" After some little time we succeeded in swinging the 

 boat clear of the deck. None of the crew was assisting 

 us. Fifty-three men swarmed into the boat and we 

 lowered her. I was directing the lowering and I was 

 very much afraid as I saw the boat go slowly down 

 that the grab-links would not hold. The boat hit the 

 crest of a wave and we slacked away. She dropped 

 six feet before she caught the falling wave, but all was 

 safe. 



' 'We hauled back the blocks and hitched them to our 

 raft, but it was fastened to the deck and we lost much 

 time in finding how the fastenings worked. Then the 

 ropes became tangled in one of the double blocks and 

 it was some job to straighten them out in the dark. 



"Men started to scramble into the boat before we 

 had swung it out, but we ordered them all out, and 

 they obeyed, except one. He said, 'I am sick with 

 pneumonia, and they told me to get in.' We let him 

 stay. We swung the boat clear and started to lower 

 away when something happened. The boys at the other 

 end thought they had a half hitch on a post, but it 

 proved to be a spool capstan. The rope spun out and 

 the boat hung by one end, dangling in midair. The 

 sick man was thrown out and we thought him engulfed 

 in the sea below, but we found out later that he landed 

 on 'D' deck below with two broken ribs. He is in our 

 company now, safe in the hospital. 



"Well, I ordered the boys to lower away and our 

 boat landed right side up, but partially filled with 

 water. Men began sliding down the ropes and I with 

 them. I loosened the block and heaved it overboard. 

 It took all my strength. Men held the lines as others 



29 



