Sailing south, we arrived at the Straits of Gibraltar. The wind was dead ahead. A strong current was running in from the Atlantic Ocean and we managed to beat in past the Rock after tacking ship many times. All hands were well tired out from bracing around the yards so often. On one tack we would be headed for Spain, on the other it would be for Morocco. During the night the wind died away. At daylight we found our ship was rapidly drifting on to the rocky coast of Morocco. There was not a bit of air stirring and the sea was as smooth as glass. Captain Otis was very much discouraged, as the loss of so fine a vessel meant ruined prospects for the future. He was quite a young man for such a responsible position. The Moors on the shore had seen our danger and spread the news to one another. Soon quite a number of small boats were seen at the place where the ship would probably strike. It made all hands feel a little nervous to see the reception which was awaiting us. It was well known by sailors what a set of cutthroats the people were in that locality. The officers and crew held a consultation as to what should be done. My suggestion was acted upon, and that was, to take all our boats and tow the ship, if possible, or at least to check her from drifting, in hopes that a breeze might spring up. Strangely enough, I was the only man on the ship who had ever seen the experiment tried. The occasion took place when I was in the bushes at San Carlos watching my old ship, the Courier, leaving the harbour. The wind having died away, they lowered the boats and towed the ship a considerable distance. But then the Courier was only half our size and had more and better boats than we had. Our boats were quickly lowered and fastened in a row to a rope from the ship's bows. By hard pulling we slowly turned the vessel head to the current. The drifting was checked, and that was about all we could do. Within half an hour a breeze sprang up and away started the ship, swinging the boats around and towing them stern first. We had a lively time in preventing them from capsizing when the towing business was reversed.