m in the centre of the raft, where they were tolerably
secure.

We were now driving on much faster than we had hitherto been doing, but
the darkness prevented us from knowing whether it was in the right
direction, for we could see only the foaming waters dancing up around
us. All we could do, therefore, was to hold on, and try with the
steering oar to keep the raft before the wind, hoping that we might be
driven into some sheltered bay, where we could land in safety.

I thought of what Clarice would have said, if she had been with
us--"Trust in God"--and I felt sure that she would not have been more
alarmed than we were. We saw our danger,--we could not be blind to
that,--but none of us gave way to cowardly fears. Manley sat with
perfect calmness, steering, while Sergeant Custis and I paddled away,
endeavouring to keep the raft before the following seas. At last I
caught sight of some dark object rising out of the water, but instead of
being ahead, it was on the right hand, or, as we judged, to the
northward of us. It was evidently land, but whether the end of the
island we had seen in that part of the lake, or the mainland, we could
not determine. In vain we attempted to paddle up to it; the gale drove
us on, and showed us that we were perfectly unable to go in any
direction excepting that towards which the wind should impel us.

Again we lost sight of the land, and this led us to think that we must
have passed an island. The waves hissed and foamed, and danced up
around us as much as ever; still our raft held together, and we were
enabled to cling on to it. Even if we were only moving at the rate of
two miles an hour, it could not take us more than seven or eight hours
to get across from one side of the lake to the other, and we calculated
that we must already have been that time on the raft. What if we had
got into a channel of some river, which might rush rapidly along,
pouring over some terrific cataract? Should we by any means be able to
reach the shore, so as to escape being carried along with the raft? Had
it been daylight, the danger would not have been so great, for we might
have seen in what direction to direct our efforts. As it was, we might,
should we paddle to one side or the other, be placing ourselves in
greater danger than by allowing the raft to drive on before the gale.
Our ears were assailed by the continued roar of the waves dashing on the
shore, of the wind rushing through the trees,