and accordingly, when I got back to the
schooner, which Saunders had made all ataunto once more during my
absence, I made arrangements to weigh and beat up to the wreck
immediately after breakfast next morning.

By daylight the wind had dwindled away to a gentle breeze, while the sea
had gone down to such an extent that I anticipated no difficulty
whatever in boarding the wreck. Nor was I disappointed, for when we
reached the craft, shortly after six bells in the forenoon, the sea was
no longer breaking over her, or even round her, the breakers now being
confined to the outer fringe of the reef. But imagine, if you can, my
astonishment at seeing a man--a wretched, ragged, scarecrow of a fellow
he looked to be--on the poop, who, as we drew near, began to wave and
signal to us with frantic energy. He appeared to be desperately afraid
that we had not seen him, or that, having seen him, we should still not
trouble to take him off, for he was waving a large, dark cloth when we
first made him out, and he continued to do so until the boat was almost
alongside. We bumped against the wreck in the wake of her mizzen
chains--her main and fore chains were under water--and, the instant that
the bowman hooked on, this man, who seemed to be the only survivor of
the wreck, came slipping and sliding down the steeply inclined deck
until he stood just above us, when he stood for a few seconds staring
down upon us in silence. Then he cried, in a piercing voice: "Say, for
the love of God, are you English?"

"Ay, ay, my hearty; you have guessed right the first time," I answered.
"But, pray, who in the name of fortune are you? And what ship is this?"

For answer the fellow plumped down upon his knees, clasped his hands
before him, lifted up his eyes to heaven, and by the movement of his
lips I supposed him to be engaged either in prayer or thanksgiving. One
or two of the men in the boat with me laughed, and a third must needs
display his wit by calling out a profane jest; but I silenced them
sharply, for there was an intense abandonment in this strange man's
manner and behaviour that showed him to be under the influence of
extraordinary emotion. Presently he rose to his feet, and, scrambling
down into the boat with the most astonishing activity, grasped my hand
and pressed it to his lips fervently. Then he looked me in the face and
said:

"Oh, sir, I thank God most humbly and heartily for this His great mercy
to me, a poor, mise