We were under the lee of the Peninsula and had it not been for this circumstance must undoubtedly have been lost.

That gale of wind was a terrible and magnificent sight.

I stood at the steer oar; the waves lifted the boat each time nearly broadside on, and it was all I could do to bring her head round in time to meet the next sea, but the men pulled steadily.

"Now men, give way for your lives," I called out if they flagged, and renewed energy was instantly infused into all of them.

At times we could not hold our own against the wind and waves, and at the most favourable moments seemed merely to stand still.