two mates of the ship, anxious to save the lives of their
fellow-creatures, pulled about in every direction near where the brig
was supposed to have gone down, I was looking over the bows, hoping that
some of my poor shipmates might yet survive; but no answering cry was
made to the repeated shouts of the boats' crews. At last the boats
returned on board, and I found that the mate and I were the only
survivors of the _Rainbow_. Had she not been an old vessel, I do not
think that she would so easily have foundered from the blow she
received.

I found that the ship I was on board of was the _Rebecca_, a large West
Indiaman, trading between London and Barbadoes, to which place she was
then bound, so that I should have to return there instead of going home.
The captain sent for the mate and me into the cuddy-cabin, to inquire
about the vessel to which we had belonged. He was a quiet,
kind-mannered man, and seemed very much cut up at the loss of the brig,
though he said that he could not blame his people for what had occurred.
When we had given him all the information he required, he directed that
we should have berths and food supplied us. I turned in gladly, though
it was some time before I went to sleep, and even then I could not get
rid of the recollection of the sinking brig, which had borne me in
safety for so many a long year over the wide ocean.

The next morning I was told that the mate was very ill. The doctor of
the ship had been attending him, but said that his case was hopeless. I
sat by him all day. Sometimes he would be perfectly quiet and do
nothing but moan; and then he would start up, and shriek out,--"Luff!--
luff!--or she'll be into us!" and then sink down again, overcome with
horror at the recollection of the event. Towards night he grew worse,
and, after several fearful shrieks, he sunk back and expired.

Thus twice in less than two years was I mercifully preserved from
destruction. There were a number of passengers on board, who were very
kind to me, and took pleasure in asking me questions about my life at
sea, and in listening to the accounts of my adventures. Among them was
a young gentleman, who, when he heard the name of the _Rainbow_ brig,
and that she sailed out of Dublin, made many inquiries about her. He
told me that he knew Dublin well, and had often heard of the former
owners of the _Rainbow_. He was, I found, going out to Bridge Town, to
take the management of a large mercantil