the captain himself
keeping charge of the tiller. His object was not to approach the land,
but to prevent being carried among the breakers, which, surging up
snow-white, presented a perilous barrier to their advance.

To keep the boat from driving on the dangerous reef, was just as much as
the oarsmen could accomplish. Weakened as they were, by long suffering
and starvation, they had a tough struggle to hold the pinnace as it were
in _statu quo_--all the tougher from the disproportion between such a
heavy craft and the light oar-stroke of which her reduced and exhausted
crew were capable.

But as if taking pity upon them, and in sympathy with their efforts, the
sun, as he rose above the horizon, seemed to smile upon them and hush
the storm into silence. The wind, that throughout the night had been
whistling in their ears, all at once fell to a calm, as if commanded by
the majestic orb of day; and along with the wind went down the waves,
the latter subsiding more gradually. It was easier now to hold the
pinnace in place, as also to row her in a direction parallel to the line
of the breakers; and, after coasting for about a mile, an opening was at
length observed where the dangerous reef might perhaps be penetrated
with safety.

Setting the boat's head toward it, the oars were once more worked with
the utmost strength that remained in the arms of the rowers, while her
course was directed with all the skill of which an American skipper is
capable.

Yet the attempt was one of exceeding peril. Though the wind had
subsided, the swell was tremendous; billow after billow being carried
against the coral reefs with a violence known only to the earthquake and
the angry ocean. Vast volumes of water surged high on either side,
projecting still higher their sparkling shafts of spray, like the
pillars of a waterspout.

Between them spread a narrow space of calm sea--yet only comparatively
calm, for even there an ordinary boat, well managed, would be in danger
of getting swamped. What then was the chance for a huge pinnace, poorly
manned, and therefore sure of being badly trimmed? It looked as if
after all the advantages that had arisen--that had sprung up as though
providentially in their favour--Captain Redwood and the small surviving
remnant of his crew were to perish among the breakers of Borneo, and be
devoured by the ravenous sharks which amidst the storm-vexed reefs find
their congenial home.

But it was not so t