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diff --git a/39342-8.txt b/39342-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..615cc64 --- /dev/null +++ b/39342-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15908 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, +Peril, & Heroism. Volume 2 by Frederick Whymper + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 2 + +Author: Frederick Whymper + +Release Date: April 1, 2012 [Ebook #39342] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO 8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEA: ITS STIRRING STORY OF ADVENTURE, PERIL, & HEROISM. VOLUME 2*** + + + + + + [Illustration: THE NAVAL FLAGS OF THE WORLD.] + + + + + + THE SEA + + _Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism._ + + + BY + + F. WHYMPER, + AUTHOR OF "TRAVELS IN ALASKA," ETC. + + +_ILLUSTRATED._ + + +* * + + +CASSELL PETTER & GALPIN: +_LONDON, PARIS & NEW YORK_. +[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED] + + + + + + CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. +THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). PAGE +Extent of the Subject--The First American Colony--Hostilities with 1 +the Indians--117 Settlers Missing--Raleigh's Search for El +Dorado--Little or no Gold discovered--2,000 Spaniards engage in +another Search--Disastrous Results--Dutch Rivalry with the +English--Establishment of two American Trading Companies--Of the +East India Company--Their first Great Ship--Enormous Profits of the +Venture--A Digression--Officers of the Company in Modern +Times--Their Grand Perquisites--Another Naval Hero--Monson a Captain +at Eighteen--His appreciation of Stratagem--An Eleven Hours' +hand-to-hand Contest--Out of Water at Sea--Monson two years a +Galley Slave--Treachery of the Earl of Cumberland--The Cadiz +Expedition--Cutting out a Treasure Ship--Prize worth £200,000--James +I. and his Great Ship--Monson as Guardian of the Narrow Seas--After +the British Pirates--One of their Haunts--A Novel Scheme--Monson as +a Pirate himself--Meeting of the sham and real Pirates--Capture of +a Number--Frightened into Penitence--Another caught by a _ruse_ +CHAPTER II. +THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). +Charles I. and Ship Money--Improvements made by him in the 28 +Navy--His great Ship, the _Royal Sovereign_--The Navigation Laws of +Cromwell--Consequent War with the Dutch--Capture of Grand Spanish +Prizes--Charles II. seizes 130 Dutch Ships--Van Tromp and the +Action at Harwich--De Ruyter in the Medway and Thames--Peace--War +with France--La Hogue--Peter the Great and his Naval Studies--Visit +to Sardam--Difficulty of remaining _incognito_--Cooks his own +Food--His Assiduity and Earnestness--A kind-hearted Barbarian--Gives +a Grand Banquet and _Fête_--Conveyed to England--His stay at +Evelyn's Place--Studies at Deptford--Visits Palaces and +Public-houses--His Intemperance--Presents the King with a £10,000 +Ruby--Engages numbers of English Mechanics--Return to Russia--Rapid +increase in his Navy--Determines to Build St. Petersburg--Arrivals +of the First Merchantmen--Splendid Treatment of their +Captains--Law's Mississippi Scheme and the South Sea Bubble--Two +Nations gone Mad--The "Bubble" to pay the National Debt--Its one +Solitary Ship--Noble and Plebeian Stockbrokers--Rise and Fall of +the Bubble--Directors made to Disgorge +CHAPTER III. +THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). +A Grand Epoch of Discovery--Anson's Voyage--Difficulties of manning 45 +the Fleet--Five Hundred Invalided Pensioners drafted--The Spanish +Squadron under Pizarro--Its Disastrous Voyage--One Vessel run +ashore--Rats at Four Dollars each--A Man-of-war held by eleven +Indians--Anson at the Horn--Fearful Outbreak of Scurvy--Ashore at +Robinson Crusoe's Island--Death of two-thirds of the Crews--Beauty +of Juan Fernandez--Loss of the _Wager_--Drunken and Insubordinate +Crew--Attempt to blow up the Captain--A Midshipman shot--Desertion +of the Ship's Company--Prizes taken by Anson--His Humanity to +Prisoners--The _Gloucester_ abandoned at Sea--Delightful Stay at +Tinian--The _Centurion_ blown out to Sea--Despair of those on +Shore--Its safe Return--Capture of the Manilla Galleon--A hot +Fight--Prize worth a Million and a half Dollars--Return to England +CHAPTER IV. +THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). +Progress of the American Colonies--Great Prevalence of 62 +Piracy--Numerous Captures and Executions--A Proclamation of +Pardon--John Theach, or "Black Beard"--A Desperate +Pirate--Hand-and-glove with the Governor of North +Carolina--Pretends to accept the King's Pardon--A Blind--His Defeat +and Death--Unwise Legislation and consequent Irritation--The Stamp +Act--The Tea Tax--Enormous Excitement--Tea-chests thrown into Boston +Harbour--Determined Attitude of the American Colonists--The Boston +Port Bill--Its Effects--Sympathy of all America--The final +Rupture--England's Wars to the end of the Century--Nelson and the +Nile--Battle of Copenhagen +CHAPTER V. +THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). +Early Paddle-boats--Worked by Animal Power--Blasco de Garay's 77 +Experiment--Solomon de Caus--David Ramsey's Engines--The Marquis of +Worcester--A Horse-boat--Boats worked by Water--By Springs--By +Gunpowder--Patrick Miller's Triple Vessel--Double Vessels worked by +Capstans--The First Practical Steam-boat--Symington's Engines--The +Second Steamer--The _Charlotte Dundas_--American Enterprise--James +Rumsey's Oar-boats worked by Steam--Poor Fitch--Before his +Age--Robert Fulton--His Torpedo Experiments--Wonderful Submarine +Boat--Experiments at Brest and Deal--His first Steam-boat--Breaks in +Pieces--Trip of the _Clermont_, the first American +Steamer--Opposition to his Vessels--A Pendulum Boat--The first Steam +War-ship--Henry Bell's _Comet_ +CHAPTER VI. +THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). +The Clyde and its Ship-building Interests--From Henry Bell to 97 +Modern Ship-builders--The First Royal Naval Steamer--The First +regular Sea-going Steamer--The Revolution in Ship-building--The +Iron Age--"Will Iron Float?"--The Invention of the +Screw-propeller--Ericsson, Smith, and Woodcroft--American +'Cuteness--Captain Stockton and his Boat--The First Steamer to +Cross the Atlantic--Voyages of the _Sirius_ and _Great +Western_--The International Struggle--The Collins and Cunard +Lines--Fate of the _Arctic_--The _Pacific_ never heard of more--Why +the Cunard Company has been Successful--Splendid Discipline on +board their Vessels--The Fleets that leave the Mersey +CHAPTER VII. +THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). +A Contrast--Floating Palaces and "Coffin-ships"--Mr. Plimsoll's 112 +Appeal--His Philanthropic Efforts--Use of Old +Charts--Badly-constructed Ships--A Doomed Ship--Owner's Gains by her +Loss--A Sensible Deserter--Overloading--The Widows and +Fatherless--Other Risks of the Sailor's Life--Scurvy--Improper +Cargoes--"Unclassed Vessels"--"Lloyd's" and its History +CHAPTER VIII. +THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_.) +The Largest Ship in the World--History of the _Great Eastern_--Why 129 +she was Built--Brunel and Scott Russell--Story of the +Launch--Powerful Machinery Employed--Christened by Miss +Hope--Failure to move her more