thither about the
decks. There was a cask lying on its bilge, its head knocked out, and
perhaps a gallon or so of port wine still in it, while all round about
it the deck was dark, wet, and reeking with the fumes of the spilt wine.
But there were other and more sinister stains than those of wine on the
planks--there were great splashes of blood here and there on bulwarks
and deck, much of which was partially hidden by the scattered cargo; but
the scene was not nearly so sanguinary or revolting as I had expected to
find it, for there were no ensanguined, mutilated corpses to shock the
eye, or harrow the imagination, by the sight of their hurts.

Nor, for that matter, were there any living people on board the ship,
either in cabins or forecastle, although there was abundant evidence
that both had had their full complement of occupants. The forecastle,
for example, was lumbered up with the chests of the seamen, boots, caps,
and various other articles of clothing lying scattered about the deck,
while oilskins, sou'westers, and more clothing hung from pegs and nails
driven into the timber walls; the bedding in the bunks also was
disarranged, as though the men had just rolled out of them; and a large
copper slush lamp, suspended from a deck beam, still burned, smoking and
flaring to the roll of the ship upon the swell. The confusion here was
merely normal, and such as is always to be found in a ship's forecastle;
but the grand saloon presented a very different and terribly suggestive
appearance. The whole place was a scene of dreadful disorder and
violence, a carouse seeming to have been succeeded by a life and death
struggle. For the massive mahogany table was bare, while the cloth that
should have covered it lay upon the carpeted deck in a confused heap in
the midst of a medley of smashed decanters, glasses, and viands of
various descriptions, while the reek of spilled wine, mingled with the
odour of gunpowder and tobacco smoke, filled the air; one or two of the
handsome mirrors that adorned the cabin were smashed, the cracks
radiating from the point of fracture right out to the frame; two or
three discharged pistols and a broken sword lay among the debris on the
carpet; some of the rich velvet cushions had been torn off the locker
and then kicked under the table; and a number of men's, women's, and
children's garments lay scattered about the apartment. Nor was this
all. The doors of the staterooms on either side of t