DECEMBER 21, night.—The boatswain rushed to the halliards that supported the sail, and instantly lowered the yard; not a moment too soon, for with the speed of an arrow the squall was upon us, and if it had not been for the sailor's timely warning we must all have been knocked down and probably precipitated¹ into the sea; as it was, our tent on the back of the raft was carried away.  
The raft itself, however, being so nearly level with the water, had little peril² to encounter from the actual wind; but from the mighty³ waves now raised by the hurricane we had everything to dread⁴. At first the waves had been crushed and flattened⁵ as it were by the pressure of the air, but now, as though strengthened by the reaction, they rose with the utmost fury. The raft followed the motions of the increasing swell⁶, and was tossed up and down, to and fro, and from side to side with the most violent oscillations.
 
"Lash⁷ yourselves tight," cried the boatswain, as he threw us some ropes; and in a few moments with Curtis's assistance, M. Letourneur, and Andre, Falsten and myself were fastened so firmly to the raft, that nothing but its total disruption could carry us away. Miss Herbey was bound by a rope passed round her waist to one of the uprights that had supported our tent, and by the glare of the lightning I could see that her countenance⁸ was as serene⁹ and composed as ever.
 
Then the storm began to rage indeed. Flash followed flash, peal¹⁰ followed peal in quick succession. Our eyes were blinded, our ears deafened¹¹, with the roar and glare. The clouds above, the ocean beneath, seemed verily to have taken fire, and several times I saw forked lightnings dart¹² upward from the crest¹³ of the waves, and mingle¹⁴ with those that radiated from the fiery¹⁵ vault¹⁶ above. A strong odor of sulphur pervaded¹⁷ the air, but though thunderbolts fell thick around us, not one touched our raft.
 
By two o'clock the storm had reached its height. The hurricane had increased, and the heavy waves, heated to a strange heat by the general temperature, dashed over us until we were drenched¹⁸ to the skin. Curtis, Dowlas, the boatswain, and the sailors did what they could to strengthen the raft with additional ropes. M. Letourneur placed himself in front of Andre, to shelter him from the waves. Miss Herbey stood upright and motionless as a statue.
 
Soon dense¹⁹ masses of lurid²⁰ clouds came rolling up, and a crackling, like the rattle²¹ of musketry, resounded²² through the air. This was produced by a series of electrical concussions²³, in which volleys of hailstones were discharged from the cloud-batteries above. In fact, as the storm-sheet came in contact with a current of cold air, hail was formed with great rapidity, and hailstones, large as nuts, came pelting²⁴ down, making the platform of the raft re-echo with a metallic

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