in the morning, I lost sight of them altogether. They had started
out soon after sunrise. It then occurred to me that I ought to put
the ship into some sort of condition to enable her to weather the
storm, which was increasing instead of abating. This was not the
first storm I had experienced on board the Veielland, so I knew
pretty well what to do. First of all, then, I battened down the
hatches; this done, I made every movable thing on deck as secure as
I possibly could. Fortunately all the sails were furled at the
time, so I had no trouble with them. By mid-day it was blowing so
hard that I positively could not stand upright, but had to crawl
about on my hands and knees, otherwise I should have been hurled
overboard. I also attached myself to a long rope, and fastened the
other end to one of the masts, so that in the event of my being
washed into the raging sea, I could pull myself on board again.

Blinding rain had been falling most of the time, and the waves came
dashing over the deck as though longing to engulf the little ship;
but she rode them all in splendid style. The climax was reached
about two o'clock, when a perfect cyclone was raging, and the end
seemed very near for me. It made me shudder to listen to the wind
screaming and moaning round the bare poles of the sturdy little
vessel, which rose on veritable mountains of water and crashed as
suddenly into seething abysses that made my heart stand still.
Then the weather suddenly became calm once more--a change that was
as unexpected as the advent of the storm itself. The sky, however,
continued very black and threatening, and the sea was still
somewhat boisterous; but both wind and rain had practically
subsided, and I could now look around me without feeling that if I
stirred I was a doomed man. I clambered up the lower portion of
the main rigging, but only saw black, turbulent waters, hissing and