On 15th we were caught by a hurricane
which whirled the 'Ariel' right round. Her sails, quickly put
to rights, were again backed so that the ship was driven
backward and a hawser wound itself round her screw, so as to
stop the engines. By this time she was turned so as to be
looking right across 'Lady Nyassa,' and the wind alone
propelling her as if to go over the little vessel. I saw no
hope of escape except by catching a rope's-end of the big
ship as she passed over us, but by God's goodness she glided
past, and we felt free to breathe. That night it blew a
furious gale. The captain offered to lower a boat if I would
come to the 'Ariel,' but it would have endangered all in the
boat: the waves dashed so hard against the sides of the
vessel, it might have been swamped, and my going away would
have taken heart out of those that remained. We then passed a
terrible night, but the 'Lady Nyassa' did wonderfully well,
rising like a little duck over the foaming billows.
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