The Castaways Page 7

  CHAPTER SEVEN.

  WE PICK UP A SHIPWRECKED CREW.

  The night passed without incident of any sort; and when I awoke at dawnthere was still no sign of wind, for which I was thankful; for, while Iwas naturally anxious to be making some progress, it was vitallynecessary to get more sail upon the brig; and this little spell of calmweather happened most opportunely for my purpose.

  A bath, an early breakfast, and I went to work once more, the bendingand setting, of the fore-topsail being my first job. I finished thisabout noon, and considered that I had done very well when at dusk I hadadded to my spread of canvas the standing jib and spanker.

  It was a whim of Miss Onslow's that our midday meal should be tiffin;dinner being reserved until the work of the day was over, when--as theyoung lady sagely remarked--we could both spare time to do due justiceto the meal. Thus it happened, upon the day in question, that it wasquite dark when at length, having washed and polished myself up afterthe labours of the day, I took my place at the table in the brig'slittle cabin. It was then still flat calm; but we had scarcely finishedthe meal when a little draught of air came down through the openskylight, cool and refreshing, and at the same moment the sound of afaint rustling of the canvas reached our ears. I at once sprang up ondeck, and found that a light air from about east-south-east had sprungup, taking us aback and giving the brig sternway. The pressure of waterupon the rudder had forced the helm hard down, however, causing the brigto box off; I had nothing to do, therefore, but to trim sail and steadythe helm at the proper moment, when the vessel gathered headway andbegan to move quietly through the water on a southerly course,close-hauled on the larboard tack.

  I was now obliged to take the wheel; but it was not long before I madethe discovery that, under the sail now set, the brig was practicallysteering herself, and by the time that I had been at the wheel half anhour I had contrived to hit off so accurately the exact amount ofweather-helm required to keep the craft going "full-and-by," that I wasable to lash the wheel, and attend to other matters.

  And there was still plenty awaiting my attention. Among other immediatedemands upon my energies there was the boat to be secured; thus far shehad been hanging on astern by her painter, but she was far too valuablea possession to be any longer neglected; and now that a breeze hadsprung up I determined to secure her forthwith and while it was stillpossible to do so. The brig carried a pair, of davits on each quarter,so I hauled the boat up on the starboard side, made her fast, slippeddown into her and hooked on the tackles, and then, climbing inboard oncemore, hauled them both hand-taut. Then, going forward, I brought aft asnatch-block that I had previously been using, led the falls, one afterthe other, through this to the winch, and, with Miss Onslow hanging onto the rope to prevent it slipping on the barrel of the winch, managedto hoist the boat and secure her.

  The weather continued fine, and the wind light, all through the night,the ship's speed being barely three knots; and once more I turned in onthe wheel grating and slept soundly, the ship steering herself soperfectly that I found it quite unnecessary to interfere with the wheel;and when I awoke at sunrise she was still stealing along as steadily asever.

  The sky looked so beautifully fine and clear when I went below tobreakfast, in response to Miss Onslow's summons, that it came upon mequite as a shock to discover--as I did by a casual glance--that themercury was falling; not much, but just enough to indicate that thebreeze was going to freshen. Now, I had no objection whatever to thewind freshening--within certain limits; up to the point, say, where thebrig could just comfortably carry the canvas that was now set--I was ina hurry to arrive somewhere, and, within the limits above named, Ishould have heartily welcomed an increase of wind. But the mischief wasthat when once the strength of the wind began to increase, there was noknowing how far it might go; it might go on increasing to the strengthof a whole gale, in which case it would become necessary for me toshorten sail, unless I chose to accept the alternative of letting mycanvas blow away. And even in so small a vessel as the brig, to shortensail was a serious matter, when there happened to be only one person toundertake the work; yet, if it came on to blow, it would have to bedone, since it would never do to let the sails blow away, so long, thatis to say, as they could be saved by hard work. There was, however,time enough to think about that; there was a still more serious matterdemanding my attention, namely, the getting rid of the water in thehold. To this task, accordingly, I addressed myself immediately afterbreakfast, first taking the precaution to most carefully sound the well.The result of this preliminary operation was so far reassuring that Ifound a depth of just three feet six inches of water, the merest triflemore than the rod had showed forty-eight hours before, thusdemonstrating that the hull was once more practically as tight as abottle. Thus encouraged, I got to work at the pump, working steadilyand systematically, exerting my strength to the best advantage, andsparing my hands as far as possible by enwrapping the handle first incanvas and then in a strip of a blanket taken from one of the forecastlebunks. It was terribly back-breaking work--this steady toil at thepumps, and when midday arrived and I knocked off to get a meridianaltitude of the sun, wherefrom to compute our latitude, I was prettywell exhausted; but I had my reward in the discovery that I had reducedthe depth of water in the hold by nearly eight inches--thus showingthat, after all, the quantity of water was not nearly so formidable asit had at first seemed, existing indeed only in the more or lessinconsiderable spaces not occupied by the cargo. After tiffin I againwent to work, and toiled steadily on until sunset, by which time I hadreduced the depth by a further six inches, at the same time fatiguingmyself to the point of exhaustion.

