Alec is exhausted and injured and spends a few days in bed cheered by a wire from his parents who have been contacted by the sailors. He refuses to leave the island without the Black. Alec is determined to ride the horse and one night throws himself onto the stallion's back but the stallion tears and Alec is thrown off.He continues to try until the horse begins to race down the beach, jumping a gulley and ending up on the sand again.Īlec's fire is caught by the wind and ends up burning his shelter down, but this turns out to be a positive thing as a passing ship sees the flames and Alec finds himself explaining his odyssey to the sailors. The Black seems to trust Alec, and their friendship grows. He hits upon a edible moss called carragheen, which both he and the Black are able to eat. He remembers how to start a fire, cooks the fish and tries to come up with a plan for alternative foodstuffs. He continues to try day after day but catches only one or two. The rest of the day is devoted to trying to catch fish with no success. Then he turns his attention to building a shelter for himself. It is completely deserted and Alec realizes that he and the Black are the only survivors of the shipwreck.Īlec follows the Black to a small spring water pool and drinks thirstily. He ploughs on through the water all night until morning when they finally reach an island. Soon the ship begins sinking Alec sees the black stallion break free of his stall and begin to swim so Alec grabs hold of the rope hanging from his halter and the Black pulls him along. Captain Watson piles passengers into a lifeboat but a huge wave turns it over and it disappears into the ocean. The Drake seems to be cut in half and is sinking.

The ship seems to survive the storm but as it is subsiding, lightning strikes the hull and the engines go dead. Alec puts on his lifebelt and makes his way onto deck. The Drake sails through Arabia and North Africa and is heading for England when a storm hits it is a wild, severe storm that rocks the ship. Eventually, after a long struggle, they manage to wrestle him into a stall but the stallion hates being contained and every night the passengers can hear him kicking and trying to escape. As they are preparing to leave port in Arabia, Alec sees four men attempting to lead a wild black stallion up the gangplank onto the ship. He is enjoying the voyage and proud of the fact he has not been seasick at all. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.Īlexander Ramsay Jr is travelling back to New York by sea after spending a fun two months in India with his Uncle Ralph. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

The Black Stallion by Walter Farley