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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Astoria by Washington Irving: sufferings of these poor fellows were intolerable. They stood to
their waists in water, in imminent peril of being washed off by
every surge. In this position they dared not sleep, lest they
should let go their hold and be swept away. The only dry place on
the wreck was the bowsprit. Here they took turns to be tied on,
for half an hour at a time, and in this way gained short snatches
of sleep.
On the 14th, the first mate died at his post, and was swept off
by the surges. On the 17th, two seamen, faint and exhausted, were
washed overboard. The next wave threw their bodies back upon the
deck, where they remained, swashing backward and forward, ghastly
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