n a dead lee
shore. As the night closed in, it blew a dreadful gale, and the ship was
nearly buried with the press of canvas which she was obliged to carry;
for had we sea-room, we should have been lying-to under storm staysails;
but we were forced to carry on at all risks, that we might claw off
shore. The sea broke over as we lay in the trough, deluging us with
water from the forecastle, aft to the binnacles; and very often as the
ship descended with a plunge, it was with such force that I really
thought she would divide in half with the violence of the shock. Double
breechings were rove on the guns, and they were further secured with
tackles, and strong cleats nailed behind the trunnions, for we heeled
over so much when we lurched, that the guns were wholly supported by the
breechings and tackles, and had one of them broken loose, it must have
burst right through the lee side of the ship, and she must have
foundered. The captain, first lieutenant, and most of the officers,
remained on deck during the whole of the night; and really, what with
the howling of the wind, the violence of the rain, the washing of the
water about the decks, the working of the chain-pumps, and the creaking
and groaning of the timbers, I thought that we must inevitably have been
lost; and I said my prayers at least a dozen times during the night, for
I felt it impossible to go to bed. I had often wished, out of curiosity,
that I might be in a gale of wind, but I little thought it was to have
been a scene of this description, or anything half so dreadful. What
made it more appalling was, that we were on a lee shore, and the
consultations of the captain and officers, and the eagerness with which
they looked out for daylight, told us that we had other dangers to
encounter besides the storm. At last the morning broke, and the look-out
man upon the gangway called out, "Land on the lee beam." I perceived the
master dash his fist against the hammock-rails, as if with vexation, and
walk away without saying a word, and looking very grave.

"Up, there, Mr Wilson," said the captain, to the second lieutenant, "and
see how far the land trends forward, and whether you can distinguish the
point." The second lieutenant went up the main-rigging, and pointed with
his hand to about two points before the beam.

"Do you see two hillocks inland?"

"Yes, sir," replied the second lieutenant.

"Then it is so," observed the captain to the master, "and if we weather