Wreck Reef.-] TERRA AUSTRALIS, 303 
ship in the morning, and of continuing our voyage to England , as isos. 
August. 
not at all doubtful. Thursday 
Of the poor Cato, we could neither see nor hear any thing. It 
appeared that captain Park, when meeting the Bridgewater on oppo- 
site tacks, stopped setting his main sail and bore away to leeward ; 
had he persevered, both ships must have come upon the reef to- 
gether ; but by his presence of mind on this occasion, the Bridgewater 
weathered the breakers and escaped the impending danger. When 
the Cato struck the reef, it was upon the point of a rock, under the 
larbord chess tree ; and she fell over to windward, with her decks 
exposed to the waves. In a short time the decks and holds were 
torn up, and every thing washed away ; and the sole place left, where 
the unfortunate people could hope to avoid the fury of the sea, was 
in the larbord fore channel, where they all crowded together, the 
greater part with no other covering than their shirts. Every time 
the sea struck the Cato, it twisted her about upon the rock with such 
violent jerks, that they expected the stern, which was down in the 
water, would part every moment. In this situation, some lashing 
themselves to the timber heads, others clinging to the chain plates 
and dead eyes, and to each other, captain Park and his crew passed 
the night ; their hope being, that the fore' castle of the ship might 
hold upon the rock till morning, and that the Bridgewater would 
then send her boats to save them. From the Porpoise they enter- 
tained no hone ; and until the signal lights were seen, they thought 
her gone to pieces. 
At the first dawning of day, I got on board the Porpoise by 
the help of the fallen masts. Every body was in good spirits at 
seeing the ship hold together so well, and finding the boats safe ; 
for the gig, with all in her, had been given up for lost, some one 
having thought he saw her sink in the breakers. With the day- 
light appeared a dry sand bank, not more than half a mile distant, 
sufficiently large to receive us all with what provisions might be 
got out of the ship ; and the satisfaction arising from this discovery 
