n for some
time, till, the liquor running short, they commenced quarrelling as
before. The doctor urged Tidy to take no part in any dispute. "Our
countrymen are as much to blame as the Frenchmen," he observed. "If we
assist our boatswain, we shall be guilty of their death." Tidy's Irish
spirit, however, would hardly allow him to follow the doctor's advice.

It had now fallen perfectly calm. Mr Lawrie, overcome by the heat, had
fallen fast asleep, and Tidy, who had undertaken to keep watch, was
dozing by his side. Most of the party were by this time reduced to such
a state of weakness that very few appeared likely to survive much
longer. Evening was rapidly approaching, when suddenly the doctor was
awakened by hearing the Irishman exclaim, "Faith, sir, they are at it
again; and if they are not stopped, one or both of them will get the
worst of it." The doctor started up, when he saw the two boatswains
standing facing each other at the further end of the raft. Each had a
drawn knife in his hand. The Frenchman was at the outer end of the
raft, while two of his countrymen, the only men among them able to exert
themselves, were standing near him. "Hold! What murderous work are you
about?" shouted the doctor. But his voice came too late; the combatants
closed as he spoke, stabbing each other with their weapons. The next
moment the Frenchman, driven back by the English boatswain, was hurled
bleeding into the water. His two countrymen, who had hitherto remained
looking on, sprang to his assistance. One of them, losing his balance,
fell overboard; while the boatswain, seizing the other by the throat,
stabbed him to the heart. Then turning round with fury in his eyes, he
shrieked out, "I will treat every man in the same way who interferes
with me!" No one, however, appeared inclined to do so. The sun,
already dipping, disappeared beneath the horizon as the scene of blood
was concluded; and the boatswain, who seemed suddenly to have been
excited into savage fury, sank down exhausted on the raft.

Some more hours passed away, when Mr Lawrie, Tidy, and the boatswain
alone remained alive of all those who had lately peopled the raft. The
surgeon did his utmost to restore the wretched boatswain, binding up his
wounds, and pouring a little of the remaining spirits and water down his
throat. It seemed surprising, considering the injuries he had received,
that he had not succumbed as the others had done. He evidently