Add to all this the fierce shriek and howl of the wind through the rigging aloft, the groaning of the masts in their partners, and of the main tack, as the ship rolled to windward, the thunderous shocks of the seas as they smote our bows and shattered into blinding sheets of spray that flew as high as the foretop and drenched the lee clew of the topsail, and the sight of the spars bending and whipping to the terrific strain that they were called upon to bear,--remembering, too, that if anything should carry away just then it would mean the utter destruction of the ship and the loss of all hands,--and the reader may be able dimly to picture the feelings that animated the ship's company of the _Europa_ on that occasion.
