Yarmouth, and _opposite his own door_, but distant from the land
_four miles_. And now again he held counsel with himself, and the
energies of his mind seem almost superhuman; he had been five hours
in the water, and here was something to hold on by; he could have
even got upon the buoy, and some vessel _might come near_ to pick
him up, and the question was, could he yet hold out four miles?
'But,' said he, 'I knew the night air would soon finish me, and had
I stayed but a few minutes upon it, and then _altered_ my mind, how
did I know that my limbs would again resume their office?' He found
the tide was broke; it did not run so strong; so he abandoned the
buoy, and steered for the land, towards which, with the wind from
the eastward, he found he was now fast approaching. The last trial
of his fortitude was now at hand, for which he was totally
unprepared, and which he considered (having the superstition of a
sailor) the most difficult of any he had to combat. Soon after he
left the buoy, he heard just above his head a sort of whiffing
sound, which his imagination conjured into the prelude to the
'rushing of a mighty wind,' and close to his ear there followed a
smart splash in the water, and a sudden shriek that went through
him,--such as is heard

"'When the lone sea-bird wakes its wildest cry.'

"The fact was, a large gray gull, mistaking him for a corpse, had
made a dash at him, and its loud discordant scream in a moment
brought a countless number of these formidable birds together, all
prepared to contest for a share of the spoil. These large and
powerful foes he had now to scare from their intended prey, and, by
shouting and splashing with his hands and feet, in a few minutes
they disappeared.

"He now caught sight of a vessel at anchor, but a great way off,
and to get within hail of her he must swim over Carton Sands (the
grave of thousands), the breakers at this time showing their angry
white crests. As he approached, the wind suddenly changed; the
consequence of which was that the swell of the sea met him. Here is
his own description:--'I got a great deal of water down my throat,
which greatly weakened me, and I felt certain, that, should this
continue, it would soon be all over, and I prayed that the wind
might change, or that God would take away my senses before I felt
what it was to drown. In less time than I am telling you, I had
driven over the sands into smooth water; the _wind and swell came
agai