This indraught was probably the cause of what happened to us.
We had a watchman plac'd in the bow, to whom they often called,
"Look well out before there," and he as often answered, "Ay ay;
" but perhaps had his eyes shut, and was half asleep at the time,
they sometimes answering, as is said, mechanically; for he did not
see a light just before us, which had been hid by the studdingsails
from the man at the helm, and from the rest of the watch,
but by an accidental yaw of the ship was discover'd, and occasion'd
a great alarm, we being very near it, the light appearing
to me as big as a cart-wheel. It was midnight, and our captain
fast asleep; but Captain Kennedy, jumping upon deck, and seeing
the danger, ordered the ship to wear round, all sails standing;
an operation dangerous to the masts, but it carried us clear,
and we escaped shipwreck, for we were running right upon the rocks
on which the light-house was erected. This deliverance impressed
me strongly with the utility of light-houses, and made me resolve
to encourage the building more of them in America, if I should live
to return there.
In the morning it was found by the soundings, etc., that we were near
our port, but a thick fog hid the land from our sight. About nine
o'clock the fog began to rise, and seem'd to be lifted up from
the water like the curtain at a play-house, discovering underneath,
the town of Falmouth, the vessels in its harbor, and the fields
that surrounded it.
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