At my earnest request, in spite of stormy weather which
rendered it dangerous for a boat to take us from one ship to the other,
the captain consented to signal the English vessel, and we were received
on board, but we were transferred with such difficulty that no
communication took place as to the manner of our being found. I did
indeed hear the Italian mate who was in charge of the boat shout out
something in French to the effect that we had been picked up from a
balloon, but the noise of the wind was so great, and the captain
understood so little French that he caught nothing of the truth, and it
was assumed that we were two persons who had been saved from shipwreck.
When the captain asked me in what ship I had been wrecked, I said that a
party of us had been carried out to sea in a pleasure-boat by a strong
current, and that Arowhena (whom I described as a Peruvian lady) and I
were alone saved.
There were several passengers, whose goodness towards us we can never
repay. I grieve to think that they cannot fail to discover that we did
not take them fully into our confidence; but had we told them all, they
would not have believed us, and I was determined that no one should hear
of Erewhon, or have the chance of getting there before me, as long as I
could prevent it.
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