On the whole,
he was rather glad than otherwise of the present state of things, for it
offered a chance to slip away to leeward as soon as the weather would
permit, if, indeed, his tormentor did not altogether disappear in the
northern board, or to windward.
The hopes and fears of the worthy master, however, were poured principally
into the ears of his two mates; for few of the passengers were visible
until the afternoon of the second day of the gale; then, indeed, a general
relief to their physical suffering occurred, though it was accompanied by
apprehensions that scarcely permitted the change to be enjoyed. About
noon, on that day, the wind came with such power, and the seas poured down
against the bows of the ship with a violence so tremendous, that it got to
be questionable whether she could any longer remain with safety in her
present condition. Several times in the course of the morning, the waves
had forced her bows off, and before the ship could recover her position,
the succeeding billow would break against her broadside, and throw a flood
of water on her decks. This is a danger peculiar to lying-to in a gale;
for if the vessel get into the trough of the sea, and is met in that
situation by a wave of unusual magnitude, she runs the double risk of
being thrown on her beam-ends, and of having her decks cleared of
everything, by the cataract of water that washes athwart them.
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