  And all through this day of toil I had been maintaining a most anxiouswatch upon the weather, without detecting any disquieting sign whatever;it is true that the wind strengthened somewhat--sufficiently, in fact,to bring the brig's speed up to close upon five knots, but this was thereverse of alarming, especially as the sky remained clear. But when atlength we sat down to dinner that evening, I found that the mercurystill manifested a disposition to sink. Apart, however, from thisbehaviour on the part of the barometer, every omen was so reassuringthat when Miss Onslow bade me goodnight, and retired to her cabin, Iunhesitatingly settled myself again upon the wheel grating for thenight, and soon fell into the deep sleep of healthy fatigue.

  I was awakened some time during the night--I had no idea whatever of thehour--by the loud rustling of canvas; and upon starting to my feet Ifound that the wind had strengthened so considerably that the slightamount of weather-helm afforded by the lashed wheel had at length provedinsufficient, with the result that the brig had shot into the wind,throwing both topsails aback and her fore and aft canvas a-shiver.Instinctively I sprang to the wheel and put it well over, just in timeto pay the vessel off again; but it was fully half an hour before I hadagain hit off the exact position of the wheel with sufficient nicety toallow of its being again lashed, and the brig once more left to takecare of herself.

  During this operation I had been anxiously scanning the sky, but beyonda few small: and scattered fleeces of cloud here and there, it remainedas clear as it had been at sunset; and, having at length adjusted thewheel to my satisfaction, I came to the conclusion that I might safelyleave matters as they were until the morning, and secure a little morerest while the opportunity remained to me. I therefore resumed myrecumbent position upon the wheel grating, and was soon once moreasleep.

  This time, however, I slept less soundly than before. The curiousinstinct of watchfulness even in slumber that is so quickly developed insailors and others who are constantly exposed to danger was now fullyaroused, and although I slept, my senses and faculties were so far onthe alert that when, somewhat later, the wind suddenly breezed up in aspiteful squall, I heard the moan of it before it reached the brig, andwas broad awake and on my feet in time to put the helm up and keep broadaway before it. The wind came away strong enough to make me anxious forthe topmasts for a few minutes; but as the yards were b
raced sharp up,while the brig was running away dead before it, the wind struck thesails very obliquely, and the spars were thus relieved of a great dealof the strain that would otherwise have come upon them.

  Of course there was no more sleep for me that night, for when at lengththe squall had blown itself out it left behind it a strong northerlybreeze that very soon knocked up a sea, heavy enough to make me ardentlywish for daylight and the opportunity to shorten sail.

  And when the dawn at length appeared, I grew more anxious than ever, forthe new day showed as a long, ragged gash of fierce, copper-yellow lightglaring through a gap in an otherwise unbroken expanse of dirty greycloud, struck here and there with dashes of dull crimson colour. Theair was unnaturally clear, the heads of the surges showing up againstthe wild yellow of the eastern horizon jet black, and as sharp andclean-cut as those that brimmed to the brig's rail. The aspect of thesky meant wind in plenty, and before long; and I realised that unless Icould contrive to shorten sail in double-quick time the task would passbeyond my power, and the canvas would have to remain set until it shouldblow away.

  At length Miss Onslow made her appearance on deck, bright, fresh, androsy from her night's sleep; and a cry of dismay broke from her lips asshe took in the state of affairs at a single comprehensive glance.

  "Oh, Mr Conyers!" she exclaimed, "how long has it been like this? Arewe in any danger?"

