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of the wind and waves, as it then blew an exceeding ſtrong gale. The officers and people aſſembled on the quarter deck, and waited for day-light, in hopes of feting land, for as yet they had not been able to diſcern any. During this dreadful interval the anxiety and horror of which is much eaſier to be imagined than deſcribed, Captain Wilſon endeavoured to revive the drooping ſpirits of his crew, by reminding them, that ſhipwreck was a misfortune to which navigators were always liable, and that although theirs was rendered particularly diſtreſſing by its happening in an unknown and unfrequented ſea, yet he wiſhed to remind them, that this conſideration ſhould only rouſe them to greater activity in endeavouring to extricate themſelves; and above all, he begged leave to impreſs upon their minds this circumſtance, that whenever misfortunes, ſuch as theirs had happened, they had generally been rendered more dreadful than they would otherwiſe have been, by the deſpair of the crew, and by their diſagreements among themſelves; to prevent which, he moſt earneſtly requeſted each of them ſeparately not to taſte any ſpirituous liquors on any account whatever; and he had the ſatisfaction to find a ready conſent to this moſt important advice.
