ve been
madness to carry more sail; for already her lee bulwarks were under
water, and yet I dared not take any off her with the slightest hopes of
being able to claw off shore. The seas came breaking on board, deluging
our decks, and, had not the hatches been firmly secured, would quickly
have swamped us. I was at the helm, with Charley White by my side, my
boys and the two men having lashed themselves to the weather rigging.
No one appeared to be terror-stricken, and yet the youngest, as well as
old Bob Hunt, knew perfectly well that there was every probability of
our being in a few short minutes overwhelmed among the foaming breakers
under our lee. Anxiously I looked out for the island; and the wind blew
fiercer and fiercer.

Suddenly there was a lull; but it was of no advantage to us, as the huge
rollers were literally throwing us rapidly towards the rocks. Again the
gale came down on us, but its direction was altered. It blew nearer
from the westward, by several points, than it had before done. Already
the schooner was heading off from the shore, but very slowly; and I was
doubtful how far she would make way against the rollers, which sent her
bodily back towards it. Still there was hope, and I could venture to
slide back the hatch and to sing out to the dear ones below that the
wind had changed. "Thank God for His mercy," was the reply from below,
for I had speedily to shut the hatch again. Just afterwards I saw an
opening in the land to the westward, and I knew that it must be the
passage between the island and the main. There was a hillock and a
peculiar rock, which prevented me from having any doubt about the
matter. What a comfort to feel sure that we were steering a right
course for a safe harbour! I could now venture to keep away again a
little.

The entrance to the sound became more and more distinct as we advanced.
The various landmarks noted in the chart, appeared one after the other,
and in half an hour we ran into a beautiful little harbour, with the
water as smooth as a mill-pond. Our first care, directly the anchor was
dropped, was to take off the hatches and give air to our poor sheep.
The boys jumped below to ascertain if they had suffered.

"All the animals are alive," they cried out; "but send us down a bucket
of water." The creatures sucked it up quickly. They probably would not
have held out many hours longer; but we lifted them up, two at a time,
on deck, and the fresh air soo