The tragedy of the seas; or, Sorrow on the ocean, lake, and river, from shipwreck, plague, fire and famine .. . a zephyr moves the sleepingcanvass; and the extended yards and booms lazily creak intheir slings and sockets, as she languidly reposes on her ownshadow. The waters seem petrified into polished blue marble,tempting one to walk on their treacherous surface; and thefeverish crew are oppressed by the excessive heat and closenessof the atmosphere. But the calms of the ocean, like thoseof life, are short; soon a change of weather is apparent, andthe gray, misty hues of the horizon are ever
The tragedy of the seas; or, Sorrow on the ocean, lake, and river, from shipwreck, plague, fire and famine .. . a zephyr moves the sleepingcanvass; and the extended yards and booms lazily creak intheir slings and sockets, as she languidly reposes on her ownshadow. The waters seem petrified into polished blue marble,tempting one to walk on their treacherous surface; and thefeverish crew are oppressed by the excessive heat and closenessof the atmosphere. But the calms of the ocean, like thoseof life, are short; soon a change of weather is apparent, andthe gray, misty hues of the horizon are every instant grow-ing denser and darker. The men aloft are sending down thelight masts and spars, and those on deck clewing up the sails,lashing the boats, and securing the hatchways. The sea is nowlashed up into dark billows, with their foaming crests, and thestorm strikes the ship. In an instant, the little sail that remainsspread is blown into ribbons, and the ship staggers before thehurricane, under bare poles, with nothing to hold the furiouswind, but the bending, straining masts and the wailing After the first fury of the gale is spent, she is carefully luffedup to the wind, and laid to under a close-reefed the sea white with foam, and the sky of a pitchy darkness,night sets in. Soon a heavy sea is shipped, which sweeps thedecks, carrying overboard the long-boat and part of the crew;and, during the middle watches, the ship strikes a sunken rockwith fearful violence. One mast goes by the board, and theothers are cut away, to relieve the ship. The waves now breakover her, washing off many of the crew. The morning comes:a reddish glimmer in the east, with a dark scud above, discovers INTRODUCTION. VU the situation of the ship, lying along a bed of coral rocks, andfixed within its jagged points; and, through the thick showersof spray, at no great distance, the head of the lofty palm is seen,bowing to the blast. The storm having expended its fury, as
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, bookidtra, booksubjectshipwrecks
