We are lucky to have had time to get off in the boats, well provisioned as they are.

As soon as this wind goes down a bit we'll hoist the small sails and head for the nearest land." The captain was soon busy over his charts.

He made some calculations and announced his belief that there was a group of islands about a hundred miles off.

He could not be sure, for while they showed on the chart, he could not exactly determine the position of the ship when she struck, as no observation had been taken since the previous noon, and the rate of sailing under the force of the gale was mere guesswork.
So the men rowed on.

The _Eagle_ was now a mere blot on the surface of the ocean--a speck of blackness amid a swirl of foam, caused by the waves breaking over the ship and the reef.