as calm as a mill-pond, and the raft very light.

"Go easy, my lad, go easy," said Yorke with a smile, as he saw the state
of flurry I was in. "We've got two or three hours paddling to do, so
don't knock yourself up needlessly. Now, what about our rifles?"

I had actually forgotten them, but at once ran back for them (the
cartridges we always kept in our pockets), and picking one up in each
hand, tore down the bank again, caught my left foot in a vine, and
pitched upon my nose on the top of the broken coral and pebbles covering
the beach with such violence that had it not been for the muzzle of the
rifle I was carrying in my right hand plunging into the loose stones,
and bringing me up sharply, I might have broken my jaw against a big
boulder, which just caught me on the chin.

Pretending I was not hurt, though my chin was skinned, and my shoulder
was strained, I picked myself up, handed the rifles to Yorke, and said I
was ready.

"Take a drink first," he said in his authoritative, yet sympathetic
way, as he opened a young coconut. "Then fill your pipe and rest awhile.
We're in no hurry for ten minutes. Poor chap, you did do a flyer. Talk
about the Gadarene swine! Why you could give them points in running down
steep places!"

I certainly had given myself a tremendous shaking, for I felt quite
dizzy, but after a few draws at my pipe, said I was fit to paddle the
raft to Cape Horn.

We pushed off, then poled along shore till we came to the passage, which
was as smooth as glass. Here, on account of the deep water, we had to
take to our paddles, and were soon out in the open sea, heading for
the vessels. The sun was intensely hot, but we took no heed of it, and
congratulated ourselves upon having such a calm sea, instead of
having to paddle against a swell, which would have greatly impeded our
progress.

For the first mile or so we went along in great style--then, to our
consternation, we suddenly ran right into a heavy tide rip, and away we
went at the rate of three or four knots an hour to the south-east, and
towards the New Britain shore. The belt or tide-rip seemed to be about a
mile in width, and although we paddled furiously in the endeavour to
get out of the whirling, seething stream, it was in vain--the raft spun
round and round with such rapidity that we lost control over, and had
to let her go; for not only were we unable to make any headway, but the
manner in which we were spinning round would not allow u