tern; for although we were sheltered
from the direct violence of the gale by the canvas, the wind somehow
managed to penetrate beneath, creating quite a formidable little scuffle
there, and easily frustrating all our efforts to obtain a light. And
very soon we had another annoyance to contend with, in the shape of a
gradual accumulation of water in the boat, whether caused by a leak in
the hull, or by the drainage of the water through the canvas we knew
not; but it obliged us to have recourse to baling, which proved to be a
singularly awkward operation in such cramped quarters and such pitchy
darkness.

The first mad fury of the outburst lasted for about three-quarters of an
hour,--it _seemed_ a perfect eternity to us, in our condition of
overpowering suspense, but I do not believe it was longer than three-
quarters of an hour at the utmost,--and then it subsided into a heavy
gale of wind, and the sea began to get up so rapidly that within another
hour we were being flung hither and thither with such terrific violence
that in a very short time our bodies were covered with bruises, while
some of the men actually became sea-sick! And now, too, a new danger
threatened us; for as the sea rose it commenced to break, and it was not
long ere we had the seas washing, in rapidly increasing volume, over the
boat, and pouring down through the opening over the stern-sheets. This
kept us baling in good earnest, not only with our solitary bucket but
with hats and boots as well, to save the boat from being swamped. And
the bitterest hardship of it all was that there was no relief, not a
moment's intermission throughout the whole of that dreadful,
interminable night. We were in continuous peril of death with every
breath that we drew; every second saw us trembling upon the verge of
eternity, and escaping destruction as by a constantly recurring
succession of miracles. It was a frightful experience, so frightful
that language is utterly powerless to describe it; the most eloquent pen
could do no more than convey a poor, feeble, and miserably inadequate
idea of the terror and suffering of it. No one who has not undergone
such an experience can form the remotest conception of its horrors.

All things mundane have an end, however, sooner or later; and at length
the welcome light of day once more made its appearance, piercing slowly
and with seeming reluctance through the dense canopy of black, storm-
torn cloud and flying scud that