ld do well.

These gentlemen then went to the side of the ship, with the intention,
as I believe, of seeing whether it was possible to get on shore. The
master of the vessel alone remained near the companion; when suddenly
a tremendous wave broke over the ship, and struck me with such
violence, that I was stunned for a moment, and, before being able to
recover myself, the ship struck with a force so great as to throw me
from the stairs into the cabin, the master being thrown down near me.
At the same instant, the cabin, with a dreadful crash, broke in upon
us, and planks and beams threatened to bury us in ruins. The master,
however, soon recovered himself; he left me to go again upon deck, and
I saw him no more.

A sense of my condition lent me strength to disengage myself from the
boards and fragments by which I was surrounded, and I once more got
upon the stairs, I hardly know how. But what a scene did I behold! The
masts were all lying across the shattered remains of the deck, and no
living creature appeared on it; all was gone, though I knew not then
that they were gone forever. I looked forward to the shore, but there
I could see nothing except the dreadful surf that broke against it,
while, behind the ship, immense black waves rose like tremendous
ruins. I knew that they must overwhelm her, and thought that there
could be no escape for me.

Believing, then, that death was immediate and unavoidable, my idea was
to regain my bed in the cabin, and there, resigning myself to the will
of God, await the approaching moment. However, I could not reach it,
and for a while was insensible; then the violent striking and breaking
up of the wreck again roused me to recollection; I found myself near
the cabin-windows, and the water was rising round me. It rapidly
increased, and the horrors of drowning were present to my view; yet do
I remember seeing the furniture of the cabin floating about. I sat
almost enclosed by pieces of the wreck, and the water now reached my
breast.

The bruises I had received made every exertion extremely difficult,
and my loose gown was so entangled among the beams and fragments of
the ship, that I could not disengage it. Still the desire of life, the
hope of being welcomed on shore, whither I thought my friends had
escaped, and the remembrance of my child, all united in inspiring me
with courage to attempt saving myself. I again tried to loosen my
gown, but found it impossible, and the wreck cont