832 NARROW ESCAPE—SUDDEN CHANGE. May 1829. 
was higher, and the wind as strong as ever. I saw the cutter a 
little before, about three miles from us, standing to the east- 
ward on a wind; but whether she would clear the shore I could 
not make out. 
‘«* After dark, finding we could not well be worse off as to 
risk, I bore up, and pulled with the sea rather abaft the beam, 
twisting the boat ‘end on’ to each wave as it came, hoping to 
get into smoother water te the westward. Night, and having 
hung on our oars five hours, made me think of beaching the 
boat to save the men; for in a sea so short and breaking, it 
was not likely she would live much longer. At any time in the 
afternoon, momentary neglect, allowing a wave to take her im- 
properly, would have swamped us; and after dark it was worse. 
Shortly after bearing up, a heavy sea broke over my back, and 
half filled the boat : we were baling away, expecting its suc- 
cessor, and had little thoughts of the boat living, when—quite 
suddenly—the sea fell, and soon after the wind became mode- 
rate. So extraordinary was the change, that the men, by one 
impulse, lay on their oars, and looked about to see what had 
happened. Probably we had passed the place where a tide 
was setting against the wind. I immediately put the boat’s 
head towards the cove we left in the morning, and with thank- 
ful gladness the men pulled fast ahead. In ten minutes the sea 
was smooth, and the breeze so moderate, as not to impede our 
progress. Our only anxiety was then about the cutter; for we 
could not tell how she had weathered the gale. I was sure she 
would have prospered if kept by the wind; but some accident, 
or change of purpose, was to be feared. 
‘* About an hour after midnight, we landed in safety at 
Donkin Cove; so tired, and numbed by the cold, for it was 
freezing sharply, that we could hardly get out of the boat. 
The embers of our morning fire were still burning ; so we put 
on some wood, and lay down round them. No men could have 
behaved better than that boat’s crew: not a word was uttered 
by one of them; nor did an oar flag at any time, although 
they acknowledged, after landing, that they never expected 
to see the shore again. We resolved to start early to look for 
