wind and tide united. Nothing short of a
miracle could now save the ship; however the wind suddenly shifted a
little, and I began to hope that if she was to be wrecked, it might be
farther on the shore; as in case of her striking on the Needles, she must
almost immediately go to pieces under our eyes, without the most remote
chance of the escape of one of the crew. A sheet of light flashed
occasionally from her sides, calling for aid out of the power of man to
grant. There was a sudden lull in the wind, which sometimes happens in the
most violent tempests, though often succeeded by increased fury; and a
strong shower of sleet and rain drove most of our followers home. As it
had now become quite dark, and it was morally impossible to yield the ship
any aid till daylight, I returned to the village with melancholy
forebodings, having placed beacons on the heights.

I hastily proceeded again to the shore just before daybreak. The distant
moaning of the sea, the harsh screams of the cormorants with the desolate
nature of the spot, chilled my spirits. I had passed a sleepless night,
and the storm rose again, and raged till near daybreak with increased fury,
but the wind was now greatly hushed. The sea, however, showed marks of its
violence; the bay was white with foam, and as I proceeded, the tide, which
was just beginning to flow, roared loudly, and advanced in short breakers
wreathed with spray. The sky also looked dismally, and gave token that the
gale had not entirely passed away, though its violence had temporarily
abated. I advanced with deep interest by the peaked group of rocks, and
passed the wreck of a brig lying high and dry on the sand just before me.
The whole of the shore between the Heads, was strewed with her contents. I
never witnessed so total a wreck in so short a space of time. The violence
of the surf had completely beaten her sides out, leaving stem and stern
hanging together as by a thread, while her ribs and broken cordage and
sails, completed the picture, had any thing been wanting to perfect it. I
could moralize any day on a single bit of plank on a shore--each fragment
seems to tell its tale, and awakens a train of thoughts and feelings in
the mind; but "grim desolation" was here visibly before me.

Though I was early astir, I found that the prospect of booty had been
sufficiently powerful already to draw out not only the inhabitants of
Torwich, but great numbers of the neighbouring peasantry. But wh