fore, when she had drifted about half a mile to leeward of
us, I gave instructions that the helm should be eased up as often as
opportunity permitted. The result of this was that we contrived to make
our own lee drift amount to about the same as hers, thus maintaining no
more than a bare half-mile of water between us.

Shortly after noon the gale broke, the sky quite suddenly cleared, and
an hour later we were able to set the fore-staysail and shake a reef out
of the foresail in order to steady the ship. Although the sea was still
running too high to permit of our bearing up and running down to the
brigantine, we managed to edge down a little nearer to her, so that by
eight bells in the afternoon watch we had reduced the distance to
something like the eighth part of a mile. At this distance we were able
to maintain a pretty close watch upon the craft, and half an hour later
we detected signs indicative of a determination on the part of her crew
to make sail. Evidently they distrusted us as a neighbour, and were
desirous of putting a little more water between us and themselves.
Seeing this, I took a long look round to ascertain what our chances
might be should we attempt to bear up and run down to her. There was
still a very high, steep, and dangerous sea running, to attempt to run
before which would be hazardous in the extreme; for should we happen to
be pooped by even a single one of them, the least that could happen to
us would be that our decks would be swept, and very possibly we should
lose several men overboard, to save whom would be impossible in that
mountainous sea, while it was quite on the cards that the schooner might
be swamped out of hand and go to the bottom with all the crew. But I
remembered that among our stores there was a quantity of lamp oil, and I
believed that a few gallons of this, towed astern in a porous bag, would
smooth the water sufficiently to prevent the seas from breaking aboard
during the short time that we should need to enable us to run down to
the brigantine, and I gave orders to have such a bag prepared and
dropped over the stern.

Meanwhile the crew of the brigantine had not been idle, for scarcely had
I given the order to prepare the oil bag when her people proceeded to
set their jib, close-reefed topsail, and double-reefed mainsail, with
the evident determination of escaping from our neighbourhood with as
little delay as might be. I thereupon ordered our colours to be hoist