reservation; and even as
it was, we repeatedly escaped disaster only by the merest hair's-
breadth, and by what seemed to be more a combination of fortuitous
circumstances than anything else. Taken altogether, that night was one
of the most tense and long-drawn-out anxieties that I had ever, up to
then, experienced. About two bells in the morning watch the gale broke,
and from that moment the strength of the wind moderated so rapidly that
by eight bells all danger had passed, the boats were riding dry, and we
were able to get breakfast in peace and comfort--all the greater,
perhaps, from the fact that when day dawned the pirate brig was nowhere
to be seen. By nine-o'clock the wind and sea had both moderated
sufficiently to enable us to resume our voyage. I therefore, with some
difficulty, secured an observation of the sun for the determination of
our longitude, and we then proceeded to re-bend our sails, step the
masts, and get under way, steering to the northward and westward under
double-reefed canvas. Finally, about noon, we were able to shake out
our reefs and proceed under whole canvas, the sea by that time having
almost completely gone down, leaving no trace of the previous night's
gale beyond a long and very heavy swell, in the hollows of which the two
boats continually lost sight of each other.

But although, by the mercy of Providence, we had weathered the gale, we
had not by any means escaped scathless, for when we had once more
settled down and had found opportunity to overhaul our stock of
provisions, it was found that, despite our utmost precautions, an
alarmingly large proportion of them had become damaged by rain and sea
water, to such an extent, indeed, that about half of them had been
rendered quite unfit for use, and we therefore threw that portion
overboard, since there was obviously no advantage in wasting valuable
space in the preservation of useless stores. And I did this the more
readily, perhaps, because I calculated that, despite this heavy loss, we
should still have enough left to carry us to our destination--provided
that we were not detained by calms on the way.

We made excellent progress all that day, our reckoning showing that at
three o'clock that afternoon we had traversed a distance of just forty
miles since getting under way that morning, which distance was increased
to fifty-eight by sunset. Moreover we had done well in another way, for
the wounded had all been carefully looke