After that, the ship-men tied ropes around the middle of the ship to make it stronger, so the big waves would not break it. The wind was pushing the ship very fast, and the ship-men reckoned we might hit the sand-bars near Libya country, and get stuck there, so they got a big bag on a rope, and they threw it out behind the ship and let it drag in the water. This made the ship slow down a bit, but the wind kept on blowing it along.