diately ran towards his boat, giving his own men the alarm as he passed the hut, who instantly joined him with hearts and hands. No men perhaps ever exerted themselves more for the relief of their fellow creatures, than they did on this occasion. They hauled their old water-soaked boat out of the creek more than one or two hundred yards over dry sand; and while they are making t eir appearance round the point, we will return to the melancholy scene of our sufferings. On fairly realizing the situation we were in, I found myself encumbered with a tight pair of thick pantaloons, thick heavy boots, and a short tight jacket, without any thing in my hands While moving my legs in the water, endeavouring to keep myself up, I hit them against a bundle of small sticks that had been cut for the purpose of stringing the fish on; I got hold of it, and placed it under my breast; although it did not swim buoyant, it prevented me from sinking suddenly between the waves. I was just heading for the land, when looking to the left, I saw one of my faithful sailors, a Swede, by the name of John Fostram, making towards me with all possible exertion. I turned my head from him, and used every effort to prevent his reaching me, which I greatly apprehended he would; but the poor fellow finding his attempts fail, relinquished the oar he had grasped in his hand, his head gradually lowering, until his strength being entirely exhausted, he gave up, and sunk. I never until then had experienced any satisfaction at seeing a man die; but so great is the regard we have for ourselves when in danger, that we would sooner see the whole human race perish than die ourselves. I remember but few incidents in the course of my life, that were more gratifying to me than that of Fostram's sinking; for I was not only relieved of the dread of his involving me in his own fate, but had likewise the car he relinquished within my reach, which I immediately seized, and headed ag in for the land. Very soon after I observed another of my poor distressed sailors, a native of Nova Scotia, named William Thompson, making towards me on the right hand. I pulled from him, though he did not give me so much uneasiness as the former, as he was at a greater distance. This poor fellow soon met his fate in a similar manner with Fostram. likewise made shift to procure his oar, and placed it under me, and then once more headed for the land. I began to feel for the moment a little safer, finding myself considerably supported by the two oars, together with the bundle of sticks, and out of all danger from others, as the remainder of my people were all ahead of me. I recommenced my calling for assistance, which I had suspended during my exertions to avoid Fostram. I kept constantly looking for my companions in distress, and saw the remaining three to my great satisfaction, keep their heads pretty steadily above the water. I had the greatest reason to be most concerned about my brother William, as he was but a youth and born huri-footed, which inconvenience still remained with him, as bad as I ever saw with any person, and he was likewise incommoded with a sailor's jacket, but much less in proportion to his body, than mine was. I kept my course right before the wind, which blew towards the nearest part of the shore; still hallooing so loud that the people on shore afterwards declared, they had never heard a voice so strong or to continue for so long a space of time. At intervals I kept watching my brother William, who was struggling very hard with his lame feet and confined arms. The time hung very heavy on our hands, as no probability of relief was in view. Whilst jogging on very slowly with the blades of the oars out behind me, a wave forcibly struck them; being off my guard, I was tripped up and hove from my supporters; it was not without some difficulty I replaced them again in their former situation; I had hardly got once more under way when I was again thrown off from my supporters. My strength being by this time very much exhausted, I had to use my utmost 'exertions to replace myself again, which enfeebled me so much that I was obliged to desist calling and hallooing, and use the greatest precaution not to get misplaced again. After waiting a little while in this situation, I saw the boat that was coming to our relief just turning the point; the sight of her so animated me, that forgetting for a moment my own danger, I exerted my remaining strength to encourage my people, telling them that I saw the the boat coming to our succour, to keep a good heart and all would yet be well; but being at the time off my guard, a sea struck and threw me quite clear of all I had to support me. last disaster nearly overcame me; it was with the greatest difficulty imaginable I gathered my oars and bundle together, and still This greater trouble to replace them again under me. I laid my head to the wind, not daring to look towards the shore, for fear the sea would again strike me unawares, as I was well assured I never could recover myself if I had the misfortune to be once more misplaced. In this state of inactivity, I had time for meditation and to observe what my other brother was about on board of the Pilgrim. By his going from one mast head to the other, with almost the swiftness of an eagle, to learn, as I could perceive, as much of our situation as possible, his anxiety fell evidently but little short of our own, who were in the water, at being compelled to view our sufferings without having it in his power to render us the least assistance; besides I knew his generous feelings too well to think it were not almost as bad as death itself for him to be a witness of our calamity, when he could do no more than remain an inactive spectator. I could only judge in imagination of the fate of the brother