Page:Power of affection.pdf/15

(15) TnereThere [sic] were no leſs then twelve hundred ſouls, mariners, paſſengers, prieſts, and friars, on board one of theſe veſſels. The beginning of their voyage was proſperous; they had doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and were ſteering their courſe north-eaſt to the great continent of India, when ſome gentlemen on board, found in the latitude in which they were then ſailing, a large ridge of rocks laid down in their ſea-charts. They no ſooner made this diſcovery, than they acquainted the captain of the ſhip with the affair, deſiring him to communicate the ſame to the pilot; which requeſt he immediately granted, recommending him to lie by in the night, and ſlacken ſail by day, untill they should be paſt the danger.

The pilot being one of thoſe ſelf-ſufficient men who think every hint given them from others, in the way of their profeſſion, derogatory from their underſtanding, took it as an affront to be taught his art, and inſtead of complying with the captain's requeſt, actually crowded more ſail than the veſſel had carried before. They had not ſailed many hours, but juſt about the dawn of day, a terrible diſaſter befel them, which would have been prevented if they had lain by. The ſhip ſtruck upon a rock. I leave to the reader's imagination, what a ſcene of horror this dreadful accident muſt occaſion among twelve hundred perlons, all in the same