»770- ftarted up again, and renewed their labour; thus relieving
< each other till an accident was very near putting an end to
Monday i j. efforts at 0nce. The planking which lines the infide of
the Clip’s bottom is called the cieling, and between this, and
the outfide planking, there is a fpace of about eighteen
inches : the man who till this time had attended the well to
take the depth of water, had taken it only to the cieling, and
gave the meafure accordingly; but he being now relieved,
the perfon who came in his Head, reckoned the depth to the
outfide planking, by which it appeared in a few minutes to
have gained upon the pumps eighteen inches, the difference
between the planking without and within. Upon this, even
the braveft was upon the point of giving up his labour with
his hope, and in a few minutes every thing would have been
involved in all the confufion of dcf'pair. But this accident,
however dreadful in its firft confequences, was eventually
the caufe of our prefervation i the miftake was foon detected,
and the fudden joy which every man felt upon finding his
fituation better than his fears had fuggefted, operated like a
charm, and feemed to poffefs him with a ftrong belief that
fcareely any real danger remained. New confidence and
new hope, however founded, infpired new vigour; and
though our ftate was the fame as when the men firft began
to flacken in their labour, through wearinefs and defpoiv
dency, they now renewed their efforts with fuch alacrity and
fpirit, that before eight o’clock in the morning, the leak was
fo far from having gained upon the pumps,, that the pumps
had gained confiderably upon the leak. Every body now
talked of getting the fhip into fome harbour, as a thing not
to be doubted,, and as hands could be fparedfrom the pumps,
they were employed in getting up the anchors : the ftream
anchor and bell bower we had taken on board; but it was
found impoffible to fave the little bower,, and therefore it
was.
was cut away at a whole cable: we loft alfo the cable of the
ftream anchor among the rocks; but in our fituation thefe
were trifles which fcareely attracted our notice. Our next
bufinefs was to get up the fore-topmaft, and fore-yard, and
warp the fhip to the foutheaft, and at eleven, having now a
breeze from the fea, we once more got under fail and flood
for the land.
It was however impoffible long to continue the labour by
which the pumps had been made to gain upon the leak, and
as the exadt fituation of it could not be difeovered, we had no
hope of flopping it within. In this fituation, Mr. Monkhoufe, Taef<ky
one of my midfhipmen, came to me and propofed an expedient
that he had once feen ufed on board a merchant fhip,
which fprung a leak that admitted above four feet water an
hour, and which by this expedient was brought fafely from
Virginia to London; the mailer having fuch confidence in
it, that he took her out of harbour, knowing her condition,
and did not think it worth while to wait till the leak could
be otherwife flopped. To this man, therefore, the care
of the expedient, which is called fothering the fhip, was immediately
committed, four or five of the people being appointed
to affift him, and he performed it in this manner:
He took a lower ftudding fail, and having mixed together a
large quantity of oakham and wool, chopped pretty final!,
he Hitched it down in handfuls upon the fail, as lightly as
poffible, and over this he fpread the dung of our fheep and
other filth; but horfe dung, if we had had it, would have
been better. When the fail was thus prepared, it was hauled
under the fhip’s bottonl by ropes, which kept it extended,
and when it came under the leak, the fuftion which carried
in the water, carried in with it the oakham and wool from
the furfaee of the fail, which in other parts the water was
T s
1770•
June.
Monday i i.
not