o do himself, or to order his crew to
do; but Fairburn rushed here and there, calling the people together, and
soon got the sails clewed up.

"What is to be done?" I asked.

"We must carry a kedge out astern, and try and haul her off; and if we
succeed we must get a thrummed sail under her bows, and then pump out
the water which will have got into her, for it will not do to stick here
always."

He had scarcely spoken, when the Dutch carpenter came from below with a
face full of consternation.

"The ship will never move from this except to go to the bottom," he
exclaimed, as he heard the order given to get the kedge out. "We had
better think of lowering the boat and saving our lives, for the water is
rushing in like a cataract, and it will very soon be up to the decks."

This was indeed disastrous information, and I soon found it to be too
true, by going myself below to see the state of affairs. I quickly beat
a retreat again on deck, where the ladies and all hands were now
assembled. I must do the master the justice to say, that now the danger
had actually occurred, he behaved far better than I could have expected.
He certainly took things very phlegmatically. Calling the crew aft, he
slowly made them a speech, telling them, that as there was no chance of
the ship's carrying them on farther, they must now take to the boats,
and that he hoped they would all behave well. He then ordered the boats
to be lowered, and the gangway ladder to be rigged, to enable the ladies
to descend with ease. We had three boats--the long-boat, the
jolly-boat, and a skiff. It was arranged that the captain should go in
the long-boat, the first mate in the jolly-boat, and the second mate,
whom I volunteered to accompany, in the skiff, which, though small, was
a very seaworthy boat; and I preferred trusting myself to his
seamanship. The captain and mates then chose the crew in the same way
as is customary in forming a watch--namely, one officer selects a man,
and then the next, and so on till the crew are disposed of. The ladies
were, of course, taken into the long-boat, in which there were in all
fourteen people, and eight in each of the other boats; and it was agreed
that we should keep close together, that we might afford assistance to
each other in case of necessity. Before embarking, we had to arrange a
very important business, the selection of the articles we should take
with us. Fairburn hurried on the people, and urged m