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 FOUNDERING OF THE LA PLAT>
 
 BBEAKEKS AHEAD; 
 
 UNCLE JACK'S STORIES OF 
 
 GREAT SHIPWRECKS OF RECENT TIMES 
 
 1869 to 1880. 
 
 MRS. SAX BY, 
 
 AUTHOR OF " ROCK-BOUND," " STORIES OF SHETLAND.' 
 ETC. ETC. 
 
 " Tis pleasant by the cheerful hearth to hear 
 Of tempests and thi dangers of the deep, 
 And pause at times, and feel that we are safe, 
 Then listen to the perilous tale again." 
 
 Jiconoon : 
 T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 EDINBURGH ; AND NEW YOKK. 
 1887.
 
 CONSTANCE EMILY SHORE, 
 
 MY "SAILOR" FRIEND. 
 
 4840C3 
 
 LIBRARY
 
 of Illustrations. 
 
 FOUNDERING OF THS " LA PLATA," . . . . . . . . Frontispiece 
 
 THE LAST OF THE " MEOAERA," . . . . . . . . 41 
 
 WRECK OF THE "VILLE Du HAVRE," .. .. .. 61 
 
 BURNING OF THE " COSPATRICK," .. ..69 
 
 SCENE OF THE WRECK OF THE "SCHILLER," .. .. .. 79 
 
 THE " STRATHMORE " ON THE CROZET ISLANDS, . . . . . . 97
 
 <Hr n i e n t s. 
 
 The PRINCESS ROYAL, Barque (1869), . . . . . . . . 13 
 
 The ST. BEDE, Steam-ship (January 1870), . . . . . . 21 
 
 The GAMBIA, Steam-ship (January 11, 1870), . . . . . 24 
 
 The VICTORIA, Barque (February 1870), . . . . . . . . 28 
 
 The CAPTAIN, Turret Ironclad (September 7, 1870), . . . . . . 30 
 
 The MERCURIUS, Iron Clipper (January 1870), . . . . . . 34 
 
 The MEG.ERA, Troop-ship (June 1871), . . . . . . . . 39 
 
 The DELAWARE, Steam-ship (December 1871), . . . . . . 47 
 
 A Brigantine wrecked on the East Pier of Swansea, . . . . . . 49 
 
 The NORTHFLEET, Emigrant Ship (January 1873), . . . . . . 50 
 
 The ATLANTIC, " White Star" Liner (April 3, 1873), .. .. ..55 
 
 The VILLE DU HAVRE, Steam-ship; and the LOCH EARN of Glasgow, Sailing 
 
 Vessel (1873), .. .. .. .. .. .. ..58 
 
 The CHUSAN, Paddle-steamer (1874), . . . . . . . . . . 64 
 
 Burning of the COSPATRICK, Emigrant Ship (November 1874), . . 07 
 
 The LA PLATA, Steam-ship, (November 1874), . . . . . . 72 
 
 The SCHILLER, Steam-ship, . . . . . . . . . . 77 
 
 The DEUTSCHLAND, Emigrant Steam-ship (December 1875), .. .. ..82 
 
 Wreck of a Fishing-smack near Haverigg Point, . . . . . . 92 
 
 The STRATHMORE, Emigrant Ship (July 1, 1875), . . . . . . 98 
 
 Distress of the CATHERINE, Brigantine (March 1S79), .. .. ..105 
 
 A Ship on Fire at Sea, .. .. ..108
 
 via CONTENTS. 
 
 The STRATHCLYDE, Trading-ship (February 1876), .. .. .. ..110 
 
 Loss of the VESUVIUS, a Dutch Trader, .. .. .. .. ..112 
 
 The VANGUARD, Ironclad (1876), .. .. .. .. ..113 
 
 Loss of the GROSSER KURFURST, German Ironclad (1S78), .. .. .. 115 
 
 Burning of the SPHINX, Austrian Steamer (March 1878), . . . . . . IIS 
 
 Loss of the EURYDICE, Training-ship (March 24, 1878), . . . . . . 121 
 
 Sinking of the PRINCESS ALICE, Steam-ship (September 4, 1878), . . . . 124 
 
 The POMERANIA, Mail-steamer (November 1878), .. .. .. ..129 
 
 Explosions on board the THUNDERER, . . . . . . . . . . 133 
 
 The Barque JULIA of Drammen (August 1879), .. .. .. .. 136 
 
 The GREAT QUEENSLAND, Sailing Vessel (not heard of since August 1878), . . 138
 
 BEEAKEES AHEAD. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " I shall no more to sea, to sea." Tempest. 
 
 ]0 listen to the narrative of stirring adventures 
 connected with maritime life ; to dwell upon 
 the incidents which attend them until I 
 almost seem to have shared in the perils of the hour ; 
 to repeat those hair-breadth escapes and thrilling tales 
 of Father Neptune's dominions to an eager audience 
 of lads and lasses, is as good a substitute for actual 
 sea-life as a maimed, weather-worn tar can hope to enjoy. 
 And that is what I have been doing for ten years 
 past ; in fact, ever since the time when I hauled up my 
 old hulk at home and submitted to the inevitable. 
 
 I do not like to tell you how many noted shipwrecks 
 I can remember, for that would be letting you into the 
 secret of my age. Moreover, I do not believe that your 
 interest would care to go back into the dim past. I 
 find that young folks of this present practical age prefer
 
 12 LOST " CHANCES." 
 
 stories of their own time to any other ; therefore my 
 yarns only stretch over the last decade the period, in 
 fact, which has passed since I was obliged to give up 
 my much-loved profession. 
 
 Perhaps I cannot introduce my stories better than by 
 informing you of my own last voyage. I did not know 
 that it was to be my last, and I was very far from 
 desiring that it should ; but " man proposes and God 
 disposes." 
 
 In my youth I always contrived to sail in a ship 
 bound for some far-distant land ; for I had a passion for 
 seeing new, strange countries, and it was always a 
 delight to me when I heard that I was not to return to 
 civilized parts for perhaps two or three years. But 
 when I got up in years, though my love of travel did 
 not abate, I found that ship-owners preferred younger 
 men for such work, and I generally got shoved into 
 some vessel trading near home. If I had not marred 
 my own prospects in life by running off to sea when I 
 was a mere child, I might have been commanding one of 
 Her Majesty's ships of war, as my nephew Jack hopes 
 to do some day. But I lost my chance, and never got 
 higher than the merchant service. Thus one false step 
 made in early youth took from me the very prize for 
 which I hoped and strove, and which I fondly believed 
 I was bringing within my reach by that same act of 
 foolishness.
 
 LADIES AFLOAT. 13 
 
 In the autumn of 1869 I found myself on board the 
 Princess Royal in the capacity of captain. My ship 
 was a somewhat weather-beaten barque, bound for 
 Russia, with a mixed cargo. We were to bring back 
 wood. Besides the crew of eighteen men, there were on 
 board the wife and daughters of an English merchant, 
 residenters in Archangel, who had been visiting their 
 old home, and were returning with us to the land of 
 their adoption. Our ship had few conveniences for the 
 comfort of passengers, but we rigged up the largest 
 cabin for the ladies, and they seemed quite accustomed 
 to " roughing it," so that we were not troubled by the 
 unreasonable complaints which women too often indulge 
 in afloat. The wind blew fair, and at first there was 
 not too much of it ; the sea was smooth ; and we con- 
 fidently looked to making a pleasant voyage. The 
 ladies were excellent sailors, and often came and stood 
 by me, watching with much interest the signals by 
 which I directed the man at the wheel, and asking 
 endless questions about ropes and sails and what not. 
 Nothing escaped their bright eyes ; and one of the girls, 
 a pale little creature, very pretty but delicate, soon 
 learned the names of the men, and conversed with them 
 so kindly that I used to know when she had been on 
 deck by the softened looks of the crew. 
 
 We had been two days at sea when I observed signs 
 of a storm brewing, and calling the mate with the inten-
 
 14 A "DEATH-SHIP." 
 
 tion of consulting him, I said, " I think we shall have 
 an ugly night, Harper. You have sailed in the Princess 
 Royal before now, and therefore know what she can bear 
 better than I do. Have you any suggestions to offer ? " 
 
 Harper was a rough fellow, but a man I trusted, and 
 he replied bluntly, " She looks well enough, and was 
 patched up for the voyage, but some on board will tell 
 you, captain, that the Princess Royal won't stand much 
 o' what them North Seas sometimes give a ship." 
 
 " Patched up ! what do you mean ? " 
 
 " Ask the carpenter," and Harper turned away mutter- 
 ing to himself. 
 
 I did ask the carpenter, and received information 
 which rather startled me ; but as I determined I would 
 not let the men guess how uneasy I felt, I lightly passed 
 some jokes on the subject of " death-ships," and made 
 every preparation which I could think of for meeting 
 the now evidently coming storm. 
 
 Do you want to know what a " death-ship " is ? 
 Sailors give that name to unseaworthy vessels which are 
 patched up, heavily insured, and sent to sea for the 
 express purpose of being cast away. The Princess Royal 
 was suspected of being one of those doomed vessels. 
 
 As night drew near the wind began to rise, fitfully 
 at first, but gaining strength with every gust. It con- 
 tinued to increase, and in a short time it was blowing a 
 tempest, and the Princess Royal was driving before it.
 
 "ARE WE IN DANGER?" 15 
 
 I knew by the laboured way she plunged forward and 
 reeled when a sea struck her that the old ship was in 
 no condition to fight it out successfully, and I could not 
 help thinking of the poor ladies in the cabin. At the 
 very moment I was wishing them anywhere but in my 
 ship, a cold little hand fell upon mine, and I thought a 
 spirit had come to my side ; for there stood a pale, silent 
 creature wrapped in a white cloak, her face as white as 
 the fur, and only the large dark eyes looking life-like. 
 I was so taken aback I could not speak at once, but 
 Miss Elfie did. 
 
 " This is a terrible storm. There seems to be water 
 under the cabin, for we can hear it. Mother is so 
 frightened. Are we in great danger ? " 
 
 The delicate little creature spoke quite quietly, though 
 she must have been appalled by what the moonlight re- 
 vealed to her of raging seas and all the horrors of the 
 storm. I cannot think how she had contrived to reach 
 the place where I stood. 
 
 " You ought not to have come up. I will take you 
 back," I said, thinking very little of what she had re- 
 ported of water under the cabin, and only anxious to 
 place her in a less dangerous position than the sea-swept 
 deck. I led her to the cabin, where the other ladies 
 were sitting in darkness listening to a sound which 
 horrified me as well as them it was the gurgling sound 
 of the sea running into the hold !
 
 1C SPRUNG A LEAK. 
 
 " O captain ! oh, what is wrong ? what does this 
 mean ? " cried Mrs. Talfourd ; and the two younger girls 
 sobbed and put their hands in mine begging me to save 
 them. 
 
 There is nothing that unmans one so much in the 
 hour of danger as the knowledge that he has to meet it 
 for others less able to bear trial than himself. I did 
 not dare remain a minute with the poor things, for I 
 could not explain our situation. All I could do was to 
 beg them to be composed, and I promised to return as 
 soon as my duties would allow ; but they clamoured, 
 " Oh, don't leave us here ! " and all except Miss Elfie 
 clung to me, so that I had to use some force before I 
 could extricate myself. 
 
 Hurrying back to my post, I sent some men to over- 
 haul the ship as best they could in the circumstances ; 
 and soon the terrible news was brought, " Sprung a leak 
 water rushing into the hold." All the hands that 
 could be spared were sent to the pumps, while others 
 pitched overboard part of the deck cargo ; and for a 
 short time the vessel seemed to float more easily. It 
 was only a brief respite. 
 
 Before long Harper came to me, and, speaking in a 
 low tone, said, " Another leak, captain ; her rotten planks 
 and timbers won't hold together much longer. Shall we 
 get out the boats ? " 
 
 " You can try," I answered.
 
 A DAY OF HORRORS. 17 
 
 One after another the boats were lowered and stove 
 in. No boat could live alongside in such a sea, and I 
 would not allow the last boat to be launched, seeing 
 it was our sole remaining chance. The men were well 
 disciplined, and they liked their officers, for we had been 
 kind as well as firm in our treatment of them, conse- 
 quently we were obeyed ; and after the attempt with 
 the boats failed, all returned to their work at the pumps, 
 and continued at it, though I could see that they hoped 
 nothing from such efforts. 
 
 All through that terrible night and the next day the 
 Princess Royal lay half full of water and helpless amid 
 those raging billows. We had cut away her masts and 
 rigging to lighten her a bit, and the continuous working 
 of the pumps kept her afloat, though how long she would 
 do so we feared to conjecture. I contrived to go down 
 to the cabin more than once to speak a word of cheer 
 to the poor ladies, who showed more courage than many 
 men would have done in the circumstances. 
 
 As night came on again we fancied we could hear the 
 roar of the sea breaking upon rocks, but as we did not 
 know exactly where we were this point could not be 
 decided, and it was only when the man on the look-out 
 yelled " Breakers ahead " that we knew for certain what 
 was to be the fate of our ship. I went to the cabin 
 and told the ladies to come on deck at once. Mean- 
 while Harper tried to get our last boat lowered. While
 
 18 OIL ON THE TROUBLED WATERS. 
 
 he was so employed, Elfie Talfourd said to me, " Have 
 you got any oil on board, captain ? I have seen it used 
 to lay the sea. It prevents the waves from breaking. 
 Do try it, or the boat will be crushed, like the others, 
 alongside." I don't know that I thought her plan of 
 any use, but something in the girl's energetic yet quiet 
 manner made me put confidence in her, and I made our 
 men bring on deck a small cask of oil which we carried 
 for the lamps, etc. Knocking in the head of the cask, we 
 poured its contents overboard, and in a moment the break- 
 ing waves alongside were stilled as if by Divine com- 
 mand. The small boat was safely launched, and the men 
 crowded into her before I could get the ladies persuaded 
 to trust themselves over the side. I did not wonder at 
 their hesitation, poor things, for to their inexperienced 
 eyes the boat must have looked a more precarious ark 
 of safety than the doomed ship. Harper, however, with- 
 out waiting for her consent, lifted Mrs. Talfourd in his 
 arms and dropped her into the boat ; then catching up 
 the youngest girl, he sprang in himself with her. The 
 boatswain took a second ; and then, as other men strove 
 to jump too, I called out, " Don't let any more in, Harper ; 
 you are overloaded already." But the men struggled to 
 escape, it was their only chance, poor fellows, and the 
 boat would certainly have been swamped, if Miss Elfie 
 had not come to my aid at that moment. While I was 
 striving with all my might to keep the men back, she 
 
 (697)
 
 A LAST DEED, AND PARTING WORDS. 19 
 
 leaned over the ship's side, clinging by a rope to keep 
 herself from being swept away. I saw the quick gleam 
 of a bright steel blade, and next moment the boat, freed 
 by a woman's hand from its detaining rope, parted 
 from us and " struck out for dear life." A groan of dis- 
 may burst from the men left on board ; but the roar of 
 the breakers was now close on our lee, and each indi- 
 vidual hastened to take such means as suggested them- 
 selves for self-preservation. 
 
 I had drawn Miss Elfie back to my side on deck, and 
 securing a life-belt and strong spar, I fastened them 
 securely to her, exhorting her, at the same time, to keep 
 up her courage, for we would perish ourselves before we 
 would let her die. She smiled quietly I could see the 
 heavenly light on her face through the darkness and 
 thanked me, but added, " Look to yourself, captain. 
 Forgive me, but perhaps perhaps I may make bold to 
 say that you are not ready to leave the world just yet. 
 Try to save your own life do that it may be given to 
 the Lord. / am glad to be going home at last ; and the 
 way by which I go does not matter, since I am upheld 
 by Him who rules the universe." Just as she finished 
 speaking the Princess Roy<d struck. It was one terrible 
 crash, and all was over. I do not know what happened. 
 I remember grasping the girl's hands in a vain hope of 
 helping her ; then something hit me on the head, and 
 I fell among the wreck of my ship utterly unconscious. 
 
 (697) o
 
 20 ALL THAT WAS LEFT. 
 
 When I came to myself I was lying in a fisher- 
 man's cottage, and kind hands were ministering to my 
 b:uised and battered body; but it was weeks, nay, 
 months, before I was able to rise again. And when at 
 last a measure of strength returned, I found that though 
 life was spared I would never be well enough to sail 
 the seas as heretofore. The first time I was able to 
 take a walk I crept down to the sea-shore, from where 
 I could see the reef upon which my ship had struck. 
 Not one of her old timbers was left. 
 
 The little boat had reached a safe haven, and some 
 of the crew who had been left with me in the Princess 
 Royal were also rescued ; but shortly after I had been 
 drawn from the sea there was washed on shore 
 
 " The form of a maiden fair, 
 
 Lashed close to a drifting mast." 
 
 They told me that Elfie Talfourd's pale small face wore 
 a placid child-like smile, and the little hands which had 
 done such a heroic deed were clasped upon her bosom. 
 
 I have never forgotten her last words. They were 
 more to me than many sermons had been, and I hope 
 my life since has proved that I was not ungrateful for 
 the life spared to dedicate to a higher service than it had 
 been given to in past years.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 " In cradle of the rude, imperious surge." Henry IV. 
 
 JNE would suppose that Britain's ocean-girdle 
 were broad enough for all the ships that sail 
 upon it to go to and fro without coming into 
 collision with each other ; and yet one of the most 
 frequent causes of disaster at sea in our time is that of 
 colliding. 
 
 It is frequently asked if colliding does not imply mis- 
 management somewhere ; and the answer to such ques- 
 tions, I fear, is that three-fourths of the collisions which 
 occur upon the sea are due to carelessness somewhere. 
 How many precious lives and noble vessels might have 
 avoided a hard fate if every man concerned had done 
 his duty in the sight of God, ever mindful that great 
 consequences hang upon very small deeds. 
 
 Early in January 1870 the Black Swan, a fine screw 
 steamer, put into the Tyne greatly injured, having come 
 into collision with another steamer some ten or eleven 
 miles off Flamborough Head. The accident occurred
 
 22 CROSSING ANOTHER'S PATH. 
 
 just before daybreak, but the faint streaks of gold flash- 
 ing out of the eastern sea afforded light enough for 
 observing the movements of the stranger vessel. She 
 was deeply laden, and apparently making a course from 
 the light on Flamborough Head to the Continent. The 
 distance between the two steamers was wide enough to 
 remove all fear of a collision, and it was not until those 
 on board of the Black Siuan observed that the other 
 vessel meant to cross their bow that anxiety arose. 
 When the two were in perilous proximity the stranger 
 quickened speed and attempted to cross the Black Sivaris 
 path ; but the rash deed failed, for the latter, going 
 under full steam, crashed into the unknown, and in an 
 instant the sea had closed over her. 
 
 Nothing more sudden, more complete could have taken 
 place. The large, heavily -freighted steamer dropped 
 down to the bottom of the ocean as a stone falls through 
 the air, leaving no trace behind. Not a man rose to 
 the surface, as far as those on board of the other vessel 
 could discover ; and no clue to the name of the lost 
 steamer could be obtained. It was conjectured from her 
 size that the crew must have numbered over twenty, 
 and that she had come from a Scotch or north-east 
 English port ; but nothing further could be even surmised 
 regarding her. That the whole blame of the accident 
 rested with those who had paid the penalty for their 
 rashness with their lives seemed certain, and this opinion
 
 THE SOLE SURVIVOR. 23 
 
 was confirmed a few days later by the statement of one 
 man the sole survivor from the lost steamer. 
 
 This man was picked up by a fishing-smack which 
 chanced to be passing near the scene of the disaster after 
 the Black Swan had made off in a disabled condition. 
 The unfortunate sailor was floating on a spar, almost 
 insensible, and it was found, upon comparing time, that 
 he must have been there for some hours. He said that 
 his ill-fated ship was the St. Bede of Newcastle, and 
 that she carried nineteen men. With the daring of 
 madness the St. Bede, rather than slacken speed till the 
 Black Swan had passed, rushed onward to her fate, and 
 before a man in her could realize what had happened 
 she was carrying the lives on board to their doom. The 
 survivor never saw or heard more of his comrades and 
 officers. He had presence of mind enough to grasp at 
 some floating timber, which bore him to the surface 
 again, but he was too much stunned to utter a cry 
 which might have been heard on board the other vessel 
 and have brought succour. Alone on the sea, this 
 courageous Englishman kept up his heart for hours with 
 thoughts of home and dear ones dependent on him for 
 all that makes life worth living. For hours he waited 
 patiently, and we may well believe that those hours of 
 awful peril were not fruitless, since they brought that 
 man into close communion with Him who holds the sea 
 in the hollow of his hand.
 
