ant excursion. Having spent a short time in Falmouth Harbour, they
hauled their wind, and made three or four tacks on their way back to the
ship. The boat, however, made little or nothing to windward, in
consequence of the wind being very light. Forgetful of the sudden
squalls which visit those latitudes, the merry party of young officers
seemed to have kept but a bad look-out to windward; for, while standing
in on the starboard tack, the boat was taken by a sudden squall. The
helm was put down; but the boat not coming up to the wind so as to lift
the sails, she was capsized under every stitch of canvas. She, however,
went over so gradually, that all hands had time to creep to windward and
seat themselves on the gunwale. The sails prevented her from turning
bottom up, and at the same time protected them in some measure from the
breaking of the sea. What seems very extraordinary is, that not one of
the party, officers or seamen, had a knife in his pocket, so that they
had no means of cutting away the rigging and righting the boat. As soon
as they had settled themselves on the side of the boat, they had time to
look about them, and to consider their perilous position. They were
fully two miles from the shore, whence it was scarcely possible anyone
should have observed the accident, and they were an equal distance or
more from the ship; thus the current might carry them far away before
anyone could come to their assistance. A sea might get up and wash them
off the wreck; or sharks might attack and devour them, for the boat's
gunwale was only six inches awash. Not a sail was in sight; and all
felt convinced that if some unforeseen assistance did not come to their
aid, they must perish. Despair was well-nigh taking possession of the
bosoms of all the party. Silent and melancholy they sat on the wreck,
meditating on their fate. All were young. Life, with all its fancied
charms and anticipated pleasure, had a few short moments previously been
before them; and now, death in all its terrors--slow, lingering, and
agonising--stared them in the face. One only of the whole party was a
good swimmer, Mr W.R. Smith, and he was a very bold and strong one.
He looked at the shore: two miles was a long distance to swim, with a
full consciousness, too, that those deep waters swarm with those
terrific monsters of the deep, the seamen's just dread--the hideous,
shark. "Well," said Smith at last, looking wistfully at the distant