behind me, from the motions of the one before me; for as the female species of whale when her young is struck stays braving all the harpoons and lances that can be used for her destruction, until her offspring has breathed its last, and not till then the mother disappears; so I conjectured would the brother before me do, if the one behind me should be drowned. I then began to reflect on the consequences of my not s rviving this disaster, and to those I should leave behind; for them a one I feit; as for myself I could not perceive that life was of such great importance as I had already suffered a great many hardships and privations, besi es many heartrending scenes of injustice, ingratitude, and disappointments, all of which I must again be liable to experience. If the reader is curious to know my thoughts on futurity on this occasion, I can only say they were, that if I survived, I should hereafter find more favour with God than I had found amongst men, and was not terrified at committing my spirit to him who gave it me; ever confiding in his infinite goodness; but to say I was not affraid of dying I cannot, as I considered it a very great precipice to leap down in the dark. In this unpleasant state of suspence, I remained more than half an hour, which seemed the longest and most irksome I had ever spent in my life As I never once looked over my shoulder to see if the boat was advancing, from the time I was last misplaced until the people in her took hold of me; nor did I hear them making any noise to give me notice of their approach until a few minutes before they relieved me from my perilous situation. When I was taken into the boat I looked round and saw my brother William, Mr. Luther, and the armourer lying in the bottom of the boat, all of them too much exhausted to keep their heads up. Thus ended our misery for this time, after living upwards of an hour in the cold water, and suffering both in body and mind as much as any human beings possibly could. We were carried on shore to a convenient house, where our wet clothes were taken off, dry ones put on, and a comfortable fire made, which soon reinstated us in health and strength again. The bad weather continued for two days before an opportunity offered to search for the bodies of the two drowned men and the boat, which had sunk in three fathoms water. A calm succeeding the storm, two or three of my boats returned to the ship. As soon as the people heard of the accident which had taken place during their absence, they came to us immediately and assisted in searching for the boat, which we found lying on the bottom as stedfast as a rock, with all the barrels of fish in her, just as she sunk; and near her the body of Fostram was found and taken up by means of a long pole with a hook to the end of it; but we never got the body of Thompson. The boat was recovered, Fostram decently interred, and the funeral services real in a more than ordinarily solemn manner. The meeting of the three brothers, after our being so timely and fortunately relieved from danger by Mr. Vose and his people, was as the poet says: "Long parted friends, who after an easy voyage of cares, It is worthy of being remarked, that in the performance of the present voyage, my brothers William and Samuel had a similar escape together, the circumstances of which were as follows: I left the Pilgrim on the coast of Peru in 1806, fitted for sealing one year longer, the two brothers being left to perform that service. After the time had expired, they bent their course towards Canton, and on the 14th of December 1807, in entering the China sea with a stiff gale from north east, and a heavy sea, course west-north-west, a sea struck the vessel and hove her on her beam ends, so that her mast heads were under water; they lost three men overboard and sustained many other damages. After lying in that situation some minutes, the vessel's head swung round before the wind, when she righted again before she filled with water; a circumstance that seldom happens to a vessel at sea after being once fairly overset. In the month of October we made preparation for sea, and on the 24th, got under way and sailed out to the eastward through the narrows, shaped our course for the south west cape of New Zealand, found the weather very boisterous, and the wind mostly from the westward. I shall here make some remarks upon the Snares, which we run for and made on the 3d of November 1804, after giving captain Vancouver's account of them, who was the first discoverer. I know of no other person, except him and myself, that has ever seen them. "The mainsail and close reefed topsails, all the sail the ship would bear, were now set, and keeping the wind on the beam, we steered south-south-east, when about eleven o'clock to our great astonishment land was discovered, bearing east four or five leagues distant. We knew of no land nearer than the south cape of New Zealand, and by the course we had steered, there was scarcely a possibility of our being within eighteen or twenty leagues of the cape; but being flattered with the prospect of a meridian observation for the latitude, our decision was postponed until that could be ascertained. Noon brought us nearer the land, which by compass bore north cast by east, at the distance of three or four leagues only, by a tolerable good observation, in latitude 48° 5′ south. It was clearly proved that this land could not, from its situation, be any part of New Zealand, as it was nearly three fourths of a degree to the southward of the most southerly promontory of that country. Our longitude by the chronometer was at this time 166° 4′, which situation was ighteen miles more south, and thirteen more east than the log gave. The weather, though very hazy, being something clearer than before noon, we beheld as we |