THE DRUM ENDANGERS THE SHIP. 213 



knew precisely the construction of the drum and the 

 mode of its attachment, he alone therefore could per- 

 haps still save us. I found him already on his feet - 

 deadly pale, but composed. He too had immediately 

 understood the cause of the threatening blows, and that 

 had sufficed to dispel every trace of sea-sickness. In 

 the hold he in fact saw that the axis of the drum had 

 got loosened from its upper frame, and that the blocks 

 of especially hard wood, which had been carefully 

 prepared and fitted for the protection of the frame, 

 were wanting. The French ship's carpenters at first 

 pretended not to know what had become of them, but 

 when the blows increased in strength, and my brother 

 called out that we should all be lost, if the wood 

 was not immediately brought, their memory returned, 

 and the blocks were produced. The fellows had ad- 

 mired the unfamiliar solid wood and had regarded the 

 pieces as superfluous. 



With the violent rocking, we could not however 



o" 



succeed in placing the blocks in their proper places. 

 Meanwhile the blows had increased to such a degree 

 that everybody was seized with fear lest the vessel 

 should no longer resist them. Then my brother called 

 to us through the open hatch- way, "The oscillation is 

 too great, steer against the wind!" The captain at 

 once gave the necessary order, and the ship turned 

 to meet the waves. A moment after to my astonish- 

 ment I beheld the prow plunged under water, and the 

 waves already washing over the fore-part of the deck. 

 I perceived at once the cause of the phenomenon. 



