LOSS OF AN ENGLISH SLOOP. 121 
crew having taken wine to endeavor to overcome the fright 
with which they were seized, I gave a glass of brandy to 
those who were sober, and asked if they were willing to em- 
bark with me in the boat for the purpose of getting on shore. 
The sea was so rough that it seemed impossible for our cra- 
zy bark to keep it a moment without being overwhelmed. 
Only the mate, two seamen, and a young passenger, resolved 
to risk themselves in the boat. 
In the first moment of danger I put my despatches in a 
handkerchief, which 1 tied round my waist. Regardless of 
the rest of my property, I seized a hatchet and a saw, and 
threw myself into the boat, followed by the mate and my ser- 
vant, who, more thoughtful than myself, had saved out of my 
box a purse of one hundred and eighty guineas. The pas- 
senger not springing far enough, fell into the sea, and our hands 
were so benumbed with cold as to be almost incapable of af- 
fording him the smallest assistance. When the two seamen 
had got into the boat, those who had most obstinately refused 
to try the same fortune, implored us to receive them ; but 
being apprehensive that we should founder with the weight of 
such a number, I ordered the boat to put off from the vessek ' 
Isoon had occasion to congratulate myself for having stifled 
a sentiment of commiseration which might have proved fatal 
to them. Though the shore was not above fifty yards distant, , 
we were met halfway by a prodigious wave, which half fill- 
ed the boat, and would infallibly have upset her had she been 
more heavily laden. A second wave threw us with violence 
upon the shore. 
The joy to find ourselves at length secure from those dan- 
gers which had so long kept us in the most cruel alarms, caus- 
ed us to forget for a moment that we had only escaped one 
kind of death, probably to endure another more terrible and 
painful. While we embraced each other, in our first trans- 
ports, and congratulated ourselves on our escape, we could 
not but be sensible of the distresses of our companions whom 
we had left on board, and Vv^hose lamentable cries we heard 
amidst the hoarse noise of the waves. What augmented the 
affliction into which we were plunged by this sentiment, was 
our being unable to afford them any kind of assistance. Our 
boat, thrown upon the sand by the angry waves, plainly testi- 
fied the impossibility of her breaking their force and return- 
ing to the vessel. 
Night was fast approaching, and we had not been long 
upon this icy shore when we found ourselves benumbed with 
11 
