■148 VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. chap. xvi. 



chart, I remarked that I had met with an old friend whom I 

 did not expect to find on board the " England," and held up 

 " The Loss of the ' Winterton,' East Indiaman/' by the late 

 Mr. Buchan, of Kelloe, observing that I knew the author, 

 from whom I had many years ago received a copy of his 

 book. 



Captain Dundas replied that Mr. Buchan was related to his 

 mother, and that the captain of the "Winterton" was his 

 grandfather, I then recollected that Dundas was the name of 

 the captain who had perished in the wreck. After remarking 

 that we were not far from the place where the wreck occurred. 

 Captain Dundas went on deck. In a few moments I heard 

 the cry " A wreck ! a wreck ! " and hastening to the poop, saw 

 on the larboard bow a small flag or signal of blue cloth, dis- 

 tinct among the tops of the waves, and about two miles off. 

 In a few minutes more I discerned a sort of raft, with two 

 figures, a white man and a man of colour, sitting upon it, up 

 to the waist in the sea. 



The flag of the " England" had been hoisted — symbol of 

 help and deliverance — to signal to the castaways that they 

 were seen, and the ship's course was altered. Meanwhile 

 one of the boats was lowered, and, manned by five stout, willing 

 hands, was pushed off towards the raft. While the oars 

 rattled with each stroke, and the light boat seemed to 

 spring over the waves, with our tall, stout second officer, Mr. 

 Peters, standing with the steer-oar in the stern, every eye on 

 board was stretched towards the same point ; the sailors leaning 

 over from the forecastle and forerigging; the officers and 

 passengers straining over the bulwarks of the poop; ladies 

 with their children all gazing with the most intense interest, 

 as our boat approached the raft. No one moved ; not a word 

 was uttered ; even breathing seemed difficult ; but when the 

 first man, and then the second — stiff, benumbed, and swollen 

 with the water — had been safely lifted into the boat, the 



