I have no recollection of what followed immediately upon my recovering myself, except a confused remembrance of craving for water—water! water! water! But there was none to be had even if I had offered a hundred pounds for a drop.
Towards evening our plight was indeed pitiable. We were all too weak to work the boat. Friends and foes mingled together unmolested. Unable to bear his agony one of the men jumped overboard, and so ended his sufferings. Others would have followed his example, but my companion promised that he would shoot the next man who attempted it, and so make his end still more certain.
About half-past seven the sun sank beneath the horizon, and with his departure a welcome breeze came down to us. Within an hour this had freshened into a moderate gale. Then, just before darkness obscured everything, a cry from one of the Chinamen forrard brought my companion to his feet. Rushing to the side he stared towards the west.
"Yes! Yes it is! We're saved, De Normanville—we're saved. As he says, it is the schooner!"
Then for the fourth time during that eventful voyage my senses deserted me!
