Page:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.djvu/336

278 no one else in the ship had seen practised, though all had heard of it by the name of fothering a ship, by means of which he said he had come home from America in a ship which made more water than we did. Nay, so sure was the master of that ship of his expedient that he took her out of harbour knowing how much water she had made, and trusting entirely to it. The midshipman immediately set to work with four or five assistants to prepare his fother, which he did thus. He took a lower studding sail, and having mixed together a large quantity of finely chopped oakum and wool, he stitched it down upon the sail as loosely as possible in small bundles about as big as his fist; these were ranged in rows four or five inches from each other. This was to be sunk under the ship. The theory of it was that wherever the leak was there must be a great suction which would probably catch hold of one or other of these lumps of oakum and wool and, drawing it in, either partly or entirely stop up the hole. While this work was going on the water rather gained on those who were pumping, which made all hands impatient for the trial. In the afternoon the ship was got under way with a gentle breeze of wind, and stood in for the land. Soon after the fother was finished, and applied by fastening ropes to each corner, then sinking the sail under the ship, and with these ropes drawing it as far backwards as we could. In about a quarter of an hour, to our great surprise, the ship was pumped dry, and upon letting the pumps stand she was found to make very little water, so much beyond our most sanguine expectations had this singular expedient succeeded. At night we came to an anchor, the fother still keeping her almost clear, so that we were in an instant raised from almost despondency to the greatest hopes. We were now almost too sanguine, talking of nothing but of getting her into some harbour where we might lay her ashore and repair her, or if we could not find such a place we little doubted of being able by repeated fotherings to carry her quite to the East Indies.

During the whole time of this distress, I must say for the credit of our people that I believe every man exerted his