of False Bay, and that more than one ship had run in there, and that
instead of finding a sheltering harbour they had been thrown against the
rugged cliffs which form its sides.

The knowledge of this increased my anxiety. The sky in the east became
darker and darker, and the wind yet further increased, till it blew
almost a hurricane; heavy seas came rolling up, topped with white foam,
leaping in eagerness it seemed to catch the little craft which had borne
us in safety so far over the bosom of the ocean, and was about to escape
altogether from their power.

Peter stood at the helm. Charley and I kept a keen look-out ahead. As
we flew on, the land became more distinct, and the outline of the
headlands appeared; still darkness was coming on--a mistake would be
fatal.

"I see the heads!" exclaimed Charley at length. "There is no mistake; I
am certain of it. Starboard a little, Peter. That will do, she is
heading right in for the entrance. Take the bearings now; keep her
exact on that course. My life for it, we shall get safe into the
harbour."

My anxiety was lifted off my shoulders. I had a confidence in Charley's
judgment and knowledge which I should have placed in few people, but he
had already shown me that he was to be trusted. The darkness now came
rapidly on, and so heavy a sea got up, and so furiously blew the gale,
that I often doubted whether the little _May Flower_ would stand it. I
doubt whether alone I could have found the entrance; but Charley never
wavered in his opinion. Keeping his eye towards the land, now gradually
becoming shrouded in deeper and deeper gloom, he continued to direct
Peter how to steer.

After a time the land rose up close ahead of us, but there was a deep
slit in the centre, which seemed each instant to increase in width, and
then the cliffs appeared on either side. The roar of the waves was
tremendous, deafening to our ears; but we felt them less and less, till,
rushing on, a wide, open, smooth expanse lay before us, and we were in
smooth water--the haven where we would be.

CHAPTER TEN.

OUR CONVICT HOST

Oh, the rest, the satisfaction, and, I may say, the thankfulness we
felt. We shortened sail, and rounded to for a pilot, who came on board,
and took us up to a berth opposite to Sydney, or the camp, as it was
even then frequently called. As soon as we had dropped our anchor and
furled sails, we one and all of us, young and old, my wife and daughters
an