270 THE CRUISE OF THE ''CACHALOT:* 



under. We instantly hauled alongside of the wreck and 

 transferred her crew, all dazed and horror-stricken at 

 the awful death of their late comrade. 



I saw the tears trickle down the rugged, mahogany- 

 coloured face of the captain, and honoured him for it, 

 but there was little time to waste in vain regrets. It 

 was necessary to save the boat, if possible, as we 

 were getting short of boat-repairing material ; certainly 

 we should not ha.ve been able to build a new one. So, 

 drawing the two sound boats together, one on either side 

 of the wreck, we placed the heavy steering oars across 

 them from side to side. We then lifted the battered 

 fore part upon the first oar, and with a big effort 

 actually succeeded in lifting the whole of the boat out 

 of water upon this primitive pontoon. Then taking 

 the jib, we " frapped " it round the opening where the 

 bows had been, lashing it securely in that position. 

 Several hands were told off to jump into her stern on 

 the word, and all being ready we launched her again. 

 The weight of the chaps in her stern- sheets cocked her 

 bows right out of water, and in that position we towed 

 her back to the ship, arriving safely before dusk. 



That evening we held a burial service, at which 

 hundreds of natives attended with a solemnity of de- 

 meanour and expressions of sorrow that would not 

 have been out of place at the most elaborate funeral 

 in England or America. It was a memorable scene. 

 The big cressets were lighted, shedding their wild glare 

 over the dark sea, and outlining the spars against the 

 moonless sky with startling effect. When we had 

 finished the beautiful service, the natives, as if swayed 

 by an irresistible impulse, broke into the splendid tune 

 St. Ann's ; and I afterwards learned that the words they 

 sang were Dr. Watts' unsurpassable rendering of Moses' 



