I am afraid you are going to be seasick." "Me no feel seasick, massa; only me don't feel hungry." But in a few minutes Dan was forced to confess that he did feel ill, and a few moments afterward was groaning in the agonies of seasickness.
"Never mind, Dan," Vincent said cheerfully.

"You will be better after this." "Me not seasick, massa; de sea have nuffin to do with it.

It's de boat dat will jump up and down instead of going quiet." "It's all the same thing, Dan; and I hope she won't jump about more before we get into the river." But in another half hour Vincent had to bring the boat's head up to the wind, lower the lug, and tie down the last reef.
"There she goes easier now, Dan," he said, as the boat resumed her course; but Dan, who was leaning helplessly over the side of the boat, could see no difference.
Vincent, however, felt that under close sail the boat was doing better, and rising more easily on the waves which were now higher and farther apart than before.

In another hour the whole of the shore-line was visible; but the wind had risen so much that, even under her reduced sail, the boat had as much as she could carry, and often heeled over until her gunwale was nearly under water.

Another hour and the shore was but some four miles away, but Vincent felt he could no longer hold on.
In the hands of an experienced sailor, who would have humored the boat and eased her up a little to meet the seas, the entrance to the York River could no doubt have been reached with safety; but Vincent was ignorant of the art of sailing a boat in the sea, and she was shipping water heavily.