an
allowance, but after the starvation we had endured, it appeared
abundance. Even when the cargo had been got rid of it was unpleasantly
close stowing for most of us, but we had great reason to be thankful to
Heaven for having escaped with our lives. The officers and crew of the
_Hawk_ treated us with the greatest kindness; most of our poor fellows,
indeed, required help, and were unable to move about the deck by
themselves. The wind, however, continued fair, and those who had
abundant sleep recovered their spirits. Still several died, worn out by
fatigue and sickness. We were safe for the present, and we did not
allow ourselves to recollect that another gale might spring up before we
could reach Saint John's, to which port we were bound, or that contrary
winds might keep us from our port, and that, after all, we might perish
from hunger and thirst. I was talking of what we should do when we got
ashore.

"Wait till we are there, Paddy," said Nettleship. "I don't say that we
shall not reach it, but we may not. That noble fellow, Hill, knows that
such may be the case as well as I do; and I admire his calmness, and the
care he takes not to show us that he fears he and his people may suffer
the fate from which they rescued our ship's company. You see they are
all put on the same allowance that we are, yet not one of them
complains."

I heartily agreed with him. Shortly afterwards I asked Nettleship what
he had done with his letter.

"I left it in the cask aboard, Paddy," he answered. "So in case we're
lost, our friends will know our whereabouts, though they'll not hear of
our being rescued, and the chance we have had of escaping; but that
won't matter much, though I should like to have made Hill's conduct
known."

Never, perhaps, did seamen watch the weather more anxiously than we did.
Our lives, as far as we could see, depended on the winds. Already the
stock of provisions and water was getting low, and it was necessary to
diminish the allowance of both. Still the crew of the _Hawk_ would only
receive the same quantity that we did. The sun rose and set, and again
rose, and we sailed on. Mr Hill met us each morning at breakfast, his
honest countenance beaming with kindness, and jocularly apologised for
the scantiness of the fare. Even he, however, one morning looked grave;
the wind had fallen, and we lay becalmed. He had good reason to be
grave, for he knew what we did not, that he had only one cask