CHAPTER I.
Equipment and departure of the ship Mentor from the port of New Bedford, Massachusetts.--The ship's company.--Arrival at Fayal.--Passage down the Cape de Verd islands, and round the cape of Good Hope, to the Indian ocean.--Cruising among the islands, and arrival at the port of Coupang, in Timor.--A violent storm.--The ship strikes on a coral reef off the Pelew islands.--Alarm and distressing situation of the ship's company, and sudden loss of eleven of their number.--The survivors preserved upon a dry part of the reef 13