The ship made good headway in spite of this, and soon again passed Fair Island and the inevitable boat-load of beggars, and commenced battling with the Atlantic. Lat. 60° N. in the month of January is not a very agreeable locality to sail in, and gales of wind were frequent visitors. We were about half way across the ocean, when one evening the captain, anxious to finish his passage, was "carrying on" to the ship with the double-reefed topsails, steering west, with the wind north. The ship was thus right in the trough of the sea and as it blew a fresh gale, and the seas were beginning to roll higher and higher, the men cast many uneasy glances to windward. At a little before eight o'clock, while the watch was pumping ship, a sea broke on board forward, and breaking down the bulwarks and tearing away the water-casks from their lashings, swept aft, and catching up the crew at the pumps carried them down into the lee scuppers. As I was washing about with the surges of the water I at first thought I was overboard, but after awhile managed to get on my feet and was pleased to find the deck still under them. Half a dozen men were standing up to their necks in water howling Swedish exclamations, declaring they had broken arms and legs and so on, and when I got around to windward the moon broke out through the clouds and showed a scene of the greatest confusion. Boat, spars, and ropes had been washed off the house, and the decks were piled up with the _debris_ of water-casks and bulwarks. As soon as the frightened sailors could be got to work sail was reduced, and upon surveying the damage done, it was found that the ship's stem was started away from the "wood ends" and the water must be pouring into the hold. Some hands at once were set to work to prepare for throwing overboard cargo from the fore-hatch and the rest sent to the pumps. To the great relief of all, the noble pumps that had been furnished in Gothenburg worked splendidly and freed the ship from water. As soon as the mate could get time he began to count the men, fearing that some had been washed overboard, and failing to make out the number he took a look into the forecastle and discovered five sailors snugly ensconsed in their bunks. When they spied the mate they all began to groan and cry, and upon inquiry he learned that one had broken his back, two had broken legs, and the other two broken arms. He called the captain, who made a hasty examination which convinced him they were more frightened than hurt, and he said: "I'll give you all just five minutes to get out on deck, and if you ai'n't out in that time I'll come in and drive you out with a handspike." This threat brought the broken legs and arms into action and they all made their appearance within the prescribed time, somewhat bruised but none of them seriously injured.