ich most of those on deck had been thrown; but the
greater number of the watch had, I judged, been aloft at that moment,
about to shorten sail, and were already struggling in the water.

"Now, my lads, the brig is going down, and we must find something to
cling to if we don't want to go down with her," sung out Boxall. "Who
is there will try and make a struggle for life?"

"I will," cried a voice, which I recognised as Halliday's.

"And I," said Ben Blewett, who worked his way up to us with an axe in
his hand.

The boats which had escaped the previous gale were under repair; so we
could not trust to one of them. Making our way to the booms, Blewett
cut several away; and, providentially, some planks had been left by the
carpenters, which we got hold of, together with a few fathoms of rope.
The planks and spars, under Boxall's directions, we rapidly lashed
together, and Halliday and I each got hold of a small piece of board.
Launching our roughly-constructed raft abaft the mainmast, we threw
ourselves on it and paddled away from the wreck for our lives. The
officer of the watch must have been thrown to leeward when the brig went
over; neither the commander nor any of the other officers had time to
make their escape from their cabins. We heard several men, however, who
were forward, crying out for help; but it was impossible for us to go to
their assistance, and we could only hope that they were attempting to
save their lives by constructing a raft, as we had done.

Scarcely had we got clear of the brig when her masts rose as she
righted, and down she went, dragging with her all those on board, as
well as the men clinging to the rigging.

The dark clouds passed away, and the moon shone forth brightly on the
sparkling waters, revealing to us a few floating planks and spars--all
that remained of our brig. Not a human being was to be seen; every one
of our shipmates had been engulfed by the hungry sea. We paddled back,
and getting hold of such spars and planks as we could find, placed them
crosswise under our raft to prevent it from upsetting, though it was
even thus a ticklish affair. Ben had taken his seat forward, I sat
astride at the other end, Boxall and Halliday occupied the middle. How
far we were off the coast of Africa we could not exactly tell, but we
judged that we should have fifteen or twenty leagues to paddle before we
could reach it. This would take us two or three days at least; and,
without foo