ea came and washed over the decks, and we ran
great risk of being carried away. Nothing could we see on either side
beyond the white roaring breakers. Cousin Silas said that he was
certain we must have been driven some way on the reef, or the sea would
have broken more completely over us, and no one could have hoped to
escape. Several people had already been washed overboard, and had been
lost or killed by the falling masts; but who they were we could not
tell. What, also, had become of the captain we did not know. He had
not, that we could discover, come on deck. Perhaps, all the time he was
below, unconscious of what had occurred. All we could do was to cling
on where we were, till with daylight we should be able to tell our
position. Every now and then we felt the ship lifting, and it appeared
as if she was driving gradually over the reef. Another danger, however,
now presented itself--we might drive over the reef altogether, and sink
on the other side! We strained our eyes through the darkness; but,
surrounded as we were with spray, it was impossible to distinguish the
shore, even though it might be near at hand. If there was no land, our
lot would indeed be sad; for, wherever we were, it was clear that the
ship would be totally lost, and, as far as we could discover, all our
boats were destroyed. After two or three hours passed in dreadful
suspense, though it appeared as if the whole night must have elapsed,
the ship became more steady, and the sea broke over her less violently.
"We must get a raft made," exclaimed Cousin Silas. The men seemed to
look instinctively to him for orders, and willingly obeyed him. All
hands set to work, some to collect the spars which had not been washed
overboard, others to cut away the bulwarks and to get off the hatches--
indeed, to bring together everything that would serve to form a raft.
Dark as it was they worked away; for they knew that when the tide again
rose the ship might be washed over the reef and sink, or go to pieces
where she lay. How eagerly we watched for daylight to complete our
work! The dawn at length came; and as the mists of night rolled off, we
saw before us a range of lofty mountains, of picturesque shapes, rising
out of a plain, the shore of which was not more than a quarter of a mile
off. As the sun rose a rich landscape was revealed to us, of cocoa-nut
groves, and taro plantations, and sparkling streams, and huts sprinkled
about in the distanc