp.And yet the boat is not empty. Seven human forms are seen within it,--sixof them living, and one dead.Of the living, four are full-grown men; three of them white, the fourth of anumber-brown, or bistre colour. One of the white men is tall, dark andbearded, with features bespeaking him either a European or an American,though their somewhat elongated shape and classic regularity would lead toa belief that he is the latter, and in all probability a native of New York. Andso he is.The features of the white man sitting nearest to him are in strange contrastto his, as is also the colour of his hair and skin. The hair is of a carrotyshade, while his complexion, originally reddish, through long exposure to atropical sun exhibits a yellowish, freckled appearance. The countenance somarked is unmistakably of Milesian type. So it should be, as its owner is anIrishman.The third white man, of thin, lank frame, with face almost beardless, palecadaverous cheeks, and eyes sunken in their sockets, and there rollingwildly, is one of those nondescripts who may be English, Irish, Scotch, orAmerican. His dress betokens him to be a seaman, a common sailor.He of the brown complexion, with flat spreading nose, high cheek-bones,oblique eyes, and straight, raven black hair, is evidently a native of the East,a Malay.