AN EVENTFUL VOYAGE 
229 
boats belonging to the schooner Helena was capsized. 
They were pulling along abreast about a thousand 
yards apart, when the middle boat, which was 
plainly visible to the others every time it rose on 
the long swell, was suddenly missed. A search with 
the glasses revealed the overturned boat some 
distance astern. The other boats immediately pulled 
for it, and on arrival found four of its crew un¬ 
conscious, but hanging on with a vicelike grip, and 
the other man, who had managed to get astride the 
keel, and was therefore partly out of the water, 
buffeting himself to try and keep some warmth in 
his body. They all recovered after being stripped 
and rubbed down. In my own case, when upset, I 
was not in the water long enough to reach the col¬ 
lapsing stage, but could not have been far off it, as, 
although I changed into warm, dry clothes and sat 
close beside a roaring fire, warmth did not return to 
my body for about two hours. 
Leaving Robben Island, we laid a course for 
the channel between Kunashir and Yetorup. The 
weather being thick, we got no sights; and a gale of 
wind coming on as we approached the strait, I felt 
very anxious as to our position. To heave to on a 
lee shore would have been fatal with such a gale 
as was then blowing. About 4.30 o’clock p.m. a 
rift in the clouds for a minute or two just gave me 
a sight of a high volcanic peak, which I recognized as 
Atosa Mountain, and I knew we were headed about 
right. The barometer was down to 28*80, and we 
were running from 9 to 10 knots under very 
small sail. My anxiety was not at an end, as a 
long reef extends off the north-west point of Kunashir, 
for which we might be directly heading. The 
