Barnabas Downs

“ To be far distant from our dearest Friends; to be among persons who are not only without any concern for us, or interest in our fate, but who are our professed enemies, and not governed even by the common principles of humanity, is a case truly melancholy. ”

“ It is not possible to describe my sensations at this period; death appeared inevitable, and we waited every moment for its [10] approach! Even now, when I recollect my feelings it is difficult to steady my pen! And indeed I had ground enough for my apprehensions, for we had not been long upon the quarter-deck before the water upon the main-deck was even with it. Our fore-mast was still standing, which caused the vessel to roll very much, but when we had cut that away she lay stiller. The brig now lay sunk; the tide was flowing fast and the sea broke very heavily over us. ”

“ My cloaths were first cut from off me and I was put into cold water in order to take out the frost: I was then placed in bed and having my teeth forced open had some cordials poured down my throat, but I have no remembrance of any of these transactions, for I lay perfectly senseless until 2 o’clock on Monday, when my senses came to me at once. My eyes were not open, but I heard the voices of persons talking around me, and the [13] first idea which struck me was, that I was still on board the brig, but that a boat come to our relief. ”

“ This was early on Saturday morning, and we now laboured hard in throwing over our wood and getting our guns off the decks into the hold, but the vessel began to leak very fast, and with every motion of the sea she struck the bottom as tho’ she would split in pieces. We kept 2 pumps going, but could not gain upon the water. The storm now increased to a most prodigious degree: It snowed so thick that we could see but a very little way from the brig, and the cold was extreme ”

“ When any remarkable circum­stances take place in a man’s life, he feels commonly a disposition to communicate them to the world: If they have been deliverances from great and signal dangers, he will make this communication from a principle of gratitude to the Being who hath protected and preserved him: He will wish to engage [iv] others to be thankful on his behalf; and a knowledge of the kindness of Heaven to him may lead others to trust in GOD, when they are brought into like distress and danger. ”