The dry wood is a godsend. Thanks to this resource, I expect to encounter only a modicum of hostility whilst making my case next week for what might be called the Medusa initiative for avoiding famine. “Only a degenerate savage would consume the raw flesh of his own kind,” I’ll tell our assembled company. “Thanks to the Franklin stove and its ample supply of fuel, however, we can prepare our meals via broiling, roasting, braising, and other such civilized techniques.”

5 May 1912

Lat. 28°10’N, Long. 54°40 ‘W

I am still reeling from the New York Post’s coverage of the 15 April tragedy. Upon reaching the disaster site, Captain Roston of the Carpathia and Captain Lord of the Californian scanned the whole area with great diligence, finding no survivors or dead bodies, merely a few deck chairs and other debris. By the following morning they’d concluded that the mighty liner had gone down with all souls, and so they called off the search.

The Ada’s company greeted the news of their ostensible extinction with a broad spectrum of responses. Frustration was the principal emotion. I also witnessed despair, grief, bitterness, outrage, amusement, hysterical laughter, fatalistic resignation, and even — if I read correctly the countenances of certain first-cabin and amidships voyagers — fascination with the possibility that, should we in fact bump into one of the Lesser Antilles, a man might simply slip away, start his life anew, and allow his family and friends to count him amongst those who’d died of exposure on day one.

If the Post report may be believed, our would-be rescuers initially thought it odd that Captain Smith had neglected to order his passengers and crew into lifebelts. Rostron and Lord speculated that, once the Titanic’s entire company realized their situation was hopeless, with the Grim Reaper making ready to trawl for their souls within a mere two hours, a tragic consensus had emerged. As Stanley Lord put it, “I can hear the oath now, ringing down the Titanic’s companionways. ‘The time has come for us to embrace our wives, kiss our children, pet our dogs, praise the Almighty, break out the wine and stop trying to defy a Divine Will far greater than our own.’ “