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could not only judge of the nearness of the thunder by the tremor and shaking of the ship, and the report instantaneously following the flash; but we could also hear several of the flashes fall into the water close upon the ship.
We reckoned, that the first clap, which burst at the main-mast, was what damaged the mast; the second having burst betwixt the main-mast and mizen-mast.
At this time we came to an anchor, and continued till day-light, that we might examine into the damage we had received; for, as pieces of the mast were carried to all places of the ship, we imagined, that all the masts had been hurt.
At day-light we found, that the fore-mast and mizen-mast had escaped, and the main-mast had suffered as follows:
All the main-top-gallant-mast (which is the upper-most piece of the mast) from the rigging at the top of it, to the cap at the head of the main-top-mast, was entirely carried away, part falling overboard, and part into the ship in different places. The main-top-
mast had great pieces carried from it, from the hunes down to the cap, at the head of the main-mast, so that it could but just stand, being hardly strong enough to bear its own weight, and that of its rigging. The main-malt being composed of three pieces, towards the top of it, those of the sides, being of oak, called the cheeks, were not hurt; but the middle-most part, being of fir, was shivered in several places, and pieces were carried out out of it 6 or 7 inches in diameter, and from 10 to 12 feet long, and this in a circular descending manner from the parrel of
