they had on their stomachs. And the next day
morning, being the fourth day, we found one
of our boat mates lying dead in the boat; and
after we said a few prayers over him, we
committed his body to the deep with a sorrowful
heart; for we were all very weak by this time.
And that same day, about four o'clock, another
of our boat mates was taken raving mad, and
after ill-using himself a good deal, he jumped
overboard, and the sharks soon finished him.
And now there were only four of us left, and
we suffered a good deal with thirst. I can't
say I was very hungry, but I was terribly dry;
and the next morning, being the fifth day, we
found another of our boat mates dead. It was
as much as the three of us could do to heave
him overboard, for we were so weak we could
not stand upon our feet; but after a good
deal of trouble we got him out of the boat.
And after that we turned to and licked the
dew off the oars and the boat, to quench our
thirst; and so we passed away the fifth day.
And some time during the night our other
comrade died; we heard him groan, but we
could not help him. And when day-light
came the next morning we saw a ship quite
close to us, but both me and my partner were
so weak that we could not get up to show
ourselves; but I made shift to hold one of
the boat's flags up. The ship, when she came
close to us, hove to, and lowered a boat down,
and towed us alongside of the ship; but which
way we got on board of her, I can't tell.

When I came to myself I found that I was
on board of a whaler, belonging to London,
and that my poor partner, the mate of our
ship, had died about four hours after he got
on board of her, and the doctor told me that
there was no fear of me if the fever only kept
off. I found myself very weak, and I could
not stand upon my legs. Now the four men
that died in the boat were the four men that
eat of the whale that we were towing off. The
ship that I got on board of was called the
"Neptune," and she was a full ship, bound
home, and I was obliged .to go home in her.

We arrived safe at Gravesend the 24th day
of September, after being away two years and
four months. After we got the ship safe into
the docks, I went to Mr. Mellish's to see my
son; but, what was my surprise to find that
my son had gone to sea, and that Mr. Bland
was dead, and that his widow had gone into
the country to live along with her friends.
Mr. Mellish told me that my son, after hearing
of my misfortune, had been continually teasing
him to let him go to sea in one of his ships,
for he said he wanted to look for his father;
and, having a ship ready to sail, he at last
consented to let him go, and he sailed in a
ship, called the " Seringapatam," and was
gone from England about five months. And
Mr. Mellish told me that he had been a very
good lad, and that he was very sorry to lose
him from his sail-loft. And now, after our
oil was sold, I received my wages, which
amounted to ninety-three pounds, for the
captain and Mr. Mellish were kind enough to
pay me for the whole time that I had been
away from the ship. In a South-Sea-man the
men have no monthly wages, but go by the
shares, and they got a good many fish during
the time I had been away. And now, having
no acquaintance in London, I intended to go
in the first ship that was bound to the South
Seas, to look after my son.

Mr. Mellish had a ship fitting out, called
the " Spring Grove," and I agreed to go as
second mate; and we sailed from Gravesend
on the 3rd of November, 1818, and, thanks be
to God, we had a very good passage to
James's Island. Our passage lay round
the south-west point of the island, where
there lies a dangerous reef, called the
Papases. By going inside of the reef you
can fetch your anchorage without making
a tack. Now, on the evening of the 2nd of
February, it being a fine night, our captain
intended to go inside of the reef. I reasoned
against it as much as I could, but it was of no
use, for the mate said he had been through
the passage a dozen times, and he could take
the ship through it; for he said if we went
outside of the reef, it would take us a whole
day to work up to our anchorage; and accordingly
we went. I had the first watch on deck,
which is from eight o'clock till twelve at
night; but the captain being on deck all my
watch, everything went according to his direction.
And at twelve o'clock the mate came
up, and took charge from me, and I went
below to my cabin, and I soon went to sleep;
but I had not laid long, when I was awoke by
the ship striking upon the rocks. I jumped
up and put on my trousers and my old jacket,
and on deck I went; but when I got there,
the sea was making a clean breach right over
the ship. And as soon as I got clear of the
companion hatch, a cross sea took me and
hove me against the larboard bulwarks, and
carried me, bulwarks and all, away overboard;
and I tried to swim a bit, but I still kept hold
of the piece of bulwark till another tremendous
sea took me and hove me on shore. But the
blow that I received knocked me senseless,
and there I lay till about seven or eight
o'clock next morning, when I came to myself,
and I found our dog Nero standing alongside
of me, licking my wounds; for my head was
cut, and my left side, where I had been hove
against the rocks. When I got up, which I
could scarcely do, I looked round to see if I
could see anything of the ship or any of my
shipmates; but I could see nothing, only the
dog, and he kept running to a short distance
from me, and kept barking at something, and
then came back to me again as much as to
say, " come here and look." And at last I
went to see what it was, though I had a good
deal of trouble to get there: and when I
got there, I found one of my shipmates lying
amongst the rocks, and you may depend I
was glad to see it; but when I tried to
get him up, I found he was quite dead,