danger of being delayed afterwards by stress of weather. This step I
soon had cause to repent. The sea hitherto presented a smooth surface;
not a breath of wind was felt, and the stars shone out brightly. A few
clouds began to appear on the horizon; and the boat began to rise
and fall with the heaving of the sea. Understanding what these signs
portended, we immediately pulled for the shore; but had scarcely
altered our course when the stars disappeared, a tremendous noise
struck upon our ears from seaward, and the storm was upon us. In the
impenetrable obscurity of the night, not a trace of land could be
discovered; but we continued to ply our oars, while each succeeding
billow threatened immediate destruction.

The horrors of our situation increased; the man on the out-look
called out that he saw breakers a-head in every direction, and escape
appeared to be next to impossible. My crew of Scottish Islanders,
however, continued their painful exertions without evincing the
apprehensions they must have felt, by a murmur. The crisis was now at
hand. We approached so near to the breakers that it was impossible to
avoid them; and the men lay on their oars, expecting the next moment
would be their last.

In such a situation the thoughts of even the most depraved naturally
carry them beyond the limits of time; and by these thoughts, I
believe, the soul of every one was absorbed; yet the men lost not
their presence of mind. Suddenly, the voice of the look-out was heard
amid the roar of the breakers, calling our attention to a dark breach
in the line of foam that stretched out before us, which he fancied to
be a channel between the rocks. A few desperate strokes brought us
to the spot, when, to our unspeakable joy, we found it to answer the
man's conjecture; but, so narrow was the passage, that the oars on