During this universal wreck of things, the horror I was in could not prevent me from observing a very curious circumstance, which at any other time would have excited laughter, though now it produced no other emotion than surprise-We happened to be in part laden with mangoes, of which the island of Goa is known to produce the finest in the world; some of them lay in baskets on the poop: a little black boy, in the moment of the greatest danger, had got seated by them, devouring them voraciously, and crying all the time most bitterly at the horrors of his situation!

The vessel was now completely water-logged; and Mr. Hall and I were employed in forming conjectural calculations how many minutes she could keep above water, and consoling one another on the unfortunate circumstances under which we met lamenting that fate had thus brought us acquainted only to make us witnesses of each other's misery, and then to see one another no more.

As the larboard side of the vessel was gradually going down, the deck, and of course the capstern, became too nearly perpendicular for us to continue on it: we therefore foresaw the necessity of quitting it, and got upon the starboard side, holding fast by the gunnel, and allowing our bodies and legs to yield to the sea as it broke over us. Thus we continued for some time: at length the severity of the labour so entirely exhausted our strength and spirits, that our best hope seemed to be a speedy conclusion to our painful death; and we began to have serious intentions of letting go our hold, and yielding ourselves up to the fury of the waves.

The vessel, which all this time drifted with the sea and wind, gradually approximated the shore, and at length struck the ground, which for an instant revived our almost departed hopes; but we soon found that it did not in the smallest degree better our situation-Again I began to yield to utter despair--again I thought of letting go my hold, and sinking at once it is impossible, thought I, ever to escape-why, then, prolong, for a few minutes, a painful existence that must at last be given up? Yet, yet, the all-subduing love of life suggested, that many things apparently impossible had

come to pass; and I said to myself, If life is to be lost, why not lose it in a glorious struggle? Should I still survive it by accident, life will be rendered doubly sweet to me, and I still more worthy of it by persevering fortitude.

While I was employed in this train of reflection, I perceived some of the people collecting together, talking, and holding a consultation-It immediately occurred to me, that they were devising some plan for escaping from the wreck, and getting on shore: and, so natural is it for man to cling to his fellow-creature for support in difficult or dangerous exigencies, I proposed to Mr. Hall to join them, and take a share in the execution of the plan-observing to him at the same time, that I was determined at all events to quit the vessel, and trust to the protection and guidance of a superintending Providence for the rest.

'I argued with myself, in the height of my calamitous situation, upon the subject of fortitude and dejection, courage and cowardice; and, notwithstanding the serious aspect of affairs, found myself listening to the suggestions of pride: What a paltry thing to yield, while strength is left to struggle! Vanity herself had her hint, and whispered, "Should I escape by an effort of my own, what a glorious theme of exultation!" There were, I confess, transitory images in my mind, which, co-operating with the natural attachment to self-preservation, made me persevere, and resolve to do so, while one vestige of hope was left for the mind to dwell on.

Observing, as I told you before, the people consulting together, and resolving to join them, I made an effort to get to the lee shrouds, where they were standing, or rather clinging; but before I could accomplish it, I lost my hold, fell down the hatchway (the gratings having been carried away with the long-boat), and was for some minutes entangled there amongst a heap of packages, which the violent fluctuations of the water had collected on the lee side. As the vessel moved with the sea, and the water flowed in, the packages and I were rolled together--sometimes one, sometimes another, uppermost; so that I began to be apprehensive I should not be able to extricate myself: by the merest accident, however,

I grasped something that lay in my way, made a vigorous spring, and gained the lee shrouds. Mr. Hall, who followed me, in seizing the shrouds, came thump against me with such violence that I could scarcely retain my hold of the rigging. Compelled by the perilous situation in which I stood, I called out to him for God's sake to keep off, for that I was rendered quite breathless and worn out: he generously endeavoured to make way for me, and, in doing so, unfortunately lost his hold, and went down under the ship's side. Never, never, shall I forget my sensations at this melancholy incident----I would have given millions of worlds that I could have recalled the words which made him move; my mind was wound up to the last pitch of anguish: I truly may say, that this was the most bitter of all the bitter moments of my life, with which the other circumstances of the shipwreck seemed lessened---for I had insensibly acquired an unusual esteem and warm attachment for him, and was doubtful whether, after being even the innocent occasion of his falling, I ought to take further pains to preserve my own life. All these sensations were passing with the rapidity of lightning through my thoughts, when, as much to my astonishment as my joy, I saw him borne by a returning wave, and thrown among the very packages from which I had just before, with such labour and difficulty, extricated myself---In the end he proved equally fortunate, but after a much longer and harder struggle, and after sustaining much more injury.

