98 THE WHALEMAN ; OR, 



sels at sea have been known to pass near ship- 

 wrecked mariners, and yet they were not discov- 

 ered. They were upon a low raft, perhaps, or 

 had no means of raising a signal, and were 

 therefore passed. The imploring cries and 

 stretched-out hands of the sufferers were alike 

 unheeded ; not from any intentional neglect, by 

 any means, but simply because they were not 

 seen from the vessel's deck. 



It is sad to contemplate an oversight even like 

 this, in which the hopes and lives of a number 

 of unfortunate seamen were suspended upon the 

 bare possibility of being recognized by the pass- 

 ing ship. 



How many, many have doubtless perished in 

 mid ocean, whose eyes beheld again and again 

 the approaching and departing sail, whose hearts 

 alternately rose in hope and sunk in despondency, 

 and yet at last died without the precious boon 

 of deliverance ! 



Other instances have, however, occurred, of a 

 far different character. Suffering, exhausted, 

 and dying mariners, either upon wrecks or rafts, 

 have been left uncared for and abandoned by 

 the passing ship. 



If the records of the past did not furnish con- 

 clusive evidence of the truth of the foregoing 

 statement, it would seem that the bare announce- 



