side, and thus had sent me almost to the bottom of the sea.

'To climb on deck and ascertain the cause of the disaster was the work
of a moment. It transpired that the cargo of carraway comfits had got
shifted and was mixed up with the camels. The captain was asleep at the
time, and every one else seemed to lose his wits, so I at once took the
matter into my own hands, and descended into the hold with twelve picked
men.

'The plight of the camels was sad indeed to see. Some were fearfully
chafed with the comfits, thus proving with what force the latter must
have been showered upon them by the shifting of the cargo. Fortunately,
however, although it was very black in the ship's hold, the camels were
easily distinguished from the comfits, and it was only a work of
patience and a little time to sift them and so right the ship again.

'When the captain awakened and learnt how I had saved the ship, his
gratitude knew no bounds, and he still further promoted me by making me
his ninth mate.

'For years we sailed from port to port, taking in one cargo here,
another there, occasionally with some advantage to ourselves, but more
often with none at all, and never with any good fortune attending me in
my quest. When we were about thirty days' sail out from Guatemala, and,
as far as I could tell, in latitude 195 and longitude 350 (that is,
about 60 degrees east of the Equator), we encountered a storm which
brought me to the successful accomplishment of my quest. It was four
bells and my watch below, so I had gone aloft in the mizzen shrouds, and
with my feet resting idly on the top-gallant backstay, holding securely
to the weather topsail reeftackle, I munched a tunny sandwich, a few of
which I had prevailed upon the steward to cut for me. Under a clear sky,
we were making roughly, I should say, about 335 knots, and it was
already blowing half a gale; a choppy sea was running, yet, except for
the clots of spindrift, that now and again hurtled against the mast,
there was no real promise of the storm to come; so I went on with my
sandwiches.

'We were now sailing close-hauled under double-reefed main storm
topsails and fore and aft main staysails, keeping a good course and
shipping very little water, when, suddenly, I beheld on the horizon,
well to windward, a little cloud no larger than a tomato,--the English
tomato, I mean, not the foreign species, though it rapidly attained that
size. It grew larger and larger until it was q