250 AN OCTOBER ABROAD. 



away up toward the bows and quickly running down 

 her whole length, jarring, raking, and venting their 

 wrath in a very audible manner ; or a wave would 

 rake along the side with a sharp, ringing, metallic 

 sound, like a huge spear point seeking a vulnerable 

 place, or some hard-backed monster would rise up 

 from the deep and grate and bump the whole length 

 of the keel, forcibly suggesting hidden rocks and con- 

 sequent wreck and ruin. 



Then it seems there is always some biggest wave 

 to be met with somewhere on the voyage, a monster 

 billow that engulfs disabled vessels and sometimes 

 carries away parts of the rigging of the stanchest. 

 This big wave struck us the third day out about mid- 

 night, and nearly threw us all out of our berths, and 

 careened the ship over so far that it seemed to take 

 her last pound of strength to right herself up again. 

 There was a slamming of doors, a rush of crockery, 

 and a screaming of women, heard above the general 

 din and confusion, while the steerage passengers 

 thought their last hour had come. The vessel before 

 us encountered this giant wave during a storm in mid 

 ocean, and was completely buried beneath it ; one of 

 the officers was swept overboard, the engines sud- 

 denly stopped, and there was a terrible moment dur- 

 ing which it seemed uncertain whether the vessel 

 would shake off the sea or go to the bottom. 



Besides observing the oscillations of my coat, I 

 had at times a stupid satisfaction in seeing my two 

 new London trunks belabor each other about my 



