as fired to weigh. Immediately
every sail was waving in the wind, and in a quarter of an hour after we
stood out from land, each proud bark dipping her majestic head in the
silvery deep, and manoeuvring her sails in seeming competition, to catch
the favouring breeze.

Such firing, such signals, such tacking and running across each other
now prevailed, that our captain resolved to run from it; and the evening
had scarcely spread her sombre curtains over the western ocean, and the
golden clouds begun to change their brilliant robes of day for those of
murky night, when our crew "up helm," and stole away from the motley
fleet, plying every sail, and scudding through the blue waters like some
aerial car or phantom-ship, smoothly gliding over the silvery deep. In
three or four hours we had entirely lost sight of our convoy. We were
running at the rate of eleven knots an hour, and, as it seemed, into the
very jaws of danger. The clouds began to assume a pitchy and awful
darkness, the distant thunder rolled angrily, and the vivid lightning's
flash struck each watching eye dim, and, for a moment, hid the rolling
and gigantic wave from the sight of fear. The wind whistled
terrifically, and the shattered sails fanned the flying clouds. All was
consternation; every eye betrayed fear. Sail was taken in, masts lowered
and yards stayed--preparations which bespoke no good tidings to the
inquiring and terrified landsman. I was seated on the poop, alone,
holding by a hen-coop, and viewing the mountainous and angry billows,
with my hand partly covering my eyes, to protect them against the
lightning. It was a moment of the most poignant sorrow to me: my heart
still lingered on the white cliffs of Albion; nor could I wean it from
the sorrowful reflection that I was, perhaps, leaving that dear and
beloved country for ever. During this struggle of my feelings, our
vessel shipped a tremendous sea over her poop, and then angrily shook
her head, and seemed resolved to buffet the raging elements with all her
might and main. The ship was shortly after this "hove to," and lay
comparatively quiet; and, in about a couple of hours, the wind
slackened, and we again stood on our way, the masts cracking under her
three topsails, and fore storm-staysail. However, she rode much easier,
and the storm still continued to abate. I was dreadfully wet and cold,
and my teeth chattered most woefully; so I made towards the gun-deck,
some portion of which was allot