s in the first place, had
been utterly destroyed and swept away by the first furious stroke of the
hurricane; while by the same agency our decks had been swept clear and
clean of everything not actually bolted down, except the wreckage of the
mainmast, which we had lashed firmly to ring bolts in the deck before
the gale arose. There was that wreckage, it is true, and also the
wreckage of the foremast under the bows; if it could possibly be got
alongside, a raft of sorts might perhaps be constructed out of that, and
there our resources would end. But there was no time for pondering and
consideration, whatever was done would have to be done at once; I
therefore called the gunner, the carpenter, and the boatswain to me,
hastily explained to them my ideas as to the construction of a raft, and
bade them muster all available hands and get to work forthwith, while
Millar (the purser) and the cabin steward were instructed to get
together as large a quantity of provisions and water as possible,
wherewith to stock the structure when finished.

Now that the wind had moderated from hurricane force to that of a heavy
gale, the sea rose with really startling rapidity, and was already
running so high that when we came to set about the task of cutting
adrift the wreckage of the foremast, with the idea of hauling it
alongside and utilising it in the construction of a raft, it at once
became evident that the time for undertaking such a piece of work was
already past; for even alongside the schooner, and partially under her
lee, the wreckage would be swept so violently by the breaking seas that
it would be impossible for men to go over the side and work upon it
without being washed off and drowned; we were, therefore, compelled to
abandon that part of our plan and turn our attention to the construction
of a raft on deck which would float clear when the battered hull sank
from under our feet. But alas I even that was not to be; for we had
scarcely got the wreckage of the mainmast cut adrift from its lashings,
and were busily engaged in arranging it, with the topmast and the
mainboom, in the form of a triangle as a base upon which to construct a
platform, when it happened that the schooner, having just surmounted a
sea, got pinned down by the head, in consequence of all the water in her
rushing forward as she settled down, stem-on, into the succeeding
trough. At this critical moment a yell of dismay from the carpenter
caused us all to l