216 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



two pitches, the one after the other, fo that I thought fhe 

 was buried under the waves, and a confiderable deal of wa- 

 ter came in upon us. I am fully fatisfied, had lhe not been 

 in good order, very buoyant, and in her trim, fhe would 

 have gone to the bottom, as the wind continued to blow 

 a hurricane. 



I began now to throw off my upper coat and trowfers, 

 that I might endeavour to make fhore, if the vefTel mould 

 founder, whillt the fervants feemed to have given themfelves 

 up, and made no preparation. The pilot kept in clofe by 

 the land, to fee if no bight, or inlet, offered to bring up in ; 

 but we were going with fu.cn violence, that I was fatif- 

 fied we mould overfet if we attempted this. Every ten mi- 

 nutes we ran over the white coral banks, which we broke 

 in pieces with the grating of a file, upon iron, and, what 

 was the mofl terrible of all, a large wave followed higher 

 than our ftern, curling over it, and feemed to be the inftru- 

 ment deftined by Providence to bury us in the abyfs. 



Our pilot began apparently to lofe his underftanding 

 with fright. I begged him to be fteady, perfuading him to 

 take a glafs of fpirits, and defired him not to difpute or 

 doubt any thing that I fhould do or order, for that I had 

 feen much more terrible nights in the ocean ; I affured him, 

 that all harm done to his vefTel fhould be repaired when 

 we fhould get to CofTeir, or even a new one bought for him, 

 if his own was much damaged. He anfwered me nothing, 

 but that Mahomet was the prophet of God. — Let him prophecy, 

 faid I, as long as he pleafes, but what I order you is to keep 

 fteady to the helm ; mind the vane on the top of the maft, 

 and fleer ftraight before the wind, for I am refolved to cut 



i that 



