310 MY LIFE [Chap. 



asking what it was for, he replied, " To cut away the masts in 

 case we capsize in the night." In the middle of the night a 

 great sea smashed our skylight and poured in a deluge of 

 water, soaking the poor captain, and then slushing from side 

 to side with every roll of the ship. Now, I thought, our time 

 is come ; and I expected to see the captain rush up on deck 

 with his axe. But he only swore a good deal, sought out a 

 dry coat and blanket, and then lay down on the sofa as if 

 nothing had happened. So I was a little reassured. 



Not less alarming was the circumstance of the crew 

 coming aft in a body to say that the forecastle was unin- 

 habitable as it was constantly wet, and several of them 

 brought handfuls of wet rotten wood which they could pull 

 out in many places. This happened soon after the first gale 

 began ; so the two captains and I went to look, and we saw 

 sprays and squirts of water coming in at the joints in numerous 

 places, soaking almost all the men's berths, while here and 

 there we could see the places where they had pulled out rotten 

 wood with their fingers. The captain then had the sail-room 

 amid-ships cleared out for the men to sleep in for the rest of 

 the voyage. 



One day in the height of the storm, when we were being 

 flooded with spray and enormous waves were coming up 

 behind us, Captain Turner and I were sitting on the poop in 

 the driest place we could find, and, as a bigger wave than 

 usual rolled under us and dashed over our sides, he said 

 quietly to me, " If we are pooped by one of those waves we 

 shall go to the bottom ; " then added, " We were not very 

 safe in our two small boats, but I had rather be back in them 

 where we were picked up than in this rotten old tub." It is, 

 therefore, I think, quite evident that we did have a very 

 narrow escape. Yet this unseaworthy old ship, which ought 

 to have been condemned years before, had actually taken 

 Government stores out to Halifax, had there been patched up, 

 and sent to Cuba for a cargo of heavy timber, which we were 

 bringing home. 



I may here make a few remarks on the cause of the 

 fire, which at the time was quite a mystery to us. We learnt 



