s, in the waist,
with them. Neb was in the launch at the time, hunting for some article
kept there; and the last I saw of the poor fellow, he was standing erect
in the bows of the boat, as the latter drove over the vessel's side, on
the summit of a wave, like a bubble floating in a furious current.
Diogenes, it seems, had that moment gone to his camboose, to look after
the plain dinner he was trying to boil, when probably seizing the iron as
the most solid object near him, he was carried overboard with it, and
never reappeared. Marble was in a tolerably safe part of the vessel, at
the wheel, and he kept his feet, though the water rose above his waist; as
high, indeed, as his arms. As for myself, I was saved only by the
main-rigging, into which I was driven, and where I lodged.

I could not but admire the coolness and conduct of Marble even at that
terrific moment! In the first place, he put the helm hard down, and lashed
the wheel, the wisest thing that could be done by men in our situation.
This he did by means of that nautical instinct, which enables a seaman to
act, in the direst emergencies, almost without reflection, or, as one
closes his eyes to avoid danger to the pupils. Then he gave one glance at
the state of things in-board, running forward with the end of a rope to
throw to Diogenes, should the cook rise near the ship. By the time he was
satisfied the hope of doing anything in that way, was vain, I was on
deck, and we two stood facing each other, in the midst of the scene of
desolation and ruin that was around us. Marble caught my hand with a look
that spoke as plainly as words. It told me the joy he felt at seeing I was
spared, his determination to stick by me to the last; yet, how low were
his hopes of ultimate preservation! It was such a look as any man would be
glad to receive from a comrade in the heat of battle; nevertheless, it was
not a look that promised victory.

The situation of the ship would now have been much better than it had
been, in many respects, were it not for the wreck. All the masts forward
had gone over the lee bow, and would have lain in a sufficiently
favourable situation for a strong crew to get rid of them; but in our case
we were compelled to let things take their course. It is true, we could
cut away, and this we began to do pretty freely, but the lower-end of the
foremast lay on the forecastle, where it was grinding everything near it
to pieces, with the heaving and setting of t