the whole,
on the stern of the launch, and had not the tackle been smartly let
go, she must have been drawn under water and swamped. The terrified
natives now lost all self-possession, as the mighty anchor shot
rapidly to the bottom. The cylinder of course whirled round with
prodigious velocity as the hawser unwound itself; and so suddenly had
the catastrophe occurred, that many of the natives, not having
presence of mind to let go their slew-ropes, held fast and were
whisked round and round several times alternately under water beneath
the cylinder and on the top of it, not unlike the spokes of a
coach-wheel wanting the rim.

The Admiral was in the greatest alarm, lest some of these poor fellows
should get entangled with the ropes and be drowned, or be dashed
against one another, and beaten to pieces against the cylinder. It was
a great relief, therefore, to find that no one was in the least degree
hurt, though some of the natives had been soused most soundly, or, as
the Jacks said, who grinned at the whole affair, "keel-hauled in
proper style."

In a certain sense, then, this experiment may be said to have failed;
but enough was done to show that it might be rendered exceedingly
effective on many occasions. The Admiral, one of the best practical
sailors of his day, thus explained it:--

"In the first place," said Sir Samuel, "you must observe, youngsters,
that this device of the natives is neither more nor less than a
floating windlass, where the buoyant power of the timber serves the
purpose of a support to the axis. The men fixed by the slew-ropes to
the cylinder, represent the handspikes or bars by which the windlass
is turned round, and the hawser takes the place of the cable. But,"
continued he, "there appears to be no reason why the cylinder should
be made equally large along its whole length; and were I to repeat
this experiment, I would make the middle part, round which the hawser
was to be passed, of a single topmast, while I would swell out the
ends of my cylinder or raft to three or four feet in diameter. In this
way a great increase of power would evidently be gained by those who
worked the slew-ropes. In the next place," said the Admiral, "it is
clear that either the buoy-rope, or another hawser also fastened to
the anchor, as a 'preventer,' ought to be carried round the middle
part of the cylinder, but in the opposite direction to that of the
weighing hawser. This second hawser should be hauled tight