HIS SHIPWRECK. 
509 
savages ; under cover of which diversion Riley 
succeeded in throwing himself into the sea^ and 
regained the boat by swimming. He afterwards 
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 inter- 
position of providence enabled them to effect j 
but the event, as there seems a want of the dignus 
vindice nodus, might probably be traced to some 
very simple physical cause. They made their 
way through the ocean in this crazy vessel, two 
men bailing out the water by turns. At length, 
on the 'id of September, their stock of provisions 
and water was on the eve of being exhausted ; 
the leaks had increased to such a degree 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. Riley then 
represented to his crew that no resource remained 
but to steer towards the land ; that they must in- 
evitably perish if they continued out at sea 5 and 