  "Only in so far that we stand to lose some of our sails, unless I cancontrive to get them clewed up before it comes on to blow any harder,"answered I. "I have been waiting for you to come on deck and relieve meat the wheel," I continued, "in order that I may get about the job atonce."

  "But why did you not call me?" she demanded, as she stepped up on thewheel grating beside me and took the spokes from my hands.

  "Oh," said I, "it has not been bad enough to justify me in disturbingyou, thus far; nevertheless I am very glad to have your help now, as Ibelieve there is no time to lose. Kindly keep her as she now is, deadbefore the wind, and I will get about the work of shortening sailwithout further delay."

  So saying, I hurried away forward, letting go the trysail outhaul andthe main-topsail halliards on my way; passing next to the fore-topsailhalliards, which I also let run. I then squared the yards, hauled in,brailed up and furled the trysail, and next took the reef-tackles, oneafter the other, to the winch, heaving them as taut as I could get them;after which I jumped aloft, passed the reef earrings, and tied theknittles. We were now tolerably safe--the brig being under close-reefedtopsails--so I hove-to while we took breakfast, after which I hauleddown and stowed the jib, got the brig away before the wind again, withMiss Onslow at the wheel, and resumed pumping operations.

  I toiled all through the day, reducing the amount of water in the holdto a depth of eighteen inches only, and then hove-to the brig on theport tack for the night, both of us being by this time so completelyexhausted that rest was even more important to us than food, although Itook care that we should not be obliged to go without the latter.

  About two hours after sunset the wind freshened up still more, and bymidnight it was blowing so heavily, and so mountainous a sea wasrunning, that I dared not any longer leave the brig to herself; itbecame necessary to constantly tend the helm, although the craft washove-to; and in consequence I had no alternative but to pass the latterhalf of this night also at the wheel, exposed to a pelting rain thatquickly drenched me to the skin. It was now blowing a whole gale fromthe northward; and so it continued for the next thirty hours, duringnearly the whole of which time I remained at the wheel, wet, cold, andnearly crazy at the last for want of rest; indeed, but for theattention--almost amounting to devotion--of my companion I believe Ishould never have weathered that terrible time of fatigue and exposure.An end to it came at last, however; the gale broke, the wind softeneddown somewhat, and at length the sea went down sufficiently to permit ofthe wheel being once more lashed; when, leaving the brig in MissOnslow's charge, with strict injunctions that I was at once to be calledin the event of a change for the worse in the weather, I went below,rolled into the mate's bunk, and instantly lost all consciousness forthe ensuing ten hours. It was somewhere about midnight when I awoke;yet when I turned out I found Miss Onslow still up, and not only so butwith a hot and thoroughly appetising meal ready for me. We sat down andpartook of it together; and when we had finished I went on deck, had alook round, found that the weather had greatly improved during my longsleep, and so turned in again until morning.

  When I next went on deck the weather had cleared, the wind had dwindledto a five-knot breeze--hauling out from the eastward again at the sametime--and the sea had gone down to such an extent as to be scarcelyperceptible; I therefore shook out my reefs, and once more made sailupon the ship--a task that kept me busy right up to noon. The weatherbeing fine, I was able to secure a meridian altitude of the sun, andthus ascertain the latitude of the brig, with the resulting discoverythat we were already to the southward of the Cape parallels. This wasdisconcerting in the extreme, the more so from the fact that theeasterly wind was forcing us still farther to the southward; but therewas no help for it, we could do nothing but keep all on as we were andhope for a shift of wind. The fact of our being so far to the southwardaccounted, too, for the circumstance that we were not falling in withany other vessels.

