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it came near me, I graſped at it inefectually. till at laſt it was completely carried away, but not before it had cut and battered and bruiſed me in ſeveral places, and in a manner that at any other time I ſhould have thought dreadful.
"Death ſeemed inevitable; and all that occurred to me now to do, was to accelerate it, and get out of its pangs as ſpeedily as poſſible: for, though I knew how to ſwim; the tremendous ſurf rendered ſwimming uſeless, and all hope from it would have been ridiculous. I therefore began to ſwallow as much water as poſſible; yet, ſtill riſing by the buoyant principle of the waves to the ſurface, my former thoughts began to recur; and whether it was that, or natural inſtomct, which ſurvived the temporary impreſſions of deſpair, I know not; but I endeavoured to ſwim, which I had not done long, when I again diſcovered the log of wood. I had loſt floating near me, and with ſome difficulty caught it: hardly had it been an inſtant in my hands, when, by the ſame unlucky means I loſt it again. I had of heard it ſaid in Scotland, that if a man will throw himſelf flat on his back in the water, he quite ſtraight and ſtiff, and ſuffer himſelf to ſink till the water gets into his ears, he will continue to float ſo for ever: this occurred to me now, and I determined to try the experiment; ſo I threw myſelf on my back in the manner I have deſcribed, and left myſelf to the diſpoſal of Providence; nor was it long before I found the truth of the ſaying--for I floated with hardly an effort, and began for the firſt time to conceive ſomething like hopes of preſervation,
"After lying in this manner, committed to the diſcretion of the tides, I ſoon ſaw the veſſel--ſaw that it was at a conſiderable diſtance behind me. Livelieſt hope began to play about my heart, and joy fluttered with a thouſand gay fancies in my mind; I began to form the favourable concluſion,
