At eight bells the courses were furled.

The gale continued to increase in power during the forenoon, and by noon a tremendous sea had been stirred up.

The ship rolled almost down to her beam ends, and the crests of the waves seemed to be above the level of the main yard.
In the popular exaggerated language, "the waves ran mountain high," which means from twenty to forty feet; perhaps, on this occasion, twenty-five feet from the trough of the sea to the crest of the billow.
Even this is a great height to be tossed up and down on the water; and to the boys of the Young America the effect was grand, if not terrific.
The deck was constantly flooded with water; additional life-lines had been stretched across from rail to rail, and every precaution taken to insure the safety of the crew.
Study and recitation were impossible, and nothing was attempted of this kind.

The storm was now what could justly be called a heavy gale, and it was no longer practicable to lay a course.

Before eight bells in the forenoon watch, the royal and top-gallant yards had been sent down, and the ship was laid to under a close-reefed main-topsail, which the nautical gentlemen on board regarded as the best for the peculiar conditions which the Young America presented.
When a ship is laying to, no attention is paid to anything but the safety of the vessel, the only object being to keep her head up to the sea.