t adrift, still about a mile from the shore. I next swept the
entire horizon with the telescope, in search of other land, or a sail,
but not a hint of the presence of either could I detect in any
direction. I was especially anxious to fall in with a ship as soon as
possible, it being my intention to borrow a few more men, if I could;
for our experiences of the past night had already demonstrated to us
that while it was certainly possible for us four to handle the ship in
fine weather, it meant heavy work, while in bad weather it might easily
prove impossible. The one thing of paramount importance to us, while we
were so short-handed, was plenty of sea room; and this I was determined
to keep, ay, although to do so should add another thousand miles to the
length of the voyage.

Having taken a thoroughly exhaustive look round I descended to the deck
and busied myself about a number of odd jobs that needed attention, such
as hauling taut and coiling up as much of the running gear as had been
cast off the pins during the night.

In this way I contrived to pass a fairly busy morning until seven bells,
when I called Saunders to turn out and start work in the galley,
afterward taking my sextant on deck to catch the meridian altitude of
the sun. Then, immediately after dinner, I retired to my cabin and,
throwing off the clothing that I had now worn for more than thirty
hours, stretched myself upon my bunk, and slept like a log until Grace
Hartley--who had left the cabin an hour or so before--knocked at my door
to tell me that it was four bells and supper was ready.

By this time we had all had at least six hours' sleep, and felt able to
face the coming night with equanimity, the more so for the reason that
the weather promised to continue fine. The ship was still under her two
topsails and fore topmast staysail, under which she was doing very well,
her average rate of sailing throughout the day having been, as nearly as
possible, four and a half knots. There was a nice topgallant breeze
blowing, and we all felt that we should like to have availed ourselves
of it to the fullest possible extent; but making sail and taking it in
were two very different things--we could make sail at our leisure, but
we should probably be in a hurry when the shortening process became
necessary; moreover, to swing the topsail and lower yards, with the
strength at our command, was quite as much as we could well manage.
After talking the matter