But here I had like to have suffered a second shipwreck, which, if I had, I think verily would have broken my heart; for, knowing nothing of the coast, my raft ran aground at one end of it upon a shoal, and not being aground at the other end, it wanted but a little that all my cargo had slipped off towards the end that was afloat, and to fallen into the water.
Como no conocía la costa, uno de los extremos de mi balsa se encalló en un banco y, poco faltó, para que la carga se deslizara hacia ese lado y cayera al agua. Traté con todas mis fuerzas de sostener los arcones con la espalda, a fin de mantenerlos en su sitio, pero no era capaz de desencallar la balsa ni de cambiar de postura.