"Captain Gordon," continued the principal, "two of your best officers must be detailed for the boats."
"I will send Mr. Kendall in the barge, sir."
"Very well; he is entirely reliable. Whom will you send in the gig?"
"I am sorry Shuffles is not an officer now, for he was one of the best we had for such service," added the captain.
"Shuffles is out of the question," replied Mr. Lowington.
"Mr. Haven, then, in the gig."
"The sea is very heavy, and the boats must be handled with skill and prudence."
"The crews have been practised in heavy seas, though in nothing like this."
The barge and the gig—called so by courtesy—were the two largest boats belonging to the ship, and pulled eight oars each. They were light and strong, and had been built with especial reference to the use for which they were intended. They were life-boats, and before the ship sailed, they had been rigged with life-lines and floats. If they were upset in a heavy sea, the crews could save themselves by clinging to the rope, buoyed up by the floats.
The Young America stood up towards the wreck, intending to pass under her stern as near as it was prudent to lay, the head of the dismasted ship being to the north-west.