ischarging at Hamburg. These were to be mere peasants, it is true, for
seamen were scarce in that part of the world; but they would be better
than nothing. Half a dozen athletic young Irishmen would relieve us seamen
from a vast deal of the heavy, lugging work of the ship, and leave us
strength and spirits to do that which unavoidably fell to our share. With
the understanding that he was to receive, himself, a guinea a-head for
each sound man thus brought us, we parted from old Michael, who probably
has never piloted a ship since, as I strongly suspect he had never
done before.

Chapter XXI.

"The power of God is everywhere,
Pervades all space and time:
The power of God can still the air,
And rules in every clime;--
Then bow the heart, and bend the knee,
And worship o'er both land and sea."

Duo.

I never knew precisely the point on the coast of Ireland where we
anchored. It was somewhere between Strangford and Dundrum Bay; though the
name of the head-land which gave us a sort of protection, I did not learn.
In this part of the island, the coast trends north and south, generally;
though at the place where we anchored, its direction was nearly from
north-north-east to south-south-west,--which, in the early part of the
gale, was as close as might be the course in which the wind blew. At the
moment we brought up, the wind had hauled a little further to the
northward, giving us a better lee; but, to my great regret, Michael had
scarcely left us, when it shifted to due north-east, making a fair rake of
the channel. This left us very little of a lee--the point ahead of us
being no great matter, and we barely within it. I consulted such maps as I
had, and came to the conclusion that we were off the county Down, a part
of the kingdom that was at least civilized, and where we should be apt to
receive good treatment, in the event of being wrecked. Our fishermen told
us that they belonged to a Bally-something; but what the something was I
have forgotten, if I ever understood them. "_Told_ us," I say out of
complaisance, but "_tould_" would be the better word, as all they uttered
savoured so much of the brogue, that it was not always easy to get at
their meaning.

It was past noon when the Dawn anchored; and the wind got more to the
eastward, about half an hour afterwards. It was out of the question to
think of getting under way again, with so strong a wind, and with our
feeble crew. Had it been perf