 What happened then? Mercifully, my memory of those terrifying moments is dimmed. But it seemed to me that the rocks on the shore were torn aside like a curtain. The sea rose in a mountainous mass, the raft with it. We were thrown to the deck and there was darkness all about us. The raft seemed to be hurtling down a gigantic well. I tried to speak but could not. I could hear nothing but the roaring of the waters.