was impossible to save her, such a wreck as she was, so the captain ordered out the boats; and the crew having got at a little wet biscuit and some fresh water, to take with them, left the ship."

"And did the ship sink, Captain?"

"No doubt she did, boys. The boats remained alongside her for three days, and then left her; sailing for twenty three days without seeing land. All this time they had nothing but half a biscuit and a pint of water for each man every day."

"A pint of water might do pretty well; but only half a biscuit for a whole day! They must have been as hungry as rats."

"No doubt they were. The broken victuals that we give to the beggar at the door, even a mouldy crust, would have been a treat to them. These things should teach us to value more highly our common daily blessings, to eat our food more thankfully, and to praise God more heartily for the comforts we enjoy. They stopped six days in Elizabeth's island; but finding no food there, and very little water, they all left it but the second mate and two seamen. The three boats set off together, hoping to fall in with some ship, for they were a thousand miles from land; but they soon parted company, and one boat with her crew, no doubt, went to the bottom."

"And what became of the other two boats?"

"One of them was picked up by a brig, after having been at sea ninety-three days; but there were only three men alive in it,-Owen Chase, the first mate, who was a

brave resolute man, and two seamen.

The other boat was at sea sixty days, and then fell in with a whaler but the crew had endured such hardships, that they all sank under it, but the captain and a boy. Only five out of the crews of the three boats were saved. Seventeen were lost."

"That was a sad affair, indeed! But what became of the mate and the two men left on the island? Were they ever heard of after ?"

"Yes! But I should tell you a little of their sufferings. They dug a well, but they found no water; and had it not been for the showers that fell, they must have perished. Oh, boys, be thankful for every drop of cold water you drink! We drink little of water because it is plentiful with us, but that ought only to make us the more grateful. The water that we throw away would, in many cases, save the life of a perishing seaman. For food, they caught small birds at night, when they were at roost; and from some of the trees of the island they gathered a few berries; besides these, they caught five turtles, but before they had eaten one, the others were too bad to eat."

"Poor fellows! And did they get away at last?"

"Don't be in a hurry, boys. In looking for water among the rocks, they found eight human skeletons. This was enough to make them melancholy; for no doubt these were the remains of seamen who had taken refuge on the island when shipwrecked. They looked forward to the time when their bones, also, would be whitening on the shore.

"It was on the morning of the 5th of April, 1820, that they heard a sound like thunder. At this time they were in the woods, looking about them for food and water. What was their joy, on turning their faces seaward, to observe a ship in the offing, that is, out at sea a good distance from the shore. It was a gun fired by the ship that made the noise."

"How glad they must have been."

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They were, indeed; and down they fell on their bended knees, to thank God for his goodness in saving them from a lingering death. Ay, boys! we are all ready enough to thank God when he does any thing to please us; but we are backward enough when, in his wisdom, he does that which displeases us. It is a good thing to thank God at all times, and to have, as the psalmist says, his praise continually' in our mouths." "But did the mate and the two sailors really get safe away from the island ?"

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Yes; for though the boat that the ship sent to them could not reach the shore, it was so dangerous, the mate dashed among the billows, and was taken up half drowned. The other two were also saved; and being kindly treated by the captain of the Surry, the ship that saved them, they soon recovered their health and strength.'

"Such things as these ought to make us feel for sailors."

"I am glad that you think so, boys. When you grow older, you may be able to do something for their good, and until then you can put them in your prayers,

Many and many a night, when we are snugly tucked up in our warm blankets, poor shipwrecked sailors, hanging on the rigging of a foundering vessel, or bestriding a broken mast, or clinging to a rugged rock, are drenched by the roaring billows of the ocean, with nothing but death and eternity before them. Think of these things, boys, and then you will be the more likely to bear own troubles bravely, and, one day or other, to befriend the sailor.

your

Noah's ark-The cutter-The gun-boat-The bomb-ketch-The privateer-The frigate-The man-of-war-The long-boatThe launch-The barge-The pinnace-The cutter-The yawl -The gig-The jolly-boat-The galley-The merchant-ship -The East Indiaman-The brig-The schooner-The sloop -The slave ship.

"HERE we are, Captain, to hear your account of ships. You said that you would tell us of some of the different