490 
riLey's narrative. 
Riley succeeded in throwing himself into the sea, 
and regained the boat by swimming. He after* 
wards saw with agony the poor old man thrust 
dead with a spear ; but assures us, that neither by 
himself nor his men was he considered as having 
incurred guilt by this mode of saving his own life, 
and restoring to them his services in this critical 
emergency. 
The boat, even in its wretched state, was now 
their only hope; and the object was to get it out from 
among the breakers, and into the open sea. This, 
in the opinion of Riley, a miraculous interposition 
of providence enabled them to effect ; an event 
happening, which, as there seems a want of the 
digitus vindice nodus, might probably be traced to 
some very simple physical cause* They made 
their way through the ocean ill this crazy vessel, 
two men bailing out the water by turns. At 
length, on the 2d of September, their stock of pro* 
visions and water was on the eve of being ex- 
hausted ; the leaks had increased to such a de- 
gree, that the united efforts of the crew could 
with difficulty keep the boat from sinking ; and it 
appeared every moment possible that the next wave 
might bury them in the bosom of the ocean, Ri- 
ley than represented to his crew that no resource 
remained but to steer towards the land ; that 
they must inevitably perish if they continued out 
at sea ; and that, on land, they could cto no more 
7 
