t of
as good a craft as ever floated; but it's of no use being downhearted.
Let us have a cheer for good success!"

The men caught his tone immediately, and their spirits rose when they
saw how cheerfully he bore his loss. Tristan d'Acunha bore about S.
10 deg. W., about 200 miles distant; and, as the wind had again drawn to
the northward, we had every prospect of reaching it in the course of
five or six days. For the first two days we went along merrily enough
with a fine steady breeze, and tolerably smooth water, but, on the
afternoon of the third, the sky again became overcast, and there was
every appearance of another "round turn" in the wind. As night closed
in around us, the captain hailed us from the launch, and desired us to
keep as near together as possible, for fear of separation. This order
was obeyed as long as we were able; but, in the darkness, we soon lost
sight of each other, and the sound of our voices was drowned in the
increasing noise of wind and sea. About ten o'clock, the wind suddenly
shifted in a sharp squall; the sail was taken aback, and the little
boat lay over for a moment as if never to rise again. Fortunately the
haulyards gave way, and the sail went overboard, or she must have been
capsized; as it was, she was nearly half-full of water. I immediately
jumped forward to drag the sail in again, when, to my horror, I heard
the sound of voices crying for help, to leeward: the sail had knocked
two of the men overboard, and it was their dying cry we heard. We
pulled round the boat, and shouted out to them; there was no
answer--they were gone; they must have been half-drowned before they
could get clear of the sail, which had fallen on the top of them. Our
grief for their loss was soon absorbed by our fears for our own
safety. There were now only three of us remaining--for the lady could
be of no assistance--in a small boat, half-full of water; the wind and
sea rising, darkness all around, and the nearest land upwards of one
hundred miles distant; our prospects were dismal indeed. Fortunately
for us, however, we had no time to brood over our misfortunes; the
necessity for active exertion drove all thoughts but those of present
danger from our minds. We baled the boat out as fast as possible, got
the broken mast in-board, and made all as snug as we could. The wind
had shifted, as I said before, to the southward, and came on to blow
fresh; and the sea was again rapidly rising. We had nothing for it