FADDY'S LATEST EXPLOIT, 351 



anchor might hold ; and there to leeward, within less than 

 a dozen miles, loomed grim and gloomy one of the most 

 terrific rock-bound coasts in the world. The shift of 

 wind had placed the Chance farther to leeward than all 

 the rest, a good mile and a half nearer the shore ; and we 

 could well imagine how anxiously her movements were 

 being watched by the others, who, in spite of their 

 jealousy of his good luck, knew well and appreciated 

 fully Paddy's marvellous seamanship, as well as his 

 unparalleled knowledge of the coast. 



Having no whale to hamper our movements, besides 

 being well to windward of them all, we were perfectly 

 comfortable as long as we kept to seaward of a certain 

 line and the gale was not too fierce, so for the present all 

 our attention was concentrated upon the labouring ships 

 to leeward. The intervention of the land to windward 

 kept the sea from rising to the awful height it attains 

 under the pressure of a westerly, or a south-westerly 

 gale, when, gathering momentum over an area extending 

 right round the globe, it hurls itself upon those rugged 

 shores. Still, it was bad enough. The fact of the gale 

 striking across the regular set of the swell and current 

 had the effect of making the sea irregular, short, and 

 broken, which state of things is considered worse, as far 

 as handling the ship goes, than a much heavier, longer, 

 but more regular succession of waves. 



As the devoted craft drifted helplessly down upon that 

 frowning barrier, our excitement grew intense. Their 

 inability to do anything but drift was only too well known 

 by experience to every one of us, nor would it be possible 

 for them to escape at all if they persisted in holding on 

 much longer. But it was easy to see why they did so. 

 While Paddy held on so far to leeward of them, and con- 

 sequently in so much more imminent danger than they 



