f him when the maniac, apparently well aware of their
intention, scrambled back into his former position; and, cowering down,
remained silent and scared-like. It was not probable he would harm any
one--he was left alone.

The excitement of this incident soon passed away, and the gloomy looks
returned--if possible, gloomier than before, for it is ever so after
hopes have been raised that terminate in disappointment.

So passed the evening and a portion of the night.

At the same hour as upon the preceding night--almost the same minute--
the breeze again sprung up. It could be of little service--since there
was no chance of our being carried by it to land--but it was cool and
refreshing after the intense torrid heat we had been all day enduring.

Some were for spreading the sail; others saw no use in it. "What good
can it do?" inquired these. "It may carry us a score of miles hence, or
perhaps twice that. What then? It won't bring us in sight of land--nor
a ship neither. We're as likely to see one by lying still. What's the
use of moving about? If we haven't the wherewith to eat and must make a
die of it, we may as well die here as a score of knots farther to
leeward. Set your sail if you will--we won't either hinder or help."

Such language was used by the despairing part of the crew.

There were those who thought that by sailing, we should be more likely
to fall in with a vessel. They thought they could not be worse, and
might drift to a better place, where ships were more frequent--though
they acknowledged that there were equal chances of their going away out
of the track.

The truth is, that not one knew within hundreds of miles of where we
were, and to sail in any course would have been mere guess-work.

By men in misery, however, motion is always preferred to rest; and the
knowledge that you are going, and going forward, produces a soothing
influence on the spirits. It begets a hope that you will come in sight
of something that may aid you; and these hopes, however ill-founded,
enable you to pass the time more lightly. On the contrary, by remaining
in one fixed place, for a like period of time, you fret and chafe much
more under the uncertainty.

With this feeling upon them, most of the men were in favour of bending
the sail, and it was accordingly bent.

The night before it had been held aloft by several of the men--as the
only object then had been to get the raft beyond reach of the swimmers