394 
TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. 
sary being now ready, tlie rest of the crew were called 
off again to pour water into the hatchways and cabin, 
from- which rose volumes of thick yellow smoke. Now, 
too, we could hear in the hold the balsam bubbling, like 
some great boiling caldron, which told of such intense 
heat, that we knew the flames must soon break out. And 
so it was, for in less than half an hour the fire burst 
through the cabin-floor into the berths, and consuming 
rapidly the dry pine-wood, soon flamed up through the 
skylight. There was now a scorching heat on the quar- 
ter-deck, and we saw that all hope was over, and that we 
must in a few minutes be driven by the terrible element 
to take refuge on the scarcely less dangerous one, which 
heaved and swelled its mighty billows a thousand miles 
on every side of us. The Captain at length ordered all 
into the boats, and was himself the last to leave the ves- 
sel. I had to get down over the stern by a rope into the 
boat, rising and falling and swaying about with the swell ® 
of the ocean ; and, being rather weak, rubbed the skin ' 
considerably off my fingers, and tumbled in among the 
miscellaneous articles already soaking there in the great- ^ 
est confusion. One sailor was baling with a bucket, and 
another with a mug ; but the water not seeming at all to 
diminish, but rather the contrary, I set to work helping 
them, and soon found the salt-water producing a most 
intense smarting and burning on my scarified fingers. 
We now lay astern of the ship, to which we were 
moored, watching the progress of the fire. The flames 
very soon caught the shrouds and sails, making a most 
magnificent conflagration up to the very peak, for the L 
royals were set at the time. Soon after, the fore rigging p 
