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We turned our attention to getting clear the boat, the only boat left us, with which we could expect to escape. We succeeded in getting her out without injury, although the ship was waterlogged and fast falling upon her side. In the meantime the steward had twice entered the cabin and at his peril had brought out the trunks of the Captain and mate and also two quadrants and two of Bowdiches Practical Navigators. These, with the two compasses taken from the binnacle, was all that we had an opportunity of getting into the boat, and get in ourselves, when the ship capsized, with the mastheads in the water. ... The boats of the Captain and Second Mate were about two miles to the leeward of the ship, and each fast to a whale. Their first intimation of the loss was the boatsteerers looking in direction of the ship, cried out to the Captain "Look! Look! What ails the ship, she is upsetting." It had the appearance at first sight of a ship caught in a sudden and hard squall or gust of wind with the sails flying in all directions and the vessel nearly turned upon one side. They lost no time in disengaging themselves.
On coming up to the ship the Captain ordered the masts cut away to try if possible to get the ship more upright with the hope to get at some provisions and water. This done, the ship again righted to an angle of 45 degrees. We commenced to cut open the decks in different parts of the ship, but unfortunately for us our provisions were mostly in the lower hold and could not be come at. We could only obtain two casks of ship bread weighing about 500 Ibs., and two small hogs, which came swimming to the boats from amongst the wreck, and some half-dozen terrapins. With this little stock of food then, we are forced to be satisfied and thanks be to God, who is ever watching over us, that it is no less. [They cast off from the hulk November 23, heading for South America.]
November 24. The wind has risen. The sea constantly breaking into the boats makes the prospect of preserving our little stock of provisions less and less probable. At 1 p.m. a heavy sea broke into our boat filling it half full of water and saturating our stock of bread with salt water. The bread being our only dependence gave to us on the whole rather a cheerless prospect. We this day arranged our allowance of food and water, and gave it out for the first time. It consisted in one cake of biscuit and a pint of water to each man, for the 24 hours.
December 17. This calm continued through the 14th to 16th December inclusive. During this trying state of affairs the mate proposed reducing our allowance of provisions one-half whilst the calms continued. We could not have reduced our allowance of water for already we had not sufficient to keep our mouths in moisture. We frequently applied salt water to our parched lips with the hope to quell the fever that raged there but that only served to increase our thirst so much that some were compelled to seek relief in their own urine. Our sufferings during these hot days almost exceed belief. Some of the men were induced to hang themselves over the side of the boat into the sea to cool their bodies and it was with the utmost difficulty that they were enabled to haul themselves again into the boat.