lous
journey toward the beach was commenced.

Time after time it appeared as though the boat must be overrun by the
sea and swamped; but the coxswain in charge of her was an old
man-o'-war's-man, and each time he avoided disaster by a hairbreadth,
until, at the expiration of a breathless five minutes, Frobisher saw her
living cargo leap safely out on the beach, and heaved a sigh of relief.
By this time, too, the second and third boats had been got into the
water without mishap, and were also on their way shoreward, leaving
about a hundred and fifty men still remaining aboard the cruiser,
working like madmen to complete their raft; for it now appeared almost
certain that the _Chih' Yuen_ could not live long enough to allow all
hands to be taken off by the boats.

The engine-room staff had been driven on deck some time previously by
the inrush of water, and were also making a raft for themselves up in
the bows of the ship. Others were busily engaged in getting up such
unspoiled provisions as they could lay their hands on; and yet another
party, headed by Frobisher himself, was collecting a little armoury of
weapons on deck, ready to be taken ashore, for the Englishman had heard
some ugly yarns of the savage character of the natives of the island,
and their methods of treatment of such shipwrecked crews as were
unfortunate enough to fall into their hands. Among these yarns were one
or two to the effect that they were also strongly addicted to
cannibalism; and neither he nor Drake, nor indeed any of the rest, were
at all desirous of ending their careers as part of the ingredients of a
cannibal banquet on the desolate and forbidding shores of Formosa.

Unfortunately, the magazine was flooded, so that it was impossible to
procure any ammunition for the fire-arms, but all the rifles in the
arm-belts happened to be loaded in readiness for the expected encounter
with the Japanese gunboat and transports; these were therefore unloaded
and the cartridges placed in a box for safe transit. The officers'
revolvers were also all fully charged, while Frobisher, Drake, and the
second lieutenant had a small quantity of revolver cartridge loose in
their cabins. This was added to the general store, and it was then
found that the entire supply of ammunition available amounted to three
hundred rounds of rifle ammunition and a little over a hundred rounds of
revolver cartridge.

This, together with a supply of rifles, revolvers, and cu