The waves mounted up, and extinguished their
fire; they swept over nearly the whole of the rock, compelling them to
flee for refuge to the highest part. Thus did nearly ninety pass a night
of the utmost horror; being compelled, lest they should be washed off,
to fasten a rope round the summit of a rock, and to clasp each other.
Their fatigue had been so great that several of them became delirious,
and lost their hold. They were also in constant terror of the wind
veering more to the north, in which case the waves would have dashed
over their position.
They now began to sink under their hardships, and many had suffered
deplorably. One had been so dashed against the rocks as to be nearly
scalped, exhibiting a dreadful spectacle; he lingered out the night, but
expired next morning. They were ill prepared to sustain famine, and they
were almost hopeless of escape. They dreaded lest the storm should come
on before the boat could have reached the island, for on her safety
their own depended. In the midst of these horrors the daylight broke,
and they saw the bodies of their departed shipmates, some still writhing
in the agonies of death.
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