than a few feet--A Sad +Accident--Launching by Inches--Afloat at +last--Dimensions--Accommodations--The Grand Saloon--The Paddle-wheel +and Screw Engines--First Sea Trip--Speed--In her first Gale--Serious +Explosion on Board off Hastings--Proves a fine Sea-boat--Drowning +of her Captain and others--First Transatlantic Voyage--Defects in +Boilers and Machinery--Behaves splendidly in mid-ocean--Grand +Reception in New York--Subsequent Trips--Used as a Troop-ship to +Canada--Carried out 2,600 Soldiers--An eventful Passenger +Trip--Caught in a Cyclone Hurricane--Her Paddles almost wrenched +away--Rudder Disabled--Boats carried away--Shifting of Heavy +Cargo--The Leviathan a Gigantic Waif on the Ocean--Return to Cork +CHAPTER IX. +THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). +The Ironclad Question--One of the Topics of the Day--What is to be 138 +their Value in Warfare?--Story of the Dummy Ironclad--Two real +Ironclads vanquished by it--Experience on board an American +Monitor--Visit of the _Miantonoma_ to St. John's--Her Tour round +the World--Her Turrets and interior Arrangements--Firing off the +Big Guns--Inside the Turret--"Prepare!"--Effects of the Firing--A +Boatswain's-mate's Opinion--The _Monitor_ goes round the World +safely--Few of the Original American Ironclads left--English +Ironclads--The _Warrior_--Various +Types--Iron-built--Wood-built--Wood-covered--The Greatest Result yet +attained, the _Inflexible_--Circular Ironclads--The "_Garde +Côtes_"--Cost of Ironclads--The Torpedo Question--The Marquis of +Worcester's Inventions--Bishop Wilkins' Subaqueous Ark--Fulton's +Experiments--A Frightened Audience--A Hulk Blown Up--Government Aid +to Fulton--The _Argus_ and her "Crinoline"--Torpedoes successfully +foiled--Their use during the American War--Brave Lieut. Cushing--The +_Albemarle_ Destroyed--Modern Torpedoes: the "Lay;" the +"Whitehead"--Probable Manner of using in an Engagement--The Ram and +its Power +CHAPTER X. +THE LIGHTHOUSE AND ITS HISTORY. +The Lighthouse--Our most noted one in Danger--The Eddystone 156 +Undermined--The Ancient History of Lighthouses--The Pharos of +Alexandria--Roman Light Towers at Boulogne and Dover--Fire-beacons +and Pitch-pots--The Tower of Cordouan--The First Eddystone +Lighthouse--Winstanley and his Eccentricities--Difficulties of +Building his Wooden Structure--Resembles a Pagoda--The Structure +Swept away with its Inventor--Another Silk Mercer in the +Field--Rudyerd's Lighthouse--Built of Wood--Stood for Fifty +Years--Creditable Action of Louis XIV.--Lighthouse Keeper alone +with a Corpse--The Horrors of a Month--Rudyerd's Tower destroyed by +Fire--Smeaton's Early History--Employed to Build the present +Eddystone--Resolves on a Stone Tower--Employment of "Dove-tailing" +in Masonry--Difficulties of Landing on the Rock--Peril incurred by +the Workmen--The First Season's Work--Smeaton always in the Post of +Danger--Watching the Rock from Plymouth Hoe--The Last +Season--Vibrations of the Tower in a Storm--Has stood for 120 +years--Joy of the Mariner when "The Eddystone's in Sight!"--Lights +in the English Channel +CHAPTER XI. +THE LIGHTHOUSE (_continued_). +The Bell Rock--The good Abbot of Arberbrothok--Ralph the 172 +Rover--Rennie's grand Lighthouse--Perils of the Work--Thirty-two Men +apparently doomed to Destruction--A New Form of outward +Construction--Its successful Completion--The Skerryvore Lighthouse +and Alan Stevenson--Novel Barracks on the Rock--Swept Away in a +Storm--The unshapely Seal and unfortunate Cod--Half-starved +Workmen--Out of Tobacco--Difficulties of Landing the Stones--Visit +of M. de Quatrefages to Héhaux--Description of the Lighthouse +Exterior--How it rocks--Practice _versus_ Theory--The Interior--A +Parisian Apartment at Sea +CHAPTER XII. +THE LIGHTHOUSE (_concluded_). +Lighthouses on Sand--Literally screwed down--The Light on Maplin 182 +Sands--That of Port Fleetwood--Iron Lighthouses--The Lanterns +themselves--Eddystone long illuminated with Tallow Candles--Coal +Fires--Revolution caused by the invention of the Argand +Burner--Improvements in Reflectors--The Electric Light at +Sea--Flashing and Revolving Lights--Coloured Lights--Their +Advantages and Disadvantages--Lanterns obscured by Moths, Bees, +and Birds +CHAPTER XIII. +THE BREAKWATER. +Breakwaters, Ancient and Modern--Origin and History of that at 188 +Cherbourg--Stones Sunk in Wooden Cones--Partial Failure of the +Plan--Millions of Tons dropped to the Bottom--The Breakwater +temporarily abandoned--Completed by Napoleon III.--A Port Bristling +with Guns--Rennie's Plymouth Breakwater--Ingenious Mode of +Depositing the Stones--Lessons of the Sea--The Waves the best +Workmen--Completion of the Work--Grand Double Breakwater at +Portland--The English Cherbourg--A Magnificent Piece of +Engineering--Utilisation of Otherwise worthless Stone--900 Convicts +at Work--The Great Fortifications--The Verne--Gibraltar at Home--A +Gigantic Fosse--Portland almost Impregnable--Breakwaters Elsewhere +CHAPTER XIV. +THE GREATEST STORM IN ENGLISH HISTORY. +The Dangers of the Seas--England's Interest in the Matter--The 197 +Shipping and Docks of London and Liverpool--The Goodwin Sands and +their History--The "Hovellers"--The Great Gale of 1703--Defoe's +Graphic Account--Thirteen Vessels of the Royal Navy Lost--Accounts +of Eye-witnesses--The Storm Universal over England--Great Damage +and Loss of Life at Bristol--Plymouth--Portsmouth--Vessels Driven to +Holland--At the Spurn Light--Inhumanity of Deal Townsmen--A worthy +Mayor saves 200 Lives--The Damage in the Thames--Vessels Drifting +in all Directions--800 Boats Lost--Loss of Life on the River--On +Shore--Remarkable Escapes and Casualties--London in a Condition of +Wreck--Great Damage to Churches--A Bishop and his Lady Killed--A +Remarkable Water-Spout--Total Losses Fearful +CHAPTER XV. +"MAN THE LIFE-BOAT!" +The Englishman's direct interest in the Sea--The History of the 209 +Life-boat and its Work--Its Origin--A Coach-builder the First +Inventor--Lionel Lukin's Boat--Royal Encouragement--Wreck of the +_Adventure_--The Poor Crew Drowned in sight of Thousands--Good out +of Evil--The South Shields Committee and their Prize +Boat--Wouldhave and Greathead--The latter rewarded by Government, +&c.--Slow Progress of the Life-boat Movement--The Old Boat at +Redcar--Organisation of the National Life-boat Institution--Sir +William Hillary's Brave Deeds--Terrible Losses at the Isle of +Man--Loss of Three Life-boats--Reorganisation of the +Society--Immense Competition for a Prize--Beeching's +"Self-righting" Boats--Buoyancy and Ballast--Dangers of the +Service--A Year's Wrecks +CHAPTER XVI. +"MAN THE LIFE-BOAT!" (_continued_). +A "Dirty" Night on the Sands--Wreck of the _Samaritano_--The Vessel 215 +boarded by Margate and Whitstable Men--A Gale in its Fury--The +Vessel breaking up--Nineteen Men in the Fore-rigging--Two Margate +Life-boats Wrecked--Fate of a Lugger--The Scene at Ramsgate--"Man +the Life-boat!"