, and I, of course, had to stay with him.
All apparently went well for some minutes, till, just as we were at the
entrance, the tide caught the vessel; the after-part struck heavily; she
heeled broadside on to the reef, and the next moment, with a tremendous
roar, a breaker burst over us. All was confusion on board; shrieks and
cries arose from the passengers, the men swearing as they rolled and
slipped about. The skipper, however, recovered in a moment his
self-possession, and swore he would shoot the first man that attempted
to leave the vessel; but as he had no gun or revolver in his hand, no
one appeared to care for the threat. One of the crew, a New Zealander,
indeed, immediately jumped overboard, when the captain threw a
marline-spike at his head, but, sinking, he avoided it, and managed to
reach the smooth water inside the reef, where the pilot had in the
meantime anchored his boat prepared to assist those who might be able to
reach her. Other boats were coming off from the shore, those which had
been towing, as well as the chiefs canoe, had been cut adrift directly
the vessel struck, and pulled away, or they would have been swamped in
an instant.

It will be understood that owing to the heavy breakers it was impossible
to get off from the vessel on the sea side, and that our only hope of
safety was to pass through the foaming surf on the reef, till we reached
smooth water in the inside. The vessel, lightly built, was already
breaking up, and her bottom planks were appearing, floating up to the
surface, while the water rushed freely in and out of her. There was
therefore no time to be lost. Toa at once proposed to the skipper to
tie a rope to a plank, and to swim with it to the boats inside the reef,
so that the passengers and those unable to help themselves might be
passed along it, and their lives saved. The rope was speedily got up.

"I will go with you," I said to Toa.

"Come along," he answered, and taking my hand he jumped with me into the
foaming surf. The first great roller curled high above our heads, and
broke with a terrific roar. As it did so we let go the plank and sank
down, keeping our eyes turned upwards to watch when it had passed.
Quickly returning to the surface, we again clutched the plank and shoved
it before us. We had twice to perform the same operation before we
reached the smooth water. I wanted to return, but Toa advised me to
remain, as I was not accustomed to the water as