l they were at an angle
of about forty-five degrees with the horizon, when the vessel recovered
herself so suddenly that the little party on board had to cling on for
their lives or they would have been flung into the sea. A heavy roll or
two followed, and the vessel then settled upon an even keel once more,
with the water pouring in torrents out of the canvas down on to the
deck, and wetting Mr Gaunt and his crew to the skin. Captain Blyth was
personally superintending his share of the operations from the _Flying
Cloud's_ forecastle, and at the proper moment the end of the hawser was
cast off and let fly overboard, to be recovered later on by the gig.

The first thing the engineer now did was to heave-to the barque as well
as he could with his scanty crew; his next act was to sound the well,
with the result that a depth of five feet of water was found in the
hold. This, however, was not so formidable a matter as it at first
sight appeared; for, the hold being tightly packed with cargo, the water
could only get into the interstices, and a comparatively small quantity
would consequently show a large rise in the pump-well.

A strong gang was now sent on board the barque, with the chief-mate in
command; and the pumps were at once manned. A quarter of an hour's work
at these sufficed to show that the vessel was making no water (that
which was already in her having doubtless made its way in through the
top-sides and down the pump-well whilst the craft was on her beam-ends);
the men therefore went to work with a will, and by eight bells in the
afternoon watch it was reported that the ship was dry.

Mr Gaunt, meanwhile, made his way into the cabin as soon as the mate
took charge, and proceeded to give the place a general overhaul, with
the object of ascertaining who and what the vessel was. He succeeded in
finding the log-book, log-slate, and the captain's desk, with all of
which he proceeded on board the _Flying Cloud_. The articles were
placed in the hands of Captain Blyth, who forthwith sat down to examine
them, with the result that the barque was found to be the _Umhloti_ of
Aberdeen, her commander's name being Anderson. She was from Port Natal,
bound to London, thirty-three days out when discovered; and her cargo
consisted of hides, ivory, indigo, coffee, sugar, and wool. She was
therefore a very valuable find, well worth the time and trouble they
were devoting to her. The last entry on the log-slate had been ma