They stated themselves to be the crew of a
small Dutch Indiaman, which had foundered at sea two days before; she
had started one of her planks, and filled so rapidly that the men had
hardly time to save themselves. They consisted of the captain, mates,
and twenty men belonging to the ship, and an old Portuguese Catholic
priest, who had been sent home by the Dutch governor, for having
opposed the Dutch interests in the Island of Japan. He had lived with
the natives, and been secreted by them for some time, as the Japanese
government was equally desirous of capturing him, with the intention
of taking away his life. Eventually he found himself obliged to throw
himself into the arms of the Dutch, as being the less cruel of his
enemies. The Dutch government decided that he should be sent away from the
country; and he had, in consequence, been put on board of the Indiaman
for a passage home. By the report of the captain and crew, one person
only had been lost; but he was a person of consequence, having for
many years held the situation of president in the Dutch factory at
Japan. He was returning to Holland with the riches which he had
amassed. By the evidence of the captain and crew, he had insisted,
after he was put into the boat, upon going back to the ship to secure
a casket of immense value, containing diamonds and other precious
stones, which he had forgotten; they added, that while they were
waiting for him the ship suddenly plunged her bowsprit under, and
went down head foremost, and that it was with difficulty they had
themselves escaped. They had waited for some time to ascertain if he
would rise again to the surface, but he appeared no more. "I knew that something would happen," observed the captain of the
sunken vessel, after he had been sitting a short time in the cabin
with Philip and the captain of the _Batavia_; "we saw the Fiend or
Devil's Ship, as they call her, but three days before." "What! the _Flying Dutchman_, as they name her?" asked Philip. "Yes; that, I believe, is the name they give her," replied the
captain. "I have often heard of her; but it never was my fate to fall
in with her before, and I hope it never will be again; for I am a
ruined man, and must begin the world afresh." "I have heard of that vessel," observed the captain of the _Batavia_. "Pray, how did she appear to you?" "Why, the fact is, I did not see anything but the loom of her hull,"
replied the other. "It was very strange; the night was fine, and the
heavens clear; we were under top-gallant sails, for I do not carry on
during the night, or else we might have put the royals on her; she
would have carried them with the breeze. I had turned in, when about
two o'clock in the morning the mate called me to come on deck. I
demanded what was the matter, and he replied he could hardly tell, but
that the men were much frightened, and that there was a Ghost Ship, as
the sailors termed it, in sight. I went on deck; all the horizon was
clear, but on our quarter was a sort of fog, round as a ball, and not
more than two cables' length from us. We were going about four knots
and a half free, and yet we could not escape from this mist. 'Look
there,' said the mate. 'Why, what the devil can it be?' said I,
rubbing my eyes. 'No banks up to windward, and yet a fog in the middle
of a clear sky, with a fresh breeze, and with water all around it;'
for you see the fog did not cover more than a dozen cables' length, as
we could perceive by the horizon on each side of it. 'Hark, sir!' said the mate--'they are speaking again.' 'Speaking!' said I, and I
listened; and from out this ball of fog I heard voices. At last, one
cried out, 'Keep a sharp look-out forward, d'ye hear?' 'Ay, ay, sir!' replied another voice. 'Ship on the starboard bow, sir.' 'Very well;
strike the bell there forward.' And then we heard the bell toll. 'It
must be a vessel,' said I to the mate. 'Not of this world, sir,'
replied he. 'Hark!' 'A gun ready forward.' 'Ay, ay, sir!' was now
heard out of the fog, which appeared to near us; 'all ready, sir.' 'Fire!' The report of the gun sounded on our ears like thunder, and
then--"

"Well, and then?" said the captain of the _Batavia_, breathless. "And then," replied the other captain, solemnly, "the fog and all
disappeared as if by magic, the whole horizon was clear, and there was
nothing to be seen." "Is it possible?" "There are twenty men on deck to tell the story," replied the captain. "And the old Catholic priest to boot, for he stood by me the whole
time I was on deck. The men said that some accident would happen; and
in the morning watch, on sounding the well, we found four feet water. We took to the pumps, but it gained upon us, and we went down, as I
have told you. The mate says that the vessel is well known--it is
called the _Flying Dutchman_." Philip made no remarks at the time, but he was much pleased at what
he had heard. "If," thought he, "the Phantom Ship of my poor father
appears to others as well as to me, and they are sufferers, my being
on board can make no difference. I do but take my chance of falling
in with her, and do not risk the lives of those who sail in the same
vessel with me. Now my mind is relieved, and I can prosecute my search
with a quiet conscience." The next day Philip took an opportunity of making the acquaintance of
the Catholic priest, who spoke Dutch and other languages as well as
he did Portuguese. He was a venerable old man, apparently about sixty
years of age, with a white flowing beard, mild in his demeanour, and
very pleasing in his conversation. When Philip kept his watch that night, the old man walked with him,
and it was then, after a long conversation, that Philip confided to
him that he was of the Catholic persuasion. "Indeed, my son, that is unusual in a Hollander." "It is so," replied Philip; "nor is it known on board--not that I am
ashamed of my religion, but I wish to avoid discussion." "You are prudent, my son. Alas! if the reformed religion produces no
better fruit than what I have witnessed in the East, it is little
better than idolatry." "Tell me, father," said Philip--"they talk of a miraculous vision--of
a ship not manned by mortal men. Did you see it?" "I saw what others saw," replied the priest; "and certainly, as far as
my senses would enable me to judge, the appearance was most unusual--I
may say supernatural; but I had heard of this Phantom Ship before, and
moreover that its appearance was the precursor of disaster. So did it
prove in our case, although, indeed, we had one on board, now no more,
whose weight of guilt was more than sufficient to sink any vessel;
one, the swallowing up of whom, with all that wealth from which he
anticipated such enjoyment in his own country, has manifested that
the Almighty will, even in this world, sometimes wreak just and awful
retribution on those who have merited His vengeance." "You refer to the Dutch President who went down with the ship when it
sank."