reeze still blew
from the N. W., but the weather was not at all cold. Augustus was lashed
carefully to windward in such a manner as to prevent him from slipping
overboard with the rolls of the vessel, as he was still too weak to
hold on at all. For ourselves there was no such necessity. We sat close
together, supporting each other with the aid of the broken ropes
about the windlass, and devising methods of escape from our frightful
situation. We derived much comfort from taking off our clothes and
wringing the water from them. When we put them on after this, they felt
remarkably warm and pleasant, and served to invigorate us in no little
degree. We helped Augustus off with his, and wrung them for him, when he
experienced the same comfort.

Our chief sufferings were now those of hunger and thirst, and when we
looked forward to the means of relief in this respect, our hearts sunk
within us, and we were induced to regret that we had escaped the
less dreadful perils of the sea. We endeavoured, however, to console
ourselves with the hope of being speedily picked up by some vessel
and encouraged each other to bear with fortitude the evils that might
happen.

The morning of the fourteenth at length dawned, and the weather still
continued clear and pleasant, with a steady but very light breeze from
the N. W. The sea was now quite smooth, and as, from some cause which we
could not determine, the brig did not lie so much along as she had done
before, the deck was comparatively dry, and we could move about with
freedom. We had now been better than three entire days and nights
without either food or drink, and it became absolutely necessary that we
should make an attempt to get up something from below. As the brig was
completely full of water, we went to this work despondently, and with
but little expectation of being able to obtain anything. We made a kind
of drag by driving some nails which we broke out from the remains of the
companion-hatch into two pieces of wood. Tying these across each other,
and fastening them to the end of a rope, we threw them into the cabin,
and dragged them to and fro, in the faint hope of being thus able to
entangle some article which might be of use to us for food, or which
might at least render us assistance in getting it. We spent the greater
part of the morning in this labour without effect, fishing up nothing
more than a few bedclothes, which were readily caught by the nails.
Indeed, our contriv