dry place to windward, with his head somewhat lower than his body,
and all three of us busied ourselves in chafing his limbs. In about
half an hour he came to himself, although it was not until the next
morning that he gave signs of recognizing any of us, or had
sufficient strength to speak. By the time we had thus got clear of
our lashings it was quite dark, and it began to cloud up, so that we
were again in the greatest agony lest it should come on to blow hard,
in which event nothing could have saved us from perishing, exhausted
as we were. By good fortune it continued very moderate during the
night, the sea subsiding every minute, which gave us great hopes of
ultimate preservation. A gentle breeze still blew from the N. W., but
the weather was not at all cold. Augustus was lashed carefully to
windward in such a manner as to prevent him from slipping overboard
with the rolls of the vessel, as he was still too weak to hold on at
all. For ourselves there was no such necessity. We sat close
together, supporting each other with the aid of the broken ropes
about the windlass, and devising methods of escape from our frightful
situation. We derived much comfort from taking off our clothes and
wringing the water from them. When we put them on after this, they
felt remarkably warm and pleasant, and served to invigorate us in no
little degree. We helped Augustus off with his, and wrung them for
him, when he experienced the same comfort.

Our chief sufferings were now those of hunger and thirst, and
when we looked forward to the means of relief in this respect, our
hearts sunk within us, and we were induced to regret that we had
escaped the less dreadful perils of the sea. We endeavoured, however,
to console ourselves with the hope of being speedily picked up by
some vessel and encouraged each other to bear with fortitude the
evils that might happen.