Indeed, speaking would have been useless, for no word would have been heard above the howling of the storm.
The vessel was visible to them, as they made their way down the hill.

She was a complete wreck.

The light of the moon was sufficient for them to see that she had, as the boy said, lost her foremast.

Her sails were in ribbons, and she was labouring heavily in the sea, each wave that struck her breaking over her bows and sweeping along her deck.

There was no hope for her.