  Hitherto I had been so fully employed that I had found no time to searchfor the ship's papers, or do more than ascertain the bare fact that shewas of American nationality, that she was named the _Governor Smeaton_,and that she hailed from Portland, Maine; but now that the weather hadcome fine once more, I determined to devote a few hours to the work ofoverhauling the vessel and discovering what I could about her. So Iwent to work and instituted a thoroughly systematic search, beginning inthe skipper's cabin--having of course first obtained Miss Onslow'spermission--and there, stowed carefully away in a lock-up desk--which,after some hesitation, I decided to break open--I found the ship'spapers intact, enclosed in a small tin case. And from these I learned,first, that her late master was named Josiah Hobson, and second, thatshe was bound on a trading voyage to the Pacific, with a cargo of"notions." Then, in another drawer, also in the skipper's cabin,carefully stowed away under some clothes, I found the log-book, and achart of the Atlantic Ocean, with the brig's course, up to a certainpoint, pricked off upon it; and from these two documents I learned thatthe brig had sailed, on such and such a date, from New York, with what,in the way of weather, progress, and so on, had befallen her, up to adate some five weeks later, whereon entries had been made in thelog-book up to noon. The remarks respecting the weather at that hourgave no indication of any warning of the catastrophe that must haveoccurred only a few hours later. This last entry in the log-bookenabled me to determine that the brig had been drifting about derelictfor nearly three weeks when we two ocean waifs fell in with and tookpossession of her. The "notions" of which her cargo consisted seemed,according to the manifest, to comprise more or less of nearly everythingthat could possibly captivate a savage's fancy; but in addition to thesemultitudinous articles there were--somewhere in the ship--a few bales ofgoods--mostly linen, fine muslins, silks, and ready-made clothing--consigned to a firm in Valparaiso, which I believed would be of theutmost value to Miss Onslow and myself, if I could but find them, andwhich, under the circumstances, I felt I could unhesitatinglyappropriate to our use. I therefore determined that my next task shouldbe to search for these bales; which, being composed of rather valuablegoods, and destined moreover to be discharged at the brig's first portof call, I thought would probably be found on top of the rest of thecargo and near to one of the hatches.

  The next day proved even finer than its predecessor, the wind holding inthe same direction but of perhaps a shade less strength than on the daybefore, while the sea had gone down until the water was smooth as thesurface of a pond excepting for the low swell that scarcely ever quitedisappears in mid-ocean; it was an ideal day for taking off the hatches,and I therefore determined to commence my examina
tion of the cargo atonce, beginning with the main hatch. To knock out the wedges, removethe battens, and roll back the tarpaulin was not a difficult job, andwhen I had got thus far, the removal of a couple of the hatches was sooneffected. Luck was with me that day, for no sooner had I got thehatches off than my eyes fell upon a bale bearing marks which, accordingto the testimony of the vessel's manifest, showed it to be one of thoseof which I was in search. It was too large, and was too tightly wedgedin among others to admit of my moving it unaided, but with theassistance of a strop on the mainstay, and the watch tackle, I soonbroke it out and triumphantly landed it on deck. The manifest gave thecontents as ready-made clothing--men's and women's; which was exactlywhat Miss Onslow at least needed more than anything else; so I opened itforthwith, and then called the young lady to overhaul the contents andselect what she would, while I gave her a spell at the wheel. In tenminutes she came aft, with her arms full of neatly-folded whitematerial, and disappeared below. Then she came on deck again, had afurther search, and this time carried off a load of coloured fabric;after which she remained invisible for nearly three-quarters of an hour.Finally she reappeared clad in an entirely new rig-out from top to toe;and very sweet and charming she looked, although I regret being unableto inform my female readers of the details of her costume. Then I hadmy innings, and after a considerable amount of rummaging succeeded infinding a couple of suits of light tweed that I thought would fit me,together with a generous supply of underclothing. This done, and ourmore pressing needs in the matter of clothing met, I returned thedespoiled bale to its place in the hatchway, replaced the hatches, andbattened everything securely down once more. The remainder of the day Idevoted to the task of pumping the ship dry.

  The two succeeding days were quite devoid of incident; the weather heldfine, and the wind so light that the brig made barely three knots in thehour, on a taut bowline; there was nothing particular to do, for thesmall air of wind that continued to blow hung obstinately at east, andwe were still driving slowly south, the vessel steering herself. Underthese circumstances, as I was daily growing increasingly anxious to fallin with a sail of some sort that would take us off, and convey us to acivilised port, or even lend me a few hands to help in carrying the brigto Cape Town, I spent pretty nearly the whole of the day in themain-topmast crosstrees, from whence I could obtain the most extendedview possible, and perhaps be thus able to intercept some craft thatwould otherwise slip past us unseen.