 24 SOMETHING WRONG. 
 
 Another disaster happened not far from the same 
 locality, but no fault was to be found with those in 
 command of the second vessel lost there. The narrative 
 of her loss brings before us a striking picture of the 
 true Jack Tar at the post of duty. 
 
 The Gambia, a fine new steamer, left London for 
 Aberdeen with a general cargo. Her crew consisted of 
 twenty-nine men, and there were on board about thirty 
 passengers, almost all of whom were sailors paid off from 
 other ships, and going home. The date of her departure 
 was 10th of January 1870. 
 
 The Gambia proceeded on her course well enough 
 until the evening of the clay she started, although it 
 was very stonny and a heavy sea running. Passengers 
 and crew were alike seasoned to rough weather, there- 
 fore few thoughts were bestowed upon the situation, and 
 hearty shouts and laughter answered to the wild voices 
 of the storm. Suddenly it was discovered that, there 
 was something wrong with the shaft of the propeller; 
 and it was supposed that one of the iron plates on the 
 after part of the ship was broken, for a leak was 
 reported at the same time. 
 
 For a short time there was little difference in the 
 motion of the Gambia, but later she began to roll 
 heavily and refuse to answer the helm. The pumps 
 were set ,to work, and passengers as well as crew toiled 
 cheerfully at what soon showed itself to be a dishearten-
 
 AT THE POST OF DUTY. 25 
 
 ing task ; for in spite of every effort the water rose in 
 the course of three hours until it almost extinguished 
 the engine-fires. The stokers stood waist-high in water, 
 and when they could no longer reach the coal with 
 shovels they threw large pieces on the fire with their 
 hands. All in vain. With irresistible force the sea 
 conquered all their efforts, and soon the fires were put 
 out and the pumps useless. 
 
 Meanwhile the captain had been trying to run the 
 Gambia into the Humber, but she had become quite un- 
 manageable. Night came on, and the gale rose higher and 
 higher. Two vessels passed close by at intervals, and 
 signals of distress were made, but neither stopped. Let 
 us hope that they were sorely pressed themselves, for 
 nothing else can excuse men for leaving others in the 
 position of those in the Gambia. All on board stuck 
 rigidly to duty, and worked without pause until Friday 
 morning, when it was too plainly shown that the vessel 
 must go down before long. By the captain's command 
 the boats three in number were then lowered and 
 manned by the crew and passengers. This was done with 
 the utmost difficulty, and nothing but the most dexter- 
 ous seamanship and prompt obedience to orders kept the 
 boats' bows to sea, otherwise they would certainly have 
 been swamped. Darkness added to the perils of the hour, 
 yet the boats kept well together and in the vicinity of 
 the foundering ship. About five o'clock in the morning,
 
 26 BRITISH ' ' PL UCK. " 
 
 just as faint rays of light began to spread over the storm- 
 shrouded horizon, the Gambia was seen to reel backwards, 
 and, with her colours flying, went down stern foremost. 
 
 The men forgot their own peril for a minute while 
 they watched their good ship founder, and more than 
 one stout-hearted sailor felt his eyes grow dim as she 
 disappeared below the troubled waters. Everything 
 was lost which the Gambia carried, except the most 
 precious freight of all those brave, well-disciplined 
 seamen. For many hours they had much ado to pre- 
 vent their open boats from being overwhelmed ; and we 
 learn of what true British mettle they were made when 
 we are told that no food or drink had passed their lips 
 for twenty-four hours ; that they were obliged to denude 
 themselves of portions of clothing before they could hoist 
 flags of distress ; that they were drenched with salt spray 
 and exposed to a keen winter cold, yet could bandy 
 jokes with each other as they toiled at the oars 
 
 I ought to have mentioned before that there was one 
 woman among the unfortunate adventurers. The steward- 
 ess of the Gambia had once before escaped drowning in a 
 yet more marvellous manner. The vessel in which she 
 officiated was wrecked, and over forty individuals were 
 lost, but the stewardess and a few men were rescued, 
 after clinging to the rigging for twelve hours exposed 
 to the force of wind and wave. On this second occasion 
 she was not behind her companions in exhibiting both
 
 AN IMPORTANT FACT. 27 
 
 courage and patient endurance. And all were rewarded 
 at last by the appearance in their vicinity of a foreign 
 barque. The signals were seen and responded to, and 
 about nine o'clock the Gambia's crew and passengers 
 were safe on board the Solon, a Russian ship bound for 
 North Shields from Finland. 
 
 The official inquiry which followed the foundering of 
 this new steamer elicited a very important piece of in- 
 formation. In 1854 an act was passed providing that 
 every screw steamer built of iron should be fitted with a 
 water-tight compartment enclosing the after part of the 
 shaft. Had this act not been repealed in 1862 the 
 Gambia might still be 
 
 " Walking the waters like a thing of life." 
 
 Not many weeks after that storm, which was fatal to 
 so much shipping, another came to leave its bitter memo- 
 ries upon many stricken hearts. January, February, 
 and March of that season will long be remembered as a 
 period of almost unparalleled disaster to those who go 
 down to the sea in ships. Yet amid so much that was 
 dark came rays of light casting the halo of heroism 
 around many humble individuals who distinguished 
 themselves by noble actions during periods of extreme 
 peril. And we may proudly affirm to-day that our 
 countrymen meet danger and death with the manly 
 fortitude and courage of their lion-hearted ancestors.
 
 28 THE BARQUE " VICTORIA " WRECKED. 
 
 About the middle of February 1870 a disabled barque 
 was observed driving towards the coast near Great Yar- 
 mouth. She had fought the protracted storm well, but 
 a renewal of its fury found the men worn out and their 
 ship too much crippled for a second struggle. As the 
 weather-beaten barque neared the shore an anchor was 
 thrown, in hopes that it might bring her up, but while 
 the mate was directing his men to let go a second 
 anchor he was washed overboard by an overwhelming 
 wave, which parted the ship from her anchor. 
 
 Amid the roar of breaking surf, which beat upon her 
 as if she had been its toy, the Victoria drove upon the 
 craggy shore. The foremast went by the board, carry- 
 ing off some of the crew, and crushing the captain to 
 death. The remainder of the men got on the forecastle, 
 but in a very short time the vessel went to pieces. 
 Five of the crew then lashed themselves to portions of 
 wreck, and were cast ashore and saved. 
 
 The unfortunate barque had struck only six hundred 
 yards from the land, and the movements of those on 
 board could be easily seen by the sympathetic crowd on 
 shore. Yet though so near, they could not be reached 
 by even the rocket apparatus, and it was impossible 
 to get the lifeboat off in such a sea unless communica- 
 tion with the vessel could first be obtained by a line. 
 But though this was not achieved, a number of lives 
 were saved by the heroic action of the coastguard and
 
 A HEARTY WELCOME. 29 
 
 boatmen. By tying themselves to each other a living 
 chain was formed, and wading through the surf they 
 rescued those sailors who were floating on the debris 
 of their ship. Only half the crew were saved, and these 
 by the gallantry of their preservers alone. 
 
 It was dark evening in April 1870, yet large crowds 
 were thronging the quays at Liverpool to catch sight of 
 a stately Inman steamer which was being towed slowly 
 up the river. The bustling tugs employed in that task 
 were seemingly conscious of the interest felt in their 
 work, and made as much noise as possible. Nearer and 
 nearer she came, gliding between the lights of floating 
 castles, and as the missing City of Brussels anchored in 
 port a volley of guns announced her safe arrival. 
 
 Who of all the crowd of expectant friends cared to 
 ask the cause of her delay when the good ship floated 
 before their eyes ; when they received from her trusty 
 keeping the loved ones for whom tears and prayers had 
 poured forth through the long weeks of suspense ! Hope 
 had almost died when the good news came. No wonder 
 that the crowd shouted for joy and the guns belched 
 forth a welcome. 
 
 The City of Brussels had left New York on the 28th 
 of March with a southerly wind. On the 29th she 
 passed over two hundred and fifty-seven miles of her 
 trackless path. On the 30th, with a moderate breeze
 
 30 A SATISFACTORY TEST. 
 
 but heavy sea, she made two hundred and ninety miles. 
 But on the 31st the gale came on at what an old salt 
 has tersely called " nothing short o' devil's degrees." 
 The heavy seas belaboured the steamer unmercifully, 
 and in the struggle she lost both blades of her propeller. 
 She was then put under canvas, and headed south-east ; 
 and on the 1st of April she met a steamer bound for 
 New York. A report of the accident was sent back by 
 that vessel ; then, relying on her own powers, and trust- 
 ing to favouring winds to carry her forward, the good 
 ship held on her course across the Atlantic. That her 
 sailing qualities were well tested was satisfactorily proved, 
 for she went under canvas until towed up Channel 
 from the 31st of March till the 23rd of April, and 
 reached her desired haven at last. 
 
 It is not often that we receive our sea-ware in such 
 good condition. 
 
 On the 7th of September 1870 we lost one of our 
 best ships of war. She was a turret ironclad named 
 the Captain, after the famous ship commanded, at the 
 battle of Cape St. Vincent, by Nelson, She was a sea- 
 going turret cruiser, built in water-tight compartments, 
 each turret having a compartment to itself, containing 
 its engines, magazine, shot and shell complete. Her 
 dimensions were: length over all, 335 feet; breadth, 
 53 feet. Her inventor was the well-known Captain
 
 THE LOSS OF THE " CAPTAIN." 31 
 
 Coles, who was on board when she was lost ; and she 
 was commanded by one of our " crack men." 
 
 The Captain behaved splendidly in the gale of the 
 30th May, and she was considered one of our best ships. 
 Indeed, she was called the " war-ship of the future " on 
 more than one occasion. Some of the experienced sea- 
 men did not scruple to affirm that the Captain would 
 be found wanting in the hour of need; but such evil 
 prophecies were merely laughed at by others. 
 
 THE WAR-SHIP OF THE FUTURE. 
 
 Britannia, tired of wooden walls, 
 
 Said to her doughty men, 
 " Come build me now a ship of power 
 
 To cope with others' ten ! 
 No foreign forest must supply 
 
 Her ribs of goodly weight ; 
 But from my ore of iron mould 
 
 A form of giant might : 
 For I would have her keep for me 
 The name of Monarch of the Sea." 
 
 They built a turret ironclad, 
 
 From stern to stem complete ; 
 Her armaments, her engine force, 
 
 The best in all our fleet. 
 With shot and shell they stowed her well ; 
 
 No vessel better manned 
 Five hundred proven tars on board, 
 
 With Burgoyne in command. 
 And Captain was she called, a name 
 Which Nelson's deeds had given to fame. 
 
 " Now to her mast," Britannia cried, 
 " My Union Jack haul high ;
 
 32 THE LOSS OF THE "CAPTAIN." 
 
 For though this Captam'g iron bulk 
 
 Takes not the sailor's eye, 
 She is the war-ship of my dreams, 
 
 And of the future, when 
 Our ironclads shall quell the foe, 
 
 And deft machines, my men, 
 Shall win for us a fame as great 
 As that which graced our ancient state." 
 
 The Captain joined a lordly fleet 
 
 To cruise the Spanish bay, 
 Whose storms have claimed a royal right 
 
 From rovers grand as they. 
 " Now will she bear a searching trial ? " 
 
 The admiral did ask ; 
 And pleased, he saw our ship complete 
 
 Each well-manoeuvred task ; 
 " Well done," he said. As died daylight, 
 The Captain signalled back "Good-night." 
 
 Then waves tossed up their ruffled crests, 
 
 Then hoarse winds clamoured high ; 
 " Our turn has come, and ice will test 
 
 Those ironclads," they cry. 
 But Minotaur, and Monarch bold, 
 
 Lwd Warden, one and all, 
 Reefed sail, and though they reeled, rode out 
 
 The danger and the squall ; 
 And claimed their right to rule the sea ; 
 But ah ! the Captain, where is she? 
 
 Ask those wild winds and wilder waves 
 
 Which swept her low-swung deck, 
 And, like to furious demons, beat 
 
 The burly barque to wreck. 
 Brief time she trembled in their toils, 
 
 Or strove to right again ; 
 Capsized, she bore Britannia's flag 
 
 Below the seething main. 
 And of the crew that did so well. 
 Only a score escaped to tell.
 
 THE LOSS OF THE " CAPTAIN.'' 1 33 
 
 And did Britannia strike her flag 
 
 From masts where long had flown 
 Those vaunted colours of her pride, 
 
 When she was forced to own 
 That waves will shatter iron plates 
 
 As well as wooden walls ; 
 That engine-fires, like snowy sails, 
 
 Must duck to white -winged squalls ? 
 Now did Britannia own with shame 
 That Queen of Seas was not her name ? 
 
 " Nail fast my Union Jack aloft," 
 
 She said ; "by right of birth 
 I hold my title o'er the seas 
 
 In face of all the earth. 
 Though bulwarks crash on rocky shores, 
 
 Though ironclads go down, 
 Though war's array not alway leads 
 
 To conquest and renown, 
 O'er what I lose, within the hour, 
 / raise a new unequalled power. 
 
 " The sea-kings' blood still courses free 
 
 Within each knotted vein 
 Of engineer and ' salt ' who bear 
 
 My flag upon the main. 
 What if some ship that was my pride 
 
 To Ocean dips her prow ; 
 If every squadron that I own 
 
 Lay like the Captain now, 
 If scuttled every barque and boat, 
 My tars would find a way to float ! "
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " Twixt the green sea and the azured vault." Tempest. 
 
 j|HERE is a dangerous spot in the South At- 
 lantic known by the name of Roccas Reef. 
 It lies a little aside from one of the great 
 ocean highways, and has proved fatal to many a vessel 
 driven out of her course by stress of weather. The 
 reef is seldom visited, but rather shunned as a plague 
 spot, yet one wishes that at regular intervals a cruiser 
 could be sent to reconnoitre such localities. Not un- 
 frequently would lives be rescued if such relief were 
 sent ; and surely our ships of war could not be better 
 employed than in carrying succour to poor castaway 
 sailors. 
 
 The Mercurius left San Francisco for Liverpool on 
 the 15th of January 1870; but she never reached her 
 destination, and her fate was for long unknown. It 
 was supposed that she had been engulfed in that wide 
 wilderness of water which holds so much that Britain 
 has paid as the price of her intimate connection with 
 the New -World.
 
 A LOST RECKONING. 35 
 
 The Mercurius was a well-built iron clipper, ably 
 manned, plentifully provisioned, and her captain felt 
 naturally proud of his position as commander of so fine 
 a ship and crew. No misadventure occurred from the 
 time the Mercurius left port until the 25th of March. 
 Then a heavy fog came on, and in some unaccountable 
 manner the captain lost his reckoning. How this hap- 
 pened seems a mystery, and will remain so ; but before 
 a soul on board was aware that the ship was out of her 
 course she was carried on to Roccas Reef. 
 
 The rocks are completely covered at high water, the 
 only dry spot being a slightly raised sand -bank ; and 
 even in fine weather there is always a mighty swell 
 breaking against the treacherous belt of hidden rock. 
 
 Notwithstanding the heavy surf beating upon the 
 vessel, all the boats were safely launched and left the 
 wreck, but only one reached the sand-bank. The others 
 were swamped in attempting to pass through the 
 breakers, and no rescue could be attempted by the more 
 fortunate boat's crew, who had enough to do to look to 
 their own safety. Only six of the stout twenty-four 
 seamen who had sailed in the Mercurius reached the 
 sand-bank, and these escaped as by a miracle, for their 
 boat was so damaged that she was scarcely kept afloat 
 during the awful moments which elapsed while she was 
 driven from crag to crag, and finally tossed on shore. 
 Struggling, scrambling, almost suffocated, these men 
 
 (697) ?
 
 36 A PRICELESS "FIND." 
 
 contrived to reach the small portion of the reef which 
 afforded a slight refuge from the waves ; but it was 
 some time before they recovered sufficiently to survey 
 their position. And when at last they were enabled to 
 take in the situation they did not find much to cheer 
 them, though for the time they had been preserved from 
 the fate of their shipmates. 
 
 The reef was covered with wreckage, telling all too 
 plainly what those rocks had done to many a gallant 
 ship. Nowhere could they find the smallest drop of 
 water fit to drink, and very soon despair began to paint 
 grim pictures of a terrible fate awaiting them, when a 
 shout from one of their number drew the attention of 
 all. Gathering around their companion, they found him 
 scraping away the sand from some water-tanks which 
 had been almost buried in the shifting sand. We can 
 imagine what their delight was upon finding that the 
 water in those tanks was quite good, although they had 
 lain there for two years, having belonged to a clipper 
 which had been lost on Roccas Reef at that time. 
 Thus one of the most terrible of all privations was un- 
 expectedly removed, and one of the men a Scotchman, 
 and a Christian took the opportunity of impressing 
 upon the minds of the others some of his own simple 
 faith. 
 
 K I'm thinking, lads," he said, " that this find of ours 
 is as much a miracle of God's own contriving as was
 
 " DAIL Y BREAD " OF THE DESERT. 37 
 
 Hagar's finding of a fountain in the desert, and it should 
 give us confidence in him. His eye is looking upon us 
 on this speck of sand, and his hand can bring succour 
 even here ; so at the beginning let us resolve to trust 
 him and -look to him." 
 
 The good fellow's words were of infinite value at that 
 moment, and were greatly instrumental in restoring the 
 castaways to a hopeful frame of mind. With renewed 
 courage they set to work energetically, and soon erected 
 a hut out of portions of wreck only too abundant. 
 Firewood was provided from the same source, and a 
 certain amount of comfort thus secured. No provisions 
 had been secured from the Mercurius, but eggs were 
 found, and young birds. Frequently a prize was secured 
 in the shape of a fine turtle ; and fish were caught by 
 the aid of a boat nail attached to a cord. 
 
 The patience, courage, self-control which those men 
 displayed during the long time spent upon the reef 
 spoke volumes for them. There was no grumbling, no 
 selfish striving to secure individual advantages ; each 
 man shared whatever luck (or Providence rather) sent 
 him with his comrades, and the contents of the water- 
 tanks were carefully husbanded and equally divided. 
 
 A long pole was fastened to the hut, and an old shirt 
 was attached to the pole, in the hope that some ship 
 might draw near, attracted by the signal. For fifty-one 
 days did those unfortunate six men watch eagerly, striv-
 
 PATIENCE REWARDED. 
 
 ing to hope against hope, yet knowing that no vessel 
 was likely to sight Roccas Reef, unless she were being 
 impelled by cruel fate to add herself to its number of 
 victims. 
 
 The " coward crouching of despair " is not an Anglo- 
 Saxon vice, and although these sailors were in such a 
 helpless condition, without any tools but jack-knives, 
 with scant clothing, with meagre food, and only the 
 shadow of a hope that an ocean wanderer would come 
 to the rescue, yet they actually contrived to put together 
 two cranky skiffs (made, like their hut, of wreckage), 
 and after launching these, seriously contemplated ven- 
 turing to sea in them ! 
 
 Before that last desperate hazard was made the 
 Silvercraig passed within sight of the reef. The signal 
 of distress was observed, and the ship hove-to at once. 
 She was the first that had been sighted by the cast- 
 aways during all those seven weeks, and, almost mad 
 with joy, they hurried into their clumsy boats and 
 reached the Silvercraig in safety. She was bound for 
 Liverpool, and brought the men to that port. Of course, 
 all hope of the Mercurius and her crew had long since 
 been abandoned, therefore the pious mother who had 
 taught one, at least, of those men to " trust in God and 
 do the right," was rewarded for her faith as she had 
 not hoped to be when her good son returned in safety 
 to tell of his adventure on Roccas Reef.
 
