sail with a light heart, having not the least doubt that, with God's assistance, we should come and bring them all off. Had a very squally night, and a very leaky boat, so as to keep two buckets constantly bailing. Steered her myself the whole night by the stars, and in the morning saw the coast of Jamaica, distant twelve leagues. At eight in the evening, arrived at Montego Bay.'"

66

Capital! capital! Well done, brave Archer!"

"I must now begin to leave off, particularly as I have but half an hour to conclude; else my pretty little short letter will lose its passage, which I should not like after being ten days, at different times, writing it, beating up with the convoy to the northward, which is a reason that this epistle will never read well; for I never sat down with a proper disposition to go on with it; but as I knew something of the kind would please you, I was resolved to finish it: yet it will not bear an overhaul; so don't expose your son's nonsense.

"But to proceed: I instantly sent off an express to the admiral, another to the Porcupine man-of-war, and went myself to Martha Bay to get vessels; for all their vessels here, as well as many of their houses, were gone to moco.

"What does he mean by 'gone to moco?""

"Oh! he means that they had been carried away by the storm. 'Got three small vessels, and set out back again to Cuba, where I arrived the fourth day after leaving my companions. I thought the ship's crew would have devoured me on my landing; they presently whisked

me up on their shoulders, and carried me to the tent where Sir Hyde was.'

66

They did very right! Why he had ventured his life to save theirs."

"I must omit many little occurrences that happened on shore, for want of time; but I shall have a number of stories to tell when I get alongside of you; and the next time I visit you, I shall not be in such a hurry to quit you, as I was the last; for then I hoped my nest would have been pretty well feathered: but my tale is forgotten. I found the Porcupine had arrived that day, and the lads had built a boat, almost ready for launching, that would hold fifty of them, which was intended for another trial, in case I had foundered. Next day embarked all our people that were left, amounting to two hundred and fifty; for some had died of their wounds they had received in getting on shore, others of drinking rum, and others had straggled into the country. All our vessels were so full of people, that we could not take away the few clothes that were saved from the wreck; but that was a trifle, since we had preserved our lives and liberty.

"To make short of my story, we all arrived safe at Montego Bay, and shortly after, at Port Royal, in the Yanus, which was sent on purpose for us, and were all honourably acquitted for the loss of the ship. I was made admiral's aid-de-camp, and a little time afterwards sent down to St. Juan's, as captain of the Resource. Found in my absence that I had been appointed captain

of the Tobago, where I remain his majesty's most true and faithful servant, and my dear mother's Most dutiful son,

ARCHER.'

Well, that is a most capital account; and Archer deserved, indeed, to be a captain."

Having finished our cruise, boys, we must now again part company; for I have some stores to overhaul that will occupy me some time.”

"Farewell, and thank you heartily, Captain, very heartily."

CHAPTER IX.

A breeze-A steady breeze-A gale-A hurricane-A squall-Telescope-Quadrant-Compass-The Prince East Indiaman on fire-Soldiers ordered under arms-Yawl hoisted out -The long boat falls over the guns-Spars and yards thrown over-The flames increase-Distress on board the yawlArrive at Tresson Bay, on the coast of Brazil.

"WHAT weather may be expected to-day, Captain?"

"Windy, boys, windy! It has shifted two points since sunrise. There will be some blowing about in the chops of the channel. A steady breeze, and perhaps a gale." "What is a steady breeze? When the wind blows steadily?"

"When the wind blows gently, it is a breeze; when it blows moderately, it is a steady breeze. But I will give you the terms that we sailors make use of concerning the weather on board a man-of-war: we say, a calm, a light air, a light breeze, a moderate breeze, a fresh breeze, a strong breeze, a gale, a fresh gale, a hard gale, a storm, and a hurricane, as the case may be."

"That is very plain; we shall know, if ever we go to sea, what name to give to the weather." “That I much question, boys. They who go to sea, for the first time, are apt to mistake a gale for a storm, and a squall for a hurricane."

that

"What is a squall? You have not told us that." "A squall is a sudden and violent gust of wind, soon comes and soon goes. In the Levant, or eastern part of the Mediterranean, owing to the number of islands there, the wind is almost always blowing in squalls, changing suddenly: at one time, whistling on the starboard; at another, blustering in the larboard; and a minute after, roaring right ahead. Many a small craft has been capsized there without warning.'

"Why, those who sail there must be always in danger of their lives."

"A sailor is always in danger. There is but a step