And here we had an instance showing how
very important it is that the captain of a man-of-war should be a good
sailor, and have his ship in such discipline as to be strictly obeyed
by his ship's company. I heard the officers unanimously assert, after
the danger was over, that nothing but the presence of mind which was
shown by Captain Savage could have saved the ship and her crew. We had
chased a convoy of vessels to the bottom of the bay: the wind was very
fresh when we hauled off, after running them on shore; and the surf on
the beach even at that time was so great, that they were certain to go
to pieces before they could be got afloat again. We were obliged to
double-reef the topsails as soon as we hauled to the wind, and the
weather looked very threatening. In an hour afterwards, the whole sky
was covered with one black cloud, which sank so low as nearly to touch
our mast-heads, and a tremendous sea, which appeared to have risen up
almost by magic, rolled in upon us, setting the vessel on a dead lee
shore. As the night closed in, it blew a dreadful gale, and the ship
was nearly buried with the press of canvas which she was obliged to
carry: for had we sea-room, we should have been lying-to under storm
staysails; but we were forced to carry on at all risks, that we might
claw off shore.
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