155 



hat! we, barely, to encounter the Gommoa 

 dangers of the fea, but, from being amidil: a 

 crowded fleet, were, every inftant, liable to 

 the additional peril of running aboard fome 

 neighbouring fhip, and being dafhed in pieces, 

 or driven, at once, to the bottom ; and to 

 this we were equally expofed by the dark- 

 nefs of the night, and by a heavy fog. The 

 terror of thefe critical moments is neceflarily 

 augmented by the lively apprehenfions of 

 thofe who are but little accuftomed to the 

 fea : nor is this wonderful, for, where every 

 motion, and every found is calculated to ex- 

 cite alarm, he rnufl be more than a philo- 

 fopher, he muft be a failor, who can regard 

 even the lefs imminent perils with uncon- 

 cern. , 



During a florm, the deep rollings of the 

 fliip, her deeper lurches, the thundering con* 

 culEon of heavy feas againft her fides, the 

 hollow dreary found of the wind howling in 

 Jier fails and rigging, the hurry and clamor 

 of the ihip's company, the clattering of 

 broken plates, difhes, and bafons, and the dif- 

 ^lal creakings of thQ mafts, bulkheads, and 



