Some of the
officers protested vigorously against it. Captain Bragg was a
determined man and when he gave the word the only course was to obey
him. On the evening of Tuesday, the 21st, the captain called Paul into
the chart room and said:
"We are now nearing the Irish coast and the barometer is as low down as
I have seen it for many a year and there is every indication of a gale.
The coast you intend to land on acts as a breakwater for all northern
Europe and the waves that pile up on it during a storm are something
astounding. The cliffs that resist them are from one hundred and eighty
to three hundred feet high and they are as straight up and down as a
mainmast in a calm. Cape Clear that I expect to sight soon lays several
miles off the mainland. On it is a powerful light that will guide you.
The gale may not break for some time yet if you can make the Cape, you
can drop around to leeward and land on it. And when the weather clears
you can cross to the main."
Having thus explained the nature of the coast they were then rapidly
approaching and the possibility of a gale which might dash him to
pieces against the cliffs, the captain requested Paul to defer his
experiment until they reached some part of the Irish sea where a landing
could be made with more safety to himself.
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