  On the third day after my raid upon the cargo I was aloft as usual--thehour being about ten a.m.,--while Miss Onslow was busy in and out of thegalley. The ship was creeping along at a speed of about two and a halfknots, when, slowly and carefully sweeping the horizon afresh with thetelescope, after a rather long spell of meditation upon how thisadventure was likely to end, a small, hazy-looking, ill-defined objectswam into the field of the instrument. The object was about one pointbefore the weather beam, and was so far away that the rarefaction of theair imparted to it a wavering indistinctness of aspect that rendered itquite unrecognisable. The fact, however, that it was visible at all inthe slightly hazy atmosphere led me to estimate its distance from thebrig as about ten miles, while, from its apparent size, it might beeither a boat, a raft, or a piece of floating wreckage. But whatever itmight be, I determined to examine it, since it would be nothing out ofmy way, and would merely involve the labour of getting the ship roundupon the other tack; so I continued to watch it until it had drifted toa couple of points abaft the beam--which occurred just two and a halfhours after I had first sighted it, thus confirming my estimate as toits distance--when I put the helm hard down, lashed it, and then tendedthe braces as the brig sluggishly came up into the wind and assluggishly paid off on the starboard tack. When the brig was fairlyround, and the helm steadied I found that the object bore a full pointon the lee bow, and that we should probably fetch it with ease. It wasnow distant about ten and a half miles, so there was plenty of time forus to go below and get tiffin ere closing it.

  It was within about two hours of sunset when we at length came up withthe object; but long ere then I had, with the assistance of thetelescope, made it out to be a large boat, apparently a ship's longboat,unrigged, and drifting idly before the wind. Yet her trim, sitting low,as she was, on the water, showed that she was not empty; and at length,when we were within some two miles of her, I suddenly observed amovement of some sort aboard her, and a couple of oars were laid out--with some difficulty, I thought. I was at the wheel when thisoccurred--for I had discovered, some time earlier in the afternoon, thatalthough, with the wheel lashed, the brig could be made to steer herselffairly well upon a wind, she was just a trifle too erratic in her courseto hit off and fetch such a comparatively small object as we were nowaiming for, and consequently I had been steering all through theafternoon--but I at once called Miss Onslow to relieve me while I ranthe ensign--the stars and stripes--up to the peak, as an encouragementto the occupants of the boat, and an intimation that they had been seen.It was tedious work, our snail-like closing with the boat, and it wasrendered all the more so by the fact that those in her, after vainlyattempting for some five minutes to use the oars, had given up theeffort, and were once more invisible in the bottom of the boat, whilethe oars, left to take care of themselves, had gradually slid throughthe rowlocks and gone adrift. This simple circumstance, apparently sotrivial, was to me very significant, pointing, as I considered it did,to a condition of such absolute exhaustion on the part of the strangersthat even the loss of their oars had become a matter of indifference tothem. Who could tell what eternities of suffering these men had enduredere being brought into this condition? It was quite likely that thatlonely, drifting boat had been the scene of some ghastly tragedy! Whocould tell what sight of horror might be passively awaiting us betweenthe gunwales of the craft? I once more resigned the wheel to MissOnslow's hand, with strict injunctions to her not to leave it or attemptto get a peep at the interior of the boat, on any account, and then wentforward to prepare a rope's-end to drop into her as we drew upalongside. I conned the brig in such a manner as to bring the boatalongside under the lee fore chains, and then, when the proper momenthad arrived, let go the weather main braces and swung the topsail aback.

  My intention was to have jumped into the boat with a rope's-end, as shecame alongside, taking a turn anywhere for the moment; but as, withmain-topsail aback, we crept slowly down upon the poor, forlorn-lookingwaif, a gaunt, unkempt scarecrow suddenly upreared itself in thestern-sheets and, uttering queer, gibbering sounds the while, scrambledforward into the eyes of the boat, with movements that somehow wereequally suggestive of the very opposite qualities of agility andexhaustion, and held out its lean, talon-like hands for the rope which Iwas waiting to heave. As we drifted alongside the boat I hove therope's-end; the man caught it, and _collapsing_, rather than stooping,with it, he made it fast to the ring-bolt in the stem. Then, uprearinghimself once more, stiffly, and as though fighting against a deadlylethargy, he made a staggering spring for the brig's rail, missed it,and would have fallen headlong backward into the boat had I not caughthim by the collar. Heavens! what a skeleton the man was! He was fullyas tall as myself, and had all the appearance of having once been a big,brawny Hercules of a fellow, but so wasted was he now that, withscarcely an effort, I with one hand lifted him in over the bulwarks anddeposited him on deck, where he again limply doubled up and sank in aheap, groaning. But he kept his eyes fixed upon my face and, stifflyopening his jaws, pointed to his black and shrivelled tongue; and I, atonce recognising his condition, ran aft and, taking a tumbler from thepantry, quickly mixed about a wineglassful of weak brandy and water,with which I sped back to him. I shall never forget the horribleexpression of mad, wolfish craving that leapt into the unfortunatecreature's bloodshot eyes as I approached and bent over him. He glaredat the tumbler, and howled like a wild beast; then suddenly snatched atmy hand as I held the liquid to his lips, and clung so tightly to methat before I could withdraw the tumbler he had drained it
of every dropof its contents. Even then he would not release me, but continued topull and suck at the empty tumbler for several seconds. At length,however, he let go, groaning "More, more!" This time I mixed aconsiderable quantity of weak grog in a jug, and took it on deck withme, remembering that there were others in the boat alongside who werealso probably perishing of thirst. I administered a further smallquantity of the mixture to my patient, and it was marvellous to see theeffect of it upon him, his strength seemed to return to him as though bymagic, and as he sat up on the deck he muttered, thickly:

