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while the rushing of the coming west mingled its wild howl with the roar of
the advancing waters. Would the cliff resist this new battery? Was not the
giant wave far higher than the precipice? Would not our little island be
deluged by its approach? The crowd of spectators fled. They were dispersed
over the fields, stopping now and then, and looking back in terror. A
sublime sense of awe calmed the swift pulsations of my heart--I awaited
the approach of the destruction menaced, with that solemn resignation which
an unavoidable necessity instils. The ocean every moment assumed a more
terrific aspect, while the twilight was dimmed by the rack which the west
wind spread over the sky. By slow degrees however, as the wave advanced, it
took a more mild appearance; some under current of air, or obstruction in
the bed of the waters, checked its progress, and it sank gradually; while
the surface of the sea became uniformly higher as it dissolved into it.
This change took from us the fear of an immediate catastrophe, although we
were still anxious as to the final result. We continued during the whole
night to watch the fury of the sea and the pace of the driving clouds,
through whose openings the rare stars rushed impetuously; the thunder of
conflicting elements deprived us of all power to sleep.
This endured ceaselessly for three days and nights. The stoutest hearts
quailed before the savage enmity of nature; provisions began to fail us,
though every day foraging parties were dispersed to the nearer towns. In
vain we schooled ourselves into the belief, that there was nothing out of
the common order of nature in the strife we witnessed; our disasterous and
overwhelming destiny turned the best of us to cowards. Death had hunted us
through the course of many months, even to the narrow strip of time on
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