high speed Frobisher
became particularly anxious to obtain a sight of the sun at midday, in
order to ascertain his position; for he was of opinion that he must be
very near, if not actually among, those islands forming the Chu-san
Archipelago; and he feared, every moment, that the _Chih' Yuen_ might
crash headlong upon some submerged rock. But, unfortunately, the
atmosphere was far too thick to render any observation possible; indeed,
what with the black, low-hanging clouds, and the dense spindrift with
which the air was filled, it was as dark at midday as it would have
been, under ordinary circumstances, half an hour after sunset; and he
was perforce obliged to content himself with the very unsatisfactory
result obtained by dead reckoning.

Late in the afternoon the typhoon eased up a little, and Frobisher sent
Drake below to secure some rest--for both men were completely worn out--
promising to call him and take his own turn after the first lieutenant
had refreshed himself with three hours' slumber.

At the expiration of that time the wind had dropped so much that he felt
quite justified in leaving the bridge; and he therefore had Drake called
to take his place. With the easing of the wind, however, a very steep
and heavy sea naturally began to rise, and Frobisher therefore
instructed Drake to call him immediately should any danger arise to the
ship. He then went below and turned in "all standing", excepting that
he discarded his boots and his water-soaked oilskins; and he was asleep
almost before his head had touched the pillow.

It seemed to him that he had been sleeping but a few minutes when he
felt himself violently shaken by the shoulder, and awoke to find Drake,
still haggard and worn for want of proper sleep, standing over him in
his dripping oilskins.

"Hillo! Anything wrong, Drake?" was his immediate enquiry, followed by
a request to be told the time, since his own watch appeared to have run
down.

"Nothing absolutely wrong, sir," was the reply, "but what you can feel
for yourself. The sea has risen very badly; and the ship is not
behaving as well as I should like. The chief engineer, also, has just
sent up word that the engines are working a bit loose, and that some of
the bearings are almost red-hot. He thinks that some parts of the
machinery must have been strained when that first wave swept over us; so
I thought it just as well to let you know. As for the time, sir, it is
nearly three o'cl