  "More drink; more drink, for the love of God! I'd sell my soul for atumbler of the stuff!"

  Powerful though the fellow's adjuration was, I refused his request,considering that, after his evidently long abstention, it would do himmore harm than good--perhaps kill him, even--to let him drink too freelyat first; so, putting the jug and tumbler out of his sight and reach, Iturned my attention to the longboat alongside. She was a fine, big,powerful boat, and evidently, from her appearance, had belonged to alarge ship. Now that I had time to look at her attentively I saw thather masts and sails were in her, laid fore and aft the thwarts, togetherwith six long oars, or sweeps; she bore, deeply cut in her transom, thewords "_Black Prince_ Liverpool"; there were six water breakers in herbottom; and, huddled up in all sorts of attitudes eloquent of extremestsuffering, there lay, stretched upon and doubled over the thwarts, andin the bottom of the boat, no less than fifteen men--whether living ordead it was difficult for the moment to say. At all events it wasevident that there was no time to be lost, for if the men were notactually dead their lives were hanging by a thread; so, recoveringpossession of the jug of weak grog and the tumbler, I slid down into theboat and, taking them as they came, wetted the lips of each with alittle of the liquid. Some of them were able to swallow it at once,while others had their teeth so tightly clenched that it was impossibleto get their jaws apart; but eventually--not to dwell at unnecessarylength upon a scene so fraught with lingering, long-drawn-outsuffering--I contrived to restore every one of them to consciousness,and to get them aboard the brig, where I spent several hours inattending to them and, with Miss Onslow's assistance, administering foodand drink in small quantities until their strength had so far returnedto them that there was no longer any danger of their perishing, when Igot them below into the forecastle, and left them to rest undisturbed.The next day they were all so far recovered as to be able to move aboutand even to climb on deck out of the forecastle, unaided; and on thesecond day seven of them reported themselves fit for such light duty astaking a trick at the wheel, and so on. Among the first to recover werethe cook and steward, who at once assumed their proper duties, much tomy satisfaction; for necessary as it had hitherto been for me to availmyself of Miss Onslow's assistance, it went sorely against the grain forme to see her day after day performing such mean duties as that ofcooking, and it was a great relief to me when I was able to inform herthat henceforward she would be relieved of such work.

  The unexpected acquisition of these sixteen men, constituting, as theydid, a really strong crew for such a small craft as the brig, relievedme of a very heavy load of anxiety; for now I felt that, with a tightand seaworthy vessel under my feet, and a crew that would enable me tohandle and take care of her in any weather, there was no reason whateverwhy my companion and I should not speedily reach Cape Town and the endof our troubles. There was but one thing remaining to occasion me anyuneasiness, and that was the fact that the chronometer had run down andstopped during the time that the brig had been drifting about, derelict,and consequently I had no means of ascertaining my longitude--a mostawkward predicament to be in, especially when approaching a coast. But,as though Fate were satisfied with what she had already inflicted uponus, and had now relented so completely as to be eager to hasten ourdeliverance, it happened that on the very day when my new crew reportedthemselves--as fit for duty, we fell in with a homeward-bound Chinaclipper, from the skipper of whom I obtained our longitude, and was thusenabled to start the chronometer again. The information thus affordedme showed that we were within two hundred and forty miles of the SouthAfrican capital, or little more than twenty-four hours' run if the windwould but chop round and come fair for us.