 OUTWARD-BOUND UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 39 
 
 The new year of 1871 had only seen a week or two 
 when a ship named the Megcera was commissioned to 
 convey a detachment of troops to Australia. The Me- 
 gcera had been a valuable troop-ship in her day, but 
 having been overhauled and reported unsafe, was gener- 
 ally employed as a store-ship. How it came that she 
 was once more intrusted with the precious lives of 
 many hundred men, and sent with them on a long and 
 perilous voyage, is one of the mysteries which only 
 government officials understand. 
 
 Wind and weather fortunately proved favourable for 
 a lengthened period, so that the Megcera made good 
 progress, and the fears which had beset many on board 
 subsided, as it seemed probable that she would reach her 
 destination in safety after all. Some of the old experi- 
 enced hands on board, however, continued to predict hard 
 lines for the Megcera when she got into the " heavy 
 water " of the Indian Ocean. That the vessel was in 
 a very unseaworthy condition could not be doubted, and 
 those in command never attempted to deny that her 
 position would be most critical if she were unfortunate 
 enough to encounter stormy weather. 
 
 With that happy indifference to danger which is so 
 characteristic of our soldiers, the troops on board paid 
 very little attention to the condition of the vessel. It 
 was none of their business ; all that they had got to do 
 was to obey orders, and make the best of every circum-
 
 40 WEIGHED, AND FOUND WANTING. 
 
 stance ! This habit of mind prevented all panic or in- 
 subordination from occurring when danger threatened, 
 and was greatly instrumental in preventing those evil 
 consequences which so surely attend any default in 
 management. 
 
 When the Megcera was crossing the Indian Ocean a 
 gale sprang up. The sea became fearfully agitated, and 
 the " heavy water," so dreaded by the knowing " salts," 
 began to tell visibly upon the deeply-laden ship all un- 
 prepared for such emergencies. She laboured painfully 
 for a brief period, and then a leak was reported, and a 
 leak of such magnitude that the water rose in the hold 
 at the rate of an inch every hour. By the energy of 
 the well -disciplined crew the pumps were kept actively 
 employed, and the water lessened in the engine-room. 
 Many attempts were made to find out where the leak 
 was situated, but owing to the water having covered the 
 ship's framework to some height, also owing to the 
 way in which her iron plates were lined with brick- 
 work, every effort to discover and repair the damage 
 was unavailing. 
 
 The storm abated, but the painful efforts to keep the 
 vessel afloat never ceased. After days of unwearied 
 exertions and harrowing anxiety the leak was discovered. 
 One of the iron plates had burst, having been worn so 
 thin that it bent before the light pressure of a hand. 
 There was no hope of repairing" such an injury, for the
 
 A HAVEN OF REFUGE. 43 
 
 old plates were all so worn away that they could not 
 sustain the necessary rivets, and the water oozed in 
 between them. 
 
 On the 17th of June the sun came out smiling from 
 behind the clouds which had shrouded his face so many 
 days. The mist cleared up, and showed St. Paul's Island 
 about ten miles distant. The Megcura was immediately 
 put to her utmost speed, and in less than an hour she 
 was lying at anchor in smooth water. Although all 
 danger to life seemed over, the adventure had not yet 
 reached its climax. A diver reported the iron plates to be 
 so worn " that he could put his knife through them," the 
 timber frames eaten away, the pumps choked with bits 
 of iron, and the whole ship in an utterly worn-out condi- 
 tion ; therefore the captain resolved to land the men 
 and stores, and establish a camp 011 St. Paul's Island 
 until help should come. All the officers on board, both 
 naval and military, willingly seconded this resolution, 
 and worked along with their men in landing the cargo, 
 hoping that by lightening the ship she could be floated 
 over the bar. But these efforts were unavailing, and 
 the wind rising again drove her rapidly towards the 
 rocks. 
 
 With great difficulty she was prevented from strik- 
 ing ; but another danger arose with a change of wind, 
 for the gale blowing off-shore with much violence carried 
 the Megcvra once more out to sea. The leaks gained
 
 44 AGROUND. 
 
 ground with alarming rapidity, and there then remained 
 no hope of keeping her above water. The order was 
 then given to head for the land and run her aground. 
 Steaming at full speed, the Megcera drove headlong to- 
 wards the bar, on which she stranded ; and there she 
 remained for some days, giving shelter to the men until 
 they could convert old huts upon the island into " house 
 accommodation." 
 
 Unfortunately the greater part of the coal and ammu- 
 nition was spoiled by salt water, but all the provi- 
 sions were saved, only small in quantity of course, and 
 the thing to be dreaded was a prolonged residence on 
 the island which had proved such a haven of refuge in 
 time of need. All were put upon short allowance, and 
 the limited rations were supplemented by fish and the 
 occasional capture of a wild goat. 
 
 St. Paul's Island is described as " a mere speck on the 
 Indian Ocean. It is two miles long, and a mile and a 
 half broad. In shape it may be described as the rim of 
 a large basin, which is supposed to be the crater of a 
 dormant volcano;" and on this ocean oasis three hundred 
 and fifty men existed for more than two months. The 
 strictest discipline was maintained, and we do not hear 
 of any misfortunes occurring to the little colony. When 
 half their time of imprisonment was over a vessel 
 touched at the island, and news of what had happened 
 was sent, by her, so that the shipwrecked men knew
 
 A FORLORN OBJECT. 45 
 
 that before long their countrymen would be coming to 
 the rescue. 
 
 Lieutenant Jones, who had been sent for assistance 
 (in the Dutch barque which had come to St. Paul's 
 Island accidentally), returned before long with supplies 
 of provisions, and the welcome news that two of Her 
 Majesty's ships were on the way with orders to convey 
 the castaways to Sydney. In due time these arrived, 
 and all were safely conveyed to their destination. 
 
 The storms which had continued for three long 
 months, with few and short respites, had worn themselves 
 out at last. The angry winds dispersed before the May 
 sunshine, and the ocean-girdle of our land, no longer 
 fretted to madness by the tempest, rolled placidly on- 
 ward, and bore gently on its bosom many a precious 
 burden of human life. 
 
 A vessel nearing the English coast " sighted " a 
 strange, forlorn object. No more lonely, melancholy 
 object could be well imagined ; for it was the battered 
 hull of a once stately ship, and it was knocking about 
 aimlessly under the glitter of sunshine that made its 
 miserable, deserted appearance seem greater than it 
 would have been if clouds and heaving billows had sur- 
 rounded her. She showed no canvas. Her masts were 
 broken, and the rigging hung over her shattered bul- 
 warks. No sign of life could be observed ; but a boat
 
 46 ABANDONED. 
 
 was sent from the passing ship, and the men succeeded 
 in boarding the wreck. Her name and destination were 
 discovered, and some articles were taken from her as 
 relics ; for it was soon seen that there was no possibility 
 of towing the abandoned ship into port, as had at first 
 been supposed might be done. 
 
 One of the sailors, going down to the cabin, saw there 
 a most pitiful sight. Stretched upon a bunker lay a 
 dead youth, and close by him a large dog, also dead. 
 One of the boy's legs was swathed in bandages, which 
 seemed to show that he had sustained an injury which 
 had chained him to the cabin when his shipmates were 
 abandoning their vessel. When and how death had 
 come could only be surmised. The cabin-door was 
 softly closed again, and the sailors went back to their 
 ship, leaving the deserted waif with her lifeless occu- 
 pants to her fate. Many conjectures were made regard- 
 ing the crew. When had they forsaken their ship ? 
 were they still tossing upon the wide sea, or had they 
 reached some welcome port-? had the boats, which they 
 deemed more safe than their water-logged barque, proved 
 even less trustworthy than she ? Vain were all question- 
 ings, for they never were heard of more, and their end 
 will not be revealed until that day when the sea shall 
 give up its dead.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 " 'Twas pitiful ; 'twas wondrous pitiful." Othello. 
 
 |NE stormy morning in December 1871 a 
 steamer was seen off the Scilly Islands con- 
 tending with a terrific gale. She was evi- 
 dently in a disabled condition, and unfortunately no 
 help could reach her, for the sea was running mountains 
 high, and even the pilot boat could not attempt to run 
 alongside. 
 
 Early in the afternoon the vessel got entangled among 
 the shoals north-west of Sampson Island, and half an 
 hour later she was seen to strike on a reef close to the 
 isle of Mincarlo. Almost immediately after she struck 
 the steamer fell on her side and disappeared ; and it was 
 supposed that all had perished, but the chief mate and 
 third officer were saved, and taken to the island of 
 Bryher, 
 
 The inhabitants of that island had stood on the shore 
 witnessing the struggles of the wrecked men, yet could 
 render no assistance, and forty-six poor fellows perished
 
 48 UNAVAILING EFFORTS TO SAVE. 
 
 within a stone's- throw of the shore. To the credit of 
 the natives it must be stated that more than one rash 
 attempt was made to succour the perishing, but all in 
 vain. 
 
 From the mate's account we learn that his ship, 
 the Delaware, had left the Mersey en voyage for Calcutta, 
 but shortly after sailing the wind freshened, and during 
 the night it blew a fierce gale. The Delaware, however, 
 kept on her course until her engines became disabled, 
 which happened about the time that the Scilly Islands 
 were sighted. Every effort was made to clear that 
 dangerous coast, but all in vain ; and the captain, stand- 
 ing on the bridge, was the first to be swept away. A 
 heavy sea broke on board, smashing the bridge ; and 
 then wave followed wave in quick succession, giving the 
 vessel no time to right herself. Finally, a sea yet more 
 gigantic than its predecessors rolled over the Delaware's 
 decks, sweeping them, and causing her to founder even 
 at the moment that she struck the rocks. As the mate 
 was striking out towards the shore he saw five of the 
 crew clinging to a spar. One or two life-belts were 
 within reach, and he strove to help his comrades to 
 them ; but the resistless waves carried him away, and 
 he had enough to do to save himself after that. 
 
 Thus perished another crew of those hardy, high- 
 hearted men who have made the name of English "tar" so 
 deservedly famous ; and unhappily it must be stated that
 
 DRIFTING TO DESTRUCTION. 49 
 
 in nine cases out of ten such losses are the result of 
 "something wrong" in the structure or equipment of 
 the vessels. We do not put such thorough work through 
 our hands as we used to do in the days when " English 
 make " was guarantee that the articles so called were 
 sound. Moreover, the " wooden walls " of former times 
 cannot compete with our steamers in swiftness and con- 
 venience, but their superiority as sea boats cannot be 
 doubted; and we feel inclined to sigh for the sailing 
 ships of old when we hear, as we so often do, of how a 
 short, wild tempest has made a speedy end of some fine 
 iron steamer a tempest at which the sea-rovers of a 
 century ago would have laughed contemptuously, and in 
 which they would scarcely have deigned to reef a sail. 
 
 The townsfolk of Swansea were stirred to unusual 
 excitement one day on hearing that a brigantine, which 
 had been riding at anchor in the Mumble Roads, was 
 drifting rapidly towards the piers of the port. The 
 western pier curves round the other, sheltering the 
 passage between, and from that point a full view was 
 given of the vessel driving before wind and tide. She 
 had been secured by two anchors, but these had parted ; 
 and though others were let go, she continued to drift. 
 The foremast was then cut away, but with no effect. 
 One after another every spar was detached, and valuable 
 cargo tossed overboard, but all in vain. The anchor
 
 50 A GALLANT RESCUE. 
 
 chains snapped at the bow, and the doomed ship, plung- 
 ing past the west pier, struck on the east, and in a few 
 minutes beat herself to drift-wood against it. 
 
 Meanwhile a shipowner of Swansea had stepped 
 among the crowd, and eagerly called for volunteers to 
 aid him in a desperate attempt to save the lives of the 
 crew. All honour to the men of Swansea ! They were 
 not backward at that call, and a large party soon made 
 their way on to the wave-washed eastern pier. This 
 feat was accomplished at great risk to life, for heavy 
 waves were breaking every moment against the pier and 
 sweeping across it with irresistible force. But in spite 
 of such difficulties a line was thrown to the wreck, and 
 secured there after many failures. The men on board 
 were all Frenchmen, except the pilot, who was the first 
 to fasten himself to the line ; but on trying to jump on 
 to the pier he fell short. His head struck against the 
 iron, the rope broke, and the poor man perished at once. 
 Again a rope was flung to the ship, and this time was 
 carefully secured, and before long every soul who had 
 sailed in the brigantine stood upon English soil saved. 
 
 Britons all over the world are not likely soon to forget 
 the circumstances attending the loss of the Northfleet. 
 A thrill of indignation passed through our hearts when 
 it became known that some three hundred lives had 
 been sacrificed not through the carelessness only of
 
 DONE TO DEATH. 51 
 
 foreigners, but much more through their base inhu- 
 manity. 
 
 The Northfleet, an emigrant ship bound for Tasmania, 
 anchored off Dungeness in consequence of the strong 
 adverse winds which impeded her further course down 
 the Channel. The date of her sailing was the 23rd of 
 January 1873. There she lay quite snugly, and all on 
 board were perfectly unconcerned regarding their posi- 
 tion, which seemed one of perfect security. No one 
 dreamed of misfortune approaching. The passengers 
 retired to bed as night drew near, and only the regular 
 watch was left on deck after ten o'clock, but all the 
 Northfleet's lights were burning clearly. 
 
 About midnight the watch descried a steamer bearing 
 rapidly down upon the Northfleet. The men on the 
 look-out immediately shouted and rang bells, to attract 
 the attention of those on board of the advancing steamer ; 
 but, all unheeding those signals, she kept on her way, 
 and before an alarm could be raised the Northfleet was 
 cut to the water's edge. 
 
 No sooner was the awful deed done than the stranger 
 vessel backed with all possible speed. Her men threw 
 a tarpaulin over the figure-head, so as to hide her name, 
 and then she made off as fast as possible, paying no 
 attention whatever to the terrible cries for help which 
 followed her from the emigrant vessel which had been 
 so recklessly destroyed. 
 
 (6973 4
 
 52 SELFISHNESS. 
 
 It were vain to attempt to paint the scene of conster- 
 nation on board of the Northfleet when, almost immedi- 
 ately after the shock of collision, a voice shouted down 
 the hatchway, " Come up, all of you ; the ship's sink- 
 ing !" It was too true. In the language of one of the 
 saved, " there was a tremendous hole in her side, and you 
 could hear the water rushing in like a river." 
 
 As is customary, the pumps were worked, but all to 
 no purpose. The ship lay perfectly still, " but quietly 
 settling in the sea." 
 
 Captain Knowles had been the first to come on deck 
 when the alarm was raised, and he was only too soon 
 followed by a crowd of panic-stricken creatures who set 
 all discipline at defiance. The bulk of the passengers 
 were navvies, uneducated, full of strong animal life, and 
 with it the animal instinct of self-preservation. These 
 rushed frantically to the davits to launch the boats ; 
 but as each man was merely striving for himself, and 
 obedient to no one, no order was observed, and though 
 boats were launched, they were either overcrowded and 
 swamped, or upset, and otherwise rendered useless. 
 Captain Knowles vainly entreated the panic-stricken 
 herd of strong men to hold back like men, and give the 
 helpless women and children a chance ; but no one 
 heeded his commands or entreaties. 
 
 Rushing to his cabin, the brave young commander 
 secured a revolver, and advancing to the ship's side,
 
 A NOBLE SEA-KING. 53 
 
 where a boat lay filled with men, he ordered them out 
 of it " for sake of the weak." All refused to obey, and 
 even the threat, and afterwards the fact, of shooting at 
 them failed to bring the men to order. 
 
 Seeing that all hope of saving those in his charge 
 through the exercise of authority was useless, the cap- 
 tain brought his young wife to the boat, and gave her 
 in charge of the boatswain, who had contrived to secure 
 a place for himself, and returned to his duty and his 
 death. And then for a few minutes longer, while selfish 
 men are struggling madly to save their own lives, regard- 
 less of those whose weakness claimed the first thought, 
 we catch glimpses of this noble sea-king striving, with 
 self-forgetful heroism, to rouse some feeling of manhood 
 in the panic-stricken crowd. 
 
 Another boat is launched, while cowards crowd into 
 her, and we hear Knowles call to them beseechingly, 
 ' Hold hard, men; don't go down!" but he is disre- 
 garded. Again there is a rush made upon the last of 
 the boats, and she is speedily crammed to the gunwale 
 with men alone ; and over them stands the young captain, 
 pistol in hand, shouting, " The boats are not for such as 
 you ; they are for the women and children !" Before 
 the boatswain can cast off his boat, which is more than 
 filled, a reckless multitude strive to fling themselves into 
 her, and again the captain is heard saying, " Get back, if 
 you are men, and let the women pass ! I'll shoot the
 
 54 THE LAST OF CAPTAIN KNOWLES. 
 
 next coward who attempts to come this way !" A 
 brawny fellow dares the threat, and falls before the 
 shot. This determined action causes the rest to hesitate 
 and hang back one moment, and the boatswain is then 
 enabled to get clear of the Northfleet just as her fore- 
 end made the last and fatal dip. 
 
 Captain Knowles then exclaimed, " Take care of my 
 wife, boatswain ! Good-bye, my dear, good-bye !" He 
 was standing on the deck of his foundering ship, looking 
 quietly at her as she went down, and he waved his hand 
 to his bride. That was the last that was seen of this 
 gallant sailor. Three hundred lives were lost with the 
 Northfleet 
 
 " But the noblest thing that perished there 
 Was that young, faithful heart." 
 
 There only remains to tell how the eighty survivors 
 escaped. Of these the greater number were navvies, 
 who clung to the top-masts, which were above water, 
 and were rescued after remaining there for more than 
 two hours. Only two women and one child were saved. 
 
 By some strange, sad chance the signals of distress 
 flung out by the Northfleet were not understood on 
 shore, nor did any one on board of vessels moored close 
 by seem to know what was happening near them. Thus 
 all those helpless beings perished who might easily have 
 escaped death. 
 
 In days gone by, when Englishmen were apt to
 
 THE "ATLANTIC" ON THE ATLANTIC. 55 
 
 wreak vengeance for dastard deeds done them by blows, 
 not words, the cruel, inhuman conduct of the Mumllo's 
 men would have been avenged by nothing less than a 
 bloody war. She was a Spanish screw-steamer, and 
 although the evidence against her captain and crew was 
 most conclusive, the Spanish authorities contrived to 
 evade the course of justice, and the guilty parties were 
 not convicted ! 
 
 Hardly had public feeling subsided from the excite- 
 ment of intense sympathy and indignation roused by the 
 disaster which I have just narrated, than Britain was 
 appalled by tidings of a yet greater catastrophe having 
 occurred to one of our finest " White Star " line of 
 steamers. 
 
 The Atlantic sailed from Liverpool, in March 1873, 
 with nine hundred persons on board, the greater number 
 of whom were emigrants. She had not left British 
 seas far behind when she was met by equinoctial gales, 
 which continued for so many days, increasing in violence, 
 that Captain Williams decided upon making for Halifax, 
 instead of New York. 
 
 Knowing that he was near a dangerous coast, the 
 captain resolved to steer in a southerly direction until 
 daylight. It would appear that he had not been quite 
 certain of his position, and required to see his course. 
 Shortly after he had given his orders, and retired for a
 
 56 THREE BRAVE MEN. 
 
 brief rest, the terrible cry of " Breakers ahead !" rang 
 through the ship, and next moment there came a crash 
 which made every plank and timber in the stout Atlantic 
 quiver and start from its fellow. 
 
 Brief time sufficed to show that there was no hope 
 left for the steamer, which had jammed fast among the 
 rocks, and was deluged by giant waves that beat the 
 life out of her groaning hulk. One huge billow carried 
 off all the port-side boats, and as the ship heeled over 
 with the force of the sea, her starboard boats were 
 crushed against the rocks. 
 
 A short way from where the wreck lay rose an 
 elevated rock, which seemed to promise a chance of 
 escape, if only it could be reached. Between that rock 
 and the shore lay another short passage. The raging 
 waters which flowed through both channels were actually 
 bridged over by the heroic efforts of three men ! 
 
 Mr. Brady, the third officer, and two quarter-masters 
 clambered into the mizzen rigging, unrove the halyards, 
 and swam to the rock with the end of the rope. Having 
 thus established communication between the rock and 
 the wreck, they assisted many of their companions in mis- 
 fortune to accomplish the dangerous passage, which had 
 been made possible through the gallantry of that " daunt- 
 less three." 
 
