ly
allowed by those who shall carefully peruse the ensuing narration.

From this storm, which came on before we were well clear of the
straits of Le Maire, we had a continual succession of such tempestuous
weather as surprised the oldest and most experienced mariners on
board, and obliged them to confess, that what they had hitherto called
storms were inconsiderable gales, when compared with those winds
we now encountered; which raised such short, and at times such
mountainous waves, as greatly surpassed in danger all seas known
in other parts of the globe, and, not without reason, this unusual
appearance filled us with continual terror; for, had any one of these
waves broken fairly over us, it must almost inevitably have sent us
instantly to the bottom. Neither did we escape with terror only:
for the ship, rolling incessantly gunwale-to, gave us such quick and
violent jerking motions, that the men were in perpetual danger of
being dashed to pieces against the decks and sides of the ship; and,
though we were extremely careful to secure ourselves against these
shocks, by grasping some fixed body, yet many of our people were
forced from their holds, some of whom were actually killed, and others
greatly injured. In particular, one of our best seamen was canted
overboard and drowned; another dislocated his neck; a third was thrown
down the main hatchway into the hold and broke his thigh; one of our
boatswain's mates broke his collar-bone twice; not to mention many
other similar accidents.

These tempests, so dreadful in themselves, though unattended by any
other unfavourable circumstances, were yet rendered more mischievous
to us by their inequality, and by the deceitful intervals that at
times occurred; for, although we had often to lie-to for days together
under a reefed mizen, and were frequently reduced to drive at the
mercy of the winds and waves under bare poles, yet now and then we
ventured to make sail under double-reefed courses; and occasionally,
the weather proving more moderate, were perhaps encouraged to set our
top-sails; after which, without any previous notice, the wind would
return with redoubled force, and would in an instant tear our sails
from the yards. And, that no circumstance might be wanting which could
aggravate our distress, these blasts generally brought with them a
great quantity of snow and sleet, which cased our rigging in ice, and
froze our sails, rendering them and our cordage so brittle a