s morning Curtis asked our
attention for a moment.

"My friends," he said, "listen to me. Here on this raft, just as when we
were on board the 'Chancellor,' I consider myself your captain; and as
your captain, I expect that all of you will strictly obey my orders. Let
me beg of you, one and all, to think solely of our common welfare; let
us work with one heart and with one soul, and may Heaven protect us!"

After delivering these few words with an emotion that evidenced their
earnestness, the captain consulted his compass, and found that the
freshening breeze was blowing from the north. This was fortunate for us,
and no time was to be lost in taking advantage of it to speed us on our
dubious way. Dowlas was occupied in fixing the mast into the socket that
had already been prepared for its reception, and in order to support
it more firmly he placed spurs of wood, forming arched buttresses, on
either side. While he was thus employed the boatswain and the other
seamen were stretching the large royal sail on the yard that had been
reserved for that purpose.

By half-past nine the mast was hoisted, and held firmly in its place by
some shrouds attached securely to the sides of the raft; then the
sail was run up and trimmed to the wind, and the raft began to make a
perceptible progress under the brisk breeze.

As soon as we had once started, the carpenter set to work to contrive
some sort of a rudder, that would enable us to maintain our desired
direction. Curtis and Falsten assisted him with some serviceable
suggestions, and in a couple of hours' time he had made and fixed to
the back of the raft a kind of paddle, very similar to those used by the
Malays.

At noon, after the necessary preliminary observations, Curtis took
the altitude of the sun. The result gave lat. 15deg. 7min. N. by long.
49deg. 35min. W. as our position, which, on consulting the chart, proved
to be about 650 miles north-east of the coast of Paramaribo in Dutch
Guiana.

Now even under the most favourable circumstances, with trade-winds and
weather always in our favour, we cannot by any chance hope to make more
than ten or twelve miles a day, so that the voyage cannot possibly be
performed under a period of two months. To be sure there is the hope to
be indulged that we may fall in with a passing vessel, but as the part
of the Atlantic into which we have been driven is intermediate between
the tracks of the French and English Transatlantic steamers e