 The captain and all his officers, quite regardless of 
 personal * safety, strove to save the passengers ; and if
 
 ON THE ROCKS. 57 
 
 the boats had been available, five or six hundred lives 
 might well have been saved from a premature death. 
 As it was, the women could neither bear exposure to 
 cold on the wreck, nor could they venture along the 
 lines, and not one was rescued, in spite of every effort 
 made to assist them. 
 
 The captain remained on the wreck, doing his utmost 
 to keep order and encourage the faint-hearted. Each 
 wave that broke over the wreck carried away in its 
 bosom a freight of human life, and in a short time the 
 survivors on board only numbered three. By that time 
 some hundreds had contrived to reach the rock, and at 
 day-dawn a small boat succeeded in getting to the spot 
 and taking off Mr. Brady, who exerted himself to such 
 good effect among the fishermen on shore that three large 
 fishing-boats were launched, and all the survivors on the 
 rock were brought to land. 
 
 Meantime the sea had risen so high that the boats 
 could not venture near the wreck, upon which Mr. Frith, 
 the chief officer, still remained, attempting to succour a 
 lady and boy who had not been able to follow others 
 along the line. The boy, seeing how the case stood, 
 committed himself to the sea, and being an expert 
 swimmer, also possessed of admirable presence of mind, 
 he contrived by a courageous effort to reach one of the 
 boats. Mr. Frith lashed the poor lady to the rigging, 
 as a final resource, then prepared himself for death. But
 
 58 TERRIBLE TIDINGS. 
 
 a clergyman on the island, seeing their pitiful condition, 
 volunteered to go to the rescue in a tiny skiff. Four 
 men joined him, and the little bark succeeded in 
 reaching all that was above water of the Atlantic. The 
 clergyman then managed to obtain a footing on the 
 rigging, and to fling a rope to Mr. Frith, who still clung 
 to the mast. Seizing the rope, Mr. Frith fastened it to 
 his body, sprang into the sea, and was hauled on board 
 the boat. For the poor lady help came too late she 
 was frozen to death. 
 
 Less than half the number of those who had sailed 
 from Liverpool in the Atlantic were saved, and these 
 " by the gallantry of Captain Williams, his officers, and 
 the fishermen of Meagher's Island, led by their minister." 
 The date of the Atlantic's loss was the 3rd of April 
 1873. 
 
 On the 2nd of December 1873 news reached Britain 
 that a fortnight before that date the splendid French 
 steamer Ville du Havre had come into collision with a 
 sailing ship, the Loch Earn of Glasgow, and had sunk 
 in twelve minutes afterwards, with the majority of the 
 crew and passengers. Brief words are needed to convey 
 most awful intelligence. 
 
 The Ville du Havre was bound from New York to 
 Havre, carrying passengers and crew to the number of 
 three hundred and thirteen. Many of the cabin passen-
 
 STRUCK AMIDSHIPS. 59 
 
 gers were families going to spend the winter in France. 
 Others were travelling for health's sake. Almost all 
 were well-to-do, and anticipating great enjoyment from 
 their projected sojourn in the Old World. 
 
 From the time the steamer left New York thick 
 fogs had prevailed, but on the 20th of November the 
 mist cleared, and a stiff breeze sprang up, which raised 
 a " nasty swell." The night, however, was clear, and 
 the starlight added its charm, and all, somewhat relieved 
 from the anxiety which had been felt during the fog, 
 retired to rest. The captain, who had scarcely quitted 
 the deck since he left New York, went to his cabin 
 about twelve o'clock, when the vessel was off the Azores, 
 leaving the second officer in command. 
 
 On rushed the Ville du Havre, tossing the rough 
 waters aside, and ploughing her way forward with a 
 steady energy of purpose. Suddenly there came a ter- 
 rific crash. Men scarcely awake sprang on deck, to find 
 the bows of a large ship projecting over the steamer's 
 bulwark, and to hear the rush of water making a way 
 for itself into the hold. 
 
 The Loch Earn had struck the other vessel on the 
 starboard side, amidships, cutting a hole into her deck 
 twelve feet deep. The massive iron plates were broken 
 through. There was no hope of saving the Ville du 
 Havre, and terror paralyzed those on board, so that they 
 made but feeble efforts to save themselves. At the time
 
 60 IN THE HOUR OF DEATH. 
 
 of the collision the main-mast and mizzen-mast fell, 
 smashing in their fall the two largest boats, so that the 
 crew were only able to launch the whale boat and 
 captain's gig. 
 
 The last of this fine vessel and her hapless occu- 
 pants is touchingly described by one of the few who 
 escaped : 
 
 " In the stern-quarters of the ship a group of women 
 prayed aloud, and took leave of one another. A priest, 
 rising above all thought of personal danger in his heroic 
 self-devotion, moved from one to another, uttering words 
 of consolation and encouragement. It is true, though 
 wonderful, that no one uttered a cry, no one showed 
 any sign of agitation : that beautiful group of women 
 praying seemed to inspire everybody with resignation. 
 
 " About twelve minutes after our collision with the 
 Loch Earn, the fore-part of the ship sank under the 
 waves. Next moment the remainder of the hull dis- 
 appeared, drawing us all down with her, and how any 
 one rose again I know not." 
 
 The Loch Earn hove-to, and sent her boats to pick 
 up those who were floating. The captain had remained 
 on deck, refusing to seek safety for himself, and at first 
 he was supposed to have been lost ; but he was picked 
 up by the whale-boat, after floating two hours in the 
 water. The first officer swam to the Loch Earn, 
 which had stationed herself about a mile off the scene
 
 A DOUBLE LOSS. 63 
 
 of the catastrophe ; but the second officer in charge of 
 the Ville du Havre at the time of the collision sank 
 with her. Ninety people were saved, and over two 
 hundred and twenty lost. Fortunately for both rescued 
 and rescuers, other vessels were within hail ; for the 
 Loch Earn had sustained such damage that she foun- 
 dered shortly afterwards, but not until all on board had 
 been safely conveyed to other ships.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 "Into the tumbling billows of the main." Eichard III. 
 
 T the entrance to a well-known harbour, in 
 sight of friends, one of our new paddle- 
 
 steamers was wrecked in 1874. This was 
 
 the Chusan, intended for the Chinese service, and she 
 had left Glasgow not long before on her first and 
 last voyage. But she had not been long at sea when 
 she sustained such serious damage that she had to put 
 into Waterford. The surveyors there condemned her 
 as unseaworthy; whereupon her captain resolved upon 
 taking her back to the Clyde, where she had been built. 
 There were on board forty-six men, including officers. 
 The passengers were only four in number, and one of 
 these was Captain Johnstone's wife. The weather was 
 what is so expressively termed broken ; and it must 
 have been a rash deed attempting to bring a partially 
 disabled vessel among the islands and bars of our west 
 coast. The sequel proved how wrongly her captain had 
 judged in so doing.
 
 A DANGEROUS BREAKWATER. 65 
 
 There is an island called the Horse Isle, and a skerry 
 known as the Crinan Rock, which lie like breakwaters 
 across the entrance to Ardrossan harbour; and we are told 
 that " owing to these obstacles the access to Ardrossan is 
 difficult in dark or stormy weather," and what must it have 
 been to a steamer which had refused to answer her helm 
 and was very much at the mercy of wind and wave? 
 
 The pilot advised an attempt being made to gain the 
 harbour, and, considering all the circumstances, there 
 really seemed no more advisable course open. As the 
 Chusan drew nearer the shore it became evident that 
 her position was one of extreme peril, for the night was 
 dark, and she was obedient to no will but that of the 
 wind. How she contrived to clear Horse Isle in safety 
 was a marvel, but straight in her path lay the Crinan 
 Rock, covered by a few feet of water, a still more 
 dangerous enemy. 
 
 The people of Ardrossan had been watching the 
 steamer with painful anxiety, and when she struck 
 upon the skerry a thrill of horror passed through the 
 crowd. Alas ! they could only " listen with aching 
 hearts to the shrieks of the sufferers, whose forms could 
 be indistinctly discerned." A steam-tug succeeded, after 
 some delay, in reaching a portion of the wreck, and 
 some persons still clinging to it were rescued. Then 
 the lifeboat made a brave attempt to reach the spot, but 
 was " beaten back by the furious storm."
 
 66 A LIFE FOR A LIFE. 
 
 The greater number of the crew were lost, and with 
 them the captain, and it only remains to tell of his end. 
 
 A rope had been thrown from the tug, to which Cap- 
 tain Johnstone attached his wife and self ; but as the 
 line was being dragged along he saw that it was too 
 frail to bear so great a strain : it had begun to untwine 
 itself. Captain Johnstone immediately let go his hold, 
 and strove desperately to support his wife until she was 
 almost within reach of those in the tug. Then as 
 friendly hands stretched over to receive her and aid 
 the devoted husband, his strength gave way, and he 
 sank back, disappearing among the " tumbling billows " 
 at once and for ever. When Mrs. Johnstone recovered 
 sufficiently to ask for her husband, she learned how he 
 had given his life for her. 
 
 A very remarkable circumstance is recorded in con- 
 nection with the wreck of the Chusan, and I cannot do 
 better than give the Scotsman's graphic account of it : 
 " The aft-part of the Chusan went to shatters on the 
 Crinan Rock, but the fore-part, which had been broken 
 off as neatly as if cleft by an axe drifted off in the 
 direction of the harbour. Passing between the break- 
 waters, it moved on till it reached the top of the 
 harbour, when it took up a position beside other vessels 
 as promptly as if it had been guided to the spot by 
 pilot and helm." A great number of the Chusarts men 
 were blacks, and almost all of them were lost.
 
 FIRE! 67 
 
 A quiet tropical sea, a light breeze, a stately ship 
 fully freighted and with her white wings well expanded 
 to woo the winds, a clear starlight evening, no sound 
 but the voices of the watch as they patrolled the ship, 
 calling in deep manly tones, " All's well." Slumberers, 
 relying on the orderly arrangements and numerous 
 appliances to guard against accidents on board, have 
 given themselves up to rest and dreams of the new 
 land to which they are journeying. 
 
 " All's well." 
 
 Hark ! what awful word is that which rings upon 
 the silent air, rousing the heaviest sleeper and striking 
 terror to five hundred hearts ? "Fire !" The Cospatrick 
 is in one moment changed from a scene of order and 
 quiet to one of utter confusion. The captain, losing 
 presence of mind at first, loses with it all command over 
 both crew and passengers, and, though he soon rallied 
 his bewildered senses, the time to make himself obeyed 
 as the man who is master of himself usually is 
 obeyed in an hour of danger has gone past. Desperate 
 efforts are made in different ways to stop the career of 
 the fire-demon, but there is needed one guiding spirit 
 to turn well-meant attempts to good effect. That spirit 
 is awanting. Alas ! and " the flames fly like fiery ser- 
 pents up every rope and spar, while the ship becomes 
 enveloped in a shroud of white smoke." 
 
 " Shall we lower the boats ?" asked a mate, and the 
 
 (007) 5
 
 68 THE MAN THAT HESITATES IS LOST. 
 
 captain said " No." Again the brave seamen attempt 
 to fight the fury of the fire, but are driven back. 
 A.gain they ask for leave to get out the boats ; again 
 the captain hesitates, and precious time is lost. Finally, 
 without his permission, a rush is made upon the boats 
 to find that the greater number of them are in the 
 clutches of the fire ! One is lowered, and the terrified 
 emigrants fling themselves into her in overwhelming 
 numbers, so that she capsizes almost as soon as she 
 touches the water. The port - lifeboat still remains 
 intact, and she is got safely into the sea with over thirty 
 people in her. 
 
 The mate Macdonald springs in just as she gets clear 
 of the ship, but there is no time to secure any provisions, 
 sail, or mast. Another lifeboat, much damaged but still 
 able to float, gets clear also with a number of men in it, 
 and the two hover around their burning ship 
 
 " Until, burned through all her bulk 
 
 To the water's edge, the hulk 
 Down a thousand fathoms sunk 
 
 Suddenly, 
 
 With a low and sullen sound, 
 While the billows sang around 
 Sad requiems for the monarch 
 Of the sea." 
 
 What need to dwell upon the harrowing details of 
 such a catastrophe ? Nor is there any pleasure in 
 following the fortunes of the two boats, for they became
 
 A PATHETIC DIARY. 71 
 
 separated after a time, and one (the port-lifeboat, under 
 command of the chief mate, with forty persons on board) 
 was never seen or heard of more. 
 
 The second mate, Macdonald, had left that boat to 
 take command of the other, and it was from him that 
 an account of the Cospatrick's fate was derived. The 
 accident took place on the 18th of November, and from 
 that time till the 25th the hapless castaways had neither 
 food nor fresh water. In their despair and wretchedness 
 they drank quantities of salt water, which rapidly con- 
 verted the greater number of the wretched creatures into 
 madmen. 
 
 On the 26th the five survivors were obliged to have 
 recourse to the last but one of all awful shifts for 
 food, and until the 29th they lived upon the bodies of 
 the dead. On that day they were picked up by a British 
 vessel, where they were most tenderly cared for, and by 
 which brought safely home. 
 
 Macdonald kept a diary during that terrible time in 
 the boat, and no more pathetic record of sad experience 
 is in existence. The very briefness of the entries, the 
 failing writing, which day by day became less legible, 
 the forgetfulness of exact dates, tell the story more 
 forcibly than many words. Two of the five picked up 
 by the British Sceptre died on board that vessel shortly 
 after their rescue. 
 
 Such was the sad fate of the emigrant ship Cospatrick
 
 72 A GALE IN THE BA Y OF BISCAY. 
 
 and the valuable lives which had left home in her. She 
 was bound for New Zealand ; and who can say how 
 many fond hearts on both sides of the world heard 
 with sickening woe of the terrible catastrophe, which 
 in all probability was caused by carelessness in the 
 first place, and certainly was aggravated by lack of 
 discipline in the second. And yet the regulations on 
 board seem to have been most complete, and Captain 
 Elmslie was neither coward nor fool. 
 
 We are fain to draw the curtain over a picture so 
 gloomy and in some respects inexplicable. 
 
 The La Plata, a fine steamship of 9GO tons, was lost 
 that same month (November 1874), and her sad fate 
 can be but too briefly told. In the Bay of Biscay she 
 was met by a furious gale. Being overloaded, and with 
 a dead-weight cargo (for she carried three hundred miles 
 of telegraph cable), the La Plata lay deep in the water ; 
 consequently the heavy waves broke over her as if she 
 had been a rock rising out of their heart for the pur- 
 pose of rousing the anger of impeded surges. In a 
 short time the fires were extinguished, and as the vessel 
 lay in the trough of the sea one mighty billow swept 
 over her with such fury that she suddenly broke asunder 
 and foundered almost immediately. 
 
 Some of the crew, seeing how it was likely to be, had 
 promptly launched a boat, and twelve of the men had
 
 LAMONT AND HOOPER. 73 
 
 got in. Before any other boats could be manned the 
 crowning catastrophe had occurred, so suddenly did death 
 overtake the majority of the La Plata's men. 
 
 The captain and surgeon, who had acted throughout 
 the time of trial with remarkable calmness and forti- 
 tude, were standing on the bridge when the vessel broke 
 asunder. Making no attempt to reach the boat, which 
 they knew to be overloaded already, they went down 
 to their doom with folded arms, set faces, and in calm 
 silence. 
 
 Over sixty lives perished on this occasion, but the 
 boat's crew were rescued by a passing emigrant ship, 
 and it was generally supposed from the account given 
 by these men that they only had escaped. But a month 
 later, news arrived of the marvellous escape of two more 
 of the La Plata's crew namely, Henry Lament the 
 boatswain and John Hooper a quartermaster. Their 
 story is one of the most wonderful of romantic tales, 
 and if it had figured in any work of fiction, would 
 have been denounced as utterly beyond the region of 
 possibilities, far less probabilities. 
 
 Hooper, although on the sick-list, had bravely per- 
 sisted in steering the La Plata, and, being a specially 
 good helmsman, had kept her going longer than would 
 have been possible under the guidance of a less skilful 
 hand. And at that post of duty he continued until his 
 superior officer told him that it was altogether useless,
 
 < 4 ORE A T SUFFERINGS. 
 
 for by that time every man was looking out for a chance 
 of escape. Seeing Lamont and some others get into the 
 second boat, Hooper followed ; but the boat struck against 
 the foundering ship, and all were carried down by the 
 suction. 
 
 Coming to the surface again, Hooper saw an air-raft 
 tossing about, and he and Lamont contrived to support 
 themselves upon it. Unhappily they were not observed 
 by their comrades in the more fortunate boat, and in a 
 short time they found themselves alone upon the raging 
 deep. For a whole night and day they hung upon 
 their frail support, half-submerged in the sea, without 
 one morsel of food. Eagerly they gazed in every direc- 
 tion, hoping that some vessel would see them ; but only 
 one passed in sight, and she was too far away to mark 
 such a tiny waif as the air-raft and its occupants. 
 
 Next day several ships sailed by in the distance, but 
 there was no hope that the castaways could be descried. 
 On the third day a large schooner bore down within a 
 short distance, and the poor men shouted with all 
 their might, but, alas ! were unheard, and the schooner 
 passed on. 
 
 During all those days the unfortunate couple had 
 clung together for the sake of warmth, and " all their 
 vague waking dreams and visions were connected with 
 food in some shape or other." The sole relief which 
 they had . was in alternately chewing a medal which
 
 BRAVE MEN AND TRUE. 75 
 
 belonged to Lamont. This token is described as " a 
 silver medal, the edges all bitten, jagged and indented 
 with tooth -marks. It has a head of Nelson on one side, 
 and his heart-stirring watchword on the other." Well had 
 those two sailors worn the name of British tar. Well 
 had they acted and nobly in the spirit of the words, 
 " England expects every man to do his duty," and in 
 that long and dreary time of extreme peril and suffering 
 they bore themselves as bravely as any one of all who 
 won glory at Trafalgar. Perhaps when crowns are 
 bestowed upon those who have earned them we shall 
 find that the men who conquer self and bear trial with 
 patient and steadfast hearts, as these men did, when no 
 eye but God's is on them, will win the victor's wreath 
 rather than those who have comported themselves as 
 heroes before the gaze of an admiring world. 
 
 What little Hooper and Lamont spoke during that 
 terrible time was of " home and friends, and God who 
 had kept them up so long." Their greatest disappoint- 
 ment was when an American schooner came, as it seemed, 
 within hail ; for they could follow the movements 
 of those on board, and sorest trial of all to starving 
 men observed the steward carrying food across the 
 deck. Lamont tore off his coat and hoisted it upon a 
 broken board, and both he and Hooper shouted till their 
 voices broke down ; but all in vain. The schooner 
 passed on, and, when the straining gaze of those ocean
 
 76 DESPAIR AND HOPE. 
 
 waifs could no more catch a glimpse of her white sails, 
 Lamont drooped his head despondingly for the first 
 time. But the more Christian Hooper said, " We'll not 
 lose heart yet ; we are drifting into the track of ships, 
 and we will continue to pray." And they did pray. 
 "It was a little wild at times," they said, " but we 
 always knew what we were about." 
 
 At last, through the gray mist of early morning, a 
 dark object was seen approaching more nearly than any 
 ship had done hitherto. When the welcome vessel was 
 in close proximity the forlorn men gathered every failing 
 energy together, and raised a cry for help that might 
 have been heard at some distance. To their intense joy 
 a bright signal of response was flashed from the ship, 
 telling that their call had reached human ears. For 
 two hours that glad light shone near them, but just 
 before daybreak it disappeared ! 
 
 Despair then strove to gain the mastery over those 
 manly hearts which had defied it so long, but though 
 the terrible revulsion of feeling caused deep pain, neither 
 gave up ; and two hours later the missing light bore 
 down towards them once more. 
 
 The captain of the vessel had determined to keep 
 near the place until morning, feeling sure that the cry 
 he had heard proceeded from some unfortunate cast- 
 aways. Guessing by the direction and force of the 
 wind the- point to which the sea-ware would drift, the
 
 A MARVELLOUS RESCUE. 11 
 
 ship sailed in the same direction, tacking now and 
 again in search of those who had uttered that most 
 pitiful call for aid. 
 
