INTRODUCTION. 33 
“For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, 
which lifteth up the waves thereof. They [the 
mariners] mount up to the heaven, they go down 
again to the depths: their soul is melted because 
of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like 
a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.” The 
Holy Spirit thus alludes to the terrific raging of 
the tempest as eminently calculated to draw man’s 
attention to the power and majesty of God, while 
the wondrous deliverances He has so often wrought 
from its fury, are so many claims on man’s grateful 
love and praise. 
Let us, then, in contemplating a few of the in- 
numerable objects of interest which the ocean pre- 
sents to us, endeavour in dependence on His own 
gracious aid, to recognise His hand, to discern the 
greatness of His power in creating and upholding 
all things; His unerring skill and wisdom in arrang- 
ing and carrying out His designs; and the careful 
and provident benevolence which He continually 
exercises towards the sentient part of His creation. 
The varied tribes of living beings that throng the 
deep, from the wallowing whale to the luminous 
animalcule, visible but as a sparkling point; the 
multifarious forms of marine vegetation, displaying 
view of the horizon. After watching for a sufficient length of time to 
verify the deductions, they d ded, and red the height of the 
point of sight from the ship’s water-line; deducting half of this distance 
for the depression of the hollow below the level of the surface, the remain- 
der gives the elevation of the highest wave. It is thus found that waves 
do not usually exceed six feet in height, except when cross-waves over- 
run each other; and probably in no case do the very loftiest rise above 
ten feet above the general level. 
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