OR THE DESERT ISLAND. 49

and workat the pumps. By night, all the leaks were plug-
ged, the water in the hold pumped out, and ten bushels of
coals got up from it.

The broken ribs of the ship, and an immense quantity of
staves, planks, casks and hogsheads were thrown into the
sea, to clear the hold in case of fresh leaks,

The Achilles was now a sad spectacle: a man-of-war
without sails, masts or helm ; a mere shapeless mass in the
midst of the ocean. Barrels, boxes, provisions, rigging and
canvass were seen floating on all sides of her.

The mizenmast and helm were soon set right ; and the
crew began to hope that the next day they would resume
their route to Brazil, from which the storm had driven
them a considerable distance.

During these hours of peril and fatigue, Captain D’Er-
mincourt could not forbear remarking, with satisfaction,
the change in the conduct of young Merville, who dis-
played activily and courage that no difficulty could van-
quish nor any mishap dishearten, Philip owed much of
this energy to the kind and encouraging deportment of his
captain, who never neglected to notice favourably every
man that did his duty faithfully. The young mutineer
had now become a general favourite among the officers ;
no trace of his former irregularities remained, save his in-