--The good Steamer _Aid_--The Life-boat Towed out--A +terrible Trip--A grand Struggle with the Elements--The Flag of +Distress made out--How to reach it--The Life-boat cast off--On +through the Breakers--The Wreck reached at last--Difficulties of +Rescuing the Men--The poor little Cabin-boy--The Life-boat +crowded--A moment of great Peril--The Steamer reached at last--Back +to Ramsgate--The Reward of Merit--Loss of a Passenger Steamer--The +Three Lost Corpses--The Emigrant Ship on the Sands--A Splendid +Night's Work +CHAPTER XVII. +"MAN THE LIFE-BOAT!" (_continued_). +A Portuguese Brig on the Sands--Futile Attempts to get her 225 +off--Sudden Break-up--Great Danger to the Life-boat--Great +Probability of being Crushed--An Old Boatman's Feelings--The +Life-boat herself on the Goodwin--Safe at Last--Gratitude of the +Portuguese Crew--A Blaze of Light seen from Deal--Fatal +Delay--Twenty-eight Lives Lost--A dark December Night--The +almost-deserted Wreck of the _Providentia_--A Plucky Captain--An +awful Episode--The Mate beaten to Death--Hardly saved--The poor +little Cabin-boy's Rescue--Another Wreck on the Sands--Many +Attempts to rescue the Crew--Determination of the Boatmen--Victory +or Death!--The _Aid_ Steamer nearly wrecked--A novel and successful +Experiment--Anchoring on Board--The Crew Saved +CHAPTER XVIII. +"WRECKING" AS A PROFESSION. +Probable Fate of a rich Vessel in the Middle Ages--Maritime Laws 235 +of the Period--The King's Privileges--Coeur de Lion and his +Enactments--The Rôles d'Oleron--False Pilots and Wicked +Lords--Stringent Laws of George II.--The Homeward-bound +Vessel--Plotting Wreckers--Lured Ashore--"Dead Men Tell no Tales"--A +Series of Facts--Brutality to a Captain and his Wife--Fate of a +Plunderer--Defence of a Ship against Hundreds of Wreckers--Another +Example--Ship Boarded by Peasantry--Police Attacked by +Thousands--Cavalry Charge the Wreckers--Hundreds of Drunken +Plunderers--A Curious Tract of the Last Century--A Professional +Wrecker's Arguments--A Candid Bahama Pilot +CHAPTER XIX. +"HOVELLING" _v._ WRECKING. +The Contrast--The "Hovellers" defended--Their Services--The Case of 245 +the _Albion_--Anchors and Cables wanted by a disabled +Vessel--Lugger wrecked on the Beach--Dangers of the Hoveller's +Life--Nearly swamped by the heavy Seas--Loss of a baling Bowl, and +what it means--Saved on an American Ship--The Lost Found--A +brilliant example of Life-saving at Bideford--The Small Rewards of +the Hoveller's Life--The case of _La Marguerite_--Nearly wrecked in +Port--Hovellers _v._ Wreckers--"Let's all start fair!"--Praying for +Wrecks +CHAPTER XX. +SHIPS THAT "PASS BY ON THE OTHER SIDE." +Captains and Owners--Reasons for apparent Inhumanity--A Case in 261 +Point--The Wreck of the _Northfleet_--Run down by the _Murillo_--A +Noble Captain--The Vessel Lost, with a Hundred Ships near her--One +within Three Hundred Yards--Official Inquiry--Loss of the +_Schiller_--Two Hundred Drowned in one heavy Sea--Life-saving +Apparatus of little use--Lessons of the Disaster--Wreck of the +_Deutschland_--Harwich blamed unjustly--The good Tug-boat +_Liverpool_ and her Work--Necessity of proper Communication with +Light-houses and Light-ships--The new Signal Code and old +Semaphores +CHAPTER XXI. +A CONTRAST--THE SHIP ON FIRE!--SWAMPED AT SEA. +The Loss of the _Amazon_--A Noble Vessel--Description of her 278 +Engine-rooms--Her Boats--Heating of the Machinery--The Ship on +Fire--Communication cut off--The Ominous Fire-bell--The Vessel put +before the Wind--A Headlong Course--Impossibility of Launching the +Boats--"Every Man for Himself!"--The Boats on Fire--Horrible Cases +of Roasting--Boats Stove in and Upset--The Remnant of +Survivors--"Passing by on the Other Side"--Loss of a distinguished +Author--A Clergyman's Experiences--A Graphic Description--Without +Food, Water, Oars, Helm, or Compass--Blowing-up of the _Amazon_--"A +Sail!"