e of the ship being
saved, seized the longboat, which had been prepared, and was well
provisioned, and made off, although the cowardly creatures knew that the
second boat was barely seaworthy. My father--whose name the Swede did
not know--implored them to return, and at least take my mother and
myself and an officer to navigate their boat to land. But they refused
to listen to his pleadings, and rowed off. The second boat was hurriedly
provisioned by my father and his officers, and they, with my mother and
myself and the Swede--all the Europeans on board--left the burning ship
at sundown. A course was steered for the eastern shore of Tahiti, which,
although the wind was right ahead, we hoped to reach on the evening of
the following day. But within a few hours after leaving the barque the
trade wind died away, and fierce, heavy squalls burst from the westward
upon the boat, which was only kept afloat by constant bailing. About
dawn the sea had become so dangerous, and the wind had so increased in
violence, that an attempt was made to put out a sea-anchor. Whilst this
was being done a heavy sea struck the boat and capsized her. The night
was pitchy dark, and when the Swede--who was a good swimmer--came to
the surface he could neither see nor hear any of the others, though he
shouted loudly. But at the same moment, as his foot touched the line
to which the sea anchor was bent, he heard the mate's voice calling for
assistance.

"'I have the child,' he cried. 'Be quick, for I'm done.'

"In another minute the brave fellow had taken me from him; then the poor
mate sank, never to rise again. Whether I was alive or dead my rescuer
could not tell, but being a man of great physical strength, he not only
kept me above water with one hand, but succeeded in reaching first the
sea-anchor-four oars lashed together--and then the boat, which had been
righted by another sea.

"How this brave man kept me alive in such a terrible situation I do not
know. By sunrise the wind had died away, the sea had gone down, and he
was able to free the boat of water. In the stern-sheet locker he found
one single tin of preserved potatoes, which had been jammed into a
corner when the boat capsized--all the rest of the provisions, with the
water-breakers as well, were lost. On this tin of potatoes we lived--so
he told the master of the _Britannia_--for five days, constantly in
sight of the land around which we were drifting, sometimes coming
to within a