ttomed ferry-boat,--nearly twenty feet in
length by about half as much in breadth of beam. The empty hogsheads
were placed around the edge in a regular manner. One lay crosswise at
the head, while another was similarly situated as regarded the stern.
The other four--there were six in all--were lashed lengthwise along the
sides,--two of them opposite each other on the larboard and starboard
bows, while the other two respectively represented the "quarters." By
this arrangement a certain symmetry was obtained; and when the structure
was complete, it really looked like a craft intended for navigation, and
by Ben Brace,--its chief architect,--it was facetiously christened _The
Catamaran_.

By noon of the second day the _Catamaran_ was completed,--so far as the
_hull_ was concerned. Had Snowball been by himself he would have left
it in that state: for the black did not yet believe that there was the
slightest probability of reaching land by means of such an embarkation.

But the sailor,--more skilled in such matters,--was of a different way
of thinking. He believed it not only possible, but probable enough,
that this feat might be accomplished. He knew that they were in the
very centre of the southern trade-wind; and that the raft, even if left
to itself, would in time drift onward to some point on the coast of
South America. With a sail its speed would be accelerated; and
although, thus furnished, such a clumsy structure could not sail very
swiftly, there was still a chance of its carrying them safely,--if
slowly,--to land. Ben knew it was simply a question of time,--dependent
upon how long their provisions might last them,--but more especially
their supply of water.

Having formed in his own mind a sort of rough calculation as to the
chances, and finding them rather in favour of the scheme, he determined
on making trial of it, by erecting a mast upon the raft, and to this
bending a sail. At the worst, their chances of being picked up would be
quite as good while sailing with the wind, as if they allowed themselves
to lie adrift upon the ocean.

Fortunately the materials for both mast and sail were on hand, and in
abundance. They had found the "spanker" of the _Pandora_ floating
about, with its boom and all the cordage attached. By using the boom as
a mast, and another smaller spar as a boom, they could rig up such a
sail as would carry the _Catamaran_ through the water with considerable
velocity.

As soon a