"Nonsense, Jerry," said I, half vexed with him, for I saw that he was inclined to give way to superstition.  "If those sounds are not the effect of fancy, they must proceed from some human beings in distress; but what can be the matter is more than I can say."  We found, on going forward, that Ben Yool had heard the cries, and was still listening, wondering what caused them.  They had also reached the ears of the native seamen.  They declared that they must be caused by the spirits of the storm roaming over the water, and that we should have a heavy gale before long.  Again a shriek reached us, louder and more thrilling than before.