could muster fit for duty had not
strength sufficient to go aloft to set another. We knew well that our
safety much depended on our being able to keep sail on the ship; but
each man felt that his death would be the consequence if he attempted to
go aloft, with that raging sea tumbling the ship about in every
direction, the wind howling round him, and the torn sail flapping
fiercely in his face. Still we managed to keep the ship before the
wind, and thus, by easing the strain on her, she was prevented from
going to pieces, which she would otherwise inevitably have done.

"Our first mate, James Carr, was a fine fellow. To look at him, you
would not have supposed that he had so much endurance in his body. His
spirit kept him up. When very few besides he and I could bear up, he
went about the decks as if nothing unusual had occurred. He was a
slight, fair man, and far from strongly-built; but he was a thoughtful,
reading, and more than that, a religious man. Those who had led the
wildest and most careless lives, and had no faith or hope to sustain
them, were the first to succumb. I held out--first, because I believed
that God would sustain me; and because I had a good constitution, which
I had never injured by vice and debauchery, as too many of the rest had
done. The captain was a good, kind man, and he did his best for us as
long as his strength lasted. The little food we could get at was
carefully husbanded, and all hands were put on short allowance. Many
days thus passed away, the ship running before the wind, and still
keeping together. At length the wind lulled, and we began to look
forward with hope to the future. The caboose had hitherto stood, and
the cook managed to light a fire in it, and to dress several meals,
which we ate with comparative comfort. As long as there was a moderate
breeze the ship ran steadily before it, but what many people would have
thought an advantage, proved our greatest bane. Too much wind had
injured us--too little almost destroyed us. It fell a dead calm; and
this, far from bettering our condition, made the ship roll still more
than ever, and soon reduced us to the condition in which you found us.
The greater part of the bowsprit had already gone, the foremast was next
rolled out of her, and then the mizzen-mast went--the mainmast must have
been an unusually good stick, or that would have gone likewise. We had
scarcely strength left to cut away the wreck. Hitherto, thou