and she fell to
pieces, a total wreck, leaving Henry struggling with the waves.

He seized the first piece of wood that came in his way, and clung to it.
For many hours he was driven about and tossed by the winds and waves
until he began to feel utterly exhausted; but he clung to the spar with
the tenacity of a drowning man. In those seas the water is not so cold
as in our northern climes, so that men can remain in it for a great
length of time without much injury. There are many instances of the
South Sea islanders having been wrecked in their canoes, and having
spent not only hours but days in the water, clinging to broken pieces of
wood, and swimming for many miles, pushing these before them.

When, therefore, the morning broke, and the bright sun shone out, and
the gale had subsided, Henry found himself still clinging to the spar,
and, although much weakened, still able to make some exertion to save
himself.

On looking round he found that numerous pieces of the wreck floated near
him, and that the portion to which he clung was the broken lower mast. A
large mass of the deck, with part of the gunwale attached to it, lay
close beside him, held to the mast by one of the shrouds. He at once
swam to this, and found it sufficiently large to sustain his weight,
though not large enough to enable him to get quite out of the water.
While here, half in and half out of the water, his first act was to fall
on his knees and thank God for sparing his life, and to pray for help in
that hour of need.

Feeling that it would be impossible to exist much longer unless he could
get quite out of the water so as to allow the sun to warm his chilled
frame, he used what strength remained in him to drag towards him several
spars that lay within his reach. These he found to be some of the rough
timbers that had lain on the deck of the cutter to serve as spare masts
and yards. They were, therefore, destitute of cordage, so that it was
not possible to form a secure raft. Nevertheless, by piling them
together on the top of the broken portion of the deck; he succeeded in
constructing a platform which raised him completely out of the water.

The heat of the sun speedily dried his garments, and as the day wore on
the sea went down sufficiently to render the keeping of his raft
together a matter of less difficulty than it was at first. In trying to
make some better arrangement of the spars on which he rested, he
discovered the corner of a sail