the 4th the gale abated, and they examined the bread, much of which was found to be damaged and rotten, but it was still preserved for use. On the 6th they hooked a fish, “but,” says the commander, “we were miserably disappointed by its being lost in trying to get it into the boat.” They were terribly cramped for want of room on board, although Bligh did for the best by putting them watch and watch, so that half of them at a time could lie at the bottom of the boat. On the 7th they passed close to some rocky isles, from which two large sailing canoes came out and pursued hotly, but gave over the chase in the afternoon. This day heavy rain fell, when everybody set to work to catch some, with such success that they not merely quenched their thirst, but increased their stock to thirty-five gallons. As a corresponding disadvantage they got wet through. On the 8th the allowance issued was an ounce and a half of pork, a tea-spoonful of rum, half a pint of cocoa-nut milk, and an ounce of bread. Bligh constructed a pair of scales of two cocoa-nut shells, using pistol-balls for weights. The next nine days brought bad weather, and much rain, the sea breaking over the boat so much that two men were kept constantly baling, and it was necessary to keep the boat before the waves to prevent her filling. When day broke it showed a miserable set of beings, full of wants, aches, and pains, and nothing to relieve them. They found some comfort by wringing their clothes in sea-water, by which means they found a certain limited amount of warmth. But though all were shivering with cold and wet, the commander was obliged to tell them that the rum ration—one tea-spoonful—must for the present be discontinued, as it was running low. “During the whole of the afternoon of the 21st,” says Bligh, “we were so covered with rain and salt water that we could scarcely see. We suffered extreme cold, and every one dreaded the approach of night. Sleep, though we longed for it, afforded no comfort; for my own part, I almost lived without it. * * * The misery we suffered this night exceeded the preceding. The sea flew over us with great force, and kept us baling with horror and anxiety. At dawn of day I found every one in a most distressed condition, and I began to fear that another such night would put an end to the lives of several, who seemed no longer able to support their sufferings. I served an allowance of two tea-spoonfuls of rum; after drinking which, and having wrung our clothes, and taken our breakfast of bread and water, we became a little refreshed.” On the 24th, for the first time in fifteen days, they experienced the warmth of the sun, and dried their now threadbare garments.