72 



OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. 



the sloop had begun to pitch heavily and we set ourselves to 

 solve the problems of unstable equilibrium, which constantly 

 shifting angles of 30° to 40° presented in both floor and walls. 

 By courtesy we called our domicile a cabin, and we found 

 that it would hold two people — at a pinch! 



We unearthed our unused pneumatic mattresses and 

 rigged up our gilded foot pump. For fifteen minutes W 



Fig. 40. Our Sloop at Guanoco. 



worked, then the mate was called and took a hand. Were we 

 on a sinking ship and manning the pumps for our lives, 

 greater exertions could not have been made, and the reward 

 was a thin film of air within the rubber bed. Then we un- 

 screwed the decorative but useless contrivance, and W 



began to blow. This proved effective, and in a few minutes 

 we had placed the soft, air-filled cushions in our respective 

 bunks. We dubbed these bunks catacombs at once, for the 



