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At midnight , the tide having turned , we hove up our anchor and stood out of the bay , with a fine starry heaven above us , - the first we had seen for weeks and weeks . Being so deep and heavy , she wanted the buoyancy which should have carried her over the seas , and she dropped heavily into them , the water washing over the decks ; and every now and then , when an unusually large sea met her fairly upon the bows , she struck it with a sound as dead and heavy as that with which a sledge-hammer falls upon the pile , and took the whole of it in upon the forecastle , and rising , carried it aft in the scuppers , washing the rigging off the pins , and carrying along with it everything which was loose on deck . With a great deal of trouble , we managed to get them down to the boats , though not without many angry looks and interferences from the Spaniards , who had marked them out for their prey . There was , however , too much to do to allow time to think ; for the gale of yesterday , and the heavy seas we met with a few days before , while we had yet ten degrees more southing to make , had convinced the captain that we had something before us which was not to be trifled with , and orders were given to send down the long topgallant masts .