ny of which seemed to be quite new,
neatly rolled up into long bundles, stopped with spunyarn, and each
labelled legibly with the description of the sail. Forward of the main
cabin, on the starboard side, and separated by a stout bulkhead from the
steward's pantry, was the captain's cabin, a fine, roomy, comfortable
apartment, neatly and conveniently fitted up with a standing bed-place,
having a capacious chest of drawers beneath it, a washstand at the foot
of the berth, and a small flap table against the fore-and-aft bulkhead,
at which the skipper could sit to write up his log or make his daily
astronomical calculations. There were two entrances to this stateroom,
one from the main cabin, and one directly from the main deck; and in the
fore bulkhead there was a window through which, while still lying in his
bunk, the skipper could see everything that was happening out on deck.

These observations occupied me nearly half an hour; but the moment that
I entered the main cabin my nostrils were assailed by the smell of
recently extinguished fire, and upon looking about me I finally came to
the conclusion that the fire had not been intentional but the result of
accident. The miscreants who had boarded the vessel had apparently been
all over her in search of anything that might be worth carrying away,
and, among other places, they had explored the lazarette, which lay
beneath the cabin, a small hatchway just abaft the mizenmast giving
access to it. This hatchway we found open, and the general appearance
of the cabin seemed to indicate that the depredators had roused up a
number of barrels and cases, and broken them open for the purpose of
ascertaining what they contained. I conjectured that among the articles
broached must have been a cask of spirits, which had been accidentally
set on fire. The fire had burnt away a portion of the cabin deck,
partially destroyed the cabin table, severely scorched and charred the
paintwork generally, and had evidently burnt the lower part of the
mizenmast, and the deck in which it was stepped, so completely away that
the mast had gone over the side to the roll of the ship. Why it had not
spread farther and entirely destroyed the ship I could not imagine. The
plunderers had practically cleared the lazarette of its contents; the
chronometer, the ship's papers, and the captain's charts and sextant
were missing; but upon investigating the state of affairs out on deck it
did not appear that