to blow, and keeps blowing with a heavy sea, I say it
will be no easy matter to carry women and children from one ship to
another, even if that sail yonder should come any way nigh us; that's
what I say, your honour," answered Derrick.

"I understand you, my son," said the priest; "we'll be in a worse
position with regard to affairs temporal than we are at present."

"Yes, your honour; it looks brewing up for a regular tempest, as you
say, and no mistake," observed Derrick.

Even while they were talking, we heard the wind whistle in the rigging,
and the ship began to surge heavily through the rising waves.

The people in the boats at this were evidently alarmed, and one of the
gigs hauled alongside, several persons in her preferring to trust
themselves to the burning ship rather than to her. I must remark that a
feeling almost of security had come over many of us, and that for my
part I could not help fancying that it was nothing unusual to live on
board a ship full of fire. Of course I knew that some time or other the
flames must burst forth; but I looked upon this event as likely to
happen only in some remote period, with which I had little to do. Our
sufferings were greatest from want of water, and on that account we were
most anxious for the coming of the stranger. Mr Bell, Derrick, and I
were again aloft looking out for the ship. The captain hauled up under
the stern, and hailed to know which way we made her out to be still
standing. "Right down for us, sir," answered the mate. "She's a
barque, and seems to be coming up with a strong breeze."

It is difficult to describe how anxiously we watched for her. On she
came for perhaps half-an-hour, though to us it seemed much longer, when
suddenly we saw her, to our dismay, haul her wind and stand away to the
north-east. I felt almost as if I should fall from aloft, as our hopes
of being rescued were thus cruelly blasted. Few of the emigrants
understood the change, but the seamen did, and gave way to their
feelings in abuse of the stranger, who could not probably have seen our
signal of distress. With heavy hearts we descended to the smoking deck.

The wretched emigrants, on discovering the state of the case, gave fresh
vent to their despair; some, who had hitherto held up more manfully than
the rest, lay down without hope, and others actually yielded up their
spirits to the hands of death. Meantime the sea increased, clouds
covered the sky, and it came o