 But now that they were found, a great danger had 
 still to be surmounted. The gale was still excessive, 
 and the sea in wild commotion, so that it was impossible 
 to lower a boat, and dangerous in the extreme to attempt 
 running alongside of the tiny raft. Signs were made 
 for Lamont and Hooper to leave their frail support and 
 swim to the ship. That was their sole chance, and 
 after such a lengthened period of suffering they were ill 
 able to make such an effort. But there was no help for 
 it ; so, after a brief but fervent prayer to Him whose 
 everlasting arms were beneath and around them, the men 
 plunged into the sea and made for the schooner. 
 
 Fortunately she lay low in the water, so that when 
 they neared the side and ropes had been flung, kind 
 strong arms were stretched to draw them upon deck. 
 Their own power to do more than clutch at the ropes 
 with their teeth was gone, and it was long before either 
 recovered from the effects of that protracted time of 
 exposure and peril. 
 
 Homeward bound ! And now so close to the beloved 
 native land how hard to be delayed by fog ! so tanta- 
 lizing within a few hours of home ! Such expressions 
 were upon every lip as the Schiller a engines were
 
 78 FOGGED IN THE CHANNEL. 
 
 slowed to half-speed when coming up Channel on her 
 way to Hamburg. 
 
 All on board were in high spirits, talking over the 
 long voyage so nearly ended, anticipating the joys of 
 reunion whicli awaited them before the day was over, as 
 they fondly believed. 
 
 Ah ! in one moment of time the Schiller drove upon 
 a rock without the least chance of ever being dis- 
 lodged, until, a shattered wreck, she was washed off in 
 fragments ! 
 
 Soon the passengers were crowded on deck, and, as 
 one of her crew long inured to such scenes said, " the 
 usual and affecting incidents of shipwreck took place." 
 Mothers, all forgetful of themselves, pitifully cried to 
 the sailors to save their little ones. Husbands and 
 fathers strove to impart courage to weak ones looking 
 to their home-protectors for support. Some individuals 
 stood quite quiet, as if they were unconcerned spectators. 
 Others evidently comprehended their position fully, but 
 had no fear. A few were wild with terror, but the 
 greater number wept and prayed. It soon seemed 
 probable that not a life of all on board the ill-fated 
 Schiller would survive, for there was a heavy swell, and 
 the waves rolled over the wreck, sweeping its deck and 
 battering in its sides. 
 
 Just then the lifeboats from St. Mary's (one of the 
 Scilly Islands) were seen battling grandly with the
 
 ST. MARY'S MEN. 81 
 
 storm, urged on, in spite of tide and tempest, by strong 
 and willing arms. The brave hearts of St. Mary's men 
 had impelled them to dare anything, forget personal 
 risk, and assist the perishing or perish with them. 
 Hearing only the shrieks of the poor creatures on the 
 wreck, and utterly regardless of their own lives, those 
 men brought their boats alongside and took off over 
 fifty persons, chiefly women and children. If time had 
 been given them, what might not such daring heroes 
 have done ? Most probably all would have been saved ; 
 but, as the last of the lifeboats heavily laden left the 
 wreck for the shore, a whooping billow broke against 
 the Schiller, and next moment the sea " was covered 
 with fragments of wreck, to which clung many a despair- 
 ing human being." 
 
 The lifeboat lay not far off, but did not dare offer 
 help to one of the drowning multitude, as she was laden 
 to the gunwale and had much difficulty in keeping 
 afloat. In a few moments not a human voice was heard, 
 not even one " strong sw r immer in his agony " appeared 
 on the surface of those cruel waves. Three hundred 
 poor mortals had perished ; and a few days later many 
 of the bodies were washed on shore and were laid to 
 rest in St. Mary's churchyard, which is crowded with 
 similar sea- ware.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 11 My dismal scene I needs must act alone.' 1 Romeo and Juliet. 
 
 Y the fire one winter night not long ago I 
 thought Quartermaster Bock told me the 
 story of his escape when the Deutschland 
 was lost near the Goodwin Sands that fearful guardian 
 of our coast and terror of our seamen. I think you 
 will like to hear the yarn as if from Bock's own lips. 
 
 " Well, you see, I served as quartermaster, and the 
 Deutschland was not a bad ship to sail in either. She 
 had been built two years before at Greenock, and was 
 really a splendid steamer, of three thousand tons, with 
 engines of seven hundred horse-power ; but then, as I 
 always will say, engines are fine things, no doubt, but 
 commend me to canvas when it's a case of fighting the 
 powers that lie in wait to plague seamen. 
 
 " The Deutscldand was bound for New York with a 
 lot of emigrants over one hundred and we numbered 
 as " many among the crew and officers, so that our ship 
 carried over two hundred souls. Our departure from
 
 A BROKEN REED. 83 
 
 Bremen was delayed by rough weather, and my wife 
 did say she believed we were going to make an unlucky 
 voyage of it. However, we weighed anchor on Satur- 
 day, the 4th of December 1875, and were off in the 
 teeth of a roaring gale. On Sunday morning the storm 
 had increased, and we were approaching the Channel, so 
 for precaution's sake the speed was reduced one-half, 
 but a snow-drift prevented our seeing far ahead. 
 
 " December is an awkward season upon the sea, I tell 
 you. Well, we lost our bearings somehow, and the first 
 we heard of danger was a command from the captain, 
 who had observed breakers ahead, to reverse the engines. 
 
 " When you've got to trust your chance of life to a 
 propeller, take my word for it, you find you trust to a 
 broken reed. 
 
 " On seeing the breakers, Captain Brickstein tele- 
 graphed ' Full speed astern,' and the answer he got was, 
 ' Propeller gone.' It likely snapped on the sudden 
 reverse of the engines, or on coming in violent contact 
 with the bottom. The DeutscJdand was therefore at 
 the mercy of the elements, and in a few minutes grounded 
 on a sand-bank. The wind at that time was not very 
 high, and we were not far from a well-known English 
 seaport ; so, believing that help was near, we took it 
 very easily, and the passengers seeing ILS so uncon- 
 cerned, were not at all alarmed at their position. The 
 wind, however, soon rose to a gale. We sent off rockets, 
 
 (697) 6
 
 84 NOT THEIR FAULT. 
 
 and were answered from the Knock light-ship, which 
 was about two miles off us ; but I am sure no ordinary 
 boat could have put off to us at that time, and my 
 opinion was shared by Mr. Harvey, a Trinity House 
 pilot, who had come on board as a passenger. 
 
 " I mention this because afterwards our German folks 
 accused the English of inhumanity in not sooner attempt- 
 ing to assist us. There was no lifeboat stationed near, 
 and when the steam-tug did manage to come out, it was 
 late time o' day for most of the poor creatures who had 
 sailed in the Deutschland. 
 
 " Of course we say they should have had boats enough 
 and to spare stationed near so dangerous a coast ; but 
 they allege (and with truth) that we lacked first-class 
 appliances for ascertaining the distance run, that we had 
 not a good apparatus for lowering boats, and, worst of 
 all, that we had not an experienced North Sea pilot in 
 charge. I'll do the English the justice to say that they 
 are never backward to help in time of danger, as I've 
 proved not once or twice, but over and over. 
 
 " I can't tell you from personal knowledge what hap- 
 pened on the wreck after day-dawn on Sunday. The ship 
 was lying on the sand -bank then, the waves breaking 
 over her ; and no sign of relief coming from the shore, 
 it was decided to get out the boats and try to save 
 ourselves. 
 
 " I was ordered to get into a boat with two of the
 
 M Y COMPANIONS. 85 
 
 men, but as we were being lowered she capsized, and we 
 were flung into the sea. The boat righted, and we 
 managed to get into her again, but found that she was 
 not anyhow attached to the ship, and soon we were 
 carried right away from it. We hadn't any provisions, 
 and never a scrap of an oar ; but fortunately the sail- 
 ing gear, entangled by the ropes, was not washed away, 
 and we contrived after some time to hoist the sail and 
 steer towards the land, as we supposed. 
 
 " One of the poor chaps with me had been so hurt in 
 the capsizing that he did not live very long ; and shortly 
 afterwards the other one fell into a state of stupor. I 
 suppose the cold and want of food did it. He was a 
 youngish man, and hadn't got inured to the hardships of 
 the sea. I coaxed and bullied to get him to move, so 
 as to keep the blood going in his veins, but all to no 
 purpose. He dropped down at my feet, looking up in 
 my face with a dumb, helpless expression that gave me 
 a chill all through, for I knew it meant nothing but 
 death coming. 
 
 " I tried my best to warm him, but I durst not leave 
 my post for the purpose ; so there he lay, and never 
 stirred, and I only knew that he was dead when the boat 
 gave a lurch to leeward and he rolled over, so that I 
 caught sight of the sharpened features and open lifeless 
 eyes. The night was coming on, and I could not sight 
 land anywhere, and the cold was something awful. I
 
 86 ALONE. 
 
 crouched under the side of the boat to shelter myself a bit 
 from the biting wind and sleet, but there wasn't much 
 relief got that way. I had to hold the tiller with one 
 hand and the sheet with the other, and just run before 
 the wind. I caught glimpses of several vessels, but could 
 not make for them, and was not near enough for my 
 hailing them to be heard. To be sure I tried shouting, 
 but my voice seemed beaten back into my throat by 
 the mocking voices of the sea ; and so all through that 
 night I sailed on in company with my dead comrades. 
 It was worse than if I had been alone, and I think I 
 would have felt happy if I could have dropped the poor 
 corpses overboard. 
 
 " On Tuesday morning I passed the Nore lightship, 
 and hailed it, more for the sake of hearing a human 
 voice than from any hope that I -could be helped by 
 those on board. They did not hear me, and my little 
 bark swept on before the gale. Presently another light 
 appeared, which I knew to be that on Garrison Point, 
 and it lay straight before me, so I steered for it, and 
 grounded on the beach. I tell you I was thankful ; 
 and may He who is pleased to permit men to suffer 
 save me from ever passing through such another trial as 
 that." 
 
 To tell how others were rescued from the wreck of 
 the Deutschland, is only to repeat what has been stated 
 already regarding other vessels. The facts of the case
 
 QUEER SEA-WARE. 87 
 
 have been concisely, if coldly, recorded by an author 
 whose words I cannot do better than quote : " A dark 
 and stormy night a ship out of her course striking on 
 a sand-bank boats capsizing in being lowered signals 
 of distress being unobserved for many hours no life- 
 boat at hand, and arrival of steam-tug on the scene 
 after a prolonged delay, with the consequent loss of life 
 through rolling billows and exposure to the winter cold; 
 in these few lines are summed up all the circum- 
 stances attending the deplorably fatal wreck of the 
 Deutschland." 
 
 Sailors aver that nowhere on the globe do so many 
 startling and romantic incidents occur as in the Northern 
 seas. There, it would seem, the spirits who rule the 
 elements have license to commit any vagaries that may 
 suggest themselves to lawless and unseen beings. 
 
 When Matthew Arnold wrote his wonderful poem of 
 " Judas," and described the spirit of that arch-traitor 
 seated on an iceberg drifting over lonely Arctic waves, 
 the poet must have had the story which I am about to 
 relate before his mind's eye. 
 
 The Ravenscraig a whaler homeward bound was 
 making her way from Davis Strait, and when passing 
 Cape Kater, the look-out reported, " Something out of the 
 way on an ice-floe." Men and officers crowded to their 
 ship's side, and different opinions were uttered as to
 
 88 A YOUNG NORTHMAN. 
 
 what the strange something might be. The ice-floe was 
 drifting further and further from the shore, and the 
 creature upon it was moving restlessly from side to side. 
 As the Ravenscraig drew nearer, the captain declared 
 that the castaway was a human being ; and, although 
 he was running a great risk in bringing his vessel near 
 the broken ice, this kind-hearted man determined he 
 would not leave the unfortunate to perish. 
 
 Making a tack or two, the whaler approached quite 
 near to the drifting floe ; and as she passed under reefed 
 canvas to slow her speed, a rope was flung, which the 
 solitary one was fortunate enough to secure and promptly 
 attach to his person. Then, as the ship moved on, he 
 flung himself into the water, swimming like a seal, and 
 in a few moments was hauled on board. 
 
 He was a young Esquimau, who had chanced to be 
 on the ice at the time it became broken into floes. He 
 could not speak English, but by expressive pantomime 
 he showed how, worn out with the toils of the hunt, 
 and scanty food, he had dropped asleep in an ice-hufc 
 which he had made for himself while watching for his 
 prey, and had been awaked by a rude jolting, which 
 proved to be one lump of ice knocking against another. 
 What must have been his dismay to find his hut afloat, 
 detached from the firmer ice along the shore, and drift- 
 ing out to sea! How long the poor lad had been in 
 that dreadful position could only be guessed by his
 
 NEW EXPERIENCES FOB A " YAK." 89 
 
 sorry plight. He still possessed his fishing-line, how- 
 ever, and had probably kept life in by securing some 
 finny spoil, which he would devour in the state in 
 which it came out of its native element. The Esqui- 
 maux are not fastidious, but even a starving English- 
 man would not, perhaps, in similar circumstances, find 
 raw fish greatly to disagree with his digestion. 
 
 Captain Allan intended to land the Esquimau, but 
 the condition of the ice rendered it impossible. There 
 was therefore no alternative for the " Yak" but to 
 remain on board the Ravenscraig and go with her to 
 England. When this circumstance was, with much 
 difficulty, explained to him, he received the intelligence 
 in the most philosophic spirit, and seemed highly pleased 
 with the kind treatment he was receiving. What a 
 delightful surprise awaited his friends in the far North, 
 when, after spending a winter in this country, the adven- 
 turer returned home next spring in a whaler ! What 
 wonderful tales he would have to tell of the marvels of 
 civilized England ; and doubtless the " Yaks" gave as 
 little credence to what he said as we not unfrequently 
 accord to the tales of travellers. 
 
 THE SEA-STORM. 
 
 Winds are raging fierce and high 
 Lurid lightnings wreathe the sky, 
 Thunders roll, and night is nigh, 
 Ships 'mid storm-tossed breakers lie 
 At the ocean's will.
 
 90 THE SEA-STORM. 
 
 Little ones are there who weep, 
 Wives who weary vigils keep, 
 When all else have gone to sleep ; 
 Father, to yon angry deep, 
 
 Say thou, "Peace, be still." 
 
 Wildly heaves the troubled wave 
 Round the bark that bears the brave; 
 Far and lone those waters rave, 
 None are nigh to help or save : 
 
 And in some far home, 
 Sheltered from the storm, there be 
 Hearts whose every thought will flee 
 To the loved this night at sea. 
 Father, all their hope's in thee 
 
 Guard those on the foam. 
 
 By our crag-bound northern shore 
 Rocks a ship with goodly store ; 
 Will she ride these breakers o'er ? 
 Will she gain her port once more ? 
 
 Will the rude sea spare ? 
 In a sunny Indian land 
 Mourns a heavy-hearted band : 
 By yon bleak and surly strand, 
 On a bed of sifting sand, 
 
 Lies a vessel fair. 
 
 Cradled by the restless tide, 
 Sleep the manly loved, the pride 
 Of the eyes that weep beside 
 Southern streams. The deep defied 
 
 Boasted human power. 
 But though none were nigh to tell. 
 None to hear the doomed ones' knell, 
 God was there ; his whispers fell 
 On their ears, and all was well 
 
 Even in such an hour. 
 
 Where the wide Atlantic boils 
 Like a caldron, vainly toils
 
 THE SEA-STORM. 81 
 
 A lone ship ; from various soils 
 Came her pirate crew and spoils. 
 
 Ha! a flash of light 
 From a thunder-cloud's dark crown 
 Strikes the hull : hoarse breezes drown 
 Prayers and curses ; Heaven doth frown, 
 And the ravening sea sucks down 
 
 Prey she deems her right. 
 
 On a mountain billow's crest 
 Lies a barklet sore distrest ; 
 And, as bird when it would rest, 
 Folds its wings on ocean's breast, 
 
 Strikes she now her sail, 
 And against the warring sky 
 Rise her frail spars bared and high ; 
 Upward turns each sailor eye, 
 For they know that One is nigh 
 
 Who will hear their wail. 
 
 Far from land, 'mid gloom and night 
 Oh, 'tis vain to strive, to fight 
 'Gainst the storm-king in his might. 
 Father ! guide their skiff aright, 
 
 Stretch o'er her thy hand. 
 From the lighthouse lamp are borne 
 Rays to guide the tempest-torn ; 
 Soon will dawn the cheerful morn. 
 Father ! comfort hearts forlorn, 
 
 Bring them safe to land. 
 
 Hark ! amidst the gathering gloom 
 
 Comes a deep and solemn boom ; 
 
 'Tis a signal from some bark 
 
 Struggling blindly in the dark 
 
 'Gainst the wind and wave. 
 
 Oft that crew had braved the gale, 
 
 Oft unfurled a tattered sail ; 
 
 Laughed to hear the mad winds rail, 
 
 Hearkened to the drowning wail- 
 Sailors true and brave.
 
 02 A SHIP IN DISTRESS. 
 
 Will they weather out this storm ? 
 Will each stalwart, trusty form 
 Reach the calm, still haven nigh ? 
 Father ! keep them 'neath thine eye, 
 
 Hear the whispered prayer ; 
 Bid the ocean cease its strife, 
 Calm the fears of child and wife ; 
 Bid the angry winds be still, 
 Let the sailor know no ill 
 
 While within thy care. 
 
 The gale is at its height, and it sweeps up Morecambe 
 Bay, driving the willing waves before it. How they 
 rejoice to go at the bidding of the winds ! How the 
 sea revels in its hour of madness ! How it strives to 
 out-do the tempest in fury ! How winds and waves do 
 howl together and rage like demons let loose ! What 
 is man, and all his boasted power, to them in might ? 
 
 Upon some crags near Morecambe are gathered a 
 small group of fishermen ; and, from their excited ap- 
 pearance and the anxious, eager looks they cast seaward, 
 one can easily guess that their fears are roused regard- 
 ing human life exposed to the fury of those tameless 
 elements. 
 
 As we follow the glances of the men, we wonder 
 what they see ; for to our inexperienced eyes nothing 
 appears but the brown rocks and gleaming snow-crests 
 of sea-horses bounding up the bay. Ha ! is that a sail ? 
 Is that the hull of a little vessel ? We thought it was 
 but a wave tossing its white foam above a tang-clad
 
 STRIVING WITH MIGHTY FOES. 93 
 
 skerry. But, indeed, it is a vessel, a small fishing- 
 smack ; and, in spite of the utmost efforts of her crew, 
 she is too surely driving on shore, driving upon the 
 rocks. Her crew strive with all their might. Brave 
 men never cease to strive until God's hand forbids 
 them to do more than trust themselves to the love of 
 Him who is over all. They see their awful danger. 
 They try to turn their boat for it was little more 
 seaward ; they try to trim her tattered sails : they 
 fear not death, but they mean to fight him to the end. 
 Vain striving, vain fighting ! Nearer and nearer comes 
 the smack ; and those on shore know even better than 
 those on board that her fate is sealed, for the crags near 
 Haverigg Point lie straight before her, and there is no 
 mercy to be found upon their cold and iron bosoms. 
 
 She rises on a gigantic wave, and as it breaks upon 
 those crags the smack falls with it, crashing like an 
 eggshell. Oh ! can no help reach these perishing men ? 
 Alas ! the storm is awful ; it were but courting death 
 to venture forth on such a seething sea. Men's lives 
 are precious in their own estimation, and precious to 
 friends. Yes ; but precious, too, is the life of a fellow- 
 man ; and some are found who will risk theirs for the 
 sake of those who are being battered to death upon 
 Haverigg rocks. 
 
 A Morecambe fisherman, weather-tanned, past the 
 prime of his days indeed, but with all the resolute
 
 94 TO THE RESCUE. 
 
 bearing of one whose time is spent upon the sea, turns 
 round and speaks. " I can't I can't stand by and see 
 them die," he says. " Lads, who'll go with me out 
 yonder ?" Silently but at once two stalwart men with 
 grave, determined faces step forward. 
 
