Page:Surprising adventures of John Roach.pdf/2



was born in Whitehaven, in the county of Cumberland in the year 1748 of honest but not wealthy parents. At the age of eleven years, being inclined to a sea-faring life, I was bound an apprentice, for six years, to the Leviathan commanded by John Steele of Workington. I sailed in her successfully for about three years, during which time we sailed chiefly between Whitehaven and Dublin in the coal trade: but on the night of the 24th of December 1762, being on our passage to Dublin we were attacked by a violent storm of wind and snow which seemed to threaten us all with immediate death: for our ship soon became so leaky, that we found it impossible for us to keep her long above water; and the night being very dark, we were unable to discover what part of the channel we were in or what course to steer for safety. However, as