held moderate, it was not of much
consequence if one or two of the rowers kept
dropping, in turn, into a kind of faint sleep over
their oars. But if it came on to blow again
(and we could expect nothing else in those
seas and at that time of the year), how was
I to steer, when the blades of the oars were
out of the water ten times as often as they
were in? The lives which we had undergone
such suffering to preserve would have
been lost in an instant by the swamping of
the boat, if the wind had risen on the morning
of Thursday, and had caught us trying to
row any longer.

Feeling this, I resolved, while the weather
held moderately fine, to hoist the best
substitute for a sail that we could produce, and
to drive before the wind, on the chance (the
last we had to hope for) of a ship picking us
up. We had only continued to use the oars
up to this time, in order to keep the course
which the Captain had pointed out as
likeliest to bring us near the land. Sailing
had been out of the question from the first,
the masts and suits of sails belonging to each
boat having been out of them at the time of
the wreck, and having gone down with the
ship. This was an accident which there was
no need to deplore, for we were too crowded
from the first to admit of handling the boats
properly, under their regular press of sail,
in anything like rough weather.

Having made up my mind on what it was
necessary to do, I addressed the men, and
told them that any notion of holding longer
on our course with the oars was manifestly
out of the question, and dangerous to all on
board, as their own common sense might tell
them, in the state to which the stoutest arms
among us were now reduced. They looked
round on each other as I said that, each man
seeming to think his neighbour weaker than
himself. I went on, and told them that we
must take advantage of our present glimpse
of moderate weather, and hoist the best sail
we could set up, and drive before the wind,
in the hope that it might please God to direct
us in the way of some ship before it was too
late. “Our only chance, my men,” I said, in
conclusion, “is the chance of being picked
up; and in these desolate seas one point of
the compass is just as likely a point for our
necessities as another. Half of you keep
the boat before the sea, the other half bring
out your knives, and do as I tell you.” The
prospect of being relieved from the oars
struck the wandering attention of the men
directly; and they said, “Ay, ay, sir!” with
something like a faint reflection of their
former readiness, when the good ship was
under their feet, and the mess-cans were
filled with plenty of wholesome food.

Thanks to Captain Ravender’s forethought
in providing both boats with a coil of rope,
we had our lashings, and the means of
making what rigging was wanted, ready
to hand. One of the oars was made fast
to the thwart, and well stayed fore and
aft, for a mast. A large pilot coat that I
wore was spread; enough of sail for us. The
only difficulty that puzzled me was
occasioned by the necessity of making a yard.
The men tried to tear up one of the thwarts,
but were not strong enough. My own knife
had been broken in the attempt to split a bit
of plank for them; and I was almost at my
wit’s end, when I luckily thought of searching
the Captain’s pockets for his knife. I
found it—a fine large knife of Sheffield
manufacture, with plenty of blades, and a small
saw among them. With this we made a shift
to saw off about a third of another oar; and
then the difficulty was conquered; and
we got my pilot-coat hoisted on our jury-
mast, and rigged it as nigh as we could to the
fashion of a lug-sail.

I had looked anxiously towards the Surf-
boat, while we were rigging our mast, and
observed, with a feeling of great relief,
that the men in her—as soon as they
discovered what we were about—were wise
enough to follow our example. They got on
faster than we did; being less put to it for
room to turn round in. We set our sails as
nearly as possible about the same time; and
it was well for both boats that we finished
our work when we did. At noon the wind began
to rise again to a stiff breeze, which soon
knocked up a heavy, tumbling sea. We drove
before it in a direction North and by East,
keeping wonderfully dry, considering all
things. The mast stood well; and the sail,
small as it was, did good service in steadying
the boat and lifting her easily over the seas.
I felt the cold after the loss of my coat, but not
so badly as I had feared; for the two men who
were with me in the stern sheets, sat as close
as they could on either side of me, and helped
with the warmth of their own bodies to keep
the warmth in mine. Forward, I told off
half-a-dozen of the most trustworthy of the
men who could still muster strength enough
to keep their eyes open, to set a watch, turn
and turn about, on our frail rigging. The
wind was steadily increasing, and if any
accident happened to our mast, the chances were
that the boat would broach-to, and that
every one of us would go to the bottom.

So we drove on—all through that day—
sometimes catching sight of the Surf-boat
a little ahead of us—sometimes losing her
altogether in the scud. How little and
frail, how very different to the kind of
boat that I had expected to see, she
looked to my eyes now that I was out
of her, and saw what she showed like on
the waters for the first time! But to
return to the Long-boat. The watch on the
rigging was relieved every two hours, and at
the same regular periods all the brightest
eyes left amongst us looked out for the
smallest vestige of a sail in view, and looked in
vain. Among the passengers, nothing
happened in the way of a change—except that