I quickly sat down again, for I heard the coxswain cry out, "Hold fast, my lads!" and, turning my head for an instant over my shoulder, I saw a tremendous wave come rushing on with a crest of foam curling over it as if about to overwhelm the boat.  On the crew pulled, however; when in an instant the sea broke, a large portion coming right down into the boat, wetting us through fore and aft.  But the men seemed to think nothing of it, and on they pulled.  Several other seas broke over us in the same way, half filling the boat; but she was so constructed that the water ran out again, and directly afterwards she was as buoyant as ever.  We were pulling away to windward, to get a sufficient offing from the land to set sail.  It was a long business, for although the men pulled hard, the wind was in our teeth, and the seas seemed to be sending us back as fast as we advanced.  Such, however, was not the case, for on looking towards the shore I saw that we were gradually increasing our distance from it.