n earnest prayer that we might all be
preserved, they then let the corpse drop gently into the water, where it
quickly disappeared beneath the surface. It was a sad sight, and poor
Marian looked on with horror in her countenance. I wished that she
could have been spared the spectacle.

Our stock of provisions and water would now last us scarcely a couple of
days, and no land was in sight. Uncle Paul calculated, however, that we
must be some fifteen or twenty leagues to the south-east of Cape
Galeota, the most southern point of Trinidad. The brown colour of the
water also showed that we were off the mouth of the mighty Orinoco,
though probably many leagues away from it. Had we possessed our full
strength and four oars, we might in time have reached the shore; but,
weak as we were, and with only a couple of oars, we could have but
little hope of doing so. We still trusted to falling in with a vessel;
but as we gazed round over the glittering surface of the ocean, not a
sail appeared. While the calm lasted, none indeed could approach us;
and too probably, before a breeze would spring up, our scanty stock of
provisions might be exhausted.

"Cheer up, my friends; let us still trust in God," said Uncle Paul at
length. "It is wrong to give way to despair. There's One above who
watches over us, and orders all for the best."

"Let us pray to Him, then," exclaimed Marian, kneeling down; and
following the example of the dear girl, we lifted up our voices together
for safety and protection.

We all felt comforted, and even our poor father's countenance looked
less downcast than before. That which weighed most on his spirits was,
I suspect, the thought that he had been the cause of our being placed in
our present position. No one, however, uttered a word of reproach, and
we all did our utmost to console him. Arthur tried to speak cheerfully:
Tim attempted to sing one of the melodies of his native land, which he
had learned in his boyhood; but his voice broke down, and he was
well-nigh bursting into tears.

The calm, though very trying, enabled us to obtain the rest we so much
required; and the next morning, though suffering from hunger, Uncle Paul
was quite himself again.

After we had offered up our prayers, we took our scanty breakfast of
water and a small piece of dried meat, with such parts of the rotten
fruit as we could eat. Uncle Paul then stood up and looked about him.
"We shall have a breeze, I think, be