34 
LETTERS FROM 
in number, and as our largest boat had been 
earned away, we had only a small gig and a 
jolly-boat remaining. However, we were 
proceeding to hoist out the latter, for the gig 
was already in the water, at some distance 
from us, with a midshipman and five or six 
hands in her, when an officer came aft with 
• the joyful intelligence, that as yet there was 
no water in the hold, and that he believed 
the engines and paddle-wheels were unin¬ 
jured. 
Never to my ears had the human voice 
sounded so melodiously before. For nearly 
two hours we were now busily engaged in 
securing the chimney and masts by tempo¬ 
rary shrouds and stays, while the engines 
were worked gently to keep the vessel’s head 
to the sea to prevent her from rolling; for 
as the chimney was entirely unsupported on 
one side, there was the greatest danger that 
