I rolled like a porpoise, and struck out desperately for about two hours; then the labor got hard indeed.

It was the fiercest battle I ever fought.

The sky grew dark, the emerald waves pitchy black, only they were crested with foam that blew in my face.

At times a single star peeped from the clouds--that was my only comfort.

So I swam on and on, and still there was no land to be seen.