ndred miles of land, covering her deck with a
fine impalpable sand, and having only her canvas to depend upon, she was
driven so far to the southward that it would have compelled her to go
considerably out of her way had she hauled up again for the Cape. She
then fell in with a trade wind, which carried her under all sail to the
eastward, and Adair, hoping to regain the lost time, continued in that
course until in the longitude of Madagascar, outside of which he
intended to stand, avoiding the Mozambique Channel, and probably, if
necessary, to touch at the Mauritius, where he could get his engines
repaired.

Once more, however, another gale, not inferior in power to those she had
already encountered, came on from the north-west. The battered
_Empress_ was but ill-prepared to encounter it. The donkey engine had
been kept going, and the water had not hitherto considerably increased,
but still it was evident that a serious leak existed somewhere, although
where it was had not yet been ascertained. Adair and his lieutenant, as
well as the carpenter and boatswain, had made repeated efforts to
discover the exact spot. The only way to do this was to creep under the
bunkers among the bilge water, an unpleasant and dangerous task. It was
evident that the water must be reduced before the leak could be
discovered.

The word was given to man the chain pumps, and the bilge pumps were also
set in motion, while a double line of men were formed with all the
buckets which could be found on board, from the main-deck to the hold,
to bale out the water, one line passing down the empty buckets and the
other handing up the full ones, almost as quickly as a chain pump could
have done it. The men worked with a will, for they knew full well the
danger to which they were exposed. Perfect discipline, however, was
maintained; no one showed the slightest sign of fear, no one complained.
Adair had shipped among his crew our old acquaintances Pat Casey and
Peter the black, the last-named as a stoker, being better able to
perform the office than most Englishmen. With one or two exceptions,
the remaining stokers were either Irishmen or Germans, the latter having
an aptitude for becoming stokers and sugar bakers, avocations which
require the power of enduring heat.

The gale continued to increase, and in spite of all the efforts of the
crew the water rushed in as furiously as before. Even had the engines
been in order, it would have been im