 | STORM AT SEA. The beauties of Washington Irving, author of "The sketch-book," "Knickerbocker," "Crayon miscellany," &c. |  |
STORM AT SEA.
The storm increased with the night. The sea was lashed
into tremendous confusion. There was a fearful, sullen
sound of rushing waves, and broken surges. Deep
called unto deep. At times the black volume of clouds
over head seemed rent asunder by flashes of lightning that
quivered along the foaming billows, and made the succeeding
darkness doubly terrible. The thunders bellowed
over the wild waste of waters, and were echoed and
prolonged by the mountain waves. As I saw the ship
staggering and plunging among these roaring caverns, it
seemed miraculous that she regained her balance, or preserved
her buoyancy. Her yards would dip in the
water; her bow was almost buried beneath the waves.
Sometimes an impending surge appeared ready to overwhelm
her, and nothing but a dexterous movement of
the helm preserved her from the shock.
When I retired to my cabin, the awful scene still followed
me. The whistling of the wind through the rigging
sounded like funeral wailings. The creaking of the
masts, the straining and groaning of bulk heads, as the
ship laboured in the weltering sea, were frightful. As
I heard the waves rushing along the side of the ship, and
roaring in my very ear, it seemed as if Death were raging
round this floating prison, seeking for his prey; the mere
starting of a nail, the yawning of a seam might give him
entrance.
| STORM AT SEA. The beauties of Washington Irving, author of "The sketch-book," "Knickerbocker," "Crayon miscellany," &c. | |