to the
smallest boy in the ship, everybody was most painfully anxious about
them. He instantly despatched boats in all directions to search for the
missing party. All sorts of reports were flying about on board; and as
sharks were known to abound, it was feared by the seamen that they might
have destroyed their young shipmates. The night also became very bad:
the wind rose, and threatened to increase; the sea got up with it, thick
clouds collected, and the white-topped waves added to the gloominess of
the night, while the rain came down in torrents, and the lightning burst
forth in sharp and vivid flashes, increasing the dangers to be
apprehended. The boats of the _Seringapatam_ took different directions,
each officer commanding shaping the course he thought most likely to
bring him up to the wreck. Some of the searching boats went in a wrong
direction altogether, being misled by a pilot as to the direction the
current took. Hour after hour passed by, and no sign of the wreck was
perceived; and both those on board, and many of those in the boats,
began to despair of success. As they looked out through the darkness,
they fancied they could hear the voices of their shipmates at a
distance, imploring aid, or that they saw their figures on the bottom of
the boat amid the surrounding gloom. We shall, however, follow the
_Seringapatam's_ barge, commanded by her gunner. He knew the set of the
current; and, as soon as he shoved off from the ship's side, he ran
directly down to leeward along the coast, at the distance he understood
the boat had been capsized, he being thus better able to calculate the
direction in which she would have drifted. His purpose was then to beat
back again, thus entirely covering the ground where the wreck must be.
On his way down he fell in with the shore-boat, commanded by Mr Smith,
who, at once approving of his plan, joined him in the search. By their
calculations, the boat would have drifted some five or six miles to
leeward, and would be drawn rather off shore. They were right; and
about the very place where they expected, she was discerned still
floating as Smith had left her. With anxious hearts they pulled up to
her. Five only of the nine were seen still clinging to her. The other
four had too probably given themselves up to despair. The crew of the
barge cheered, and were answered with a faint hail from those they had
come to save, almost sinking from exhaustion. "Where are the