And then it was so rough that
they said it was most unsafe for us to attempt to go ashore.
It was a great disappointment but I urged that every one loved
his own life, and if the natives were willing to risk theirs
to sell us photographs and wicker baskets it was probably
safer than it looked-- So we agreed to die together, and with
Somers got our rain coats, and the three of us leaped into a
row boat pulled by two Portugese pirates and started off
toward a row of lamps on a quay that seemed much lower than
the waves. The remainder on the ship watched us disappear
with ominus warnings-- We really had a most adventurous
passage--towards shore the waves tossed us about like a
lobster pot and we just missed being run down by a coal barge
and escaped an upset over the bow anchor chain of a ship. It
was so close that both Somers and I had our coats off and I
told Cecil to grab the chain-- But we weathered it and landed
at a high gangway cut in the solid rock the first three steps
of which were swamped by the waves. A rope and chain hung
from the top of the wharf and a man swung his weight on this
and yanked us out to the steps as the boat was on the wave.
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