Chapter 6 Chapter 6 The Cory Wilkan Vortex

It's six o'clock in the evening.With the sun only four-fifths of its way through the day, the Glengarry will almost certainly reach Oban before the sun sinks into the Atlantic.Miss Campbell had every reason to believe that her wish would be granted even this evening. There are no clouds or mist in the sky, which looks good for observation.During the final leg of the voyage, you should be able to see the horizon between the islands of Olonsay, Colonsay and Mull. But a wholly unexpected event would delay the steamer's progress. Fascinated by her idea, Miss Campbell stood motionless in place, staring at the arc of water between the two islands.Where the water and the sky met, the sun's reflections formed a silvery triangle that stretched as far as the side of the Glengarry before disappearing.

Miss Campbell was perhaps the only one on board looking at that stretch of horizon, and the only one noticing how turbulent the sea was between the headland and Saba.The distant sound of crashing waves reached her, but the breeze didn't ripple the sticky water, which was calm, broken only by the prow of the steamer. "Where does this sound and the turbulence of the water come from?" Miss Campbell asked her two uncles. The Melville brothers looked at each other, at a loss for an answer. They knew no more than she did about what had happened on the narrow channel three miles away.

Miss Campbell then went to talk to the captain of the Glengarry, who was walking on the ladder, and asked him the cause of the splashing and turbulence of the water. "It's just a tidal phenomenon," replied the captain. "You hear the sound of the Cory Wilkan vortex." "But the weather is fine," Miss Campbell reminded the captain, "and there is hardly any wind." "This phenomenon has nothing to do with the weather at all," replied the captain. "It is the result of the currents, which find their way out of the Jura-Sund between the islands of Hella and Scarba. There was a sudden increase in speed. It was a risk for a small-tonnage vessel to go there."

The formidable Cory Vilkan vortex in this area of ​​sea is listed as one of the strangest places in the Hebrides.It is equated with the rapids in the Gulf of Brittany formed by the narrowing of the seabed between the long reefs of the Hanin and the Gulf of Trepas in the Strait of Conin, or the rapids of the Strait of Blanchard, Manche The water of the strait passes between Origens and Fort Shell. Legend has it that it was named after a Scandinavian prince whose ship was wrecked there during the Celtic period. In fact, many ships have sunk in this very dangerous waterway, which has a bad name due to the rapid current and can be compared with the Maesdam Rapids on the coast of Norway.

Miss Campbell could not stop watching the violent undulations of this rapid when her attention was drawn to a black spot in the channel.If the current had not heaved and swayed with the undulations of the waves, one would have thought the black spot to be a rock standing in the middle of the channel. "Look, look, Captain," said Miss Campbell, "if it's not a rock, what is it?" "Actually," replied the captain, "it may be a flotsam carried by the current, or else..." He picked up the binoculars. "A boat!" he shouted. "A boat!" replied Miss Campbell.

"Yes...exactly...a small boat in distress on the waters of Cory Wilkan!" Hearing the captain's shout, the passengers rushed to the gangway and looked towards the vortex. It's a small boat caught in a vortex, no problem for sure.It was engulfed by the rising tide and sucked by the suction of the vortex, so it was very likely to sink. All eyes were on the little black speck in the vortex four or five miles away from the Glengarry. "Maybe it's just a wrecked boat drifting with the waves," said a passenger. "No! I see a man," said another. "One . . . two!" cried Partridge, standing beside Miss Campbell.

There were actually two men who had lost control of the skiff, whose sails might have pulled them out of the vortex if there had been a little wind from the land, but the oars could not have pulled them out of Corriere in any case. Pulled out by the gravitational pull of the Kan vortex. "Captain!" cried Miss Campbell, "we cannot allow these two unfortunate souls to die! If they are left to do so, they will surely perish! They must be saved! . . . should be . . . !" Everyone on board thought so, and they were all waiting for the captain's answer. "The Glengarry," he said, "can't venture into the Cory Wilkan vortex! But perhaps it will come within reach of the distressed boat as it draws closer."

He turned to the passengers, as if asking for their opinion. Miss Campbell came up to him. "Go, Captain, Captain! . . . " she cried in great anxiety, "my fellow travelers wish to save them as much as I do! Two lives are at stake, and you may save them. . . . Oh, Captain! !... Please!..." "Yes! Yes!" some passengers also shouted, they were touched by the young girl's enthusiastic behavior. The captain picked up the binoculars again, and carefully observed the direction of the current on the channel; then he called to the helmsman who was beside him on the rudder ladder: "Steer carefully!" He said, "Full left rudder!"

Under the action of the rudder, the steamer turned her head to the west.The technicians were ordered to sail at full speed, and the Glengarry quickly left the headland of Jura to her left. No one on the boat spoke, and all eyes were fixed on the boat anxiously. It became clearer and clearer that it was just a small fishing boat. huge recoil. Of the two men on board, one was lying in the stern while the other was paddling desperately, trying to escape from the gravity of the water.If he doesn't succeed, it's over for both of them. Half an hour later, the Glengarry reached the edge of the Corry Wilkan vortex, and the ship began to pitch back and forth violently with the first waves, but no one on board complained, although the rapid current was enough to make ordinary passengers terrified.

