70 IN FLORIDA. 



it, and more, but some of them had been pouring 

 out libations to Bacchus, or had been carried away 

 by foolish animal spirits, we could not exactly deter- 

 mine which, and the result was, that the party of 

 merry-makers was suddenly turned into one of 

 mourners. 



We luffed up alongside, and lay to, while our men 

 lowered the boats, and picked up all the poor fellows 

 who were left. Two were unaccounted for, one of 

 whom had been seen to let go his hold and sink. Sev- 

 eral of the others would haye soon followed his exam- 

 ple, except for our timely arrival, for the water hap- 

 pened to be cool that evening, and quickly benumb- 

 ed their warm southern blood, although they were 

 whites, and not blacks, as we at first supposed. Af- 

 ter they were all on board, and it was apparent that 

 there was no use in looking for their lost comrades, 

 we hitched a line to their boat, and towed it behind 

 us towards the shore. As the men crowded on our 

 deck, they seemed so miserable, and did so tremble 

 with the cold, that the hearts of the ladies were 

 touched, and nothing would do but they must be 

 brought into the cabin, and warmed at the stove, 

 there being not room enough for so many in the fore- 

 castle. Their clothes dripped and drained over our 

 pretty carpet, and left stains, which never were to come 

 out, but we felt only too glad that we had been able 

 to be of some use to any of our fellow " toilers of the 

 sea." We finally warmed their blood, and put fresh 

 life into them with liberal rations of rum, which was 

 fifty years old. Amid their sufferings what caused 



