The jib was not furled, but got ready to "let go" in case of fierce gusts.

Low, heavy peals of thunder began to rumble behind the cliffs.

The dark cloud-mass heaved up, till a misty line of foamy, driving rain and hail showed over the flinty crags.
Bright flashes gleamed out, followed shortly by heavy, hollow peals.
The naked ledges added vastly, no doubt, to the tone of the reverberations.

The rain-drift broke over the cliffs; but the shower passed mainly to the north-west.

Only some scattered drops, with a few big straggling pellets of hail, hit on the deck.