FROM COPENHAGEN TO ENGLAND. 101 



the mizen-sail,) which put it out of our power to 

 keep the ship by the wind, and we could no longer 

 maintain our place. One of our best sailors was 

 so bruised on this occasion, that, notwithstanding, 

 the greatest attention, it was three weeks before 

 he could render us any service. Shortly after this 

 accident, the day began to dawn faintly through 

 the thick fog, and at least enabled us to become 

 acquainted with our situation. To our no little 

 joy, we discovered that we were in the entrance of 

 Plymouth Bay, and, though it was still pretty 

 dark, we immediately directed our course thither, 

 as the only possible means of saving ourselves. 

 We succeeded, in spite of the bad weather, 

 in reaching the harbour without a pilot, and 

 dropped anchor at 8 A. M. at the same place in the 

 Catvvater as we had previously done. Both the 

 officers and the crew were quite exhausted by their 

 great fatigue. Whoever is acquainted with the 

 navigation of the Channel, can form an idea of the 

 danger in which we were all the night. The pilots 

 were astonished that we were able to keep at sea 

 without being wrecked. The only reason I can 

 assign for this is, that the water, driven, indeed, 

 by the storm into the narrow bay, but forced back 

 by the violence of the current, kept our ship from 

 the shore. Our first business was now to put the 

 ship to rights again, as she had suffered much during 

 the storm. A new wing-transom was ready in a 

 few days j and, as the wind began to blow from 



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