1698.] UNFORESEEN DANGER. 30.") 



however, did not lose his presence of Mind, wliich was so 

 necessary on such Occasions. He caus'd the Ship speedily 

 to be put before the Wind, and the Ship that came against 

 us, running consequently the same Danger, becanse it was 

 of the same Bigness, we manag'd our Tackle so successfully 

 that we luckily avoided each other, which was the greatest 

 chance in the World : We then began to search into the 

 Cause that had hinder'd the Ship from obeying the Signal, 

 and we found it had been occasion'd ^y the negligence of a 

 Sailor that was at the Helm, who had not put the Whip-staff 

 on that side it should have been. This happen'd either by 

 reason he had not heard the word of Command, or had 

 slighted it, or that he had drunk too much Araque. The 

 Sub-Pilot,^ whose business it was to give the word of Com- 

 mand, was very much blam'd, for that he should have gone 

 himself to see whether the Sailor had obey'd Orders. See 

 how it oftentimes happens that 3'ou are at the very brink of 

 Danger when you least think of it. 



Some days before we arriv'd upon the Coast of Ireland, 

 we observ'd the Sea seem'd at a distance extreamly swell'd, 

 which gave us reason to believe there had been bad Weather 

 in those Parts, and which was indeed true, for our Vice- 

 Admiral, who had set sail two days before us, had undergone 

 so great a Tempest, that he had lost his Main-Mast.^ 



We were afterwards 15 days before we could see Land,^ 

 by reason of the great Poggs which environ'd us on all sides 

 during all that time. They were so thick that we could not 

 only perceive no Vessel of the Fleet, but were likewise at a 

 loss to see one another upon Deck. To prevent our stragling 

 from one another, we had the Precaution to fire now and 

 then a great Gun Day and Night from eacli Ship, but by 



1 la orig. : "qui etoit de quart." 



■^ In orig. : "grand Mat de hune," i.e.. main top-mast. 

 ^ In orig. : " sans pouvoir prendre hauteur," /.c, without being able 

 to take observations. 



