Sentence:  Unluckily that worthy Officer having, in a literal Sense, taken his Fill of Liquor, had been some Time retired to his Bolster, where he was snoaring so loud, that it was not easy to convey a Noise in at his Ears capable of <WSD>drowning</WSD> that which issued from his Nostrils. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To inundate, submerge, overwhelm.