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years more. Well, I told these men that I would go with all my heart, if |
they would look to my farm in the mean time, which they said they would |
do. |
So I made my will, and went on board this ship on the same day on which, |
eight years since, I had left Hull. She had six guns, twelve men, and a |
boy. We took with us saws, chains, toys, beads, bits of glass, and such |
like ware, to suit the taste of those with whom we had to trade. |
We were not more than twelve days from the Line, when a high wind took |
us off we knew not where. All at once there was a cry of "Land!" and the |
ship struck on a bank of sand, in which she sank so deep that we could |
not get her off. At last we found that we must make up our minds to |
leave her, and get to shore as well as we could. There had been a boat |
at her stern, but we found it had been torn off by the force of the |
waves. One small boat was still left on the ship's side, so we got in |
it. |
There we were all of us on the wild sea. The heart of each now grew |
faint, our cheeks were pale, and our eyes were dim, for there was but |
one hope, and that was to find some bay, and so get in the lee of the |
land. We now gave up our whole souls to God. |
The sea grew more and more rough, and its white foam would curl and |
boil. At last the waves, in their wild sport, burst on the boat's side, |
and we were all thrown out. |
I could swim well, but the force of the waves made me lose my breath too |
much to do so. At length one large wave took me to the shore, and left |
me high and dry, though half dead with fear. I got on my feet and made |
the best of my way for the land; but just then the curve of a huge wave |
rose up as high as a hill, and this I had no strength to keep from, so |
it took me back to the sea. I did my best to float on the top, and held |
my breath to do so. The next wave was quite as high, and shut me up in |
its bulk. I held my hands down tight to my side, and then my head shot |
out at the top of the waves. This gave me heart and breath too, and soon |
my feet felt the ground. |
I stood quite still for a short time, to let the sea run back from me, |
and then I set off with all my might to the shore, but yet the waves |
caught me, and twice more did they take me back, and twice more land me |
on the shore. I thought the last wave would have been the death of me, |
for it drove me on a piece of rock, and with such force, as to leave me |
in a kind of swoon, which, thank God, did not last long. At length, to |
my great joy, I got up to the cliffs close to the shore, where I found |
some grass, out of the reach of the sea. There, I sat down, safe on land |
at last. |
I could but cry out in the words of the Psalm, "They that go down to the |
sea in ships, these men see the works of the Lord in the deep. For at |
His word the storms rise, the winds blow, and lift up the waves; then |
do they mount to the sky, and from thence go down to the deep. My soul |
faints, I reel to and fro, and am at my wit's end: then the Lord brings |
me out of all my fears." |
I felt so wrapt in joy, that all I could do was to walk up and down the |
coast, now lift up my hands, now fold them on my breast, and thank God |
for all that He had done for me, when the rest of the men were lost. |
All lost but I, and I was safe! I now cast my eyes round me, to find out |
what kind of a place it was that I had been thus thrown in, like a bird |
in a storm. Then all the glee I felt at first left me; for I was wet and |
cold, and had no dry clothes to put on, no food to eat and not a friend |
to help me. |
There were wild beasts here, but I had no gun to shoot them with, or to |
keep me from their jaws. I had but a knife and a pipe. It now grew dark; |
and where was I to go for the night? I thought the top of some high tree |
would be a good place to keep me out of harm's way; and that there I |
might sit and think of death, for, as yet, I had no hopes of life. Well, |
I went to my tree, and made a kind of nest to sleep in. Then I cut a |
stick to keep off the beasts of prey, in case they should come, and fell |
to sleep just as if the branch I lay on had been a bed of down. |
When I woke up it was broad day; the sky too was clear and the sea calm. |
But I saw from the top of the tree that in the night the ship had left |
the bank of sand, and lay but a mile from me; while the boat was on the |
beach, two miles on my right. I went some way down by the shore, to get |
to the boat; but an arm of the sea, half a mile broad, kept me from |
it. At noon, the tide went a long way out, so that I could get near the |
ship; and here I found that if we had but made up our minds to stay on |
board, we should all have been safe. |
I shed tears at the thought, for I could not help it; yet, as there was |
no use in that, it struck me that the best thing for me to do was to |
swim to the ship. I soon threw off my clothes, took to the sea, and swam |
up to the wreck. But how was I to get on deck? I had swam twice round |
the ship, when a piece of rope, caught my eye, which hung down from her |
side so low, that at first the waves hid it. By the help of this rope I |
got on board. I found that there was a bulge in the ship, and that she |
had sprung a leak. You may be sure that my first thought was to look |
round for some food, and I soon made my way to the bin, where the bread |
was kept, and ate some of it as I went to and fro, for there was no time |
to lose. There was, too, some rum, of which I took a good draught, and |
this gave me heart. What I stood most in need of, was a boat to take the |
goods to shore. But it was vain to wish for that which could not be |
had; and as there were some spare yards in the ship, two or three large |
planks of wood, and a spare mast or two, I fell to work with these, to |
make a raft. |
I put four spars side by side, and laid short bits of plank on them, |