Fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks. — Literally, upon rough places — the reefs of rock which were indicated by the breakers and by the diminished depth of water.
They cast four anchors out of the stern. — It was no unusual thing for a ship to be furnished with this complement of anchors. So Cæsar describes his ships as being secured with four anchors each (Bell. Civ. i. 25). In ancient navigation, as in modern, the anchors were commonly cast from the bow. In the battles of the Nile and of Copenhagen, however, Nelson had his ships anchored at the stern, and the fact derives a peculiar interest from the statement that he had been reading Acts 27 on the morning of the engagement. The result of this operation was that the ship was no longer in motion, and would be found, when the morning came, with her head to the shore. The tension of hope and fear, the suspense which made men almost cry —
“And if our fate be death, give light, and let us die,”
is vividly brought before us in St. Luke’s few words, “they were praying for the day.”