his
temporary respite as an advantage. He knew that the tide would soon flow
again, and he felt that his strength was too much spent to enable him to
swim back to the islet which he had missed when he had attempted to
reach it, and which was more than two miles from the bank upon which he
then stood. What chance had he, then, but to be swept away by the return
of the tide? He almost regretted that it had not been a shark instead of
the sand-bank which had struck him; he would then have been spared a few
hours of protracted misery.

As Newton had foreseen, the ebb-tide was soon over; a short pause of
"slack water" ensued, and there was an evident and rapid increase of the
water around him: the wind, too, freshened, and the surface of the ocean
was in strong ripples. As the water deepened, so did the waves increase
in size: every moment added to his despair. He had now remained about
four hours on the bank! the water had risen to underneath his arms, the
waves nearly lifted him off his feet, and it was with difficulty that he
could retain his position. Hope deserted him, and his senses became
confused. He thought that he saw green fields, and cities, and
inhabitants. His reason was departing; he saw his father coming down to
him with the tide, and called to him for help, when the actual sight of
something recalled him from his temporary aberration. There was a dark
object upon the water, evidently approaching. His respiration was almost
suspended as he watched its coming. At last he distinguished that it
must either be a whale asleep, or a boat bottom up. Fortunately for
Newton, it proved to be the latter. At last it was brought down by the
tide to within a few yards of him, and appeared to be checked. Newton
dashed out towards the boat, and in a minute was safely astride upon it.
As soon as he had recovered a little from his agitation, he perceived
that it was the very boat belonging to the brig, in which Jackson had so
treacherously deserted and left him on the island!

At three o'clock it was high water, and at five the water had again
retreated, so that Newton could quit his station on the bottom of the
boat, and walk round her. He then righted her, and discovered that the
mast had been carried away close to the step, but, with the sail, still
remained fast to the boat by the main-sheet, which had jammed on the
belaying pin, so that it still was serviceable. Everything else had been
lost out of the boat, except the g