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

DESERTION .'F CAPTAIN CHEAP. 151
before the wind shifted more to the westward,
and began to blow very hard, and the sea ran
extremely high; so that we could no longer
keep our heads towards the cape or headland
we had designed for. This cape we had had
a view of in one of the intervals of fair wea¬
ther, during our abode on the island, from
Mount Misery; and it seemed to be distant
between twenty and thirty leagues from us.
We were now obliged to bear away right be¬
fore the wind. Though the yawl was not far
from us, we could see nothing of her, except
now and then, upon the top of a mountainous
sea. In both the boats, the men were obliged
to sit as close as possible, to receive the seas
on their backs, to prevent their filling us,
which was what we every moment expected.
We were obliged to throw every thing over¬
board, to lighten the boats, all our beef, and
even the grapnel, to prevent sinking. Night
was coming on, and we were running on a
lee-shore fast, where the sea broke in a fright¬
ful manner. Not one amongst us imagined
it possible for boats to live in such a sea. In
this situation, as we neared the shore, expect¬
ing to be beat to pieces by the first breaker,
we perceived a small opening between the