Any one may judge what a condition I must be in at all this, who was but a young sailor, and who had been in such a fright before at but a little.  But if I can express at this distance the thoughts I had about me at that time, I was in tenfold more horror of mind upon account of my former convictions, and the having returned from them to the resolutions I had wickedly taken at first, than I was at death itself; and these, added to the terror of the storm, put me in such a condition, that I can by no words describe it.  But the worst was not come yet; the storm continued with such fury, that the seamen themselves acknowledged they had never known a worse.  We had a good ship, but she was deep loaden, and wallowed in the sea, that the seamen every now and then cried out, she would founder.  It was my advantage in one respect, that I did not know what they meant by founder till I inquired.  However, the storm was so violent, that I saw what is not often seen, the master, the boatswain, and some others more sensible than the rest, at their prayers, and expecting every moment when the ship would go to the bottom.  In the middle of the night, and under all the rest of our distresses, one of the men that had been down on purpose to see, cried out, we had sprang a leak; another said, there was four foot water in the hold.  Then all hands were called to the pump.  At that very word my heart, as I thought, died within me, and I fell backwards upon the side of my bed where I sat, into the cabin.  However, the men roused me, and told me, that I that was able to do nothing before, was as well able to pump as another; at which I stirred up, and went to the pump and worked very heartily.  While this was doing, the master seeing some light colliers, who, not able to ride out the storm, were obliged to slip and run away to sea, and would come near us, ordered to fire a gun as a signal of distress.  I, who knew nothing what that meant, was so surprised, that I thought the ship had broke, or some dreadful thing happened.  In a word, I was so surprised, that I fell down in a swoon.  As this was a time when every body had his own life to think of, nobody minded me, or what was become of me; but another man stept up to the pump, and thrusting me aside with his foot, let me lie, thinking I had been dead; and it was a great while before I came to myself.

We worked on; but the water increasing in the hold, it was apparent that the ship would founder; and though the storm began to abate a little; yet as it was not possible she could swim till we might run into a port, so the master continued firing guns for help; and a light ship, who had rid it out just ahead of us, ventured a boat out to help us.  It was with the utmost hazard the boat came near us, but it was impossible for as to get on board, or for the boat to lie near the ship’s side, till at last the men rowing very heartily, and venturing their lives to save ours, our men cast them a rope over the stern with a buoy