without spreading up over the sky, as would certainly have been the
case if it had been a storm-cloud. Still nearer it came, and soon
we saw that it was moving swiftly towards the island; but there was
no sound till it reached the islands out at sea. As it passed
these islands, we observed, with no little anxiety, that a cloud of
white foam encircled them, and burst in spray into the air: it was
accompanied by a loud roar. This led us to conjecture that the
approaching object was an enormous wave of the sea; but we had no
idea how large it was till it came near to ourselves. When it
approached the outer reef, however, we were awe-struck with its
unusual magnitude; and we sprang to our feet, and clambered hastily
up to the highest point of the precipice, under an indefinable
feeling of fear.

I have said before that the reef opposite Spouting Cliff was very
near to the shore, while, just in front of the bower, it was at a
considerable distance out to sea. Owing to this formation, the
wave reached the reef at the latter point before it struck at the
foot of Spouting Cliff. The instant it touched the reef we became
aware, for the first time, of its awful magnitude. It burst
completely over the reef at all points, with a roar that seemed
louder to me than thunder; and this roar continued for some
seconds, while the wave rolled gradually along towards the cliff on
which we stood. As its crest reared before us, we felt that we
were in great danger, and turned to flee; but we were too late.
With a crash that seemed to shake the solid rocks the gigantic
billow fell, and instantly the spouting-holes sent up a gush of
water-spouts with such force that they shrieked on issuing from
their narrow vents. It seemed to us as if the earth had been blown
up with water. We were stunned and confused by the shock, and so