30 NOTES ON SABLE ISLAND—MACDONALD. 
with light airs of wind from the eastward. It was a clear and 
cloudless day, but it had a certain dull appearance about it, that 
seemed to portend a gathering of the elements together, as if for 
strife. The sea ran high, although there was no wind, and gave 
us a good deal of trouble, by often filling our loaded boats in 
crossing the bars, where it often broke very badly, and rolled 
along the shore with a groaning and very troubled sound. After 
the sun passed the meridian the gloom and duiness seemed to 
increase, the sea rose higher, although but little wind, and the 
moaning sound of the waters as they broke along the strand, 
seemed to give strong.indications of a coming storm. Our work 
proceeded successfully, notwithstanding the difficulties we had 
to contend with ;—the property was all shipped, the vessel loaded 
and ready for sea, and at half an hour after sunset she got under 
weigh, with our beat and boat’s crew to be towed up to head- 
quarters and landed there. The wind was now a fresh breeze 
from east. I got on my horse to keep abreast of the vessel, 
which I did until dark. JI had ten miles to go to the landing 
place, I drove to that point as fast as I could, and then rushed 
on to the beach to watch the arrival of my boat. It was now 
very dark, with a fresh breeze, and the sea rising very fast. The 
whole ocean seemed to be in a phosphoretic blaze of light. I 
soon observed our boat coming directly towards me: I jumped 
off my horse, and as I always rode with six fathoms of line on 
my horse’s fieck, one end I fastened there, and the other énd I 
tied to my leg. I was then able to assist my people in the boat 
without loosing my horse, as she filled and turned over just as 
she got within my reach. The people reported that the schooner 
hauled off to sea the moment that the boat left her. We hauled 
up and secured our boat for an approaching gale, then went to 
the house, changed our wet clothes, got supper, and set a watch. * 
At midnight the watch reported heavy gale of wind from E. N. 
E.; at four o'clock the morning of the 20th, a most terrific gale 
of wind with rain from the N. E.; and at daylight the gale to be 
still increasing, and the wind veering to the N.N.E. All hands 
out. The hull of the schooner Lady Elcho, that had been wrecked 
near the landing, could be seen from the look-out house to be 
floating and knocking about on the beach, and we had to crawl 
on our hands and knees across the Island to where her cargo of 
barrels of mackerel was piled up,—the wind being so violent we 
could not proceed against it in an upright position. We found 
the cargo in danger of being smashed to pieces by the sea, and 
we commenced parbuckling it up the bank to a place of compar- 
ative safety, and were so occupied until about noon; and it was 
