ed out our gun, which had been run
in amidships; but the ship heeled over so much that, do all we could, it
ran in again upon us, and at the same time the water made a heavy rush
into the larboard lower deck ports. `The ship is sinking, Carroll!'
cried I. `Lay hold of the ring-bolt and jump out; we shall all be
drowned!' He made for the ring-bolt, caught it, climbed out of the
port, and jumped into the sea. I presume he was drowned, for I never
saw him afterwards. I followed him as fast as I could out of the same
port, which was the one belonging to our gun (the third from forward on
the starboard side), and when I was outside I perceived that all the
other port-holes were crowded as full as they could be with the heads of
the men, all trying to escape, and jamming one another so that they
could scarcely move either one way or the other. I caught hold of the
sheet anchor, which was just above me, to prevent falling back inboard;
and perceiving a woman struggling at the port, I caught hold of her,
dragged her out, and threw her from me. The ship was now lying down so
completely on her larboard broadside, that the heads of the men in the
ports disappeared all at once; they all dropped back into the ship, for
the port-holes were now upright, and it was just as if men were trying
to get out of the tops of so many chimneys, with nothing for their feet
to purchase upon. Just after the men fell inboard, there came a rush of
air through the ports, so violent as to blow my hat off. It was the air
from the hold and lower deck, which, having no other vent, escaped as
the water which poured in took up its space. The ship then sunk in a
moment, righting as she went down. I was a good swimmer and diver, and
when she was sinking I attempted to keep above water, but it was
impossible; I was drawn down with the ship until she reached the bottom.
As soon as she grounded, the water boiled and bubbled a great deal, and
then I found that I could swim, and began to rise to the surface. A man
tried to grapple me as I went up; his forefinger caught in my shoe,
between the shoe and my foot. I succeeded in kicking off my shoe, and
thus got rid of him, and then I rose to the surface of the water."

"Take breath after that, Jim," said Ben, handing him the ale.

"I can tell you that I could hardly take breath when I came to the
surface, for my head came up through a quantity of tar, which floated
like fat on a boiler, and it nearly smo