her getting off, we were in a dreadful condition indeed, and had nothing
to do but to think of saving our lives as well as we could. We had a
boat at our stern just before the storm, but she was first staved by
dashing against the ship's rudder, and, in the next place, she broke
away, and either sunk, or was driven off to sea; so there was no hope
from her: we had another boat on board, but how to get her off into the
sea was a doubtful thing; however, there was no room to debate, for we
fancied the ship would break in pieces every minute, and some told us
she was actually broken already.

In this distress, the mate of our vessel laid hold of the boat, and with
the help of the rest of the men, they got her flung over the ship's
side; and getting all into her, let her go, and committed ourselves,
being eleven in number, to God's mercy, and the wild sea: for though the
storm was abated considerably, yet the sea went dreadful high upon the
shore, and might be well called _den wild zee_, as the Dutch call the
sea in a storm.

And now our case was very dismal indeed; for we all saw plainly, that
the sea went so high, that the boat could not live, and that we should
be inevitably drowned. As to making sail, we had none; nor, if we had,
could we have done any thing with it; so we worked at the oar towards
the land, though with heavy hearts, like men going to execution; for we
all knew that when the boat came nearer to the shore, she would be
dashed in a thousand pieces by the breach of the sea. However, we
committed our souls to God in the most earnest manner; and the wind
driving us towards the shore, we hastened our destruction with our own
hands, pulling as well as we could towards land.

What the shore was--whether rock or sand, whether steep or shoal--we