CHAPTER XXVIII.
DECEMBER 6th CONTINUED .-- The "Chancellor" no longer maintained her equilibrium; we felt that she was gradually going down, and her hull was probably breaking up.

The main-top was already only ten feet above the water, whilst the bowsprit, with the exception of the extreme end, that rose obliquely from the waves, was entirely covered.
The "Chancellor's" last day, we felt, had come.
Fortunately the raft was all but finished, and unless Curtis preferred to wait till morning we should be able to embark in the evening.
The raft is a very solid structure.

The spars that form the framework are crossed one above another and lashed together with stout ropes, so that the whole pile rises a couple of feet above the water.

The upper platform is constructed from the planks that were broken from the ship's sides by the violence of the waves, and which had not drifted away.

The afternoon has been employed in charging the raft with such provisions, sails, tools, and instruments as we have been able to save.
And how can I attempt to give any idea of the feelings with which, one and all, we now contemplated the fate before us?
For my own part I was possessed rather by a benumbed indifference than by any sense of genuine resignation.