Page:The Rambler in Mexico.djvu/21

 Rh a boat should come aboard of us, and that hardly an individual should leave the goelette, when at this time our fate might have been foreseen by the most heedless on board, seems to me to be perfectly incomprehensible. The crowded state of the vessel was a source of discomfort to all; our water and our biscuit were both known to be running short, and the signs of the impending tempest could no longer be misunderstood. Yet no one stirred—for why, no one could give a reason but the poor one, that the few who went, must go without baggage ashore, and the impulse seemed to be "to stick by the stuff." The boat was after an instant's parley pushed off again with its wild, half-savage, pirate-looking crew, who were accompanied by the supercargo of the goelette, after giving the promise, that early next morning all the passengers should be landed, and the discharge of the cargo forthwith commenced. They hoisted the sail—were soon carried to the bar, and disappeared among the huge waves which broke upon it.

The momentary bustle over, we had time to comprehend our position, and it grew more dreary every instant. The wind now blew steadily from the southeast, and the swell rose with it. The sky began to lose its uniform shade, and to jag and rend into shapeless masses of heavy clouds. The man-of-war bird was seen high up in the atmosphere, breasting the breeze, and scudding out to sea; while the bands of white pelicans, which we had watched soaring and diving in the roadstead during the morning, quitted their toils and wheeled their heavy flight over the breakers to the sheltered sands and lagoons of the land. It seemed as if all were leaving us and our ill-starred neighbours to their fate. It was evident that the latter had taken the alarm, and were hastily preparing for the coming struggle with the powers of the air and ocean. One brig partly discharged, which lay about a mile nearer the bar, trusting probably to the weight of water which was now rolling in upon the land, resolved to attempt the passage, and setting her sails, stood in boldly for the shore. The day must have been near its close, for we had