CHAP. vn.J BURSTING OF THE TEMPEST. 325 



boats left the harbour with more than usual difficulty, the sea 

 at the entrance being so rough. The boats pursued a north- 

 east course, but from the absence of a breeze the oars had to 

 be resorted to, and nearly twelve hours elapsed before they 

 got to the fishing rendezvous. In ordinary circumstances, 

 with a good wind, the boats would have reached the fishing- 

 ground in about three hours, and would have returned by the 

 next tide about mid-day. About six P.M. the storm broke 

 upon the fishermen with great violence. The majority of the 

 boats kept close together, and as the first of the gale was suc- 

 ceeded by comparative calm, the crews, imagining that they 

 had seen the worst of the storm, began to finish their fishing. 

 This would have occupied about an hour, but, before it was 

 half accomplished, the wind, veering rather more to the north, 

 blew a perfect hurricane, and the sea became so disturbed that 

 it was hardly possible to manage the boats. The sails, which 

 had been hoisted when the wind first sprang up, were reduced, 

 some of them by as many as six reefs, but the experience and 

 energy of the hardy fishermen seemed scarce sufficient to 

 battle successfully for existence among the warring elements. 

 Some of the crews in this strait made for the Banff coast ; 

 others made up their minds to endeavour to ride out the 

 storm, and a good number ran for Cromarty, or the ports on 

 the opposite side of the Firth. The attainment of either of 

 these three alternatives was a work of peril, for there is no 

 harbour of refuge on either side of the Firth to which boats 

 may with safety run from a storm ; and the broken water is 

 about as plentiful and dangerous in the centre of the Firth 

 as it is along the shore. While the brave fishermen were 

 encountering the severest perils attending their calling, the 

 anxiety and suspense of their relations were heartrending. 

 The storm in its intensity, though its coming had been fore- 

 shadowed, was not felt on shore till about nine P.M. on 

 Wednesday evening. From that hour, however, the wind, 



