The correspondent swims to water up to his waist.  The naked man on the beach drags the cook ashore "and then waded toward the captain, but the captain waved him away, and sent him to the correspondent".  Although the man was naked, he appeared to have a halo "about his head, and he shone like a saint."  He was not able to save all the men, "In the shallows, face downward, lay the oiler. His forehead touched sand that was periodically, between each wave, clear of the sea."

After the men decided to swim for shore, a man strips down and swims out to help them. The three men remaining are saved, and people give them food and help them get warm.