Having got a water puncheon, he scuttled it, then lashing two logs, one on each side of it, he went to sea in this extraordinary and original piece of embarkation. Thus he would frequently provide himself with wild-fowl when all the rest were starving; and the weather was bad indeed when it deterred him from adventuring. Sometimes he would be absent a whole day. At last he was unfortunately overset by a heavy sea when at a great distance from shore; but being near a rock, though no swimmer, he contrived to scramble to it. There he remained two days with little prospect of relief, as he was too far off the land to be visible. Luckily, however, one of the boats happened to go that way in quest of wild-fowl, discovered his signals, and rescued him from his forlorn condition. Yet he was so little discouraged by this accident that, soon after, he procured an ox’s hide from the Indians and, by the assistance of hoops, fashioned something like a canoe in which he made several successful voyages. In August the three boats had been made seaworthy enough to undertake an escape from the miseries of this hopeless island. Then, as usual, there arose confusion of purpose and violent disagreement. This ship’s company could be trusted to start a row at the drop of the hat. As long as there was breath in them, they were sure to turn against one another. The majority proposed that they try for a passage homeward by way of the Strait of Magellan. Captain Cheap and his partizans were for steering northward, capturing a Spanish vessel of some sort, and endeavoring to find the British squadron from which the _Wager_ had become separated. He blustered about his authority, insisted that his word was law, and so on, until the high-handed majority grew tired of his noise and decided to take him along as a prisoner and hand him over to justice for killing Midshipman Cozens. They hauled their commander out of bed and lugged him by the head and the heels to the purser’s tent, where he was guarded by a sentry of marines and very coarsely derided by these unmannerly rebels. The gunner informed Captain Cheap that he was to be carried to England as a prisoner; at which he retorted, with proper spirit, that he would sooner be shot than undergo such humiliation and, given his choice, he preferred to be left behind on the island. This was agreeable to the mob, who gave three cheers and thought no more about him. His two loyal companions, the surgeon and Lieutenant Hamilton, elected of their own free will to remain with the fallen commander, and this devotion was one of the admirable episodes of the tragedy. The mutineers recognized it as such, and they distributed the provisions fairly with these exiles and gave them arms and ammunition. [Illustration: THE “CHARLEMAGNE,” A NEW YORK PACKET SHIP From the painting by Frederic Roux of Havre, 1838]