REMARKABLE PRESERVATION FROM DEATH. 341 



imagination had ever appeared the most hideous, and 

 of which I had often dreamt till the drops fell down 

 my forehead like rain, had now in good truth befallen 

 me ; but dreadful as all my dreams had been, what 

 were they all to this 1 I felt as if all human misery 

 were concentrated in the speechless anguish of my 

 own one single heart. 



All this time I was not conscious of any act of 

 swimming ; but I soon found that I had instinctively 

 been exerting all my power and skill, and both were 

 requisite to keep me alive in the tumultuous wake of 

 the ship. Something struck me harder than a wave. 

 What it was I knew not, but I grasped it with a 

 passionate violence, for the hope of salvation came 

 suddenly over me, and, with a sudden transition from 

 despair, I felt that I was rescued. I had the same 

 thought as if I had been suddenly heaved on shore by 

 a wave. The crew had thrown overboard everything 

 they thought could afford me the slightest chance of 

 escape from death, and a hencoop had drifted towards 

 me. At once all the stories I had ever read of 

 mariners miraculously saved at sea rushed across my 

 recollection. I had an object to cling to, which I 

 knew would enable me to prolong my existence. I 

 was no longer helpless on the cold-weltering world of 

 waters ; and the thought that my friends were think- 

 ing of me, and doing all they could for me, gave to 

 me a wonderful courage. I may yet pass the night 

 in the ship, I thought ; and I looked round eagerly 



VOL. i. z 



