t on board of her, where he staid two hours. When he returned we
kept our course, and she sailed to the south in order to get to sea.
As soon as we reached the end of Long Island, they began to throw
their fish lines, and continued to catch mackerel all day long. I
think the European mackerel are better and fatter. We came to an
island called Maertens Wingaert,[401] about four o'clock in the
afternoon, having the Elizabeth Islands on the larboard and sailing
between the two, with our course easterly and a lighter wind. Our
captain had prayers every evening, performed in this way. The people
were called together, and then, without anything being spoken
previously, he read a chapter, then a psalm or part of one was sung,
after that they all turned their backs to each other, half kneeling,
when a common formulary of prayer was said which was long enough, but
irreverently enough delivered. It was not done mornings. From what I
have experienced the Hollanders perform it better, are more strict
mornings and evenings, and more devout.

[Footnote 401: Martha's Vineyard. They sailed through Vineyard Sound.]

There was no moon, and the weather was cloudy. We continued sailing
onward until two o'clock after midnight, when the captain going aloft
cried out, "Strike the sails! strike the sails! let them run! let
them run! we are on the rocks, let the anchor fall!" This startled me
so that I cannot tell how I reached the deck, and ran forward. I saw
we were indeed close upon a reef of rocks directly before us, and that
we were under considerable headway. We did our best to lower the
sails, and throw the anchor over. The headway was checked somewhat,
but the anchor would not hold. We found that the spritsail had caught
in the anchor-stock in consequence of the hurry in lowering the sail
and throwing anchor, but it was some time before we could discover
what was the matter and get the anchor loose; it then held fast in
three fathoms of water at a musket shot's distance from the reef and
about as far from the shore. We lay there until daylight on a lee
shore, but fortunately it did not blow hard.

_22d, Saturday._ As soon as the day broke, and we saw where we were,
we got under sail again with the wind, the same as before. In sailing
between the land, namely Maertens Wyngaert, and the reef, the course
is to the point of the island, running east-southeast in three and two
and a half fathoms till you have this point on the side, and the