I once more changed my station, and made my way to the poop, where I found myself rather more sheltered----I earnestly wished Mr. Hall to be with me, whatever might be my ultimate fate--and beckoned to him to come to me; but he only answered by shaking his head, in a feeble desponding manner--staring at the same time wildly about him: even his spirit was subdued; and despair, I perceived, had begun to take possession of his mind.

'Being a little more at ease in my new station than I had been before, I had more time to deliberate, and more power to judge. I recollected, that, according to the course of time, the day was far gone, and the night quickly approaching: I

reflected, that for any enterprise whatsoever, day was much preferable to night; and above all I considered, that the vessel could not hold longer together-I therefore thought, that the best method I could adopt would be, to take to the water the first bouyant thing I could see; and, as the wind and water both seemed to run to the shore, to take my chance in that way of reaching it. In pursuance of this resolution, I tore off my shirt, having before that thrown off the other parts of my dress--I looked at my sleeve buttons, in which was set the hair of my departed children--and, by an involuntary act of the imagination, asked myself the question, "Shall I be happy enough to meet them where I am now about to go? shall those dear last remains, too, become a prey to the devouring deep”----In that instant, reason, suspended by the horrors of the scene, gave way to instinct; and I rolled my shirt up, and very carefully thrust it into a hole between decks, with the wild hope that the sleeve buttons might yet escape untouched. Watching my opportunity, I saw a log of wood floating near the vessel, and, waving my hand to Mr. Hall as a last adieu, jumped after it. Here again I was doomed to aggravated hardships--I had scarcely touched the log when a great sea snatched it from my hold: still as it came near me, I grasped at it ineffectually, till at last it was completely carried away, but not before it had cut and battered and bruised me in several places, and in a manner that at any other time I should have thought dreadful.

'Death seemed inevitable; and all that occurred to me now to do, was to accelerate it, and get out of its pangs as speedily as possible; for, though I knew how to swim, the tremendous surf rendered swimming useless, and all hope from it would have been ridiculous. I therefore began to swallow as much water as possible; yet, still rising by the bouyant principle of the waves to the surface, my former thoughts began to recur; and whether it was that, or natural instinct, which survived the temporary impressions of despair, I know not---but I endeavoured to swim, which I had not done long, when I again discovered the log of wood I had lost floating near me, and with some difficulty caught it: hardly had it been an

instant in my hands, when, by the same unlucky means, I lost it again. I had often heard it said in Scotland, that if a man will throw himself flat on his back in the water, lie quite straight and stiff, and suffers himself to sink till the water gets into his ears, he will continue to float so for ever: this occurred to me now, and I determined to try the experiment; so I threw myself on my back in the manner I have described, and left myself to the disposal of Providence; nor was I long till I found the truth of the saying.--for I floated with hardly an effort, and began for the first time to conceive something like hopes of preservation.

After lying in this manner, committed to the discretion of the tides, I soon saw the vessel---saw that it was at a considerable distance behind me. Liveliest hope began to play about my heart, and joy fluttered with a thousand gay fancies in my mind: I began to form the favourable conclusion, that the tide was carrying me rapidly to land from the vessel, and that I should once more touch terra firma.

This expectation was a cordial that revived my exhausted spirits: I took courage, and left myself still to the same all-directing Power that had hitherto preserved me, scarcely doubting that I should soon reach the land. Nor was I mistaken; for, in a short time more, without effort or exertion, and without once turning from off my back, I found myself strike against the sandy beach. Overjoyed, as you may well suppose, to the highest pitch of transport at my providential deliverance, I made a convulsive spring, and ran up a little distance on the shore; but was so weak and worn down by fatigue, and so unable to clear my stomach of the salt water with which it was loaded, that I suddenly grew deadly sick, and apprehended that I had only exchanged one death for another, and in a minute or two fainted away.

'How long I continued in the swoon into which I had fallen, it is impossible for me to tell; but, when I recovered, I found myself surrounded by a guard of armed soldiers, sepoys, and pikemen. I knew them immediately to be the troops of Hyder Aly, and almost wished myself back into the waves again. Looking round, I saw that the people and effects that VOL. IV.

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