heavy rain which accompanied it, the agitation of the water, the darkness of the night, and the alarms of the passengers, conspired to render our situation dreadful. The oldest person did not remember a more tremendous storm, and no hurricane that I ever witnessed in the West Indies could be compared with it for violence. The elevation of the canal, some feet above the level of the earth, exposed the boat to the whole force of the wind, and it was absolutely impracticable either to advance or return. In this dangerous situation we must have remained all night, but fortunately towards nine in the evening the storm was so much abated, as to permit us to reach Overschie, a miserable village about the distance of three miles from Rotterdam.
Here we landed, happy at our escape from the treckschuyt, to pass the night. The canal was overflowed, and half the village inundated with water: at every step we were wet to the knees, and torrents of rain completely drenched our upper garments. The tempestuousness of the night
