Accidents > Dangers of the deep, or, Narratives of shipwreck and adventure at sea

OF DB. JOHNSON.
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flattered ourselves that every black cloud
was land; but when the sun rose, we saw
nothing except a glimpse of the coast of Nor¬
way at a distance. When I viewed the sea
and the place, the sight of so many hundred
rocks environing us, struck me with amaze¬
ment. It was only from God’s providence
that we had not gone among the breakers
during the night, and under full sail, instead
of running between the two ledges, which
proved an asylum. Had we touched in any
other part, we must have instantly perished.
“ Our sole hope of relief was the approach
of some ship, from which we might be seen;
but of this I thought there was little prospect;
for should one accidentally come by day, she
would be deterred by the surrounding dangers,
from giving us succour: and if she came in
the night, she would certainly be wrecked,
like our own vessel. Having seen nothing in
the course of the whole day, we began to des¬
pair ; and wanting sustenance to support us,
and hardly having clothes to keep us warm,
we crept into a hole of the rock, and there
rested during the second night. Next morn¬
ing we arose before the sun, and some of our
company, searching with their arms in the