318 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



crew, quite familiar with the West Indies where they 

 had experienced many hurricanes, swore to a man that 

 they had never come through such a raging wind, ris- 

 ing so swiftly. To be sure it held on scarcely more than 

 12-15 minutes, but it struck the ship violently so that 

 it could hardly get through the water fast enough, and 

 the waves broke in streams over the peak. The masts 

 bent before the wind; the sails, which there had not 

 been time enough to take in, were torn on the instant 

 and the shreds went flapping with a fearful noise. To 

 lighten the weight on deck the turtle-casks were stove 

 in, fire-wood, many chests, and all sorts of baggage 

 were jettisoned. The sailors waded in water knee- 

 deep on deck, where everything was in apparent con- 

 fusion. Amid the deafening noise of the wind and 

 the waves, and the tumult of the ship's people work- 

 ing at an anxious tension, might be heard now suppli- 

 cations and sighs, now curses and imprecations. We 

 owed our escape first to the dispensation of Providence 

 and then to the firm spirit of the captain who suc- 

 ceeded, not without hard work and the assistance of 

 several strong men at the wheel, in keeping the little 

 ship straight before the wind ; the first blow from the 

 side, or the first cross-sea, would inevitably from the 

 nature of the cargo have overturned and sunk us. 

 Hardly was the danger over, when everything was 

 forgotten, as is the sailor's way. We then spoke of 

 our fears; the sailors took to their grogg; making 

 sport of each other for their frightened looks and be- 

 havior, and setting at once to work repairing the much 

 damaged sails and tidying up the ship. We lost by 

 this chance a part of our store of fresh water, and 

 from then on the allowance was a quart and a half 



