storm had sufficiently abated to leave the vessel manageable in the hands of the captain and crew, and then the captain’s reckoning was gone.  He could get his latitude correctly, but not his longitude, except by a remote approximation.  His first observation, when the sky gave an opportunity, showed us to be in latitude forty-five degrees south.  This he explained to me, and also the impracticability of now making the Cape, pointing out upon the map the Swan River Settlement in Australia as the point he should endeavor first to make.  A heavy ship, with but one mast, made but slow progress.  On the third day another storm overtook us, and we were driven before the gale at a furious rate.  That night our vessel stuck and went to pieces.  Six of us escaped, my father among the rest, and the captain, in a boat, and were thrown upon the shore of an uninhabited island.  In the morning there lay floating in a little protected cove of the island barrels of provisions, as pork, fish, bread, and flour, with chests, and numerous fragments of the ship, and portions of her cargo.  The captain and sailors at once set about securing all that could possibly be rescued from the water, and succeeded in getting provisions and clothing enough to last all of us for many months, if, unfortunately, we should not earlier be relieved from our dreadful situation.  My father had become strong enough to go about and take care of himself, but his mind was feebler, and he seemed more like an old man in his second childhood than one in the prime of life as he was.  He was not troublesome to any one, nor was there any fear of trusting him by himself.  He was only like an imbecile old man—­and such even the captain thought him.

“A thing which I failed to mention in its place, I might as well allude to here.  On recovery from that state of physical exhaustion in which the humane captain of the Dutch East Indiaman had found me, my hand rested accidentally upon the pocket of my father’s coat, which hung up in the state-room that had been assigned to them.  His pocket-book was there.  It instantly occurred to me to examine it, and see how much money it contained, for I knew that, unless we had money, before getting back, we would be subjected to inconvenience, annoyance, and great privation; and as my father seemed to be so weak in mind, all the care of providing for our comfort, I saw, would devolve upon me.  I instantly removed the pocket-book, which was large.  I found a purse in the same pocket, and took that also.  With these I retired into my own state-room, and fastening the door inside, commenced an examination of their contents.  The purse contained twenty eagles; and in the apartments of the pocket-book were ten eagles more, making three hundred dollars in gold.  In bank bills there were five of one thousand dollars each, ten of one hundred dollars, and about two hundred dollars in smaller amounts, all of New York city banks.  These I took and carefully sewed up in one of my under garments, and also did the same with the gold.  I mention this, as it bears with importance upon our subsequent history.