264 SALMON FISHING IN CANADA. 



although he was quite unacquainted with .the art of 

 swimming. Several oars were thrown overboard the mo- 

 ment after he fell, but he could not reach them, though 

 they were near him ; and directly the ship brought up, a 

 Sandwich islander, who formed one of the crew, leaped 

 overboard and swam toward him, while at the same time 

 the people on deck were lowering a spare boat, which is 

 always kept for such emergencies. 



" The good Sandwich islander struck out most bravely at 

 first, but finding that he was at some distance from the 

 ship, and being unable to see the man of whom he was in 

 search, on account of the agitated surface of the sea, 

 actually turned back through fear. The men in the boat 

 now plied their oars with all their strength, and were 

 making rapidly towards the drowning man, who, now and 

 then rapidly disappeared entirely from view, under the 

 seas which were beginning to roll. A sickening anxiety 

 pervaded all, as the boat passed onward to the spot where 

 the poor fellow still grappled convulsively, with the yield- 

 ing waters. 



The boat, urged by man's utmost strength, sprang over 

 the boisterous waves with considerable speed, but arrived 

 half a minute too late to save the poor fellow from his 

 watery grave. He struggled strongly with the waves to 

 the last, when the foam of a broken sea roared over him, 

 and he disappeared for ever. The boat was rowed round 

 and round the fatal spot, again and again, until night fell, 



