After about two weeks' sailing, they encountered a fearful storm and had need of all their faith. The wind blew furiously for thirty-six hours. The captain ordered the masts cut away and the decks cleared. He remained on deck, calmly giving orders, until they were driven almost upon a ledge of rocks. Despairing of any safety in the ship, he abandoned her, taking his children with him in a small boat. Some of those left on board the ship, in their agony of peril, were in the cabin, beseeching the mercy of Him who rules the violent sea. Others were on deck, where Mr. Burgess, praying aloud, commended their souls to God. All unexpectedly, a counter current bore them into deeper water, past the rocks. All exclaimed, "It is the work of God!" A gloomy night they spent tossing on the sea, but in the morning quiet came. The mate assumed control, and by using what crippled forces they could command, they found their way to a harbor of France. From there they proceeded to London. They were cordially received by a number of distinguished men and officials. Among them Mr. Wilberforce and Mr. Zachary Macauly, the former governor of Sierra Leone, who introduced them to the Duke of Gloucester. They met everywhere with Christian sympathy, and the kindest offers of service. Having obtained letters to the governors of colonies in Africa, they left England for the west coast, February 3, 1818. This voyage was a pleasant one, and brought them in about thirty days to the mouth of the Gambia. They anchored near the village of St. Mary's, and went to inspect this and other settlements. They made the acquaintance of the governors and the Europeans, everywhere gathering useful and pertinent facts. They proceeded south, visiting towns and villages, and calling upon the kings and head men. On these occasions they were received in the "palaver house," by the chiefs arranged in true African style, regardless of taste. One was described as wearing "a silver-laced coat, a superb three-cornered hat, blue-bafta trousers, considerably the worse for wear, and no stockings or shoes." The insignia of royalty were a silver-headed cane in one hand, a horse-tail in the other. Before the palaver could go on, the hosts must receive presents, and as their guests had oftenest been slave traders, rum and tobacco had become essentials.