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jaws widey extended. Escape from death now seemed totally out of the question. They were six or seven miles from the ship relief from that quarter was not to be expected; and the whale, maddened by the wounds of the harpoon and lances which had been thrown into him, and seemingly animated with the prospect of speedy revenge, was within a few cables' length Fortunately, the monster came up and passed them at a short distance. The boat then made her way to the ship, and they all got on board in safety.

6. After reaching the ship, a boat was despatched for the oars of the demolished boats. As soon as the boat returned with the oars, sail was set, and the ship proceeded after the whale. In a short time she overtook him, and a lance was thrown into his head. She passed on by him, and immediately after it was discovered that the whale was rushing towards her. As he came up, they hauled to the wind, and suffered the monster to pass her. After he had fairly passed, they kept on to attack him again. When the ship had reached within about fifty rods of him, they discovered that the whale had settled down deep below the surface of the water, and, as it was near sundown, they concluded to give up the pursuit. Subsequent events proved, however, that the whale had formed a deadly resolution to destroy the ship.

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7. While Captain Deblois was waiting on deck for the reäppearance of the whale, he suddenly saw it approaching at the rate of fifteen miles an hour. In an instant the determined monster struck the ship with tremendous violence, shaking her from stem to stern. She quivered under the impetuosity of the shock as if she had struck upon a rock. Captain Deblois immediately descended into the forecastle, and there, to his horror, discovered that the whale had struck the ship about two feet from the keel, abreast the foremast, knocking a great hole entirely through her bottom, through which the water roared and rushed in with great force. Springing to the deck, he ordered the mate to cut away the anchors and get the cables overboard to keep the ship from sinking. ship

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8. In doing this, the mate succeeded in relieving only one anchor and getting one cable clear, the other having been fastened around the foremast. The ship was then sinking very rapidly. The captain went into the cabin, where he found three feet of water; he, however, succeeded in procuring a chronometer, sex tant, and chart. Reaching the decks, he ordered the men to clear away the boats, and to get water and provisions, as the ship was heeling over. He again descended to the cabin, but the water was rushing in so rapidly that he could procure nothing

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He then came back upon deck, ordered all hands into the boats, and was the last to leave the ship, which he did by throwing himself into the sea, and swimming to the nearest boat.

9. The ship was on her beam-ends, her topgallant-yards under water. The men then pushed off some distance from her, expecting her to sink in a very short time. Upon an examination of the stores they had been able to save, it was discovered that they had only twelve quarts of water, and not a mouthful of provisions of any kind. The boats contained eleven men each, were leaky, and, night coming on, it was found necessary to bale all night to keep from sinking.

10. Next day, at daylight, they returned to the ship, no one daring to venture on board but the captain. With a single hatchet he cut away the mast, when the ship righted. The boats then came up, and the men, by the sole aid of spades, cut away the chain-cable from around the foremast, which got the ship nearly on her keel. The men then tied ropes around their bodies, got into the sea, and cut holes through the decks to get out provisions. They could procure nothing but about five gallons of vinegar and twenty pounds of wet bread. The ship threatened to sink, and they deemed it imprudent to remain by her longer; so they set sail in her boats, and left her.

11. They were then in a dreadful state of anxiety, as it was doubtful whether they should be able to reach land or see any vessel. With faint hopes of being rescued, they directed their course northerly, and on the twenty-second of August, at about five o'clock P. M., they had the indescribable joy of discerning a ship in the distance. They made a signal, and were soon answered, and in a short time they were reached by the good ship Nantucket, of Nantucket, Massachusetts, Captain Gibbs, who took them all on board, clothed and fed them, and extended to them every possible hospitality.

XC. A STORM IN THE INDIAN OCEAN.

1. THE sky was serene; displaying only a few little copper colored clouds, like reddish vapor, which were moving with a rapidity surpassing that of birds in their flight. But the sea was furrowed by five or six long and lofty swells, like chains of hills, between which large and deep valleys extend. Each of these aquatic hills formed two or three distinct eminences, one above the other. From the curving summits, the wind swept the foam like streaming manes, reflecting here and there all the tints of

the rainbow It also bore along with it over the briny valleys a whirl of fine white spray, resembling the dust which rises from a great frequent ed avenue on a dry summer day.

2. What appeared most formidable was the indication that some of the summits of these hills, pushed forward from their bases by the violence of the wind, unfurled into enormous vaults, which broke and rolled over upon themselves, roaring and foaming with a fall that would have engulfed the largest ship had it found itself under their ruins. The condition of our vessel concurred with that of the sea to render our position frightful. Our mainmast had been broken the night before by the lightning, and our foremast, with our only sail, had been carried away that morning by the gale. The vessel, incapable of obeying her helm, rolled in the trough of the sea, the sport of the wind and the

waves.

