se to the spot. The man saw us
coming. It was not without difficulty that we managed to haul him on
board so as to avoid striking him or staving in the boat against the
piece of wreck which had kept him up. To my surprise I found that he
was the very gentleman who had assisted in forming the raft before the
ship went down. I knew him by the case, which he still had secured to
his side. He was so exhausted that for some minutes he could not speak,
though he was evidently making an effort to do so. At length, beckoning
me to put my ear down to his mouth, he asked in a low voice whether we
had seen his wife and child, with the nurse. The only comfort I could
afford him was by telling him that I had caught sight of several small
rafts, and possibly they might be upon one of them. He had been washed
away before he could secure himself when the ship foundered; and though
he was carried down with her, on rising to the surface he had caught
hold of the piece of wreck to which we had found him clinging.

"There we were, fourteen human beings in a small boat out in the middle
of the Atlantic, the dark foaming seas surrounding us, without a
particle of food or a drop of fresh water, while our two oars scarcely
enabled us to keep her head to the sea, and save her from being capsized
or swamped.

"I do not like to talk or even to think of the horrors which followed.
Daylight had now come on, but all around was gloom, the dark clouds
appearing like a pall just above our heads, and hanging round on either
side, so as to circumscribe the horizon to the narrowest limits. Here
and there I occasionally thought that I saw a few dark spots, which
might have been the boats and rafts, or pieces of the wreck.

"The day passed by and there was no abatement of the gale. The Lascars
had again taken the oars, but as night again approached, worn out with
hunger and fatigue, they refused to pull any longer, and the gentleman
offering to steer, the three other men and I took it by turns to labour
at the oars.

"Thus the second night passed by. I had begun to feel faint and hungry,
and to experience the pangs of thirst; and, judging by my own
sensations, I felt sure that, should we not fall in with a ship during
the coming day, some of my companions would give way. Another morning
dawned, but no sail was in sight. One of the Lascars lay dead in the
bows, the rest were stretched out under the thwarts, unable even to
continue baling, an