cover breath, and till the water went from
me, and then took to my heels and ran with what strength I had farther
toward the shore. But neither would this deliver me from the fury of
the sea, which came pouring in after me again; and twice more I was
lifted up by the waves and carried forward as before, the shore being
very flat.

The last time of these two had well-nigh been fatal to me; for the sea
having hurried me along as before, landed me, or rather dashed me
against a piece of rock, and that with such force that it left me
senseless, and indeed helpless as to my own deliverance; for the blow
taking my side and breast, beat the breath as it were quite out of my
body, and had it returned again immediately I must have been strangled
in the water; but I recovered a little before the return of the waves,
and seeing I should again be covered with the water, I resolved to
hold fast by a piece of the rock, and so to hold my breath if possible
till the wave went back. Now, as the waves were not so high as the
first, being nearer land, I held my hold till the wave abated, and
then fetched another run, which brought me so near the shore that the
next wave, tho it went over me, yet did not so swallow me up as to
carry me away; and the next run I took, I got to the mainland, where
to my great comfort I clambered up the cliffs of the shore, and sat me
down upon the grass, free from danger and quite out of the reach of
the water.

I was now landed, and safe on shore; and began to look up and thank
God that my life was saved, in a case wherein there were, some minutes
before, scarce any room to hope. I believe it is impossible to
express, to the life, what the ecstasies and transports of the soul
are when it is so saved, as I may say, out of the grave: and I did not
wonder now at the custom, viz., that when a malefactor who has the
halter about his neck is tied up, and just going to be turned off, and
has a reprieve brought to him--I say I do not wonder that they bring
a surgeon with it, to let him blood that very moment they tell him of
it; that the surprize may not drive the animal spirits from the heart
and overwhelm him.

"For sudden joys, like griefs, confound at first."

I walked about the shore, lifting up my hands, and my whole being, as
I may say, wrapt up in the contemplation of my deliverance; making a
thousand gestures and motions which I can not describe; reflecting
upon my comrades that were drowned, and t