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strengthened; about midnight we passed the lights 

 upon the Lizard, and the next morning England 

 was at length out of sight. This cessation of ill 

 luck soon proved to be only " reculer pour mieux 

 sauter." The gale, it seems, had only stopped 

 to take breath : about four in the afternoon of 

 Wednesday, the wind began to rise again ; and 

 from that time till the middle of the 23d it blew 

 a complete storm day and night, with only an 

 occasional intermission of two or three hours at a 

 time. Every one in the ship declared that they 

 had never before experienced so obstinate a per- 

 secution of severe weather : every rag of sail was 

 obliged to be taken down ; the sea was blown up 

 into mountains, and poured itself over the deck 

 repeatedly. The noise was dreadful ; and as it 

 lasted incessantly, to sleep was impossible; and I 

 passed ten nights, one after another, without closing 

 my eyes ; so that the pain in the nerves of them 

 at length became almost intolerable, and I began 

 to be seriously afraid of going blind. In truth, 

 the captain could not well have pitched upon a 

 set of passengers worse calculated to undergo the 

 trial of a passage so rough. As for myself, my 

 brain is so weak, that the continuation of any vio- 

 lent noise makes me absolutely light-headed ; and 

 a pop-gun going off suddenly is quite sufficient at 

 any time to set every nerve shaking, from the 

 crown of my head to the sole of my foot. Then 

 we had a young lady who was ready to die of sea- 



