At last, down came a mass with a roaring noise, and immediately we saw the smooth outline of a wave travelling towards us.

The men ran down as quickly as they could to the boats; for the chance of their being dashed to pieces was evident.

One of the seamen just caught hold of the bows, as the curling breaker reached it: he was knocked over and over, but not hurt, and the boats, though thrice lifted on high and let fall again, received no damage.

This was most fortunate for us, for we were a hundred miles distant from the ship, and we should have been left without provisions or firearms.

I had previously observed that some large fragments of rock on the beach had been lately displaced; but until seeing this wave I did not understand the cause.