Surgeon Visits Thompson to Verify Narrator’s Character
The surgeon visits Thompson primarily from curiosity about his extraordinary fate. Armed with the narrator’s letter of introduction, he returns convinced of the narrator’s good character, charmed by Thompson’s affability. Thompson loads both men with gifts of fresh provisions and liquors before their departure.
Return to Port Royal and Orders to Sail for England
Upon arriving at Port Royal, the narrator purchases fine clothes and wins fifty pistoles at hazard. The captain is promoted to a twenty-gun ship, the Lizard is given to an elderly man of eighty who finally rises after twenty-five years as lieutenant, and Brayl is made an officer. The admiral selects their vessel to carry dispatches to England, and the ship is prepared for the voyage home.
CAPÍTULO XXXVII.
The narrator departs for Europe from a fatal island, looking forward to returning home creditably. However, he anticipates that Crampley’s insolence will continue to plague him during the voyage.
Departure for Europe
Having found himself away from the fatal island, the narrator feels excessive pleasure at the prospect of returning to his native country. He is accommodated with everything to make the passage agreeable, though he knows his enjoyment will be limited by Crampley’s presence.
The Captain’s Death
Crampley, acting as an insidious slanderer, has already caused a misunderstanding between the ship’s captain and the surgeon. The captain, advanced in age and infirmities, becomes intolerably peevish and develops a particular aversion to young men and surgeons. He refuses to consult the doctor despite suffering from violent gout and gravel attacks, instead relying on Holland gin as his sovereign remedy. Whether from too sparing or an overdose of his “cordial,” the captain dies in the night without ceremony and is found stiff the next morning—much to Crampley’s satisfaction.
Crampley Assumes Command
With the captain dead, Crampley succeeds to the command of the vessel. Both the narrator and Mr. Tomlins have no cause to rejoice at this event, fearing their new commander’s tyranny will be as unlimited as his power. Their apprehensions prove justified on the very first day of his command.
The Surgeon’s Demise
On the first day of his command, Crampley orders the surgeon’s hencoops and all his fowls thrown overboard on the pretense that the decks are too crowded. He also prohibits the surgeon and the narrator from walking on the quarter-deck. When Mr. Tomlins complains of these injuries and speaks hastily during his expostulation, Crampley seizes the opportunity to confine him to his cabin. Within days, for lack of air, Tomlins develops a fever that soon ends his life. Before dying, he makes his will, bequeathing all his estate to his sister and leaving his watch and instruments to the narrator as memorials of friendship. Crampley shows no remorse for his barbarity and even insults the surgeon’s memory, accusing him of poisoning himself from fear of a court-martial.
Isolation from Messmates
Under Crampley’s brutal tyranny, the narrator’s life becomes increasingly irksome. Crampley signifies to the narrator’s messmates that he wishes him expelled from their society, and they immediately grant his request. The narrator is forced to eat alone for the remainder of the passage.
Ignoring the Gunner’s Warning
After seven weeks at sea, the gunner tells the captain that by his reckoning, they must be in soundings and requests that the lead be heaved. Crampley dismisses this concern, swearing they are not within a hundred leagues of soundings and refusing to cast the lead. When the gunner claims to discover Scilly light, Crampley continues to neglect sounding. The gunner formally protests the captain’s conduct, for which he is put in confinement.
The Shipwreck
At three o’clock in the morning, the ship strikes and remains fast on a sand-bank. The crew is alarmed; the boat is hoisted out, but they cannot discern which way the shore lies and must wait for daylight. The wind increases, and waves batter the sloop violently, causing them to expect the vessel will go to pieces. The gunner is released and advises cutting away the mast to lighten the ship, but this proves unsuccessful. Seeing the desperate situation, the sailors begin breaking open officers’ chests, dressing in their clothes, drinking their liquors, and drunkenness, tumult, and confusion ensue.
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