ut twenty feet above the
forecastle, and lay over the lee fore-chains. The captain was on deck
in a moment, and all hands were called to clear the wreck. In doing
this the main-topmast-stay was cut, and thereby the main-topmast was
carried away, severely wounding in its fall nine men. The poor fellows
were borne below and placed under the surgeon's care. The morning came
and showed us our sad condition; but the gale had not yet sufficiently
shorn us of our pride or tried to the full our captain's perseverance,
for soon after daybreak another gust struck us. I looked up to see what
was next to happen. Before me stood our stout mainmast. Then, as if
wrenched by a giant's grasp, the shrouds and stays were torn away, and
with a loud crash down it came by the board, crushing the booms,
gallows, bits, gangway-rails, and the fore part of the quarter-deck, and
staving in the long-boat and a large cutter so as to destroy them
completely. The daylight enabled those on deck to stand from under in
time to escape injury; but it was a work of time, danger, and difficulty
to clear the ship of the wreck, for while we were engaged in it the sea
was constantly breaking over us fore and aft, threatening every instant
to engulph the ship. At the same time we were in momentary expectation
of seeing the mizen-mast share the fate of the other masts. At length,
having cleared the wreck, we hoisted a fore-topgallant-sail to the stump
of the foremast, which we stayed up as well as we could, and were
thereby able to keep the ship once more before the wind, though even
then the heavy seas which followed us threatened every moment to break
aboard. We were truly in a forlorn condition--with our fore and
mainmasts gone, two suits of sails carried away with the exception of
the sails on the mizen-mast, the remainder required for jury-sails
whenever the weather would allow us to erect jury-masts--with numbers of
the crew falling sick from exposure and excessive fatigue, and with a
ship strained and battered in every direction. At length, the wind
getting round to the westward, with unequivocal reluctance Captain
Hudson resolved to bear up, to the very great satisfaction of everybody
else on board. We were then four hundred and sixty leagues from the
Lizard. For several days more the gale continued, and we were all in
expectation of shortly reaching England and getting a thorough refit,
when the weather suddenly became more moderate than her