t was there at his Devotion, I ask'd him (tho' I knew it
before) the reason why he was represented in so large a Shape: The
Hermit answered with great Civility, and told me, he had his Name from
_Christo Ferendo_, for when our Saviour was young, he had an inclination
to pass a River, so _Saint Christopher_ took him on his Shoulders in
order to carry him over, and as the Water grew deeper and deeper, so he
grew higher and higher.

At last we received News, that the _Gloucester_ Man of War, with two
Transports, was arrived at _Port Passage_, in order for the Transporting
of all the remaining Prisoners of War into _England_. Accordingly they
march'd next Day, and there embark'd. But I having before agreed with a
Master of a Vessel, which was loaded with Wine for _Amsterdam_, to set
me ashoar at _Dover_, stay'd behind, waiting for that Ship, as did that
for a fair Wind.

In three or four Days' Time, a fine and fair Gale presented; of which
the Master taking due Advantage, we sail'd over the Bar into the Bay of
_Biscay_. This is with Sailors, to a Proverb, reckon'd the roughest of
Seas; and yet on our Entrance into it, nothing appear'd like it. 'Twas
smooth as Glass; a Lady's Face might pass for young, and in its Bloom,
that discover'd no more Wrinkles; Yet scarce had we sail'd three
Leagues, before a prodigious Fish presented it self to our View. As near
as we could guess, it might be twenty Yards in Length; and it lay
sporting it self on the surface of the Sea, a great Part appearing out
of the Water. The Sailors, one and all, as soon as they saw it, declar'd
it the certain Forerunner of a Storm. However, our Ship kept on its
Course, before a fine Gale, till we had near passed over half the Bay;
when, all on a sudden, there was such a hideous Alteration, as makes
Nature recoil on the very Reflection. Those Seas that seem'd before to
smile upon us, with the Aspect of a Friend, now in a Moment chang'd
their flattering Countenance into that of an open Enemy; and Frowns, the
certain Indexes of Wrath, presented us with apparent Danger, of which
little on this Side Death could be the Sequel. The angry Waves cast
themselves up into Mountains, and scourg'd the Ship on every Side from
Poop to Prow: Such Shocks from the contending Wind and Surges! Such
Falls from Precipices of Water, to dismal Caverns of the same uncertain
Element! Although the latter seem'd to receive us in Order to skreen us
from the Riot of the former, Imaginati