1792. /■' naval ajtalrs. . 115 



ther for many Kours ; but at length It was necefsary to t;ike 

 some repose. For this purpose the boat's company wa^ 

 divided into two parties ; the master at the head of the 

 one, and the mate at that of the other ; which were 

 to keep watch by turns. During the time the mate was 

 asleep, the master i^bserved a line, or small rope, hanging 

 uver the stern of the boat. Thinking this had fallen c - f 

 by accident, and that it would retard the motion of the 

 boat, he pulled it in. At this time the sea was stUL 

 much agitated j but the boat went through the water 

 with tolerable ease, and seeming safety. Bye and bye, 

 however, the storm appeared to increase, the sea became 

 more boisterous, the waves broke upon the Jlittle Ikiff, and 

 they were every moment in danger of being swallowed 

 up. In the agitation and bustle which this occasioned, 

 the inate was awakened ; and seeing the rope away frcm 

 the stern, he flew into a violent paision, thinking it had 

 been, by the carelcfsnefs of some person, allowed to slip 

 overboard entirely. Being informed of the truth, and 

 leelng the line, he instantly seized it, and threw it out 

 behind the vefsel, taking care to fix one end of It^ very se- 

 curely to the boat. The other men could not compre- 

 hend the meaning of all this-, but, to their agreeable sur- 

 prise, they found, that in a few minutes, the sea ran more 

 smooth than before, and the little fklff bounded over Its 

 surface In a much more easy manner than they had just 

 experienced. 



Tlie mate then told them, that he himself being a Nor- 

 wegian, had been bred up as a fiiherman on the coast of 

 Norway, and had often experienced the salutary elFccts 

 of this contrivance. Every person on that coast, he said, 

 knew its effects perfectly, so that no boat ever goes to 

 sea there, without a piece of spare line for that purpose, 

 as it has been found, by many trials, that in case of » 



