19© FISHERMEN'S OWN BOOK, 



bled like a stricken dolphin, as she struggled with great apparent effort up 

 the steep sides of the mountainous waves, which threatened to bury her be- 

 neath their curling crests. Even with the small sail which we had set — a 

 mere rag in size — and lying nearly head to the wind, she buried her lee side 

 nearly lo the hatches. To walk against the blast was out of the question, 

 and all one could do was to haul themselves along by the life-lines,* or cling 

 to the rigging for safety. She plunged so heavily into the waves that the 

 jib was soon washed loose from the bowsprit. While I was in the cabin af- 

 ter a rope to secure it, a second heavy sea boarded us, breaking over the 

 port bow, covering our little vessel nearly out of sight beneath a deluge of 

 rushing water and flying spray. When the men on deck saw it coming they 

 sprang for the rigging. Two of them, who got on to the fore-gaff, held on 

 to the peak halyards, clinging to the ropes with their hands and legs. The 

 sea broke so high that both of these men were nearly washed clear of their 

 hold, although they were eight to ten feet above the deck. The latter was 

 filled with water nearly to the tops of the rails, compelling us to knock off 

 some waist boards so that the vessel would clear herself. 



Between the squalls we managed to secure the jib, though it was extreme- 

 ly hazardous going out on a bowsprit in such a gale. The squalls had the 

 most terrifying appearance that I ever witnessed, as they came tearing down 

 from to windward. Black as night and driving the white foam before them, 

 they were an awful sight, and enough to strike terror to the hearts of those 

 who never felt a sense of fear, and who, even then, when death was immi- 

 nent, bravely faced the storm, disdaining to flinch from the peril which duty 

 and self-preservation called them to meet. 



Fearing the cable would part, and feeling sure that the vessel would be 

 knocked down on her beam ends if she fell off with any sail set, I stationed 

 myself at the mainmast, whenever the squalls came along, ready to let the 

 riding-sail run down if necessary. When the fourth squall was coming I 

 took my usual position, standing on the bit-head of the fife-rail with my 

 right foot, and grasping the riding-sail halyards with my right hand. While 

 I was standing in this position, and in the midst of a flurry of flying snow, a 

 ball of lightningt burst between the masts, and I was knocked insensible to 

 the deck. Others of the crew were slightly shocked. As soon they could, 

 the men who were on deck ran and picked me up, thinking I was dead, and 

 carried me below. 



I would not speak of the intense suffering which I endured for four hours 



♦During hea\^ gales life-lines are generally rigged by stretching, on each side of the ves- 

 sel, a rope from the fore-rigging to the main, and from that aft to the davit. 



fThe men who saw it said it was like a ball of fire, and burst between the masts like a 

 rocket. It is probable that a fragment ran down the wet rope to which I was clinging, and 

 struck my arm. 



