happily the mast, already bending
almost double, was removed by the men from its socket before it should
be snapped short off. One gust caught away the tiller, which went adrift
beyond all power of recovery, and the same blast blew down several of
the planks that formed the low parapet on the larboard side, so that the
waves dashed in without hindrance through the breach.

The carpenter and his mates tried to repair the damage, but, tossed from
wave to wave, the raft was inclined to an angle of more than forty-five
degrees, making it impossible for them to keep their footing, and
rolling one over another, they were thrown down by the violent shocks.
Why they were not altogether carried away, why we were not all hurled
into the sea, was to me a mystery. Even if the cords that bound us
should retain their hold, it seemed perfectly incredible that the raft
itself should not be overturned, so that we should be carried down and
stifled in the seething waters.

At last, towards three in the morning, when the hurricane seemed to be
raging more fiercely than ever, the raft, caught up on the crest of
an enormous wave, stood literally perpendicularly on its edge. For
an instant, by the illumination of the lightning, we beheld ourselves
raised to an incomprehensible height above the foaming breakers. Cries
of terror escaped our lips. All must be over now! But no; another
moment, and the raft had resumed its horizontal position. Safe, indeed,
we were, but the tremendous upheaval was not without its melancholy
consequences. The cords that secured the cases of provisions had
burst asunder. One case rolled overboard, and the side of one of the
water-barrels was staved in, so that the water which it contained was
rapidly escaping. Two of the sailors rushed forward to rescue the case
of preserved meat; but one of them caught his foot between the planks
of the platform, and, unable to disengage it, the poor fellow stood
uttering-cries of distress.

I tried to go to his assistance, and had already untied the cord that
was round me; but I was too late. Another heavy sea dashed over us, and
by the light of a dazzling flash I saw the unhappy man, although he
had managed without assistance to disengage his foot, washed overboard
before it was in my power to get near him. His companion had also
disappeared.

The same ponderous wave laid me prostrate on the platform, and as my
head came in collision with the corner of a spar, for a time I l