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with me, whatever might be my ultimate fate, and beckoned him to come near me; but he ⟨only⟩ anſwered by ſhaking his head, in a feeble, deſponding manner--ſtaring at the ſame time wildly ⟨above⟩ him: even his ſpirit was ſubdued; and deſpair, ⟨I⟩ perceived, had begun to take poſſeſſion of his mind.
"Being a little more at eaſe in my new ſtation than I had been before, I had more time to deliberate, and more power to judge. I recollected, that according to the courſe of time, the day was ⟨far⟩ gone and the night quickly approaching; I reflected, that for any enterprize whatever day was much preferable to night; and above all I conſidered, ⟨that⟩ the veſſel could not hold long together--therefore thought, that the beſt mode I could adopt ⟨would⟩ be, to take to the water with the firſt buoyant thing I could ſee; and, as the wind and water both ſeemed to run to the ſhore, to take my chance in that ⟨way⟩ of reaching it. In purſuance of this reſolution, ⟨I⟩ tore off my ſhirt, having before that thrown of ⟨the⟩ other parts of my dreſs--I looked at my ſleeve buttons, in which was ſet the hair of my departed children--and, by an involuntary act of the imagination, asked myſelf the queſtion, "Shall I be happy enough to meet them where I am now about ⟨to⟩ go?--Shall thoſe dear laſt remains, too, become prey to the devouring deep?"--In that inſtant, reaſon, ſuſpended by the horrors of the ſcene, ⟨gave⟩ way to inſtinct. and I rolled my ſhirt up, and ⟨very⟩ carefully thruſt it into a hole between decks, ⟨with⟩ the wild hopes that the ſleeve buttons might ⟨yet⟩ eſcape untouched. Watching my opportunity, ⟨I⟩ ſaw a log of wood floating near the veſſel, and waving my hand to Mr. Hall as a laſt adieu, jumped after it. Here, again, I was doomed to aggravated hardſhips--I had ſcarcely touched the ⟨log⟩ when a great ſea ſnatched it from my hold: ſtill
