TO THE BLUFF, AND HOME. 375 



that she ** broaches to; " that is to say, swings round 

 broadside on to the next great wave that follows relent- 

 lessly its predecessor. Then, helpless and vulnerable, 

 she will most probably be smashed up and founder. 

 Many a good ship has gone with all hands to the bottom 

 just as simply as that. 



In order to avoid such a catastrophe, the proper 

 procedure is to "heave-to" before the sea has attained 

 so dangerous a height; but even a landsman can 

 understand how reluctant a shipmaster may be to lie 

 like a log just drifting, while a more seaworthy ship is 

 flying along at the rate of, perhaps, three hundred miles 

 a day in the desired direction. Ships of the Cachalot's 

 bluff build are peculiarly liable to delays of this kind 

 from their slowness, which, if allied to want of buoyancy, 

 makes it necessary to heave-to in good time, if safety 

 is at all cared for. 



To my great astonishment and delight, however, our 

 grand old vessel nobly sustained her character, running 

 on without shipping any heavy water, although some- 

 times hedged in on either side by gigantic waves 

 that seemed to tower as high as her lowermast-heads. 

 Again and again we were caught up and passed by 

 the splendid homeward-bound colonial packets, some 

 of them carrying an appalling press of canvas, under 

 which the long, snaky hulls, often overwhelmed by the 

 foaming seas, were hardly visible, so insignificant did 

 they appear by comparision with the snowy mountain of 

 swelling sail above. 



So we fared eastward and ever southward, until in 

 due time up rose the gloomy, storm-scarred crags of the 

 Diego Eamirez rocks, grim outposts of the New World. 

 To us, though, they bore no terrific aspect ; for were 

 they not the turning-point from which we could steer 



