“There was another circumstance which tended to restore my self-possession; and this was the cessation of the wind, which could not reach us in our present situation — for, as you saw yourself, the belt of surf is considerably lower than the general bed of the ocean, and this latter now towered above us, a high, black, mountainous ridge.  If you have never been at sea in a heavy gale, you can form no idea of the confusion of mind occasioned by the wind and spray together.  They blind, deafen, and strangle you, and take away all power of action or reflection.  But we were now, in a great measure, rid of these annoyances — just us death-condemned felons in prison are allowed petty indulgences, forbidden them while their doom is yet uncertain.

“How often we made the circuit of the belt it is impossible to say.  We careered round and round for perhaps an hour, flying rather than floating, getting gradually more and more into the middle of the surge, and then nearer and nearer to its horrible inner edge.  All this time I had never let go of the ring-bolt.  My brother was at the stern, holding on to a small empty water-cask which had been securely lashed under the coop of the counter, and was the only thing on deck that had not been swept overboard when the gale first took us.  As we approached the brink of the pit he let go his hold upon this, and made for the ring, from which, in the agony of his terror, he endeavored to force my hands, as it was not large enough to afford us both a secure grasp.  I never felt deeper grief than when I saw him attempt this act — although I knew he was a madman when he did it — a raving maniac through sheer fright.  I did not care, however, to contest the point with him.  I knew it could make no difference whether either of us held on at all; so I let him have the bolt, and went astern to the cask.  This there was no great difficulty in doing; for the smack flew round steadily enough, and upon an even keel — only swaying to and fro, with the immense sweeps and swelters of the whirl.  Scarcely had I secured myself in my new position, when we gave a wild lurch to starboard, and rushed headlong into the abyss.  I muttered a hurried prayer to God, and thought all was over.

“As I felt the sickening sweep of the descent, I had instinctively tightened my hold upon the barrel, and closed my eyes.  For some seconds I dared not open them — while I expected instant destruction, and wondered that I was not already in my death-struggles with the water.  But moment after moment elapsed.  I still lived.  The sense of falling had ceased; and the motion of the vessel seemed much as it had been before, while in the belt of foam, with the exception that she now lay more along.  I took courage, and looked once again upon the scene.