Sentence:  Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers,nb.... Even such a boat as the "Mount Vernon" offered a total deck <WSD>space</WSD> so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A (chiefly empty) area or volume with set limits or boundaries. (from 14thc.)