216 THE WATER -SPOUT FLOODS THE SHIP. 



seemed to burst in on all sides, poured over the ship 

 with a force which I could only withstand by con- 

 vulsively grasping the iron rail of the upper deck. 

 I felt how the whole ship was tossed hither and 

 thither with tremendous force by violent short blows 

 of the waves. Whether we were above or under 

 water was hardly to be distinguished. It seemed to 

 be foam, which we breathed with difficulty. How long 

 this state of things lasted no one was afterwards able 

 to say. Those also who had remained in the cabin 

 had to contend with the violent shocks, which threw 

 them hither and thither, and were terrified to death 

 by the roaring noise of the mass of water falling down 

 on the deck. The statements of time varied between 

 two and five minutes. Then all was over as suddenly 

 as it had begun, but the gleaming wall now stood 

 before the ship, and slowly moved away from it. 



When after a short time the whole ship's company 

 collected with revived spirits on the deck, and talked 

 over all the terrors and wonders, the French officers 

 were of opinion that the most incredible wonder of 

 all had been that our lady had not once screamed. 

 The thoroughly English composure of my sister-in-law, 

 growing with the rising danger, appeared altogether 

 incomprehensible to the lively Frenchmen. 



As we heard afterwards, the water-spout, which 

 we had observed at Almeria, had moved eastwards 

 down the Spanish coast, had then passed over to the 

 African side, and we had manifestly crossed its path. 

 That with our craft, so little sea-worthy, and so in- 