 But just then some women join the group. They 
 have stood at a distance, and under shelter, watching 
 the smack with as much interest as the men ; but they 
 have not ventured out on the shore until they see a 
 movement made among the men towards the boats. 
 Intuitively they know .what is projected. They know, 
 too, its fearful peril, and in terrified alarm hurry to dis- 
 suade, if possible, from the desperate attempt. As the 
 old man speaks, the wife of his youth steals to his 
 side and murmurs, " Oh, do not go ;" but he merely 
 presses her hand, and turning away strides towards a 
 boat. Their mothers are clinging to the other men, 
 passionately imploring them to remain on shore ; but 
 the brave fellows release themselves and follow their 
 leader. 
 
 A boat is hauled down with the assistance of com- 
 rades, who do not hesitate to call it a mad and hopeless 
 venture. But off they go, battling their way through 
 the surf and in the teeth of the gale ; while on their 
 knees upon the shore the poor women ask aid from 
 Heaven. As if in answer to their piteous pleading, the 
 boat rises over the waves like a sea-bird, and actually
 
 WELL DONE.' 95 
 
 reaches the point where the smack lies wrecked. No 
 human being is seen on her wave-washed deck ; but, as 
 the boat attempts to board her, the keen-eyed old fisher- 
 man sees the sinking head of a man not far off. 
 
 One sweep of the oars, and a strong hand is plunged 
 into the sea. It is grasped by the drowning man, and 
 he is drawn into the boat. Then another sailor is de- 
 tected clinging to the rigging which had fallen among 
 the crags. A rope is flung to him, and, exhausted 
 though he be, he yet contrives to reach the rescuers by 
 its aid. There had only been three men in the smack, 
 and one had been killed when the vessel struck. 
 
 There is therefore nothing to detain the boat in its 
 perilous position, and it returns to the shore, where a 
 joyous shout greets its arrival, and men and women rush 
 through the surf to pull it up with its gallant crew. 
 
 Rome's " dauntless three " did not perform a braver 
 deed, in keeping the bridge against the legions of Lars 
 Porsena, than that which was done by those three noble 
 Morecambe fishermen. 
 
 We may well be proud of the race from whence such 
 heroes spring. We may well thank God that our 
 nation's blood is not weakened (as some would say) ; 
 but that, when need calls, the high-hearted man is never 
 wanting wherever the Anglo-Saxon dwells.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 " Remote from all the pleasures of the world." Love's Labour's Lost. 
 
 jjHEN we read of the loss of the Strathmore, 
 we seem to be carried back into the old 
 times, when ships sailed away into unexplored 
 regions, and were given up as lost. And then long 
 years afterwards some weather-worn man would return 
 to tell of shipwreck on desert isles, of marvellous ad- 
 ventures, of hairbreadth escapes, over all of which hung 
 the " charm which newness only brings." 
 
 It is but a few years since the Strathmore was cast 
 away, and many of the striking incidents connected 
 with it must be fresh in many minds ; but as time goes 
 on even the most startling occurrences become more or 
 less forgotten, therefore we do well to record them be- 
 fore they acquire that vagueness which soon attaches 
 itself to past events. 
 
 The Scotsman gave a concise and yet sufficiently de- 
 tailed account of the shipwreck, and I cannot do better 
 than quote from that paper. It says :
 
 "BREAKERS AHEAD I" 99 
 
 " Further particulars of the loss of the Dundee emi- 
 grant ship Strathmore, which took place on one of the 
 Crozet Islands, in the Southern Ocean, south-east of the 
 Cape of Good Hope, on the 1st of July 1875, while the 
 vessel was bound from London to Otago, New Zealand, 
 with passengers, have been received from Mr. Thomas 
 Peters, the second mate. 
 
 " Mr. Peters states that on the 30th of June the 
 weather was so thick that the look-out could not see 
 further than a ship's length ahead, and* the speed of 
 the Strathmore at the time was only about six knots 
 an hour. It was understood that the course which was 
 being steered would take the ship well to the south of 
 the Crozet Islands ; but a close look-out was kept for 
 them. At midnight, the second mate, while in his 
 berth, was awakened by the cry, ' Breakers ahead !' 
 and immediately the ship struck. 
 
 " Mr. Peters ran on deck, when he saw the first mate 
 and some of the crew clearing away the port quarter- 
 boat. The captain seemed to have lost his head alto- 
 gether, so Mr. Peters mustered together a few hands to 
 clear away the starboard quarter- boat ; but no sooner 
 were the gripes cut, and the boat lifted a few inches 
 with the tackle, than the sea came rolling over the 
 poop, washing away the two men that were knocking 
 away the chocks. A second attempt was made, but by 
 this time the seas came over in quick succession, carry- 
 
 (697) 7
 
 100 INCIDENTS OF THE SHIPWRECK. 
 
 ing several others of the crew overboard, and making 
 it impossible to get the boat out. The other boat also 
 had to be abandoned, as she had been stoved by a sea 
 and rendered useless. As the ship was now fast, most 
 of those who had been working at the quarter-boats 
 got into one of the lifeboats, which floated clear of the 
 wreck by nothing less than a miracle. Eighteen of the 
 crew and passengers, a lady among the number, were in 
 this boat. The captain and first mate were washed 
 overboard by the sea which floated off the lifeboat, and 
 neither of them was seen afterwards. 
 
 " But before the boat got off, Mr. Peters saw a saloon 
 passenger standing holding on to the poop-rail with a 
 little boy in his arms. Mr. Peters took the child and 
 carried him up the mizzen rigging, where the second 
 steward took charge of him. The mate then went down 
 again to see if he could help any other unfortunates. 
 But no sooner did he step on the deck than a heavy sea 
 swept the poop and came rolling over him, and but for 
 some of the rigging of the jury-mast getting entangled 
 about him, he would have shared the fate of so many of 
 his shipmates. 
 
 " Getting hold of the mizzen top-sail sheet, Mr. Peters 
 reached the mizzen top, where he found a number of 
 the crew and passengers already assembled. The after- 
 part of the ship was by this time completely under 
 water. Some of the men managed to get on the top
 
 A COMFORTLESS REFUGE. 101 
 
 of the forward house, where the gig and dingey were 
 lashed. The gig was got ready for launching at day- 
 break, as it had then become too dark for lowering it 
 in safety. Mr. Peters then found that the ship had 
 jammed herself between two rocks forward, which ac- 
 counted for her not going down. 
 
 " At daybreak the shipwrecked men found themselves 
 within thirty yards of a perpendicular cliff some hun- 
 dreds of feet high rocks all around them. The gig 
 was got out without accident, but the dingey got badly 
 stove. She was able, however, to carry three with 
 tolerable safety, and eight of the party got into the gig. 
 Mr. Peters told those left behind that he would come 
 back for them as soon as he could find a landing. 
 After a good deal of trouble they found a place where 
 they could scramble up, although with great danger. 
 As they were pulling in they came upon the lifeboat, 
 stove and full of water, but her eighteen people so far 
 safe still. The gig took her in tow and brought her to 
 land. All but three men and Mr. Peters then got on 
 shore. These four returned to the wreck faithful to 
 their promise and took off' some of those still clinging 
 to the rigging, the little boy being among them. A 
 number were still left on the forecastle, and Mr. Peters 
 told them he would be back in the morning for them. 
 A miserable night was spent on the rocks without any 
 shelter. On the way to the shore they picked up a
 
 102 FLOTSAM. 
 
 case of spirits, which were allowanced out during the 
 night. 
 
 " Mr. Peters goes on to say : ' I was glad when day- 
 light began to make its appearance, so that I could go 
 back to the ship, which I found as we had left her the 
 night before. I made the men that were on the fore- 
 castle-head get all the clothes they could out of the 
 forecastle, and pass them into the boat, most of those 
 on shore being only half -clad. We also got a few 
 boxes of matches ; and about a dozen biscuits, that being 
 all that could be found in the shape of provisions. On 
 landing, we gave these to Mrs. Wordsworth, as the birds' 
 flesh was so rank that she could not eat it. After 
 making a poor meal of half-cooked birds, we returned 
 to the ship for the purpose of getting a sail to make a 
 tent with ; but we were quite unable to board her on 
 account of the surf. A few cases of spirits, a cask of 
 wine, and a box of confectionery were, however, picked 
 up, the tins of the latter afterwards coming in useful 
 for cooking purposes. On coming back to the landing, 
 we found that the lifeboat had also been pretty success- 
 ful, having come across a passenger's chest, out of which 
 they had got a few articles, such as blankets, table- 
 cloths, knives, forks, and spoons. Firewood was also 
 picked up whenever that could be conveniently done, 
 there being no wood on the island. 
 
 " ' During the time we had been away, those that
 
 CROWNING MISFORTUNE. 103 
 
 were ashore had built a wall before an overhanging 
 ledge of rock ; so that, with boats' covers for a roof, we 
 had a little better shelter than we had the night before, 
 although the place was so small that we could only sit 
 huddled together as close as we could possibly pack. 
 We had wished the lady to use this shelter, but she 
 would not listen to our making such a sacrifice, and in- 
 sisted upon all sharing with her the slightest comforts 
 of the situation. Even the biscuits which we desired 
 to keep for her use she divided among some of the ailing 
 ones of the party. Owing to our cramped condition 
 and the bitter cold weather, we were unable to sleep 
 that first night, and during it we had the misfortune to 
 lose our boats. These were moored in smooth waters, 
 and a watch set over them ; but the wind, chopping 
 suddenly, broke them adrift, and we had the pleasure (?) 
 of seeing them floating about, bottom up, completely out 
 of our reach. If there had been a beach anywhere on 
 the island, we might have saved them by hauling them 
 up ; but the rocks were so steep and rugged that we 
 could scarcely scramble ashore. During the next day 
 some of us walked to a part of the island where we 
 could have a look at the vessel ; but nothing was to be 
 seen of her save a few small spars entangled by some of 
 the gear, and so kept floating over the site of the wreck. 
 " ' During all the time we were on the island we were 
 
 O 
 
 miraculously provided with food. Although sometimes
 
 104 USEFUL BIRDS. 
 
 it seemed as if there was not another bird on the island, 
 we always managed to catch a few to keep us alive 
 until they got more plentiful. We also ate a sort of 
 herb, the top of which resembles carrot-tops. Our fire- 
 wood lasted a month, and after that we found a sub- 
 stitute for wood in the shape of birds' skins, which 
 burned pretty well. Five of our number died on the 
 island ; the last of these was the little child, who was 
 taken on Christmas day. We had then been six months 
 on the island, and although four ships had passed pretty 
 close none of them seemed to see our signals. But on 
 the 21st of January we had the extreme satisfaction of 
 seeing a ship heading in towards the island, which after- 
 wards lowered two boats. This was a whaler, and her 
 captain agreed to take us off. There were forty-four of 
 us, and all were treated with great kindness on board 
 the Young Phoenix. 
 
 " ' Crosses were placed over the graves of those who 
 had been buried on the island.'" 
 
 A few more particulars were received from one of the 
 passengers who escaped. He describes the Crozet Islands 
 as " twenty-six in number, and the one we were on was 
 one of twelve rocks called the Twelve Apostles... rocks 
 upon rocks every where... a sea-birds' home, very few 
 level places, some grass and weeds growing about... 
 Plenty of young albatross about, which we could at first 
 easily knock down with a stick. They had then no
 
 KIND-HEARTED AMERICANS. 105 
 
 fear of us, nor had any other of the sea-birds... We 
 found a spring of good water, which was our great good 
 fortune in all our trouble... We had no doctor amongst 
 us the ship did not carry one else some who died 
 might have been saved We kept blankets flying on 
 the mast of the lifeboat as a signal, but none of all 
 the vessels which passed seemed to see it. One vessel 
 came so near that we cannot doubt that we were seen, 
 but she sheered off from us... Our lady passenger sur- 
 vived, and with her son was the first to leave the island. 
 ...The whaler hoisted the stars and stripes, and sent 
 boats to us. Her captain gave each of us a suit of 
 clothes and a pair of boots, and we shortened his provi- 
 sions so that he had to put into Galle to make up his 
 deficiency. Half our number had been transferred to 
 the Sierra Morena, which fortunately met the Young 
 Phoenix, and cheerfully relieved her of that portion of 
 her unexpected task." 
 
 There is a large-hearted generosity about the American 
 mode of doing a good action which makes the deed tenfold 
 more graceful and noble. Others may well follow their 
 example in doing what their hand finds to do with their 
 might ; and the survivors from the Struthmore are not the 
 only Englishmen who have good cause to testify to the 
 liberal warm-hearted kindness of their Yankee cousins. 
 
 Another sad case of compulsory isolation was reported
 
 106 A FRIEND IN NEED. 
 
 in March 1879; and though it does not come here in 
 the regular sequence which I have striven to follow to a 
 great extent while recording noted shipwrecks, yet I 
 give it in this chapter as ranking with the loss of the 
 Stmthmore as an instance of men being unhappily 
 compelled to remain for a lengthened period " remote 
 from all the pleasures of the world." 
 
 Captain Murday, of the barque Otter cups, reported at 
 Queenstown that on the 2nd of March he saw a vessel 
 to windward which appeared to be unmanageable. Sig- 
 nals of distress were flying. I will tell the story in 
 the terse, expressive language of the kind-hearted sailor 
 who was such a friend in need to the stranger vessel : 
 
 " As soon as I guessed that she wasn't much under 
 control, I hove-to, and she bore down upon us. She 
 proved to be the brigantine Catherine of Liverpool, 
 from west coast of Africa for orders, laden with palm 
 oil. She had hoped to reach the Channel weeks before, 
 but had been delayed by various causes of a sad nature. 
 The captain and mate were both dead ; illness had got 
 among the crew, and they needed assistance. We backed 
 the mainyard, and got a boat out with much difficulty, 
 owing to heavy sea running. I sent the second officer 
 on board with four hands to know what was wanted. 
 They found only one man on board who was able to 
 work, and he came on board of us, leaving one of our 
 men in charge of the Catherine.
 
 BROTHERS, CRUEL AND KIND. 107 
 
 " He stated that they had buried one man that morn- 
 ing, one was lying at the point of death, and another very 
 ill. " The captain had died a fortnight before. He also 
 said that he had had no rest for four days. The vessel 
 had been out ninety-two days ; was short of water, pro- 
 visions, sails everything, in short, that was requisite to 
 bring her to port. The man reported that they had 
 spoken several ships, but none would give assistance. 
 Such unfeeling conduct is beyond my comprehension, 
 for it seems as if men ought to be more kind to each 
 other on the sea than on the land. The lonely sort of 
 feeling of wandering up and down such wide tracts of 
 desolate water makes one thankful to ' speak' another 
 ship ; and when that other needs assistance, how cheer- 
 fully it should be given, if for no higher reason than 
 that one may need the same help from others some day. 
 
 " When we first saw the Catherine she was making a 
 westerly course, but I don't believe the men knew where 
 they were. We supplied her with one good top-gallant 
 sail, one good royal, one royal stay-sail, one bolt of 
 number three canvas, five skeins of twine, needles, mar- 
 lin-spikes, bucket, etc., one hundred and fifty pounds of 
 beef and pork, preserved meat, sugar, lime-juice, and water. 
 I sent James Reid, second mate, and three men, to navi- 
 gate her to port. We then went on our way, and from 
 the time of leaving the Catherine we had fair weather."
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 "Ships from far making amain to us." Comedy of Errors. 
 
 IE were steaming rapidly ahead, keeping well 
 out of the track of other ships, for ' our 
 way was not the common way.' 
 
 " It was the dark hour before day-dawn, and the long 
 rolling billows of the Pacific heaved with a subdued 
 motion that accorded with the still solemnity of the sky 
 above them. There were no clouds and no mist, nothing 
 but the expanse of dark water and dark sky, and our 
 ship the sole object in many miles of trackless ocean. 
 
 " I was standing on the bridge ; all were asleep except 
 the men on duty and myself. I wonder if people know 
 what anxiety is united to the honour of commanding a 
 large ship. I do not think that I forget, even when 
 asleep, that the lives of all on board depend upon my 
 smallest word or signal ; and I am not surprised at 
 being told that sea-captains do not often live to an old 
 age. The care more than the exposure wears out our 
 lives sooner than that of most men in other professions,
 
 A FLOATING BEACON. 109 
 
 unless, perhaps, in the medical. But to return to the 
 incident which you wished me to relate. I was stand- 
 ing on the bridge, having come up from my cabin because 
 I could not rest, and chancing to turn my eyes to the 
 horizon. I saw what at first looked like a flash of light 
 from a cannon. But in another second it seemed more 
 like a lighthouse lamp ; then like a watch-fire on some 
 distant peak ; then like what it was a ship on fire 
 at sea! 
 
 "As soon as I made certain that such was the case, I 
 gave orders for our vessel to hasten to the scene of 
 what I feared must be a terrible catastrophe. The dis- 
 tance was soon got over, for the burning ship, we found, 
 was advancing as well as ourselves. As we drew near 
 to each other, the morning broke, and I could observe 
 her better. The fire had not spread much to the rigging, 
 which was enveloped in wreaths of smoke, that gave 
 the tall masts a most ghostly appearance. Indeed, the 
 fire did not seem to be spreading through the ship with 
 much rapidity, but rather burning in a slow, steady 
 manner. We fired guns and made other signals to 
 show that we were ready to help, but got no response, 
 and the ship came on with a strange, gliding motion 
 that was most impressive. Her lower sails were scorched, 
 of course, and torn, but otherwise she had no appear- 
 ance of disorder. No sign of life could we detect, and 
 some of her boats were amissing, which led us to hope
 
 110 UNKNOWN. 
 
 that the men had escaped. Keeping well out of her 
 track, we slowed speed, and watched the burning ship 
 sweep by with a certain sensation of awe and dread. 
 She looked so weird and unearthly, sailing on majestic- 
 ally, with sails set and helm doing its duty, and no 
 living creature to guide or control her. How far she 
 had come we could not tell, but from the progress 
 which the fire had made, we believed it would not be 
 long before she exploded altogether. As long as she 
 was in sight we watched eagerly ; but still she sailed 
 on, wrapped in smoke and flame, until distance hid her 
 from our view. Of course we kept a sharp look-out 
 for boats, but saw none, and the mystery of that vessel's 
 fate is still unexplained, and must ever be so, for we 
 could not read her name, and can only guess that she 
 belonged to our own nation because of what we sailors 
 call the ' English ship-shape make' of her." 
 
 A trading-ship called the Stratkclyde sailed from 
 London in February 1876, with forty-seven of a crew 
 and half that number of passengers. A fair wind car- 
 ried her down the Channel, and under its auspices the 
 good ship made rapid progress, until Dover was left 
 behind. 
 
 As she sailed along she sighted a large steamer follow- 
 ing quickly, but not altogether in her track. It rather 
 seemed that the two were " advancing in lines which
 
 A GERMAN MONSTER. Ill 
 
 would cross each other" if the swifter steamer did not 
 alter her course. 
 
 This she did not do, as was expected by the Strath- 
 clyde, but drew nearer and nearer, regardless of all uni- 
 versally acknowledged rules of the road, and in a short 
 time a collision became imminent. The Strathclyde was 
 steered towards the shore in hope of evading her pur- 
 suer, but all in vain. The German steamer " came 
 down upon the Strathclyde as if she had been an enemy's 
 vessel in time of war." The Franconia was going full 
 speed, consequently the blow was terrific. She recoiled, 
 and struck again, like an evil creature revenging itself 
 for some fancied wrong, and a huge rent was made in 
 the side of the unfortunate Strathclyde, into which the 
 water poured in floods. 
 
 Backing off as the Strathclyde went down, the Fran- 
 conia made for Dover harbour at once ; and although a 
 few persons had contrived to swim to her, and begged 
 her captain to lower his boats, or wait for a few minutes 
 and make an attempt to save some of the victims of his 
 own recklessness, he turned a deaf ear to all entreaties. 
 Thus the greater number of those who had sailed in the 
 Strathclyde were lost, although the weather was fine, 
 the sea calm, and a steamer (the very one that ought to 
 have been first to offer assistance) within reach. 
 
