in dwelling on the agonies of despair and death, I purposely pass over every circumstance which occurred from the striking of the vessel until I jumped into the sea and drifted upon a plank within a short distance of the shore. From that time I became insensible, and can therefore give no account of the almost miraculous manner in which I must have been saved, as not another soul out of one hundred and forty-eight, of which our crew consisted, were ever seen again, except floating lifeless amidst the waves or dashing against the rocks of a lofty and dangerous coast.