[3] The Englishman before mentioned, Charles Washington, told us that this compass was left there about _thirty_ years before, which was the time when captain _James_ Wilson, of the ship Duff, was there. But from circumstances it appeared that he was mistaken as to the time, and that it was one which had belonged to captain _Henry_ Wilson, who was shipwrecked there in the Antelope, in 1783, and of whose voyage and disasters a most interesting and well-known account was published by Mr. Keate. Its preservation for about fifty years is certainly remarkable.--_Edit._ CHAPTER VI. Regret at having undertaken the voyage in boats.--Storm, and damage in consequence of it.--Loss of the canoe and the provisions on board.--Danger of perishing from famine.--On the fifteenth day, when nearly exhausted with fatigue and hunger, they discover a small island.--Approach of eighteen canoes filled with natives, who make prisoners of them all.--Cruelty of the natives; and return with their prisoners to the island.--Reception there.--The prisoners distributed among the captors. We had not proceeded far before we had reasons for regretting, that we had entered upon the perilous undertaking of navigating the waters of that region in boats so poorly adapted to the purposes we had in view. There came on a violent storm of rain, the wind blowing hard, and the waves threatening to swallow us each moment of the night. To our dismay, the rudder of the canoe, owing to the imperfect manner in which it had been constructed, was unshipped, and for a time the destruction of those on board seemed inevitable. Fortunately we continued to keep company. By great exertion we made out to replace the rudder in the morning, and then proceeded. In the course of the day the rudder was again unshipped; but, with less difficulty than before, we succeeded in fastening it to its place with ropes, so that it answered tolerably well as a substitute for a better one. Happy would it have been for us, if this had been the worst of the disasters of our voyage. Our mast next went by the board; and during the whole of the next night, we lay drifting at the mercy of the winds and waves. In the mean time the canoe sprung a leak, and we found it impossible to bail out the water as fast as it came in. In this extremity we lost no time in shifting all our lading into one end of the canoe; and by tearing up our old clothes, and stuffing them into the crack, we at length stopped the leak. In this sad plight we continued on, meeting with no very serious accident till the fifth day from the time of leaving the island; when, just at the setting of the sun, owing to some mismanagement, a light puff of wind capsized the canoe! Fortunately no one was drowned. All but three swam to our boat; those who remained continued through the night to cling to the canoe. With great difficulty we kept our boat from being stove in pieces by coming in contact with the canoe.