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Updated: May 11, 2025
The sea being quite smooth after we had once rounded Shark Point, we made the run down to the sloop in about an hour, passing to windward of her, and then jibing over and rounding-to on her lee quarter, with our jib-sheet to windward.
"But the ship's not far off, and help will come to us as soon as a boat can be lowered; she's rounding-to, though she had so much way on her that she shot somewhat far ahead." Charlie was slowly recovering his senses, and did as he desired; but when Roger looked up, the ship seemed a long long way off; not till then did the thought of sharks occur to him.
Little by little, his hold relaxed, until his hand relinquished its grasp altogether, and the wounded man sank into the bottom of the stern-sheets, unable to raise even his head. Again the boat broached-to. Every sea now sent its water aboard, and the yawl would soon have filled, had not the cutter come glancing down past it, and rounding-to under its lee, secured the prize.
From all of which, and the altered character of the little craft's motion, I learned that the ticklish manoeuvre of rounding-to had been safely executed. A quarter of an hour afterwards the medico finished me off, and I was able, with Hardy's assistance, to go on deck again and take a look round before turning into my hammock to nurse my wounded arm.
Lady Saxondale and the young person with the stored-up wrath were met at the Gare du Nord by Mr. Savage, all smiles and good spirits. Quentin was rounding-to nicely, and there was little danger from complications.
This business of rounding-to was a very delicate and ticklish job, for had the sea caught us broadside-on we must inevitably have been capsized or swamped; but we were fortunate enough to do everything at precisely the right moment, with the result that the two boats swung round, head-on to the sea, without accident, and without shipping very much water.
After a little further conversation, we determined on this plan, and set about carrying it into execution on the spot. In rounding-to, the ship had been brought by the wind on the larboard tack, and was standing to the northward and westward, instead of to the eastward, the course we now wished to steer. It was necessary, therefore, to ware round and get the ship's head in the right direction.
Peterkin was wrong, however, in his estimate of savage gratitude, as the sequel will show. The schooner was now put before the wind, and after making a long run to the southward, we put about and beat up for the south side of Mango, where we arrived before sunset, and hove-to off the coral reef. Here we awaited the arrival of a canoe, which immediately put off on our rounding-to.
The wind had moderated, to a certain extent, from its first terrific violence; but it was still blowing far too hard to permit of our rounding-to, and making use of our floating-anchor; any attempt to do so must inevitably have resulted in the craft "turning the turtle" with us, and I had, therefore, no choice but to keep scudding.
If once it started to split, the whole lot would go like a sheet of tissue-paper. However, whether we liked it or not, we had to run on now. The wind and sea were both far too heavy to dream of an attempt at rounding-to. Small cutters are not great at staying hove-to in really dirty weather.
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