CHAPTER III

EXPERIENCE OF STORMS, AND THE HARBOUR OF GOOD HOPE.

2

FOR Some days they enjoyed the most serene and lovely weather, and were able to lay their course South, towards the trade-winds, where an old inspired navigator had said that the righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.1 Also another navigator in describing the same passage had said, The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. They had now an interval of comparative rest and leisure, which they employed in putting things to rights, for the ship had been sadly neglected while she lay in that river, which they found on examination to have been laid down as the River of Vain Confidence. They had some hard work in overhauling their log, and correcting the mistakes that had been made in their reckoning. Both Peter and John kept a separate journal for the sake of mutual comparison and benefit, and it was while they were at work upon these and other matters, that one day on deck, while the vessel was gliding steadily onward under a fine breeze, they had the following con

versation:

I think, said Peter, it is a great wonder and miracle of mercy that we got safe out from that country of Self-Conceit, and still more, that we were not buried for ever among

the quicksands of the River of Vain Confidence.

O what a narrow escape from destruction! And the sin and the danger were all our own fault, for we might have known better. I'm thinking what we can do to avoid such errors for the future; since we ought to have known by the log and chart together, when we were in the neighbourhood of the coast of that country; and if we had known, I hope God would not have left us to such madness as that of running deliberately into danger.

Well, I don't know as to that, answered John; but I do know that a man will go any where, into any folly, if left to himself, so that he needs to have God search him continually, and show him what manner of spirit he is of. It is pretty clear that a more faithful self-examination is needed. My log-book is a sad sight, and it teaches me some very mournful lessons, especially of late days; but I would not be without it for a great deal, for it helps me to survey the dealings of the Lord with me, and is encouraging as well as humbling.

I have heard of a fine young sailor, said Peter, who having read some things written by a grave old Salt in a tract concerning the log-book, conceived the idea that it could never be made a simple record of the work of grace, but the devil would have much to do with it. It distressed him exceedingly, and made him so scrupulous that he one day put into the fire a whole log of experiences very precious and sweet to him, because he was afraid of sin in keeping it. And the consequence was that afterwards, the devil, who as a roaring lion goeth about, seeking whom he may devour,1 attacked the poor lad in a storm, and for want of that log almost succeeded in making him believe that he had never been in those seas, nor ever even set sail from his native country.

Well, said John, it is good, and Satan knows it, to record the Lord's goodness, and have it in remembrance. I know how Jacob used to do, for want of better materials. He set up an altar at Bethel, where the Lord appeared to him,

1 1 Peter, v, 8.

and when he had wrestled with the angel and prevailed, he called the name of that place Peniel, because he had seen the Lord face to face, and his life was preserved.1 And David also used to set up such way-marks, and when he was very much cast down and discouraged by present difficulties, he used to go back and consider them.2 He made a record of the battle with the lion and the bear, and when Saul tried to prevent him from fighting with Goliah, what does he but just turn over to that page in his logbook, and reads the account to Saul, and tells him that the same God who delivered him out of the mouth of the lion and the bear, would give him the victory over that uncircumcised Philistine.3 Why! I wouldn't burn such a history on any account, if I had it. But indeed I pity the poor dear fellow you speak of, if Satan had the handling of him in a storm. It is bad enough in clear weather.

Why, said Peter, it is the storm that Satan takes for some, and the calm for others, according to what he knows of things aboard ship. If the crew are much at their ease, he will come any time. But to my thinking, we must take better care of our reckoning, keep a better look-out, and have the log overhauled daily. It wont do to give Satan the advantage, seeing we know so well how he works.

Just then, though it had been such fine weather before, a bank of clouds began to be visible in the horizon, and there was a sound like the muttering of distant thunder. Also the breeze fell, and the air round about seemed to stand stock still, as if it were waiting for something like an earthquake. This put Peter and John on the alert, and, running to the barometer, they found the mercury falling, so that at once they ordered all sail taken in, and every thing on board ship made as tight as possible. The hatches were battened down, and all was prepared, as well as could be, for a storm, since they knew not how heavy it might come, nor how long it might last. And come it did with great violence, so that there was no time to lose; for the gale swept like a whirlwind, and had there been any

1 Gen. xxxii, 30. 2 Psalm xlii, 6. 31 Sam. xvii, 37.

thing left exposed for the wind to get hold of, it seemed as though the masts would have been taken out of the ship bodily.

The conflict of the elements was terrible. Sometimes the rain poured down as if the whole heavens had burst, and the thunder roared, and the lightning flashed incessantly. Then again it seemed as if the wind itself would beat both thunder and lightning. Not a word could be heard on board ship, and such a sea was raised, that the like of it they had never seen, nor even imagined possible.

Nevertheless, they would perhaps have gone through it unharmed, if it had not been for a little negligence at the helm, which just then needed the greatest strength and watchfulness. For a slight sheer in the steering brought the broadside of a wave upon them with such tremendous violence, that almost every thing went by the board. The bulwarks were wrenched down, and the whole companion way was carried off, so that the water rushed into the cabin and nearly filled it. The next moment the foremast was carried short off near the deck, notwithstanding that not a rag of canvas had been left exposed to the tempest.

Then said Peter, and he could not help groaning it aloud, so that John heard him, All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me! But John held his peace, for he was afraid of discouraging the crew, if they gave way themselves as in terror; but he thought at one time the end had come. Then he said within himself, Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. And the words came to him, Wher. I said my foot slippeth, thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul. So they both looked to God with strong crying and tears, for they were in very great danger.

The storm did not abate, the night came down in pitch darkness, and every thing was gloomy. To add to their distress, the ship, which had seemed to have suffered no injury in her timbers, began evidently to leak, for on sound3 Psalm xciv, 18, 19.

1 Psalm xlii, 7.

2 Psalm lxxvii, 19.

ing, they found several feet of water in the hold. And now for the first time it occurred to Peter and John that she must have been weakened in some way, while grounded on the bar in the River of Vain Confidence; but all they could now do was to work at the pumps.

And here again they were terribly disheartened, and all hope seemed about to be taken from them; for though one of the pumps worked well, yet the other was nearly useless, and on trying to discover the cause, they found that a parcel of grain, which had been taken on board in the country of Self-Conceit, having been deposited near the bottom of the pump, and not at all cleared away, had swollen and choked the spaces, so that the water would not draw.

Now among the crew there were two named Contrition and Sincere, and they at once confessed that they remembered the putting in of that grain, and had themselves had a hand in it, and if any soul on board could get at it, it was they. So they volunteered, at great hazard and difficulty, because working in the hold was almost impossible at such a time, to get the evil out of the way. And indeed they laboured with such despairing energy, that after a while they did succeed in reaching the source of the trouble, and were so far enabled to remove it, that the pumps worked freely, and the ship was eased.

But the leaks were not to be got at, for it was no large leak, but a general injury, the effect of which would inevitably continue, while the ship laboured so heavily, in such a tremendous sea. All they could do, therefore, was to keep the pumps going, day and night, which cost them incessant fatigue, so that they were almost dead from exhaustion. Then, too, there was not a dry place in the ship, where they could rest for an hour's sleep, but sleeping or walking they were wet and uncomfortable. And what between the storm and their own labours, the pressure was so great, that they had hardly time so much as to eat, and nothing could be cooked for them, so that their knees grew weak through fasting, and they thought if things continued in this state much longer, they should be reduced to utter