The wave that came upon me again,buried me at once 20or 30feet deep in its own body,and I could feel myself carried with a mighty force and swiftness towards the shore a very great way;but I held my breath,and assisted myself to swim still forward with all my might.I was ready to burst with holding my breath,when,as I felt myself rising up,so,to my immediate relief,I found my head and hands shoot out above the surface of the water;and though it was not two seconds of time that I could keep myself so,yet it relieved me greatly,gave me breath and new courage.I was covered again with water a good while,but not so long but I held it out;and finding the water had spent itself,and began to return,I struck forward against the return of the waves,and felt ground again with my feet.I stood still a few moments to recover breath,and till the water went from me,and then took to my heels and ran with what strength I had farther towards the shore.But neither would this deliver me from the fury of the sea,which came pouring in after me again,and twice more I was lifted up by the waves and carried forwards as before,the shore being very flat.
The last time of these two had well near been fatal to me;for the sea,having hurried me along as before,landed me,or rather dashed me,against a piece of a rock,and that with such force,as it left me senseless,and indeed helpless,as to my own deliverance;for the blow taking my side and breast,beat the breath as it were quite out of my body;and had it returned again immediately,I must have been strangled in the water.But I recovered a little before the return of the waves,and seeing I should be covered again with the water,I resolved to hold fast by a piece of the rock,and so to hold my breath,if possible,till the wave went back.Now as the waves were not so high as at first,being near land,I held my hold till the wave abated,and then fetched another run,which brought me so near the shore,that the next wave,though it went over me,yet did not so swallow me up as to carry me away,and the next run I took I got to the mainland,where,to my great comfort,I clambered up the cliffs of the shore,and sat me down upon the grass,free from danger,and quite out of the reach of the water.
I was now landed,and safe on shore,and began to look up and thank God that my life was saved in a case wherein there was some minutes before scarce any room to hope.I believe it is impossible to express to the life what the ecstasies and transports of the soul are when it is so saved,as I may say,out of the very grave;and I do not wonder now at that custom,viz.,that when a malefactor,who has the halter about his neck,is tied up,and just going to be turned off,and has a reprieve brought to him-I say,I do not wonder that they bring a surgeon with it,to let him blood that very moment they tell him of it,that the surprise may not drive the animal spirits from the heart,and overwhelm him:
For sudden joys,like griefs,confound at first.
I walked about on the shore,lifting up my hands,and my whole being,as I may say,wrapt up in the contemplation of my deliverance,making a thousand gestures and motions which I cannot describe,reflecting upon all my comrades that were drowned,and that there should not be one soul saved but myself;for,as for them,I never saw them afterwards,or any sign of them,except three of their hats,one cap,and two shoes that were not fellows.
I cast my eyes to the stranded vessel,when the breach and froth of the sea being so big,I could hardly see it,it lay so far off,and considered,Lord!how was it possible I could get on shore?
After I had solaced my mind with the comfortable part of my condition,I began to look round me to see what kind of place I was in,and what was next to be done,and I soon found my comforts abate,and that,in a word,I had a dreadful deliverance;for I was wet,had no clothes to shift me,nor anything either to eat or drink to comfort me,neither did I see any prospect before me but that of perishing with hunger,or being devoured by wild beasts;and that which was particularly afflicting to me was,that I had no weapon either to hunt and kill any creature for my sustenance,or to defend myself against any other creature that might desire to kill me for theirs.In a word,I had nothing about me but a knife,a tobacco pipe,and a little tobacco in a box.This was all my provision;and this threw me into terrible agonies of mind,that for a while I ran about like a madman.Night coming upon me,I began,with a heavy heart,to consider what would be my lot if there were any ravenous beasts in that country,seeing at night they always come abroad for their prey.
All the remedy that offered to my thoughts at that time was,to get up into a thick bushy tree like a fir,but thorny,which grew near me,and where I resolved to sit all night,and consider the next day what death I should die,for as yet I saw no prospect of life.I walked about a furlong from the shore,to see if I could find any fresh water to drink,which I did,to my great joy;and having drank,and put a little tobacco in my mouth to prevent hunger,I went to the tree,and getting up into it,endeavoured to place myself so,as that if I should sleep I might not fall;and having cut me a short stick,like a truncheon,for my defence,I took up my lodging,and having been excessively fatigued,I fell fast asleep,and slept as comfortably as,I believe,few could have done in my condition,and found myself the most refreshed with it that I think I ever was on such an occasion.
