permitted, they prepared to put their plan in execution, by lashing
together a number of larger spars. Scarcely had they launched it, when
it was destroyed. Five, rendered desperate, embarked on a few spars
hastily lashed together, which gave them scarcely room to stand; they
were soon carried away by unknown currents, and were no more heard of.

In the afternoon the whale-boat came again in sight. The crew told them
that they had experienced great difficulty in persuading the Greek
fishermen of Cerigotto to venture to put to sea, because of the stormy
weather; but they gave them hopes, that if the weather moderated, the
boats would come next day. Before they had done speaking, twelve men
plunged from the rock into the sea, and nearly reached the boat; two
were taken in, one was drowned, and the rest were so fortunate as to
recover their former station.

As the day wore on, their weakness increased. One of the survivors
described himself as feeling the approach of annihilation; his sight
failed, and his senses were confused; his strength was exhausted; he
looked towards the setting sun, expecting never to see it rise again.
Suddenly the approach of the boats was announced; and from the depth of
despair, they rose to the very summit of joy. Their parched frames were
refreshed with copious draughts of water.

Immediate preparations were made for departure. Of one hundred and
twenty-two persons on board the Nautilus, when she struck, fifty-eight
had perished. Eighteen were drowned when she was wrecked, five were lost
in the small boat, and thirty-four died of famine. About fifty now
embarked in four fishing vessels, and landed the same evening at
Cerigotto; making sixty-four in all, including those saved in the
whale-boat. During their six days sojourn on the rock, they had nothing