The sea water in this section of the strait is all white, like three sails blown by the wind.People can only see the wide and huge water surface with white foam, which is the water mass stirred up by the seawater at a little deeper level when it hits the plateau on the bottom of the sea. Half a mile from the boat.The one bent over the paddle of the two tried with all his strength to escape the vortex.He knew that the Glengarry was coming to save him, but he also knew that the steamer couldn't go any farther in and he had to join her.His companion was motionless at the stern, seemingly unconscious.

Miss Campbell, tormented by intense agitation, stared intently at the distressed boat, which she first spotted on the swirling waters, toward which, thanks to her entreaties, the Glengarry steered. The situation is getting worse.There were fears that the steamer would not arrive in time, and she was moving forward a little to avoid damage.Even so, the waves coming in from the bow were already threatening the deck windows of the boiler room, and there was a great possibility of shutting down the ship—a possibility that was terrible in lightning-fast currents. The captain leaned against the gangway to prevent the ship from drifting off course, and he maneuvered it very skillfully so that the ship would not be turned sideways in the water. The boat in distress couldn't get rid of the vortex, it suddenly disappeared behind a huge rock, and after a while was pulled by the current in the vortex, the speed of the current increased with the increase of the radius, the boat was like a sharp arrow, and it was like Like a stone shot from a slingshot, it made a circular motion as quickly as possible. "Quicker! Quicker!" went on Miss Campbell, unable to contain her anxiety. Seeing the turbulent water mass, some passengers uttered terrified cries.Knowing his responsibility, the captain was hesitant to continue driving into the current of the Cory Wilkan vortex. Yet at less than half a chain distance, about three hundred paces or so, between the distressed skiff and the Glengarry, the unfortunate occupants of the distressed skiff were clearly discernible. It was an old sailor and a young lad, the former lying in the stern, the latter rowing furiously. At this moment a huge wave hit the steamer violently, and made her situation difficult. The captain could no longer go further into the current, and he steered the boat with great difficulty, trying his best to keep it oriented in the circling current. Suddenly, the boat swayed a few times on a wave crest and then slid sideways and disappeared.A scream from the boat, a scream of terror! ...has the boat sunk!No, it came up again on the crest of another wave, and the superhuman strength of the oars pushed it towards the steamer. "Come on! Come on!" The sailors standing at the bow shouted. They had a bundle of rope ready to throw at the opportunity. Suddenly the captain saw a temporary calm on the sea between the two eddies, and ordered to drive at full speed.The Glengarry pumped up her horsepower and ventured into the waterway between the two islands as the boat drew closer to her. The line was thrown, caught and tied to the mast foot, and the Glengarry started backing up to get out of the vortex as quickly as possible.The boat was towed behind. At this moment the young man dropped his oars, and took his companion in his arms, and with the help of the sailor of the steamboat, the old sailor was hoisted aboard by ropes. They were suddenly hit by waves and trapped on the channel, and the old sailors could not help the young people, who could only rely on themselves. The lad jumped on the deck of the Glengarry, unfazed, with a calm countenance, and an attitude that showed that he was as gifted with mental courage as with physical courage. Immediately on board he had his companion, the owner of the boat, healed, and a brandy was brought immediately to restore him to consciousness. "Mr. Oliver," he called softly. "Ah! my old sailor!" answered the young man, "the waves! . . . " "Nothing! I've seen better ones! It doesn't appear anymore!  …" "Thank God! It was my carelessness. I always hoped to go further, and almost killed us! . . . At last we were saved!" "With your help, Mr. Oliver!" "No...with God's help!" The young man embraced the old sailor, and the excitement in his heart was beyond words, which moved everyone present. Then he turned to the captain of the Glengarry, who was coming down the gangway. "Captain," said he, "I don't know how to thank you for helping me just now." "Sir, that's what I should do. My passengers are more entitled to your thanks than I am." The young man shook hands with the captain sincerely, then took off his hat and thanked the passengers with a very elegant gesture. It can be said with certainty that he and his companions would have been involved in Corridor without the Glengarry. The center of the Erkan Vortex is dead. Miss Campbell stood aside while the others and the young man exchanged pleasantries.She doesn't want to mention her efforts in this thrilling rescue operation.She was standing in front of the gangway.As she turned towards the setting sun, suddenly, as if her reverie had come to life again, these words came out of her mouth: "Where's the light? Where's the sun?" "The sun's gone!" said Sam. "There's no light!" said Sibb. It was too late, the disc of the sun had just disappeared on the extremely clear sea level, and had already shot its green light into the sky!But Miss Campbell was not thinking about it at the time, and her absent-minded eyes missed this opportunity, which may not be found again until a long time later! " "It's a pity!" she murmured, not very chagrined, but thinking of what had just happened. The Glengarry turned to come out of Corry Wilkan's channel and resumed her northward journey.The old sailor returned to the boat after shaking hands with his companion for the last time, and set sail for Jura Island.As for the young man, his "doHach," a sort of leather duffel, was on board, and he was yet another passenger on the Glengarry bound for Oban. The steamer left the Isles of Shuna and Loueng on the left, where there was the slate mine of the Marquess of Bradrapan, and sailed along the Isle of Sale, which has always protected this section of the Scottish coast, and soon entered Lorne Bay, which sails between the volcanic island of Kerrere and the mainland.Bathed in the last rays of dusk, its cables were tied to the ramparts of Port Oban.