"Though We Were Situated Under The Lee Of A High And Mountainous
Coast, Yet The Waves Rose To A Vast
Height, ran prodigiously long, and
were dispersed into vapour as they broke by the violence of the storm.
The whole
Surface of the sea was by this means rendered hazy, and as
the sun shone out in a cloudless sky, the white foam was perfectly
dazzling. The fury of the wind still increased so as to tear to pieces
the only sail which we had hitherto dared to shew, and we rolled about
at the mercy of the waves, frequently shipping great quantities of
water, which fell with prodigious force on the decks, and broke all
that stood in the way. The continual strain slackened all the rigging
and ropes in the ship, and loosened every thing, insomuch that it
gradually gave way, and presented to our eyes a general scene of
confusion. In one of the deepest rolls the arm-chest on the quarter-
deck was torn out of its place and overset, leaning against the rails
to leeward. A young gentleman, Mr Hood, who happened to be just then
to leeward of it, providentially escaped by bending down when he saw
the chest falling, so as to remain unhurt in the angle which it formed
with the rail. The confusion of the elements did not scare every bird
away from us: From time to time a black shearwater hovered over the
ruffled surface of the sea, and artfully withstood the force of the
tempest, by keeping under the lee of the high tops of the waves.
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