Henry Fitzroy, the Young Midshipman

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: struck on a sand bank. We had been sailing for some time along a barren, mountainous coast, and had just past a reef of rocks, which projected a considerable way into the channel, and were now at the entrance of a bay, which stretched for some little distance into the bosom of the land. Into this bay or...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: struck on a sand bank. We had been sailing for some time along a barren, mountainous coast, and had just past a reef of rocks, which projected a considerable way into the channel, and were now at the entrance of a bay, which stretched for some little distance into the bosom of the land. Into this bay or creek the tide, or the carelessness of the helmsman, had brought us farther than we now discovered we ought to have gone, and, as might be expected, all was activity and alarm. Some were imprecating the helmsman, for being the cause of the disaster; others, the players, for distracting the .attention of the sailors from their duty; but players, passengers, sailors, and all on board, were now putting forth their best efforts in the application of oars, poles, and other expedients, to get the vessel off; but she seemed to resist their united endeavours, and. remained immoveable. Finding that farther exertion would be useless, a$ the tide was fast receding, they relinquished their attempts, and gave up all thpughts of getting her off until high water. chapter{{Section 4What a transition a short time brings about in the state of mental feeling But a few minutes before, and all was felicity and joy; the appearance exhibited now, was that of extreme despair. The complaints and apprehensions of the passengers became loud and general. Some were desirous of getting themselves and their property instantly conveyed on shore; though they knew not where to direct their course, from the apparent barrenness of the coast. Others were even afraid, that the vessel would go to pieces, before that could be accomplished. It was evident, indeed, that if any violent wind were to arise, our situation would be extremely perilous. This the Captain himself acknowledged, though' he objected to any one leav...