I^e* ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI. 
enough to the stern for us to watch an opportunity 
and drop ourselves in ; and we set off to pull for the 
shore. 
The ebb-tide, however, pushed the brig along every 
time she lifted ; and this movement was aided by the 
breeze, which again sprang up and filled the square- 
sails which we had left set; in a few minutes our 
vessel was going along, clear of the shoal, and all sails 
drawing. We had a hard task to catch her and save 
her from sailing on to the north bank ; but at length 
got her clear of all dangers, and stood out to sea. We 
found she did not leak much, and trusted that no 
serious damage had been done. 
Constant southerly gales detained us at sea for some 
days. During one of these, I was much surprised at 
the way adopted by the captain and crew to make all 
snug without trouble to anybody. 
One morning, on coming up on deck from the 'tween- 
decks where I had slung my cot, I found a hard gale 
blowing and heavy sea running, the brig being hove-to 
under a close reefed main-top-sail, with the helm lashed 
a-lee, and no one on deck or in the rigging. I looked 
into the cabin. The skipper, the medical mate, and Dr. 
Dorset were all snoring. I went forward and peeped 
down the scuttle into the forecastle, where the same 
happy oblivion prevailed. Doddrey w^as fast asleep in 
the 'tween-decks ; and I thus found myself the only 
person awake on board. The old brigj however, was 
an excellent sea-boat, and rode it out like a tub as she 
was ; and I did not disturb the sleepers, knowing we 
had plenty of sea-room. The next time I saw the skip- 
per awake, he told me this was a common practice in 
whalers ; and said it was quite useless to tire the peo- 
ple by thrashing about in heavy weather. He was very 
good fun with his rough navigation. He had a rickety 
