"The men at the wheel tell me she has been twice round the compass, already; but this broken sea would, alone, tell that.

We must get a little sail on the main mast, and try to edge out of it." A small stay sail was got out and hoisted, and the helm was put down a little.

Though still running at but a slight angle before the wind, the pressure was now sufficient to lay her down to her gunwale.

The crew gathered under shelter of the weather bulwark, holding on by belaying pins and stanchions.
Night had now set in, but it made little difference; for the darkness had, before, been intense, save for the white crests of the tossing waves.

Sheets of foam blew across the deck and, sometimes, a heavy fall of water toppled down on the crew.