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but a rock. Being soon
certain of this, I went down to the captain, and, with some confusion,
told him the danger we were in, and desired him to come upon deck
immediately. He said it was very well, and I went up again. As soon as
I was upon deck the wind, which had been pretty high, having abated a
little, the vessel began to be carried sideways towards the rock, by
means of the current. Still the captain did not appear. I therefore
went to him again, and told him the vessel was then near a large rock,
and desired he would come up with speed. He said he would, and I
returned to the deck. When I was upon the deck again I saw we were not
above a pistol shot from the rock, and I heard the noise of the
breakers all around us. I was exceedingly alarmed at this; and the
captain having not yet come on the deck I lost all patience; and,
growing quite enraged, I ran down to him again, and asked him why he
did not come up, and what he could mean by all this? 'The breakers,'
said I, 'are round us, and the vessel is almost on the rock.' With
that he came on the deck with me, and we tried to put the vessel
about, and get her out of the current, but all to no purpose, the
wind being very small. We then called all hands up immediately; and
after a little we got up one end of a cable, and fastened it to the
anchor. By this time the surf was foaming round us, and made a
dreadful noise on the breakers, and the very moment we let the anchor
go the vessel struck against the rocks. One swell now succeeded
another, as it were one wave calling on its fellow: the roaring of the
billows increased, and, with one single heave of the swells, the sloop
was pierced and transfixed among the rocks! In a moment a scene of
horror presented itself to my mind, such as I never had conceived or
experienced before. All my sins stared me in the face; and especially,
I thought that God had hurled his direful vengeance on my guilty head
for cursing the vessel on which my life depended. My spirits at this
forsook me, and I expected every moment to go to the bottom: I
determined if I should still be saved that I would never swear again.
And in the midst of my distress, while the dreadful surfs were dashing
with unremitting fury among the rocks, I remembered the Lord, though
fearful that I was undeserving of forgiveness, and I thought that as
he had often delivered he might yet deliver; and, calling to mind the
many mercies he had shewn me in times past, they gave me some small
hope that he might still help me. I then began to think how we might
be saved; and I believe no mind was ever like mine so replete with
inventions and confused with schemes, though how to escape death I
knew not. The captain immediately ordered the hatches to be nailed
down on the slaves in the hold, where there were above twenty, all of
whom must unavoidably have perished if he had been obeyed. When he
desired the man to nail down the hatches I thought that my sin was the
cause of this, and that God would charge me with these people's blood.
This thought rushed upon my mind that instant with such violence, that
it quite overpowered me, and I fainted. I recovered just as the people
were about to nail down the hatches; perceiving which, I desired them
to stop. The captain then said it must be done: I asked him why? He
said that every one would endeavour to get into the boat, which was
but small, and thereby we should be drowned; for it would not have
carried above ten at the most. I could no longer restrain my emotion,
and I told him he deserved drowning for not knowing how to navigate
the vessel; and I believe the people would have tossed him overboard
if I had given them the least hint of it. However the hatches were not
nailed down; and, as none of us could leave the vessel then on account
of the darkness, and as we knew not where to go, and were convinced
besides that the boat could not survive the surfs, we all said we
would remain on the dry part of the vessel, and trust to God till
daylight appeared, when we should know better what to do.

I then advised to get the boat prepared against morning, and some of
us began to set about it; but some abandoned all care of the ship and
themselves, and fell to drinking. Our boat had a piece out of her
bottom near two feet long, and we had no materials to mend her;
however, necessity being the mother of invention, I took some pump
leather and nailed it to the broken part, and plastered it over with
tallow-grease. And, thus prepared, with the utmost anxiety of mind we
watched for daylight, and thought every minute an hour till it
appeared. At last it saluted our longing eyes, and kind Providence
accompanied its approach with what was no small comfort to us; for the
dreadful swell began to subside; and the next thing that we discovered
to raise our drooping spirits, was a small key or island, about five
or six miles off; but a barrier soon presented itself; for there was
not water enough for our boat to go over the reefs, and this threw us
again into a sad consternation; but there was no alternative, we were
therefore obliged to put but few in the boat at once; and, what is
still worse, all of us were frequently under the necessity of getting
out to drag and lift it over the reefs. This cost us much labour and
fatigue; and, what was yet more distressing, we could not avoid having
our legs cut and torn very much with the rocks. There were only four
people that would work with me at the oars; and they consisted of
three black men and a Dutch Creole sailor; and, though we went with
the boat five times that day, we had no others to assist us. But, had
we not worked in this manner, I really believe the people could not
have been saved; for not one of the white men did any thing to
preserve their lives; and indeed they soon got so drunk that they were
not able, but lay about the deck like swine, so that we were at last
obliged to lift them into the boat and carry them on shore by force.
This want of assistance made our labour intolerably severe; insomuch,
that, by putting on shore so often that day, the skin was entirely
stript off my hands.

However, we continued all the day to toil and strain our exertions,
till we had brought all on board safe to the shore; so that out of
thirty-two people we lost not one. My dream now returned upon my mind
with all its force; it was fulfilled in every part; for our danger was
the same I had dreamt of: and I could not help looking on myself as
the principal instrument in effecting our deliverance; for, owing to
some of our people getting drunk, the rest of us were obliged to
double our exertions; and it was fortunate we did, for in a very
little time longer the patch of leather on the boat would have been
worn out, and she would have been no longer fit for service. Situated
as we were, who could think that men should be so careless of the
danger they were in? for, if the wind had but raised the swell as it
was when the vessel struck, we must have bid a final farewe

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