3. I was upon the quarter-deck, hanging on to the mizzenshrouds, and trying to familiarize myself with this tremendous spectacle.. As one of these mountainous piles of water approached us, I judged that the summit was more than fifty feet above my head. The base of this stupendous wave, passing under our vessel, made it incline so that the main-yards were half dipped in the sea, and the heels of the masts were so under water that we thought we were upset. Our staggering vessel, when it found itself on the crest of the surge, shook and righted for a moment, but the next was prostrated in an equally perilous manner on the descending slope of the wave, while a volume of water poured from under with the rapidity of a sluice, forming a large sheet of foam.

4. We remained in this situation, between life and death, from sunrise to three o'clock in the afternoon. It was impossible to give or receive consolation by word of mouth. So violent was the wind, that one could not make himself heard even by shouting close in his companion's ear. The blast seemed to bear away the sound of the voice, permitting nothing to be heard but its own wild howling, mingled with the creaking and rattling of the cordage, and the hoarse thunder of the surges, striving like sa vage beasts for our destruction.

ORIGINAL TRANSLATION FROM ST. PIERRE.

XCI. THE HEROISM OF GRACE DARLING.

1. ALL night the storm had raged, nor ceased, nor paused,
When, as day broke, the maid, through misty air,
Espies far off a wreck, amid the surf,

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Beating on one of those disastrous isles, —
Half of a vessel,30 half-no more; the rest
Had vanished, swallowed up with all that there
Had for the common safety striven in vain,
Or thither thronged for refuge.

2. With quick glance

Daughter and sire through optic-glass discern,
Clinging about the remnant of this ship,

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how precious in the maiden's sight! For whom, belike, the old man grieves still more Than for their fellow-sufferers engulfed Where every farting agony is hushed, And hope and fear mix not in further strife. "But courage, father! let us out to sea, A few may yet be saved."

3. The daughter's words,

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Her earnest tone, and looks beaming with faith,
Dispel the father's doubts; nor do they lack
The noble-minded mother's helping hand

To launch the boat; and, with her blessing cheered
And inwardly sustained by silent prayer,

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father and child!

4. Each grasps an oar, and struggling on they go,-
Rivals in effort; and, alike intent,

Here to elude and there surmount, they watch
The billows lengthening, mutually crossed
And shattered, and re-gathering their might;
As if the tumult by the Almighty's will
Were, in the conscious sea, roused and prolonged,
That woman's fortitude - so tried, so proved ·
May brighten more and more!

5 True to the mark,

They stem the current of that perilous gorge,

Their arms still strengthening with the strengthening board

Though danger, as the wreck is neared, becomes

More imminent. Not unseen do they approach;

And rapture, with varieties of fear

Incessantly conflicting, thrills the frames

Of those who in that dauntless energy
Foretaste deliverance.

6 But the least perturbed

Can scarcely trust his eyes, when he perceives
That of the pair tossed on the waves to bring
Hope to the hopeless, to the dying life
One is a woman, a poor earthly sister!
Or, be the visitant other than she seems,
A guardian spirit sent from pitying Heaven.
In woman's shape?

7. But why prolong the tale,

Casting weak words amid a host of thoughts
Armed to repel them? Every hazard faced
And difficulty mastered, with resolve

That no one breathing should be left to perish,
This last remainder of the crew are all
Placed in the little boat, then o'er the deep
Are safely borne, landed upon the beach,
And, in fulfilment of God's mercy, lodged
Within the sheltering lighthouse.

8. Shout, ye waves !169

Send forth a sound of triumph. Waves and winds,
Exult in this deliverance wrought through faith
In Him whose Providence your rage has served!
Ye screaming sea-mews, in the concert join!

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9. And would that some immortal voice
Fitly attuned to all138 that gratitude
Breathes out from floor or couch, through pallid lips
Of the survivors, - to the clouds might bear,
Blended with praise of that parental love
Beneath whose watchful eye the maiden grew
Pious and pure, modest and yet so brave,
Though young so wise, though meek so resolute,
Might carry to the clouds and to the stars,
Yea, to celestial choirs,38 Grace Darling's name!

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WORDSWORTH

XCII. THE PRAIRIES OF THE WEST.

1. THE attraction of the prairie consists in its extent, its carpet of verdure and flowers, its undulating surface, its groves, und the fringe of timber by which it is surrounded. Of all these, the latter is the most expressive feature; it is that which gives character to the landscape, which imparts the shape and marks the boundary of the plain. If the prairie be small, its greatest beauty consists in the vicinity of the surrounding margin of woodland, which resembles the shore of a lake, indented with deep vistas like bays and inlets, and throwing out long points like capes and headlands; while occasionally these points approach so close on either hand, that the traveller passes through a narrow avenue or strait, where the shadows of the woodland fall upon his path, and then again emerges into another prairie.

2. Where the plain is large, the forest outline is seen in the far perspective, like the dim shore when beheld at a distance from the ocean. The eye sometimes roams over the green meadow

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