til it became lost in the
distance, thus proving--although the light was still too poor to enable
the men to see very far--that it was not some isolated, uncharted reef
upon which the ship had run, but an island of considerable size.
Although it seemed to Frobisher almost impossible that the land could be
actually the island of Formosa itself, yet it was still believable when
he came to consider the great speed at which the _Chih' Yuen_ had been
travelling during the storm, urged forward both by her engines and by
the terrific force of the wind. In fact, a few minutes' consideration
sufficed to convince him that this must indeed be Formosa, since there
was no other island of such extent as this, anywhere in the vicinity,
upon which the cruiser could possibly have struck.

Seeing, then, that there was no time to be lost, Frobisher gave orders
for the boats to be hoisted out, as many men as they could safely hold
being told off to each, with instructions that, upon their cargoes being
landed, they were to be brought back to the ship by a crew selected
among themselves, for the remainder of the _men_. In the meantime,
while the boats were transferring some of the men to the shore, the
remainder were to set to work to construct rafts as quickly as possible
out of the raffle of wreckage washing about the deck and alongside, so
that, in the event of the boats not having time to make more than the
one trip, those left behind should have some means of saving their lives
other than by swimming.

Very fortunately, the now fast-increasing light disclosed a strip of
sandy beach, on the west side of, and very largely sheltered by, the
ridge of rocks on which the _Chih' Yuen_ had struck; and it was for this
spot that Frobisher directed the boats to make, as offering the most
suitable landing-place in sight.

These orders given, the men rushed to execute them, and in a few minutes
the first boat was ready for lowering into the water. The crew got in,
while others stood by the tackles, prepared to lower away at the word of
command. Drake, carefully watching the seas sweeping up behind the
ship, waited until an especially heavy wave dashed past, and then, when
the ensuing "smooth" arrived, gave the word to let run. The boat
dropped down the cruiser's steep side like a rocket, hit the water with
a resounding splash, the bow and stern men unhooked the tackles, the
oars pushed the little craft away from the ship's side, and the peri