-- My uncle sat, collected in himself,
without speaking; my man Archy had recourse to a brandy-bottle,
with which he made so free, that I imagined he had sworn to die
of drinking any thing rather than sea-water: but the brandy had
no more effect upon him in the way of intoxication, than if it
had been sea-water in good earnest. -- As for myself, I was too
much engrossed by the sickness at my stomach, to think of any
thing else. Meanwhile the sea swelled mountains high, the boat
pitched with such violence, as if it had been going to pieces;
the cordage rattled, the wind roared; the lightning flashed, the
thunder bellowed, and the rain descended in a deluge -- Every time
the vessel was put about, we ship'd a sea that drenched us all to
the skin. -- When, by dint of turning, we thought to have cleared
the pier head, we were driven to leeward, and then the boatmen
themselves began to fear that the tide would fail before we
should fetch up our lee-way: the next trip, however, brought us
into smooth water, and we were safely landed on the quay, about
one o'clock in the afternoon. -- 'To be sure (cried Tabby, when she
found herself on terra firma), we must all have perished, if we
had not been the particular care of Providence.
Pages:
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420