No
time was lost in lowering our topmasts, taking double reefs, and making
every thing snug, to meet the fury of the tempest. I thought I had
already witnessed all that was terrific on the ocean; but what I had
formerly seen, had been mere child's play compared with this. Never can
I forget the impression that was made upon me by the wild uproar of the
elements. The smooth, long swell of the waves gradually changed into an
agitated frothy surface, which constant flashes of lightning presented
to us in all its horror; and in the mean time the wind whistled through
the rigging, and the ship creaked as if she was every minute going to
pieces.
About midnight the storm was at its height, and I gave up all for lost.
The wind, which first blew from the south-west, was then due south, and
the sailors said it began to abate a little before day: but I saw no
great difference until about three in the afternoon; soon after which
the clouds broke away, and showed us the sun setting in cloudless majesty,
while the billows still continued their stupendous rolling, but with a
heavy movement, as if, after such mighty efforts, they were seeking
repose in the bosom of their parent ocean. It soon became almost calm;
a light western breeze barely swelled our sails, and gently wafted us
to the land, which we could faintly discern to the north-east. Our ship
had been so shaken in the tempest, and was so leaky, that captain Thomas
thought it prudent to make for the first port we could reach.
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