Page 202 - The Tigris Expedition

We Gain Control of Tigris

had to throw aside our binoculars and turn all attention to ourselves
and our own ship. A sudden treacherous gust of wind, helped by a
twisting wave, unexpectedly threw us side on to the weather and
before the sail could be adjusted or the unfortunate helmsman could
get us back on course, all the devils in the universe seemed to
thunder down upon us. From a course of 80° the bow danced
around, past 0° to 340°, and within seconds all hands were on deck in
a terrible fight to regain control of our vessel. The wind threw itself
upon the rigging and bamboo walls with a violence not yet
experienced on this voyage. The thick sail battered with a force that
would lift any man off the deck, and loops and rope-ends from
sheets, braces and leach-lines whipped left and right and struck at
everything on board. Like savages we clung to the canvas and
ropes, and in the mad fight that followed the wooden block that
held the port side topping lift split asunder and the yardarm with the
sail sagged to port. The flapping and slashing sail had to come down
quickly before all the rigging broke. But the loops of the halyard,
normally easy to loosen were under such pressure where they were
wound around the bridge railing that no combination of men were
able to unfasten it, and the canvas, flapping in fury on a slanting
yardarm, had to remain up at the mercy of the storm. I gave thanks
that this was our smaller sail and not the giant we had rejected.
I stole some seconds to look for the strange structures ahead of us
while the battle raged on deck, bridge and cabin roofs. There they
were. But the dhow was gone and we saw it no more. The ghostly
castles in the blue haze were much closer now and caught the first
light of a breaking day. In one place was a huge platform resting on
round pillars, tall and thick like towers, like a castle upside down.
Two other formations were quite different; they really looked like
mosques or oriental castles, filled with masts and spires, even
houses. We did not know if they stood on reefs or shallows or were
anchored and afloat, but the sea that ran densely white-capped
everywhere was really wild, trying to climb the columns and
ramparts of these solid impediments. During our desperate fight we
could see that we would drift clear to the south, avoiding collision,
even if we failed to straighten out our sail and regain control of the
steering. But these man-made obstacles were clearly quite new, for
there was no sign of them on our chart; therefore we did not know
what more might lurk beyond. At this time two gigantic tankers
crossed in front of us, and a third passed along our side. Too big to
roll like us, they split the swelling seas into white geysers that rose
high up their bows. We had no such geysers striking our bundles,
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