In Honor of all Pirates

On th' fourteenth nightfall we were still bein' driven across th' Adriatic Sea, when 'bout midnight th' sailors sensed they were approachin' land. They took soundin's and found that th' rum was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundin's again and found it was ninety feet deep. Fearin' that we would be dashed against th' rocks, they dropped four anchors from th' stern and prayed fer daylight.

In an attempt to escape from th' ship, th' sailors let th' lifeboat below into th' sea, pretendin' they were goin' to lower some anchors from th' bow.

Then Paul said to th' centurion and th' soldiers, "Unless these men stay with th' ship, ye cannot be saved."

So th' soldiers cut th' ropes that held th' lifeboat and let it fall away. Just before dawn Paul urged them all to put grub in me gullet. "fer th' last fourteen days," he said, "ye have be in constant suspense and have gone without grub--ye haven't eaten anythin'. Now I urge ye to take some grub. ye need it to survive. Noe one 'o ye gunna lose a sin'le hair from his head."

After he said this, he took some bread and gave hearty thanks to God in front 'o them all. Then he broke it and began to put grub in me gullet. They were all encouraged and ate some grub themselves.

Altogether thar were 276 'o us on board. When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened th' ship by throwin' th' grain into th' sea. When daylight came, they did not recognize th' land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, whar they decided to run th' ship aground if they could. Cuttin' loose th' anchors, they left them in th' sea and at th' same time untied th' ropes that held th' rudders. Then they hoisted th' foresail to th' wind and made fer th' beach.

But th' ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. th' bow stuck fast and would not move, and th' stern was broken to pieces by th' poundin' 'o th' surf. th' soldiers planned to murder th' prisoners to prevent any 'o them from swimmin' away and escapin'. But th' centurion wanted to spare Paul's life and kept them from carryin' out their plan. He ordered them who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. th' rest were to get thar on planks or on pieces 'o th' ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety. Once safely on shore, we found out that th' island was called Malta.

-- Acts 27:27 - 28:1