he expressed himself indebted to me, and said that he felt greatly
better from the immersion, afterward conversing sensibly upon our
situation. We then resolved to treat Augustus and Peters in the same
way, which we immediately did, when they both experienced much
benefit from the shock. This idea of sudden immersion had been
suggested to me by reading in some medical work the good effect of
the shower-bath in a case where the patient was suffering from _mania
a potu_.

Finding that I could now trust my companions to hold the end of
the rope, I again made three or four plunges into the cabin, although
it was now quite dark, and a gentle but long swell from the northward
rendered the hulk somewhat unsteady. In the course of these attempts
I succeeded in bringing up two case-knives, a three-gallon jug,
empty, and a blanket, but nothing which could serve us for food. I
continued my efforts, after getting these articles, until I was
completely exhausted, but brought up nothing else. During the night
Parker and Peters occupied themselves by turns in the same manner;
but nothing coming to hand, we now gave up this attempt in despair,
concluding that we were exhausting ourselves in vain.

We passed the remainder of this night in a state of the most
intense mental and bodily anguish that can possibly be imagined. The
morning of the sixteenth at length dawned, and we looked eagerly
around the horizon for relief, but to no purpose. The sea was still
smooth, with only a long swell from the northward, as on yesterday.
This was the sixth day since we had tasted either food or drink, with
the exception of the bottle of port wine, and it was clear that we
could hold out but a very little while longer unless something could
be obtained. I never saw before, nor wish to see again, human beings