"Allah be praised!" exclaimed the sturdy captain of the zebeque, running here and there, encouraging and assisting the people in their exertions to shorten sail; "we shall yet weather such a summer storm as this. Bosh! this is nothing. Now, my brothers, my dear brothers, work with a good will, and by the blessings of the Prophet, no harm will happen to us. Keep her well before it, Osman," turning to the man at the helm. "We must run before it for a time till the wind moderates, since she will not look up to it. Square the yards, my men," as the people descended on deck, having close-reefed the lower sail, and taken in the upper ones. "Well done, good brothers, Allah is merciful, and we may laugh at the storm." With such like exclamations of encouragement, the Reis cheered the men's spirits, instead of swearing at and abusing them, as the commanders of vessels of more civilised nations are apt to do. As the vessel's head turned from the gale, she ran quickly before it, bounding over the low, but froth-covered, hissing and sparkling waves which the squall had raised. The breeze quickly abated, and her head being again brought to the wind in nearly her right course, she dashed bravely through the water, the spray breaking over her bows in showers, sparkling with the hues of the rainbow, and sorely disconcerting her passengers. To our hero, who had never been before on the surface of the ocean, the scene was novel and highly exciting. The waters, so lately smiling in calm and unruffled beauty, were now crested with a white glistening foam; the waves madly danced and sported in confused ridges; the dark clouds chased each other across the sky, and quickly disappeared to leave it blue and clear. From the looks of his seafaring companions, he could have seen that no danger was to be apprehended, had he not been too much occupied with the contemplation of the sudden, and to him, extraordinary change which the face of nature had undergone, to think even for a moment of peril or mishap.