The submarine had come to the surface and trained her gun on the steamer, but no shots were necessary to complete the sinking, and she steamed away without even speaking the boats. One of these was in charge of the chief officer, and contained 31 people, including two women and a four-months old baby. There was a considerable swell running, with a moderate wind, so all sail was hoisted, and the boats proceeded to the N.E. in single file, keeping in touch with one another for the remainder of the day.
During the night both wind and sea increased considerably, and the chief officer's boat had lost touch with the others by the following morning, which was Tuesday. At 10 a.m. the weather compelled them to take in all sail, and they lay-to, keeping her head-on to the enormous seas with the help of a sea-anchor and the occasional use of the oars. They proceeded in this way throughout the day and during Tuesday night, which was very dark. They were thankful to see day break on Wednesday. They had lost their sea-anchor in the night, so lashed a couple of oars together, which served as a fairly good substitute. The weather improved during the morning, so they hoisted sail again and proceeded east.
During Tuesday night the _chef_ had gone mad, and on Wednesday he died. Being accustomed to the warmth of a galley fire, he could not stand the cold. Meanwhile, the chief officer had taken control of the provisions and water. He served out the water in the morning and evening at the rate of half a dipper-full to each person. During Wednesday night the storekeeper went mad and had to be lashed down. He died about noon on Thursday, and a third-class passenger also expired on the same day.
That night there were heavy squalls, so they had to take in sail and put out their improvised sea-anchor. On Friday morning the weather moderated, and they were able to set full sail again. An A.B. died during the day, and everyone had now begun to endure agonies of thirst. They continued to sail all Friday night, but exposure and exhaustion were reducing them to a state of callousness, and at times they suffered from light-headedness. These attacks were worse in the night than by daylight. On Saturday morning a fireman was found dead in the bottom of the boat, and during the day a third-class pantry-boy died.