In this distress, the wind still blowing very hard, one of our men
early in the morning cried out, "Land!" and we had no sooner run
out of the cabin to look out, in hopes of seeing whereabouts in the
world we were, than the ship struck upon a sand, and in a moment
her motion being so stopped, the sea broke over her in such a
manner that we expected we should all have perished immediately;
and we were immediately driven into our close quarters, to shelter
us from the very foam and spray of the sea.
It is not easy for any one who has not been in the like condition
to describe or conceive the consternation of men in such
circumstances. We knew nothing where we were, or upon what land it
was we were driven - whether an island or the main, whether
inhabited or not inhabited. As the rage of the wind was still
great, though rather less than at first, we could not so much as
hope to have the ship hold many minutes without breaking into
pieces, unless the winds, by a kind of miracle, should turn
immediately about. In a word, we sat looking upon one another, and
expecting death every moment, and every man, accordingly, preparing
for another world; for there was little or nothing more for us to
do in this.
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