rose still more distinctly behind them. The next instant we were in
their midst.

"Hold fast! hold fast!" again shouted Boxall, "and we shall be carried
safely through."

The breakers did not appear so high as they had done a little way off,
and we all had hopes that Boxall's predictions would prove correct. But
we had not much time for thinking; my head whirled and I felt giddy as I
looked at the tumbling, foaming waters surrounding us. The raft lifted
on the top of a sea, and came down with a fearful crash on a rock; and I
felt myself torn from the grasp I had of the raft, and carried far away
from it. I looked for my companions, and distinguished Halliday
struggling near me. Striking out, I caught hold of him and urged him to
endeavour to reach the shore, which appeared at no great distance before
us. I then shouted to the rest of my companions, and was thankful to
hear Boxall's voice.

"Strike out ahead; we have not far to swim," he answered, and presently
he was close up to us. Neither Ben nor Jose, however, replied to our
shouts; but self-preservation compelled us to try and make the best of
our way to the shore, without attempting to look for them.

We had not struck out far when I felt my feet touch something. For an
instant the horrid thought occurred to me that it might be a shark; but
I retained my presence of mind,--and directly afterwards, greatly to my
astonishment, I felt my feet touching the ground. I told my companions;
and soon we all found ourselves standing, with the water scarcely up to
our armpits. Still, though we distinctly saw the shore, it appeared to
be a long way off. We now stopped to look around us. Not far-off, on
one side, rose a rock to a considerable height, as it seemed, above the
water. Believing that we were on a sand-bank, and that we might
possibly have to swim a considerable distance, we agreed to make for the
rock and rest on it till daylight. Holding each other's hands, we
accordingly waded on, when suddenly we found that we had reached the
rock,--on which we without difficulty climbed. The upper part of it,
which was much lower than we expected, was perfectly dry; showing that
the sea, in moderate weather, did not break over it. Boxall was of
opinion that we had struck on a reef which extended parallel with the
coast, and broke the force of the waves, and that we were in an
intervening lagoon,--so that should it be now low water, which he
thought probable,