Herman Melville

“ This, with the pearl shells on board, counteracted the buoyancy of the casks.
At last, the sun—long waited for—arose; the Parki meantime sinking lower and lower.
All things being in readiness, we proceeded to embark from the wreck, as from a wharf.
But not without some show of love for our poor brigantine.
To a seaman, a ship is no piece of mechanism merely; but a creature of thoughts and fancies, instinct with life. Standing at her vibrating helm, you feel her beating pulse. I have loved ships, as I have loved men. ”

“ Now, owing to the number of empty butts in the hold, there would have been, perhaps, but small danger of the vessel's sinking outright—all awash as her decks would soon be—were it not, that many of her timbers were of a native wood, which, like the Teak of India, is specifically heavier than water. ”

“ Shortly after daylight, a violent jostling and thumping under foot showed that the water, gaining rapidly in the, hold, spite of all pumping, had floated the lighter casks up-ward to the deck, against which they were striking. ”