rent and torn
asunder; he lifted on the summit of a wave, the bow was seen to twist
and writhe, and separating from the after part, to sink in the foaming
whirlpool, while the stern was cast with terrific violence on the
rocks--another wave lifted it yet higher, and there it remained securely
and immovably fixed, though with difficulty the few survivors could
maintain their hold. Still their prospect of salvation was small
indeed. Another wave might come and wash them off, or dash their last
place of refuge into a thousand fragments.

Every instant they expected the coming of the fatal wave; but sea after
sea whirled foaming by them, making their eyes giddy, and sickening
their hearts with apprehension; yet instead of increasing, each seemed
diminished in size.

The last effort of the white squall had been made--its fury was appeased
with the sacrifice offered to it. Onward it passed, clothed in its
mantle of glittering mist, to other realms: the blue sky appeared, the
troubled sea subsided into calmness; and the trembling beings who clung
to the shattered wreck beheld, close to them, a reef of black rocks
rising some four or five feet above the surface of the water.

"Courage, my Nina--courage, lady!" exclaimed Zappa. They were the first
words he had uttered for some time. "A seaman, with abundance of planks
and a few feet of firm rock on which to plant his foot, should never
despair. Stay where you are for a few minutes, while I try to find a
_more_ secure resting-place for you."

As he said this, he stood up on the side of the vessel, to examine their
position. They had struck on the very centre of the reef, forming one
side of the channel, through which the _Sea Hawk_ had been endeavouring
to pass, and at the only part which was any height above the water;
perhaps, indeed, not another spot could have been found which could have
so securely wedged in the stern, as to have prevented its following the
rest of the vessel to the bottom.

The nearest land where assistance might be obtained was some ten miles
off to the southward and westward, and in that direction the current I
have spoken of was setting. To the north were interminable reefs and
shoals, from which direction no vessel could approach them; nor was it
probable, indeed, that a craft of any description would pass near them,
as few even of the Greek vessels ever came that way, and the utmost they
could hope for was to be seen by some fishing-boat