In a little while the speck became clearly visible from the deck; and as we approached it, we who had no telescopes could clearly make out that it was a boat with a rude substitute for a sail spread in the bows. We ran free, and overhauled it in a short time; and as we approached it we could see a white cloth waved in the air to assure us that some one was on board. As we came up to the boat we hove to for it to come alongside. The people on board seemed to have considerable difficulty in maneuvering their craft, and so Mr. Johnson, our second mate, was ordered to lower one of our boats and go to the relief of the stranger. This he did promptly, and very soon the two boats were alongside, fastened to ropes that had been thrown over for their accommodation. Mr. Johnson sent one of the men from our boat up the side of the ship to the deck, to tell the captain that the people in the strange boat were so exhausted that they would be unable to climb the rope safely, and he advised that a sling should be rigged in order to get them on board. Immediately on learning this Captain Dawson ordered a sling to be rigged from the end of the mainyard. In ten or fifteen minutes the sling was ready, and meantime some bread and hot coffee had been lowered for the use of the unfortunate strangers. There were eight of them in the boat altogether, and as I looked over the side I could see that there were two women and a girl in the party. One of the women was middle aged, and the other young, perhaps sixteen or thereabouts. These two and the girl, who appeared to be six or seven years old, clung closely together, and I judged that the elder of the trio was the mother of the other two. Close by them was a soldierly, dignified man who seemed to be consoling and cheering them, and I concluded that he was the husband of the elder woman, and the father of the two others. When the sling was ready the strangers were speedily hoisted on deck. The sling was made of a piece of stout canvas sewn into the shape of a chair, and with its sides held into position by means of part of a hoop from an old water-cask. The edge of the canvas was turned over so as to make it double, and in this doubled edge three holes were pierced to receive the ends of a half-inch rope. The three small ropes were joined together about four feet above the sling and fastened to a three-quarter-inch rope that passed through a tackle at the end of the mainsail-yard. By means of this rope and tackle the chair, or sling, could be raised and lowered at will.