ould be necessary," I heard Mudge observe to my
father. "But, if I mistake not, it was somewhere about here that
Captain Cook, on his first voyage round the world, was nearly lost in
the _Endeavour_; though I think he must have been further off-shore.
His ship was in a worse condition than ours, I suspect, for she went on
shore at high-water; and it was not till after two or three tides had
fallen and risen, and a large quantity of her stores had been hove
overboard, that she was got off. Even then she would have foundered,
had not a fothered sail--the use of which was not so generally known
then as at present--been got under her bottom, by which she was kept
afloat till she was carried into Endeavour River. Never perhaps was a
ship so nearly lost; and yet, bad as was her condition, she continued
her voyage round the world, and arrived safely in England."

"You hear what Mr Mudge says, my men," observed my father to the crew;
"it ought to encourage us: but whether we get the ship off or not, I
feel very confident that we shall reach the shore without difficulty."

"Never fear for us, sir," cried Ned Burton--"we'll do our duty; and if
the brig don't budge, it will not be our fault."

In the meantime, while I was below, the sails were furled, and the
carpenter, by my father's orders, had sounded the well. He now reported
six feet of water in the hold; which showed that the water must be
rushing in with fearful rapidity. The pumps were immediately manned,
and all hands set to work to keep it under as much as possible.

While the mates were labouring with the men at the pumps, my father and
Mudge and I tried the depth of water round the ship. Although there was
sufficient on the lee side to float the boats--we found six feet
astern--there were not more than eight feet on the weather or starboard
side. We thus knew that she must have beaten over the ledge into a sort
of basin, from which it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to
extricate her. As the sea, however, did not beat against her with much
force, we hoped, should the wind not again increase, that she would hold
together till we could get such stores out of her as would be necessary
for our support. We were, we knew, a long way from any of the
settlements, and, though we might reach them in the boats, a voyage
along that rocky and inhospitable coast would be a dangerous one. My
father did not perhaps express what he thought to the crew, as he wish