The air from the land had freshened,
and even the heavy canvas on which the Montauk was now compelled
principally to rely, had been asleep, as mariners term it, or had blown
out from the mast, where it stood inflated and steady, a proof at sea,
where the water is always in motion, that the breeze is getting to be
fresh. Aided by this power, the ship had overcome the united action of the
heavy ground-swell and of the current, and was stealing out from under the
land, when the air murmured for an instant, as if about to blow still
fresher, and then all the sails flapped. The wind had passed away like a
bird, and a dark line to sea-ward, denoted the approach of the breeze from
the ocean. The stir in the vessel was occasioned by the preparations to
meet this change.
The new wind brought little with it beyond the general danger of blowing
on shore. The breeze was light, and not more than sufficient to force the
vessel through the water, in her present condition, a mile and a half in
the hour, and this too in a line nearly parallel with the coast. Captain
Truck saw therefore at a glance, that he should be compelled to anchor.
Previously, however, to doing this, he had a long talk with his mates, and
a boat was lowered.
The lead was cast, and the bottom was found to be still good, though a
hard sand, which is not the best holding ground.
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