THE DKI.TGHtS OF tttfe > DEF.lO* 567 



frequently mischievous. We were already within the Bay, when her 

 steersman exclaimed, " She falls from her course." " Keep her full/' 

 said the captain; and in a few minutes we were in a rush of eddy 

 winds. The sails were all aback, and it was a query in this dilemma 

 whether we were to sink or swim. 



The wind in a short time returned nearly to its former quarter of 

 the compass, but the captain was afraid to venture for the port -with- 

 out a pilot's aid, and orders were given to tuck, in order to clear, if 

 possible, the Bay. " Stand by to go about," said the Palinurus. 

 " Aye, aye, sir," sounded from various parts. Their rough voices 

 from different quarters came loud, then weak, as the wind hurried 

 over us ; inspiring a wild idea, as they sounded from the darkness 

 and the storm, like the Red Daemon's laugh in Dcr Freischutz. 



All were ready. " Helms a lee !" " Helm's a lee !" as loudly an- 

 swered the helmsman. The vessel obeyed the helm. " Mainsail 

 haul !" was heard from the trumpet mouth. In the same second the 

 block sheaves creaked as the cordage traversed the yards moved 

 quickly round, and the good ship was on the larboard tack. 



Wind and waves drove us deeper and deeper in the Bay, and we 

 were unable to weather the point. It seemed as if a magic chord 

 was stretched from headland to headland by some tempest god, 

 while a sad enchantment, a destructive fascination, hovered over our 

 native hills and shores, to tempt us to our death. It was an anxious 

 S period the gale increased the sea was dreadful. " Aloft, my boys, 

 and close keep the fore- topsail," exclaimed the captain, but the crew 

 demurred. A panic had commenced, and the commander instantly 

 threw his hat, as a challenge to the storm, into the 'wave beneath us 

 as it was passing away with its sheet of foam. " Cowardly lubbers," 

 he cried, " if fear has not unmanned you follow me !'' and he sprung 

 up aloft, and was out at the weather yard-arm before a man could 

 overtake him. The Jacks rallied in a moment., and all tried who 

 could reach the cross-trees first. The main yard snapped in the 

 middle like a reed in a giant's hand, and fears were entertained for 

 the masts. The sea became terrific at times we were engulphed in 

 the valley of waters, and the next minute we were hanging on the 

 summit of the surge; the face of the bravest looked lank with 

 despair. I had remained upon deck, nursing hope, till the bantling 

 expired in my bosom, and I descended the companion-ladder, as if I 

 had been entering my tomb. The sun will rise, thought I, in a few 

 short hours, and the timbers which now bind us to life will be scat- 

 tered on the wave. My widowed wife may look for my return in 

 vain my dying words will be breathed to the gale ! I entered the 

 fore-cabin a lamp pendant from the beam shed a dim light upon the 

 faces of my unfortunate companions ; they had long since retreated 

 from the deck, and I beheld them now kneeling around, in deep 

 prayer, preparing themselves, each according to his creed, for the 

 dreadful moment of dissolution. 



In the hour of peril the fierce hatred arising from religious preju- 

 dices is miraculously absorbed. Fear is certainly contagious, like 

 the plague; I could with difficulty resist its influence. Here the 

 panic ruled absolute, and the hymns of one party increased the fer- 



