ficulties, with
the wreck thrashing about aloft and not only threatening the remaining
spars, but also the lives of the crew, who could be seen endeavouring to
cut the raffle adrift. That the convoy was British became apparent as
soon as the light grew strong enough to enable us to distinctly make out
our nearest neighbours.

It struck me that the men-o'-war's people were not keeping their eyes
quite so wide open as they might have done; for there were only four
other schooners beside ourselves in the whole fleet, and one would have
supposed that the presence of a fifth would instantly have been
noticed--especially when that fifth wore so very roguish an appearance
as the _Dolphin_,--yet throughout the whole of that day no effort was
made to ascertain our nationality, where we came from, whither we were
bound, or anything about us! Of course, under ordinary circumstances,
having ascertained that the convoy was British, and, therefore, of no
especial interest to us, we should have parted company by getting the
schooner round with her head to the southward. There was, however, one
circumstance that decided the skipper to keep company with the convoy a
little longer, and it was this: As has already been mentioned, there was
a very fine, frigate-built merchantman in the fleet, which, when morning
dawned, was seen to be in a situation of considerable difficulty, her
fore and mizzen-topmast and main-topgallant-mast being over the side,
having apparently been carried away during the night by the tremendous
rolling and pitching of the ship. And near her was an exceedingly
smart-looking brigantine, with main-topmast and fore topgallant-mast
housed. This vessel joined the convoy about daybreak and was now hove-
to under a close-reefed main trysail, and fore-topmast-staysail, which
ought to have enabled her to easily forge ahead and eat out to windward
of the disabled ship. And, as a matter of fact, she did so; yet somehow
she always seemed to drop back again into her old place, just to leeward
of the ship; and after observing her motions for some time, I became
impressed with the idea that this was the result of deliberate design,
rather than of accident. For something seemed to be constantly going
wrong with her trysail sheet, necessitating a temporary taking in of the
sail, during which she would pay off and go wallowing away to leeward
for a distance of three or four miles, when the sail would be reset, and
she would co