The Vortex was going on under close-reefed topsails.

make assurance doubly sure &c (caution) 864; take up a loose thread; take precautions &c (prepare for) 673; double reef topsails.

What are the songs the sailor sings to the accompaniment of the thrilling shrouds, the booming double-bass of the hollow topsails, and the multitudinous chorus of Ocean?

As a prudent and sagacious seaman had let fly the halyards of the solitary sail that remained, at the moment when the squall approached, the loosened but lowered topsail was now distended in a manner that threatened to drag after it the only mast which still stood.

Besides these, I took all the men's clothes I could find, a spare fore topsail, a hammock, and some bedding; and thus completing my second cargo, I made all the haste to shore