as much as they could do to patch her up at all; for, her
timbers were so rotten and the vessel had been strained so much from
overloading that she was really unfit to be sent to sea. However, as
Fritz already knew, the _Gustav Barentz_ managed to clear out of the
Channel, reaching the latitude of the Cape de Verde Islands all right,
and it was shortly after passing Teneriffe that Eric had been enabled to
forward that letter of his which had so gladdened his mother's heart, to
Lubeck by a homeward-bound ship. After that, however, all went wrong
with the ill-fated vessel. She had knocked about in the doldrums for
weeks; and, after making a long leg over to the South American coast,
had succeeded at last in getting round the Cape of Good Hope safely--
although taking a terrible time over it, and dragging out a most tedious
passage from Plymouth--when she met a south-east gale, just as she had
entered the Indian Ocean and was shaping a course towards the Straits of
Sunda, so as to fetch Java.

Leaky and strained and overladen as the ship was, she was in no
condition to fight the elements on fair terms; so the result of it was,
that, after being buffetted by the gale for some four days and then,
finally, pooped by a heavy following sea as she tried to run before the
wind, it was discovered that she was making water too fast for the pumps
to be of any avail. Consequently, as nothing further could be done, it
was determined to abandon her. Accordingly, the jolly-boat and pinnace
were provisioned and launched over the side, the crew being divided
between the two, under the direction of the captain and chief officer;
and they had hardly time to get into these frail craft, to encounter
once again on worse terms the perils of the ocean that had already
proved too strong for their vessel, and push off from her side, when
they saw the old _Gustav Barentz_ go down before their eyes--foundering
almost without a moment's warning.

"It was terrible for you all to be left tossing about on the raging sea
in a couple of open boats!" said Fritz sympathisingly, pressing his
brother's arm,--"worse than being in a leaky ship, I should think."

"Yes," answered Eric; "but we kept up our courage well, the captain
sustaining us with brave words, saying that, as we were not many miles
south of Cape Arguilhas and had the wind blowing right on to the land,
we must soon reach shore. But, I don't know, I'm sure, how he came to
place the ship