also a small breaker of
fresh water that the steward managed to fill for us, and then it was
high time for us to be off.

"It wasn't a very difficult matter to launch the raft, for by this time
every sea that came along swept over our decks, and the job for us was
to avoid being washed overboard. Well, we got afloat; but, as luck
would have it, a heavy sea swept over us just as we were launching and
made a clean sweep of all the provisions that we'd got together, except
one small parcel, and of course, once afloat, it was impossible for us
to get back to the barque, even if there had been any use in our going
back--which there wasn't.

"We had managed to find one oar and the jolly-boat's lug sail, and this
we rigged up--as much by way of a signal as anything else, for of course
we could do nothing but drive dead before the wind. And we hadn't left
the barque above ten minutes when down she went, stern foremost, and
there we were left adrift and as helpless as a lot of babies in that
raging sea. There were ten of us altogether, and a pretty tight fit we
found it on that bit of a raft, all awash as she was. It was within
half an hour of sunset when we left the barque, and as darkness settled
down upon us it came on to blow harder than ever, while the seas washed
us to that extent that we could do nothing but hold on like grim death.

"The misery and the horror of that first night on the raft won't bear
talking about; and if they would it would need a more clever man than I
am to describe 'em. All I can remember is that I sat there the whole
night through, in the black darkness, holding on for my life with both
hands, with the sea washing over me, sometimes up to my neck, speaking
to nobody, and nobody speaking to me.

"The gale broke about an hour before dawn; and when the sun rose he
showed us a sky full of clouds that looked like tattered bunting of
every imaginable colour one could think of, all scurrying across the sky
in a westerly direction. And then we found that the wind had veered
round and was coming out from about east-south-east. As soon as it was
light enough to make out things, I took a look round to see how the rest
of us had weathered out the night; and I tell you, sir, it nearly broke
my heart to find that we mustered three less than we were when we left
the barque, the poor old skipper being one of the missing. They had
been washed off and drowned during the night; at least that's how I
accou