 It is some satisfaction to know that the captain of 
 the Franconia (Keyn by name) was convicted of man-
 
 112 BROTHERS IN MISFORTUNE. 
 
 slaughter, and his name will for ever be associated with 
 all that is cowardly and base. 
 
 It cannot be doubted, whatever other nations may 
 affirm to the contrary, that no Englishman would have 
 acted in such a brutal manner ; and a few months after 
 the loss of the Strathclyde, a collision of very much the 
 same sort occurred, as if to prove how differently our 
 seamen act under similar circumstances. 
 
 One of our heavy insular fogs was lying over the 
 British seas, shrouding the narrow channels where a 
 great crowd of shipping is perpetually passing to and 
 fro, and multiplying the risk of collision a hundredfold. 
 
 An English screw collier, large, powerful, unwieldy, 
 crossed the path of a Dutch trader, called the Vesuvius; 
 but neither knew of the other's proximity until they 
 had collided. A deficiency in fog-signals seems to have 
 caused the catastrophe. Just as each crew became 
 aware of the danger the vessels met with a mighty 
 crash, and the Dutch ship went down at once. This 
 happened five miles from land ; there was a heavy 
 swell on, and the collier was so injured that she was 
 only kept from sinking by ince'ssant and laborious 
 working at the pumps. Nevertheless, she stirred not 
 from the spot until all of the Vexuvius's men were 
 saved. She was then so far gone that there was no 
 hope of keeping her afloat until the nearest harbour 
 could be" reached, therefore all possible speed was got
 
 FOG IN THE IRISH CHANNEL. 113 
 
 up, and the Savemake was steered for the shore, where 
 she grounded on the open Sussex beach, and all on 
 board were saved. 
 
 In that case the unselfish and kindly feeling of our 
 sailors was brought out in striking contrast to the con- 
 duct of foreigners, as exhibited by the Franconids men. 
 But not only may we venture to boast of our seamen's 
 superiority in those virtues ; in the even higher duties 
 of obedience, fortitude, courage, and presence of mind, 
 they have proved themselves equal to every emergency, 
 which certainly cannot be said of those rivals who wish 
 to rob the English of their right to call themselves first 
 upon the main. 
 
 That same season (1876) we lost one of our best 
 ships of war, but owing to the admirable conduct of 
 all on board not one life was sacrificed. 
 
 The Vanguard, a fine ironclad, carrying fourteen 
 guns, was proceeding down the Irish Channel along 
 with a number of the fleet which were on their way 
 to Queenstown. A thick fog came on, and the Van- 
 guard, putting her helm hard-a-starboard, to avoid a 
 large sailing vessel, came right across the path of her 
 sister ironclad, the Iron Duke, which was following. 
 Owing to the fog, the close proximity of the ironclads 
 was unfortunately not observed by those on board of 
 either ship until too late ; and the formidable ram of
 
 114 THE "STUFF" OF WHICH HEROES ARE MADE. 
 
 the Iron Duke struck into the starboard quarter of the 
 Vanguard between the main and mizzen masts. 
 
 A tremendous hole was made, and some of the boats 
 knocked away. The Vanguard was built with water- 
 tight compartments, but the doors all chanced to be 
 open, and the sea rushed in. One of the crew, re- 
 membering this, sprang down and turned off the steam, 
 thereby preventing an explosion. But the risk to his 
 own life was so great that no one who saw him go on 
 that fearful errand ever expected to behold his return ; 
 and how he battled his way through the in-rushing 
 flood was not known, perhaps, to himself, far less to 
 others. 
 
 The ship began to sink immediately after she was 
 struck, but the utmost order and discipline were main- 
 tained. Officers gave orders as calmly " as if at practice." 
 Men obeyed with quiet promptitude. Young middies 
 passed up and down carrying the commands of their 
 superiors as composedly as if they had been inured to 
 the perils of their profession through a life-time. 
 
 In consequence of such admirable behaviour all the 
 uninjured boats were speedily lowered and every soul 
 safely conveyed to the Iron Duke. 
 
 There were four hundred and fifty men in the Van- 
 guard; and we cannot sufficiently commend both officers 
 and men for the pluck they showed on this occasion. 
 In less than an hour from the time of colliding the
 
 CONTRASTED INCIDENTS. 115 
 
 Vanguard heeled over and sank, righting herself, how- 
 ever, as she went down, " and groaning," the men said, 
 " as if she knew that her time was come," while the 
 water rushing in and over her made a noise like the 
 convulsive sobs of a dying giant ! 
 
 We may well believe that the four hundred and fifty 
 men, who had so lately called the noble ship their own, 
 did not look on unmoved as the Vanguard thus, as it 
 were grieving over her sad fate, yielded herself into the 
 bosom of the deep. 
 
 Although the similar loss of a German ironclad did 
 not happen until two years later, yet I am tempted to 
 record it here as a terrible warning of what must surely 
 happen when strict discipline is not maintained, and 
 little or no presence of mind is brought to meet extreme 
 and sudden danger. We have seen how the exercise of 
 obedience and courage, quick-witted minds and ready 
 action, saved the men of the Vanguard. We have now 
 to hear how the want of these excellent properties cost 
 the German nation a loss equal to our gain in the 
 other case. 
 
 A small but powerful squadron of German ironclads 
 
 the Konig Wilhelm, flag-ship, the Grosser Kurfurst, 
 
 and the Preussen was out in the Strait of Dover 
 
 for naval practice, when a collision took place which 
 
 sent the Grosser Kurfurst to the bottom. It happened 
 
 (697) 8
 
 116 "STRUCK BY A FRIEND." 
 
 thus : In the course of the manoeuvres a signal was 
 made for the ships to form in line and steam ahead 
 the Grosser Kurfurst first, the Konig Wilhelm second, 
 and the Preussen last. In this formation the squadron 
 proceeded till within three miles of the shore, near 
 Folkestone ; and it was at that moment that a Nor- 
 wegian barque was observed going across the bows of 
 the leading ship. The officer in charge of the Grosser 
 Kurfurst, obeying the rule that steam-ships must give 
 way to sailing ones, at once gave orders for the helm to 
 be put hard-a-port. Whether a signal was made to the 
 Konig Wilhelm to intimate that her leader had altered 
 her course or not does not appear. Anyhow, the second 
 of the line continued her course, with the result of 
 running into the first. Striking a terrific blow amid- 
 ships with her powerful ram, the flag-ship cut the 
 Grosser Kurfurst to the water's edge. The extent of 
 the damage done soon became too evident. The blow 
 had been struck in such a way as to make the water- 
 tight bulkheads quite useless, and the water soon found 
 its way in in every direction. 
 
 In a short time the Grosser Kurfurst gave a great 
 lurch off to starboard and went down. Almost all on 
 board were too panic-stricken to do much towards help- 
 ing themselves, and much confusion ensued. A number 
 of the crew got into the rigging ; and every effort was 
 made by the Konig Wilhelm to save life, although it
 
 THREE HUNDRED LIVES LOST. 117 
 
 would seem that there had been some unaccountable 
 delay in sending relief. Life-buoys were flung over- 
 board and boats sent off by her ; and the Folkestone 
 fishermen returning to port also gave efficient help. 
 Sailing round the spot they saved seventy-two men. 
 From some unexplained reason the Preussen lowered 
 no boats. In half an hour after the lamentable acci- 
 dent no one was left floating ; but until that time the 
 air was filled with the despairing cries of the drowning 
 men, and during the first ten minutes the water around 
 the spot was " black with the forms of men struggling 
 madly for their lives." 
 
 Our coastguard put off to assist, and were greatly in- 
 strumental in rescuing many, and one of their officers 
 affirmed that if the Grosser Kurfurst's crew had been 
 taught to swim they might all have been saved. As it 
 happened, only two hundred escaped, and three hundred 
 of their country's best went down with the ironclad. 
 
 It has been truly, if often, said that no more awful 
 accident can be imagined than that of a fire on board a 
 ship at sea. I remember once when I was a child wit- 
 nessing the destruction of a small vessel lying at anchor. 
 Fortunately the few men composing her crew were on 
 shore, so that no lives were sacrificed ; but the spectacle 
 which she made as she burned fiercely to the water's 
 edge, the flames like fiery creatures of every form coiling
 
 118 AN EMIGRANT VESSEL. 
 
 and shooting up her mast and rigging, and tossing her 
 blazing spars into the hissing sea, remains with me as 
 vividly as at the time it happened. What, then, must 
 be the horrors of a similar scene of destruction when 
 the vessel is far, far out on the ocean, and many human 
 beings have trusted their lives to her keeping ? 
 
 The more noted shipwrecks of late years would not 
 be complete without a mention of the burning of the 
 Sphinx, in March 1878 ; but all the circumstances con- 
 nected with it were so repulsively terrible and harrowing 
 that I do not wish to do more than give a very brief 
 account of it. The Sphinx, an Austrian steamer, was 
 employed to convey three thousand Circassian emigrants 
 when the tragedy I have to tell you occurred. They 
 embarked at Cavallo, on the ^Egean coast. 
 
 We are accustomed to think of large emigrant vessels 
 crowded with indigent folk hoping to better themselves 
 by going abroad, and necessarily doing the voyage as 
 cheaply as possible as anything but comfortable means 
 of transportation ; but the worst of Irish or German 
 vessels of this description must have been commodious, 
 airy, luxurious, compared to the Sphinx, crammed to 
 suffocation by thousands of half-civilized beings under 
 no supervision or restraint. The vessel seemed to have 
 been in no way properly prepared for her duty. She 
 lacked sufficient fuel, water, provisions, and she was 
 evidently unable to encounter rough weather.
 
 BETWEEN FIRE AND WATER. 119 
 
 When near Cape Elias she met a strong gale blowing 
 from the south-east, and it was resolved to make for 
 Famagusta, to replenish scanty supplies. But when 
 the Sphinx was doubling the Klito Rock, off Cape St. 
 Andrea, the tempest increased tenfold. Presently she 
 shipped a sea which carried forty persons off the fore- 
 castle. The vessel soon became unmanageable and 
 would not obey her helm. An attempt was made to 
 turn back, but it proved abortive ; and the hatches 
 having to be kept open, lest the crowd below should 
 suffocate, it was feared that the hold would fill with 
 water. 
 
 While the ship lay in this helpless condition, smoke 
 was observed rising out of the fore-hatch, and in a few 
 minutes she grounded on a sand-bank. The night was 
 fast approaching to add to the horrors of the situation. 
 Meanwhile the fire increased, and the confusion, and 
 uproar, and selfish madness among the Circassians were 
 awful. It soon became apparent that there was no way 
 of putting down the fire, which evidently would rage 
 and destroy until it came in contact with the element 
 that is as powerful as itself. 
 
 The Circassians crowded on deck until there was 
 not standing room on a plank or spar which lay above 
 water. Fearing that the multitude coming up from 
 below would push those already on deck into the sea, 
 the sailors, with the consent and assistance of the Cir-
 
 120 HORROR ON HORROR! 
 
 cassians who had been fortunate enough to escape from 
 below, closed the hatches upon the rest, who perished 
 horribly of fire and suffocation. 
 
 As the night wore on, the scene became aggravated 
 by an attempt on the part of the emigrants to murder 
 the captain and crew. These, however, contrived to 
 escape in a boat, and were received on board a French 
 gunboat two days later. In the morning the survivors 
 managed to land. The number lost was estimated at 
 five hundred ; and the one consolatory circumstance in 
 the whole of this most horrible narrative is the fact 
 (almost miraculous) that the greater number of the emi- 
 grants escaped with life. Among those thousands we 
 must hope and believe that there were many lives worth 
 preservation, though the conduct of the majority would 
 lead us to adopt a different conclusion.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 " Wrecked as homeward he did come." Macbeth. 
 
 BRIEF telegraphic despatch which appeared 
 in the newspapers of the 25th of March 
 1878 told us that our navy had once more 
 sustained a heavy loss, and under circumstances so 
 fearfully sudden and disastrous as to strike us with a 
 certain feeling of awe. H.M.S. Eurydice had cap- 
 sized during a terrific squall and snow-shower off 
 Dunose Headland, on the south-east coast of the Isle of 
 Wight. 
 
 The sad event has been so graphically described in a 
 heart-moving poem that I cannot give an account of the 
 loss in better words than those contained in Sir Noel 
 Paton's stirring lines : 
 
 THE LAST OF THE EURYDICE. 
 (Sunday, 24th March 1878.) 
 
 The training-ship Eurydice 
 
 As tii?ht a craft, I ween, 
 As ever bore brave men who loved 
 
 Their country and their Queen,
 
 122 THE LAST OF THE EURYDICE. 
 
 Built when a ship, sir, was a ship, 
 And not a steam machine. 
 
 Six months or more she had been out 
 
 Cruising the Indian Sea ; 
 And now, with all her canvas bent, 
 
 The fresh breeze blowing free, 
 Up Channel in her pride she came, 
 
 The brave Eurydice. 
 
 On Saturday it was we saw 
 The English cliffs appear, 
 
 And fore and aft, from man and boy, 
 Up rang a British cheer, 
 
 While many a rough and ready hand 
 Dashed off the gathering tear. 
 
 We saw the heads of Dorset rise 
 
 Fair in the Sabbath sun ; 
 We marked each hamlet gleaming white 
 
 The church spires one by one ; 
 We thought we heard the church bells ring 
 
 To hail our voyage done ! 
 
 '' Only an hour from Spithead, lads ; 
 
 Only an hour from home ! " 
 So sang the captain's cheery voice 
 
 As we spurned the ebbing foam, 
 And each young sea-dog's heart sang back, 
 " Only an hour from home ! " 
 
 No warning ripple crisped the wave 
 
 To tell of danger nigh, 
 Nor looming rack, nor driving scud ; 
 
 From out a smiling sky, 
 With sound as of the trump of doom, 
 
 The squall broke suddenly. 
 
 A hurricane of wind and snow 
 From off the Shanklin shore,
 
 THE LAST OF THE EURYDICE. 123 
 
 It caught us in its blinding whirl 
 
 One instant, and no more ; 
 For, ere we dreamt of trouble near, 
 
 All earthly hope was o'er. 
 
 No time to shorten sail, no time 
 
 To change the vessel's course ; 
 The storm had caught her crowded masts 
 
 With swift, resistless force : 
 Only one shrill, despairing cry 
 
 Rose o'er the turmoil hoarse. 
 
 And broadside the great ship went down 
 
 Amid the swirling foam ; 
 And with her nigh four hundred men 
 
 Went down in sight of home 
 (Fletcher and I alone were saved) 
 
 Only an hour from home ! 
 
 There is little more to tell of this noble vessel's fate. 
 One of the two survivors said that he was more than 
 an hour in the water. He had seen Captain Hare, 
 among others, clinging to some rigging, drawn down in 
 the vortex. Being a good swimmer, he had striven 
 to assist some, but at last there were four holding on to 
 him, and then he had to throw them off. 
 
 The Eurydice had left Bermuda three weeks before. 
 She had been commissioned as a training-ship in 1877, 
 and was returning from a winter's cruise in the West 
 Indies. She carried four guns, and was noted for being 
 one of the swiftest cruisers in the service. She had 
 been quite newly done up, and was ship-rigged, destitute 
 of machinery, being merely intended to enable young
 
 124 LONDONERS AFLOAT. 
 
 sailors to acquire expertness in seamanship, and she was 
 manned for the most part by lads who remained six 
 months to learn their trade, and were then drafted from 
 the Eurydice to ironclads. 
 
 A passing schooner that came to render assistance 
 picked up five men Lieutenant Tabor being one of the 
 number but all died from the effects of the accident 
 except Cuddiford and a boy, Sidney Fletcher. 
 
 Shortly before starting on her voyage, the Ewydice 
 paid a visit to the Firth of Forth, when many persons 
 were allowed an opportunity of seeing how Britannia 
 educates her Jack Tars. Little did those who so recently 
 admired the trim ship and her orderly young crew think 
 how soon they would be mourning their untimely fate. 
 
 No one but a Londoner can fully understand what 
 enjoyment a Londoner derives from a day's outing in 
 the country or on the water. It is a pleasure talked of 
 for weeks, remembered for years. Such days come 
 seldom in the lives of the middle class of metropolitan 
 workers, and they are treasured as the green spots in 
 memory's waste. 
 
 How many hundreds of such pleasure-seekers left 
 home on the 4th September 1878 anticipating a day of 
 thorough freedom from care, a day of innocent enjoy- 
 ment. The sun shone fair, the traffic on the Thames 
 was at its usual height of exhilarating noise and bustle.
 
 INTERESTING GROUPS. 125 
 
 The Princess Alice had run up some flags to give her a 
 more than ordinary holiday appearance. All was good- 
 humoured jostling and excitement on board as the 
 crowd strove to settle themselves in comfortable quarters 
 and prepare for a good time. Here you would see a 
 vigilant governess collecting her girls around her like a 
 hen with its chickens. There you would catch sight of 
 a young couple married that morning, and cooing over 
 each other in the approved mode. Yonder sits the pale 
 over- worked mother of a dozen children, trying to forget 
 her cares for one day, while around her the cause of all 
 her paleness and her anxiety rampage in wild enjoyment 
 of a day on the water. Leaning against the rail stands 
 a group of undersized, white-faced clerks smoking cheap 
 cigars and talking in nautical phraseology under the 
 delusion that they are seamen because afloat. Chattering 
 and giggling in a corner sit a number of pretty milliners 
 pretty, yet with the overtaxed look which is the 
 painful characteristic of all " working" Londoners. Stout 
 and jovial, laughing with hearty loudness, we see the 
 well-to-do tradesman who has taken his entire house- 
 hold for a day's pleasure his sonsy, smiling wife and 
 winsome daughter, his schoolboy son, and baby in the 
 neat nursemaid's arms. A little apart from the family 
 groups loiter thoughtful-looking men, whose refined 
 features and hard horny hands proclaim them to be 
 that large powerful class of Londoners who are for ever
 
 1 26 THE RETURN VO YA GE. 
 
 exercising both hands and head, and who take their 
 enjoyments of life sparingly and gravely. It is difficult 
 in such a crowd (over seven hundred people) to describe 
 separate parties ; but this we know, that they were all 
 there to enjoy a day's excursion down the river, and the 
 fatal termination of their pleasure, poor things, is one of 
 the sad pages of our sea history. 
 
 The Princess Alice left London Bridge in the morn- 
 ing, and touched at several places of interest in the 
 course of the day. Her farthest point was Sheerness 
 and the Nore. It was a pleasant excursion : the scenery 
 was varied and beautiful, notwithstanding the fact that art 
 and not nature made the chief part of its attractiveness. 
 
 As the vessel steamed up river again the passengers 
 chatted merrily of all they had seen, and, though some 
 were slightly fatigued, all were loud in affirming that a 
 more enjoyable trip could not have been. The various 
 groups had got blended together in interesting combina- 
 tions. The clerks had attached themselves to the 
 milliners. The children had mingled in a game of 
 romps. The mothers had become confidential over 
 luncheon baskets. The heads of families had found 
 mutual interests in the price of provisions and Glad- 
 stone's last telling speech. It had been indeed a 
 pleasant day. Ah, well ! perhaps those happy hearts 
 were better attuned to the sudden change approaching 
 than if a lingering illness had worn out both mind and
 
 A BRAVE STEWARD. 127 
 
 body until they had become imbued with the one selfish 
 desire for rest. 
 
 It was six o'clock, and the Princess Alice had re- 
 turned as far as the Beckton Gasworks, near Woolwich, 
 when, without warning, without a moment's knowledge 
 of what was about to happen, another steamer ran into 
 her, and she began to sink immediately. 
 
 The scene on board became awful. The second 
 steward said that he was in the saloon when he heard 
 a crash. At first he thought it was a barge alongside, 
 but a second crash sent him on deck, " to see that we 
 were sinking." He rushed to the saloon gangway, and 
 shouted, " Come up ; we are foundering." He caught 
 his betrothed as she ran past, and lifting her on his 
 shoulder, leapt overboard and swam for the shore ; but 
 as he was striking out, the poor girl, rendered unconscious 
 through fear, fell off his shoulder, and though he dived 
 several times, hoping to recover her, she was lost. 
 
