fter coming a little
nearer, we found she had lost her main-topmast, fore-mast, and bowsprit;
and presently she fires a gun as a signal of distress. The weather was
pretty good, wind at N.N.W. a fresh gale, and we soon came to speak
with her.

We found her a ship of Bristol bound home from Barbadoes, but had been
blown out of the road at Barbadoes, a few days before she was ready to
sail, by a terrible hurricane, while the captain and chief mate were
both gone on shore; so that beside the terror of the storm, they were
but in an indifferent case for good artists to bring the ship home; they
had been already nine weeks at sea, and had met with another terrible
storm after the hurricane was over, which had blown them quite out of
their knowledge to the westward, and in which they had lost their masts,
as above; they told us, they expected to have seen the Bahama Islands,
but were then driven away again to the south-east by a strong gale of
wind at N.N.W. the same that blew now, and having no sails to work the
ship with, but a main-course, and a kind of square sail upon a
jury-foremast, which they had set up, they could not lie near the wind,
but were endeavouring to stand away for the Canaries.

But that which was worst of all, was, that they were almost starved for
want of provisions, besides the fatigues they had undergone; their bread
and flesh was quite gone, they had not an ounce left in the ship, and
had had none for eleven days; the only relief they had, was, their water
was not all spent, and they had about half a barrel of flour left; they
had sugar enough; some succades or sweetmeats they had at first, but
they were devoured; and they had seven casks of rum.

There was a youth and his mother, and a maid-servant, on board, who were
going passengers, and thinking the ship was ready to sail, unhappily
came on board the evening before the hurricane began; and having no
provisions of their own left, they were in a more deplorable condition
than the rest; for the seamen, being reduced to such an extreme
necessity themselves, had no compassion, we may be sure, for the poor
passengers; and they were indeed in a condition that their misery is
very hard to describe.

I had perhaps not known this part, if my curiosity had not led me, the
weather being fair, and the wind abated, to go on board the ship: the
second mate, who upon this occasion commanded the ship, had been on
board our ship; and he told me indeed, that th