herly gale
when off Candia. I carried sail until she nearly jumped her masts over
the side and herself out of water. We were then carrying the double
reefed topsails, reefed courses, inner jib, fore and main topmast
staysail, but the gale had so increased I gave orders to close-reef the
topsails and furl the mainsail. I thought it better to run no further
risk of dismasting her, as there was always a chance so long as they
were kept standing. All hands were up reefing the main topsail and I
had the wheel. I saw the black shadow of the mountains in the darkness
towering far above our heads, and we seemed to be amongst the broken
water to leeward. Every moment I expected her to strike and send us to
our doom. A simple thought of the last words of my mother about Jesus
and the sea flashed into my mind. I lashed the wheel for a moment or
two, went to the lee side, knelt down, and offered a fervent prayer to
Almighty God. I asked Him, if it was His will to save us, to do it in
His own way. I had no sooner taken hold of the wheel again than the
sails were caught aback by the wind veering and coming with the force
of a hurricane from the opposite direction. It rushed from the mountain
tops as from a funnel. I called to the men to come down and turn the
yards round smartly. I feared she would not back off quickly and that
she might get stern way on and knock the stern in and founder. My voice
failed to carry through the vast roar of the tempest, but the men knew
as well as I did that a critical moment had come, so they made their
way on deck; the yards were quickly trimmed and I ran her dead off the
land. We had not run more than eight to ten miles to the south amid a
mad conflict of broken sea that twisted and lashed at the vessel, when
all of a sudden the old wind came back and the struggle with the
opposing legions for mastery kept for a time the vessel in imminent
peril. Ultimately the southerly force prevailed, but fortunately it
blew itself out in a few hours, and we sailed into fine weather. Never
was a vessel so near destruction without being destroyed, and never
were human lives so near passing from time into eternity. Even the most
wayward of my crew attributed our safety to the pity of God, and they
thanked Him with the usual condescension that sailors adopt even
towards the Deity; but they never knew that I had addressed the
Almighty on their behalf and on my own; and that is really how it comes
that I am here to tel