 By that time the steamer had gone down, and the river 
 around the spot was covered with a struggling, scream- 
 ing, gasping multitude, and the steward said he was 
 nearly drowned by the maddened efforts made to seize 
 hold of him. He was unselfish enough to linger near, 
 and helped one gentleman. Swimming with him to a 
 little distance, he kept him up till help came. 
 
 Alas ! of help there was very little, for the bank of 
 the river is thinly populated at that part, and there
 
 128 NOT ABLE TO SWIM. 
 
 were very few vessels near. The two that were avail- 
 able came at once and rendered all the assistance pos- 
 sible, but even before these could reach the spot the 
 greater number of the unfortunate passengers had 
 perished. 
 
 The water was as still as a mill-pond, the evening 
 fair, the shore quite near, and if they had been able to 
 swim, or even float, not one of all that five hundred 
 need have perished. About two hundred were saved. 
 It is to be hoped that the lesson will not be lost upon 
 others, and that swimming will soon be looked upon 
 as a necessary part of education. It is not only 
 one of the best of all physical accomplishments ; it 
 trains the mental powers also, teaching (and to women 
 such teaching is most needful) self-possession, moral 
 courage, bravery, promptitude, and many other "first 
 class" virtues. 
 
 The Bywell Castle, which had done the mischief, re- 
 mained near to assist, and numerous boats soon arrived on 
 the scene, but only to help to pick up the floating dead ; for 
 within five minutes after the collision all was still and 
 calm once more. The Princess Alice was quite visible 
 at low water, showing how easily a rescue might have 
 been effected if Ah, if ! 
 
 That evening the offices of the London Steamboat 
 Company were besieged by anxious inquiries ; and then 
 as the news spread, and the appalling extent of the loss
 
 CALLED EARLY. 129 
 
 of life became known, multitudes rushed to Woolwich 
 and its neighbourhood some to claim their dead, 
 others to mourn for what the waters had kept, and a 
 few to receive back with joy their loved ones. 
 
 Outside the balcony of a board-room lay the fair 
 dimpled forms of four little children, picked up and 
 laid side by side, though they had evidently belonged 
 to different families. Happy babies ! swiftly and at the 
 same instant taken to behold the Father's face. 
 
 A little blue-eyed girl of seven was running about 
 the shore asking for " papa." A boy of eight was found 
 stranded, and when picked up said, " When I found 
 myself in the water I just lay quiet and the waves 
 carried me ashore ! " 
 
 The majority of those lost were women ; and it is 
 most saddening to think that the light of so many 
 homes was thus terribly extinguished through that dis- 
 regard of rules of the road which is becoming only too 
 common, and which should be punished most severely. 
 
 In November 1878, the mail-steamer Pomerania, 
 belonging to the Hamburg American Company, was on 
 the homeward voyage from New York. She had made a 
 good passage across the Atlantic, and alt on board were 
 in high spirits at the thought of reaching beloved, 
 Fatherland next day. The Pomerania had come a few 
 miles off the South Foreland ; the weather was thick
 
 130 "BE MERRY, FOR TO-MORROW" 
 
 and rainy, but a good watch was kept and the speed 
 slowed. As evening set in some passengers retired to 
 their berths, but the greater number beguiled the time 
 by dancing and music. Suddenly, like the voice of 
 doom, a roar and crash shook the vessel, and seemed to 
 tear her asunder. It was the now, alas ! old story. She 
 had been run into amidships on the starboard side, and 
 almost all of her boats were so smashed as to be un- 
 available. The captain seems to have been a man of 
 much energy and self-possession, and his orders were 
 obeyed at once. The passengers behaved well, a sailor 
 said ; but comments were afterwards made on the fact 
 that one hundred of the crew were saved and only half 
 of the passengers. 
 
 The steamer carried eight lifeboats capable of con- 
 taining two hundred and fifty persons. Unfortunately 
 the greater number of the boats could not be launched, 
 and of the five that were, three were scarcely able to 
 float. 
 
 The Mod Eilean (with which the Pomerania had 
 collided) was so injured that, but for her water-tight 
 compartments, she must have sunk. Her bows were 
 quite knocked away. She remained in the vicinity, but 
 could render no assistance whatever. 
 
 Although many were panic-stricken there was little 
 disorder on board the foundering ship, and not a few 
 heroic deeds were done. One gallant lad, believing that
 
 INCIDENTS, 131 
 
 all his family had got into a boat except himself, and 
 knowing that she could take no more, cut the rope and 
 sent her adrift before the rush of people reached her. 
 Then finding that a young sister was left, he fastened 
 her to a rope, and tossed her overboard to another boat. 
 The sailor in command refused to draw the poor girl 
 from the water. He " was overcrowded already," he 
 said, and she was drowned. 
 
 One lady caught u.p a lantern, and guided herself and 
 a friend to where a boat was being launched, and stood 
 there holding the light that the men might see to get 
 out the boat. When that was done they called her to 
 come ; so, handing her lantern to an officer who stood 
 near, the brave lady clambered over the ship's side and 
 dropped into the boat. 
 
 Captain Schwenzen seemed to forget himself alto- 
 gether at the post of duty, and when urged by his men 
 to save himself manfully refused. When last seen he 
 was standing on the quarter-deck calling good-bye to 
 those who were fortunate enough to escape, and it was 
 supposed that he had gone down with his ship. He 
 was, however, picked up two hours after the catastrophe 
 by a passing steamer. 
 
 The Pomeranias splendid lights were burning till 
 she disappeared, and when morning came all that re- 
 mained visible of her were her topmasts and fore and 
 main yards. 
 
 (OT) 9
 
 132 " WHA T WILL GRANNY SA Y .?" 
 
 The boats that got away with one hundred and 
 seventy-two persons drifted for half-an-hour, and were 
 then found by the Glengarry, which hove-to till day- 
 light in hopes of saving more. Unfortunately no one 
 survived to need such assistance, and it only remains to 
 quote the interesting narrative of one of the rescued, a 
 little boy of eleven years of age. " My father," he 
 said, " was to meet me at Hamburg. He'll wonder 
 what's come of me. Couldn't a telegram go to say I'm 
 here " (in hospital) " all right and jolly ? I was coming 
 over in charge of the steward. I've had disease of the 
 hip-joint for ever so long, but I hopped on deck when I 
 heard the uproar, and a sailor saw me. He lifted me 
 up and tossed me to another, who chucked me into a 
 boat. I wonder what granny in New York will say 
 when she sees it all in the papers ! "
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 " The winds did sing it to me and the thunder." Tempest. 
 
 ]ER Majesty owns a vessel which is known by 
 the nickname of The Unlucky; and certainly, 
 if ever ship earned for herself a name, the 
 Thunderer has deserved that which our tars have be- 
 stowed upon her. 
 
 That she is doomed to become sea- ware we must not 
 predict, but some of her exploits have entitled us to 
 record them along with our other disasters at sea. 
 
 The men were practising with one of her thirty-eight 
 ton guns when a sudden explosion occurred. Two 
 officers and nine men were killed on the spot, and thirty 
 were wounded -some of these died afterwards. 
 
 Before the Thunderer passed from the hands of the 
 contractors a terrible explosion took place. She was 
 sailing in the Solent at the time, and forty of her tem- 
 porary crew were killed. That happened three years ago. 
 
 At Gibraltar she grounded, and her bilge-keels were 
 carried away. At Malta an explosion of coal-gas caused
 
 134 "SOMETHING QUEER." 
 
 so much damage that she had to be sent home for 
 repairs. 
 
 The Thunderer is said to be capable of dealing 
 greater destruction than any other ship afloat, but as 
 yet her great talents in that way have only been 
 directed against herself. Let us hope that she will 
 not develop any further power of self -injury, and that 
 she may never have occasion to try her death-dealing 
 qualities upon a foe ! 
 
 " There's something uncommon queer out yonder," 
 remarked one sailor to another, as they leaned upon the 
 bulwark of their ship and strove to make out the strange 
 object which had attracted their attention. " It's a 
 boat, sure enough, and there are men in her ; but what 
 sort of a boat and what sort of men ? There's the 
 difficulty." 
 
 " And, as I live," exclaimed the other seaman, " there 
 is another of the same two objects ! what are thej 7 up 
 to ?" But the darkness was rapidly falling, and there 
 was a heavy sea, so that it became quite impossible to 
 tell what the boats were about. And, indeed, others of 
 the crew, who had not seen the strange objects, were 
 rather incredulous on the subject, and insisted that the 
 two who had were either spinning a yarn, or had been 
 favoured with a vision of some sea monster. 
 
 The winds were adverse, and the storm increased so
 
 DEAD! 135 
 
 much that the schooner was obliged to abandon her 
 course and run before the gale until near morning. The 
 tempest then abating somewhat, she resumed her voyage, 
 and was courageously beating up in the face of the con- 
 trary winds, when one of the men exclaimed, as they 
 neared the place where they had sighted the queer boats 
 on the previous evening, " Well, I'm a Dutchman if 
 there ain't them visions, as ye call 'em, just about where 
 they were last night." 
 
 And certainly there could be no doubt about it ; for 
 daylight had come, the schooner was within a very 
 short distance of the boats, and the sun is a bright dis 
 peller of all illusory appearances. Boats they were 
 boats with rudders in their places, yet no hands guiding 
 them, with oars drawn in and sails hauled down, with 
 men on every thwart. Boats tossing aimlessly about 
 that cold northern ocean, seemingly well-found and fully 
 manned. The name of the ship to which they had be- 
 longed could be read. They were the lifeboat and long- 
 boat of the Albert Edward, and the men were twenty in 
 number. " They seem all to have fallen asleep," said a 
 sailor. " Yes, men," said the mate, who had been look - 
 ing at the boats through his glass, " they are asleep 
 sure enough ; but it is a sleep from which there is no 
 awaking. The poor fellows are all dead." And that 
 was the truth. Some were reclining against their com- 
 panions ; some lay as if they had yielded themselves to
 
 136 FAIR ISLE. 
 
 despair and death willingly ; others sat bolt upright at 
 their post with white faces and open eyes, stark and 
 stiff all were frozen to death. The storm was still too 
 great for a boat to be launched ; and, indeed, there was 
 no need to do so, for not one of the score of men who 
 comprised those two hapless crews was alive, or had been 
 alive for many days. The water was well up in the boats 
 and would soon swamp them. That their ship had come 
 to grief was evident, and for them there was nothing 
 to be done but to allow old Ocean to claim his own. 
 
 It is not often that we have to record the wreck of a 
 vessel without having to tell also of the loss of life more 
 or less. It is, therefore, with much satisfaction that I 
 add to my tale of shipwrecks an account of the loss of 
 the barque Julia, which happened on Fair Isle about 
 the end of August 1879. 
 
 It may not be generally known that Fair Isle is a 
 lonely rocky island which lies half-way between Orkney 
 and Shetland. It has been a sort of trap for many a 
 luckless sea-rover, and, if the truth were known, could 
 boast of having had as many victims as the Goodwin 
 Sands, or any other of the places on the English coast 
 famous in the annals of shipwreck. I will quote the 
 newspaper account of the accident, leaving the tale to 
 point its own most evident moral : 
 
 "The" smack Columbine arrived at Lerwick on the
 
 A VOLUNTEER. 137 
 
 21st of August, having on board the captain and crew 
 of a vessel that had been wrecked on Fair Isle the week 
 before. The vessel was the barque Julia of Drammen, 
 coal-laden from Greenock to Cronstadt. Foggy weather 
 had been experienced for some days. On Thursday the 
 island of Foula was seen for a short time, and a course 
 was steered between Fair Isle and Shetland. 
 
 " Fog came down very dense during the night, and 
 about eleven noon the vessel struck a rock while going 
 about four knots an hour. Immediately after striking 
 she sheered off, and in a few moments sank in seventeen 
 fathoms water. The crew had barely time to scramble 
 on to the rock, and could save nothing but what they 
 had on. The rock on which the men found themselves 
 is on the west coast of the island, which is quite unin- 
 habited. After waiting for upwards of twenty-four hours, 
 their case was becoming desperate, there being no signs 
 of any relief coming. The carpenter then volunteered to 
 swim to the shore, and attempt to scale the cliff, which 
 was over a hundred feet high, and very dangerous." 
 
 We can imagine with what trembling hope and fear 
 the group upon the skerry watched their brave comrade 
 make the desperate plunge, for upon the success or 
 failure of his attempt seemed to hang their lives. How 
 anxiously we hope prayerfully did they mark his 
 progress landward, and with what joy they hailed the 
 accomplishment of his gallant feat. " He gained the
 
 138 A LIGHTHOUSE WANTED. 
 
 shore, climbed the cliff, and having reached the inhabited 
 part of the island and informed the people of the cir- 
 cumstances, boats were launched, and in a short time 
 the crew were in safety and receiving all the care and 
 attention that could be bestowed upon them by a sym- 
 pathetic and most hospitable little community. 
 
 " The master and crew all express themselves strongly 
 of opinion that had there been a fog-signal on the island 
 they would have had no difficulty in keeping clear, as the 
 weather had been fine for some days and the sea com- 
 paratively smooth It has long been spoken of, and 
 
 the necessity of having a fog-signal on this dangerous 
 spot has been proved again and again ; but, as yet, 
 nothing has been done in that direction. Had a heavy 
 sea set in, these poor men must have been swept off the 
 skerry, and the fate of them and their vessel would 
 never have been known." 
 
 Soon after this a lifeboat was stationed on Fair Isle, 
 and already it has done good service. Let us hope that 
 the much -needed light will soon follow. 
 
 The Great Queensland, a three-masted iron sailing 
 ship, left London for Australia on the 5th of August 
 1878. She carried a cargo of general merchandise, 
 thirty-four passengers, and a crew of thirty-six all told. 
 When off Gravesend, a quantity of gunpowder was 
 taken on- board, also some detonators and percussion-
 
 A DISAPPEARANCE. 139 
 
 caps. Then the fine ship proceeded down the Channel, 
 in spite of adverse winds and rough weather. 
 
 About the middle of August the Great Queensland 
 was spoken by a passing vessel in the Bay of Biscay, 
 some distance off Ushant Island, and since that date 
 nothing has been seen or heard of her. 
 
 The beautiful ship with her valuable cargo, with her 
 ten times more valuable freight of seventy human beings, 
 has disappeared from mortal ken as completely as if she 
 had been a bubble on the crest of some rampant wave. 
 Eager, longing hearts looked out for news of the missing 
 ship ; wearily they waited, hoping against hope, but 
 never a sign came for a year and four months. Then 
 there came ashore at Cornwall a life-buoy with " Lon- 
 don" and "Great Queensland" painted on it. The buoy 
 had " full-grown barnacles attached to it, showing that 
 it must have been a considerable time in the water." 
 But not much importance was attached to this relic, as 
 there was the possibility that it might have been washed 
 overboard. On the 5th of January 1880 a board drifted 
 ashore in a cove at Portland Island, and this board had 
 the word " Queensland " on it. It was painted, and had 
 not been wrenched from its place, for the screw holes 
 were quite perfect, as though it had been left loose and 
 been washed away. A fortnight later, half a buoy, with 
 "Great Queensland" painted on it, came ashore in Salcombc 
 Harbour. And that is all. Do those relics tell that the
 
 140 EXPLOSIVES ON BOARD. 
 
 ship is lost ? Certainly not ; and yet they seem like 
 mute farewells from her pathetic memorials, for she 
 has never been heard of since the 12th of August 1878 ; 
 and although an official inquiry has been made, no light 
 has as yet fallen upon her fate. Yet that she has been lost 
 no one now doubts ; and vain must be every conjecture, 
 for the sea will not tell us which of our surmises is the 
 correct one, and we can only draw our conclusions from 
 such morsels of sea- ware as the ocean chooses to cast up. 
 
 It was supposed that the Great Queensland had 
 foundered during a storm, but that theory "was care- 
 fully examined and disproved," as she was well-found, 
 thoroughly seaworthy, and in every way prepared to 
 meet rough weather. 
 
 During the investigation, attention became particu- 
 larly directed to the explosives on board, " especially to 
 some blasting powder." This powder was said to be of 
 prodigious strength five times stronger than the ordin- 
 ary blasting powder, and more rapid in combustion. 
 In an account which has been published of the inquiry, 
 it is stated that this powder " is made from wood, by a 
 process similar to that by which gun-cotton is manufac- 
 tured. Among the powder and other explosive mate- 
 rials on board the Great Queensland were two tons of 
 this wood-powder, and it was on the quality of this part 
 of the cargo that the chief portion of the inquiry before 
 the Wreck Commissioners turned.
 
 CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE. 141 
 
 " Major Majendie had on one or two occasions con- 
 demned the powder sent out from these works as imper- 
 fectly made, and therefore unsafe. And the company's 
 counsel before the commissioners said that a former 
 manager made the appalling statement that he never 
 applied any test at all ; that it was a regular rule of 
 thumb ; and that, in fact, he made his powder first, and 
 put his trust in Providence afterwards, and whether he 
 blew up anybody was a perfect matter of chance ! 
 
 " Some of the powder thus imperfectly made was being 
 remade in the early part of last year, when an order for 
 two tons came from Australia. That quantity of the 
 remade powder was consequently done up in inch and 
 inch-and-a-quarter cartridges, and shipped on board the 
 Great Queensland. The report of the Wreck Commis- 
 sioners leaves it morally certain that the Great Queens- 
 land was blown up in the Bay of Biscay by the explo- 
 sion of four-and-thirty tons of powder. The wood- 
 powder ignited, and blew up all the rest, and there is 
 no reason to wonder that three loose articles are all the 
 traces of the ship which have ever come to land." 
 
 If this was indeed how the Great Queensland was 
 lost, it was no accident at all ; 
 
 " It was not in the battle ; 
 
 No tempest gave the shock ; 
 She sprang no fatal leak ; 
 She ran upon no rock." 
 
 It was simply a case of shameful, culpable carelessness,
 
 142 LAST AND SADDEST. 
 
 for which some one is responsible, and should suffer well- 
 merited punishment. 
 
 It is said that one day in August 1878 some persons on 
 the coast of Spain heard a deep booming noise echoing 
 across the sea like the sound of distant battle. If that 
 mysterious sound was what people believe it to have 
 been, then indeed the Great Queensland, passengers, 
 crew, and cargo, were scattered to the winds and waves 
 by one of the most sudden, most tremendous explosions 
 that can be imagined, and we shall never see another 
 relic of them. No more terrible catastrophe could have 
 happened upon the deep ; and the one dreary consola- 
 tion that we have is, that " the destruction would be so 
 instantaneous and complete that none of the persons on 
 board would know what had happened." 
 
 With this " sorrow's crown of sorrow " closes our 
 decade of shipwrecks a sad picture, with few gleams 
 of light to brighten up its sombre tints. Yet most use- 
 ful lessons are to be found in each melancholy tale. 
 Nor must we for one moment doubt that He who per- 
 mits such seeming waste of human life sees a reason for 
 it all, and brings good out of apparent evil. 
 
 And though the sea is such a fruitful source of pain 
 and parting, of suffering and sorrow to us, we yet love 
 its deep waters as our fathers did ; and when we 
 think of the happy future existence which is promised 
 to God's people when we dwell upon scriptural pic-
 
 "THERE SHALL BE NO MORE SEA." 143 
 
 tures of the new heavens and new earth we are fain 
 to say to the sea, with an eminent hymn-writer, 
 
 " Only that which mars thy beauty, 
 
 Only that shall pass away 
 Sullen wilds of ocean-moorland, 
 Bloated features of decay. 
 
 " Only that dark waste of waters 
 
 Line ne'er fathomed, eye ne'er scanned 
 Only that shall shrink and vanish, 
 Yielding back imprisoned land ; 
 
 " Leaving still bright azure ranges, 
 
 Winding round this rocky tower; 
 Leaving still yon gem-bright island, 
 Sparkling like an ocean-flower. 
 
 " Only all of gloom and horror, 
 Idle wastes of endless brine, 
 Haunts of darkness, storm, and danger 
 These shall be no longer thine. 
 
 " Backward ebbing, wave and ripple, 
 
 Wondrous scenes shall then disclose ; 
 And, like earth's, the wastes of ocean 
 Then shall blossom like the rose." 
 
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