Everything was swept off the decks except one small boat.

The steersman was lashed to the wheel, lest he should be washed away, and we all gave ourselves up for lost.

The captain said that he had no idea where we were, as we had been blown far out of our course; and we feared much that we might get among the dangerous coral reefs which are so numerous in the Pacific.

At day-break on the sixth morning of the gale we saw land ahead.

It was an island encircled by a reef of coral on which the waves broke in fury.