done all he could for the poor wretches,
he was glad to turn anew to the question of the raft. To a man
accustomed as he was to the quick devising of expedients it was not
difficult to scheme out the plan of such a structure as would serve his
purpose. Looking about him and collecting a quantity of such small
pieces of wreckage as had nails in them, he formed them into a heap, to
which with the aid of some dry grass and withered leaves and a lens from
his telescope, he set fire and left it to consume. Then picking out
three 6-inch planks of about equal length he sharpened their ends with
his axe and laid them on the beach, at a distance of about three feet
apart, with their sharpened ends pointing seaward. He next procured
three pieces of plank long enough to just cross the first three planks
at right angles; and as soon as his bonfire had burned itself out he
cleared the nails from among the ashes, and with them fastened his
structure together. Two short pieces of plank nailed vertically in
midships, with another piece secured on top of that, formed a rough-and-
ready seat; and two other pieces secured crosswise on each side to the
outer edges of his raft, and at the distance of about a foot abaft the
seat, gave him a fairly serviceable substitute for rowlocks. He had
already been fortunate enough to find a couple of small oars, and he now
thought he might venture to essay a trip to the wreck.

Small as was his raft, it was still so heavy as to give him some trouble
in the launching of it; but he at length got it fairly afloat, and
seating himself in the centre, adjusted his oars and began to try its
paces. He was greatly surprised to find that he could propel it through
the water at a very fair speed, and without much effort; and, this fact
ascertained, he at once headed straight for the wreck, which he safely
reached in about half an hour.

There were plenty of ropes'-ends dangling from the ship's side, to one
of which he made fast his raft, and laying the oars carefully down in
such a manner as that they would not be likely to slip overboard, he
scrambled on board the wreck and reached the steeply inclined deck.

The wreck appeared to be fully as large as he had supposed; and he was
agreeably surprised to find, on investigation, that she had not received
nearly so much damage as he had anticipated, indeed her injuries seemed
to be confined almost entirely to the loss of her masts, bulwarks, and
deck-houses.