--Saved on the Dutch Galliot--Back from the Dead--Review of +the Catastrophe--A Contrast--Loss of the _London_--Anxiety to get +Berths on her--The First Disaster--Terrible Weather--Swamped by the +Seas--The Furnaces Drowned out--Efforts to replace a +Hatchway--Fourteen Feet of Water in the Hold--"Boys, you may say +your Prayers!"--Scene in the Saloon--The Last Prayer Meeting--Worthy +Draper--Incidents--Loss of an Eminent Tragedian--His Last +Efforts--The Bottle Washed Ashore--Nineteen Saved out of Two +Hundred and Sixty-three Souls on Board--Noble Captain Martin--The +_London's_ Last Plunge--The Survivors picked up by an Italian +Barque +CHAPTER XXII. +EARLY STEAMSHIP WRECKS AND THEIR LESSONS. +The _Rothsay Castle_--An Old Vessel, unfit for Sea Service--A Gay 297 +Starting--Drifting to the Fatal Sands--The Steamer Strikes--A Scene +of Panic--Lost within easy reach of Assistance--An Imprudent +Pilot--Statements of Survivors--A Father and Son parted and +re-united--Heartrending Episodes--The Other Side: Saved by an +Umbrella--Loss of the _Killarney_--Severe Weather--The Engine-fires +Swamped--At the Mercy of the Waves--On the Rocks--The Crisis--Half +the Passengers and Crew on an Isolated Rock--Spolasco and his +Child--Holding on for Dear Life--Hundreds Ashore "Wrecking"--No +Attempts to Save the Survivors--Several Washed Off--Deaths from +Exhaustion--"To the Rescue!"--Noble Efforts--Failure of Several +Plans--A Novel Expedient adopted--Its Perils--Another Dreary +Night--Good Samaritans--A Noble Lady--Saved at Last--The Inventor's +Description of the Rope Bridge--The Wreck Register for One +Year--Grand Work of the Lifeboat Institution + + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + PAGE +The Naval Flags of the World _Coloured Frontispiece_ +Raleigh at Trinidad _To face page_ 5 +Sir Walter Raleigh 5 +Raleigh on the River 9 +Monson and the Biscayan Ship 12 +Monson at Cadiz 17 +Action in Cerimbra Roads 21 +Monson at Broad Haven 25 +De Ruyter on the Medway 32 +Peter the Great 33 +The Imperial Workman receiving a Deputation 36 +Old Dockyard at Deptford 37 +Saye's Court, Deptford 39 +Commodore Anson 45 +The _Centurion_ off Cape Horn 49 +Surrender of the _Carmelo_ 56 +Anson taking the Spanish Galleon 61 +Cape Cod 64 +The _Dartmouth_ in Boston Harbour 65 +Destruction of the Tea Cargoes 72 +Nelson and the Bear 73 +Nelson at Copenhagen _To face page_ 76 +Lord Nelson 76 +The _Charlotte Dundas_ 84 +Symington 85 +Outline of Fitch's First Boat 89 +Fitch's Second Boat 89 +The _Clermont_ 93 +Bell's _Comet_ 96 +Four Great Engineers _To face page_ 97 +The _United Kingdom_ 99 +Arrival of the _Great Western_ at New York 100 +Section and Plan of the Stern of a Screw Steamer 101 +The _Robert F. Stockton_ 103 +The First Cunard Steamer 105 +Cunard Paddle Steam-ship _Scotia_ 109 +The Cunard Screw Steam-ship _Bothnia_ 109 +Mr. Plimsoll 112 +Mr. Plimsoll Speaking in the House of Commons 116 +Exterior of Lloyd's 124 +Interior of Lloyd's 125 +The _Great Eastern_ in a Gale off Cape Clear _To face page_ 129 +Mr. I. K. Brunel 129 +Mr. Scott Russell 129 +The Launch of the _Great Eastern_ 133 +Arrival of the _Great Eastern_ at New York 136 +The _Monitor_ passing the Vicksburg Batteries 138 +Peace and War +The _Miantonoma_ 140 +Interior of a Turret Ship 141 +The _Inflexible_ 145 +Section of the _Alexandra_ 147 +Preparing for Torpedo Experiments at Portsmouth +The Old Style and the New (a Three-decker and a +Torpedo Boat) +Lieutenant Cushing's Attack on the _Albemarle_ 149 +Different Forms of Torpedoes 153 +Torpedo Experiments at Portsmouth, with the +Electric Light +Paraguayan Torpedo blowing up a Brazilian 154 +Ironclad +The Tower of Cordouan 157 +Destruction of Rudyerd's Lighthouse _To face page_ 161 +Winstanley's Lighthouse 161 +Rudyerd's Lighthouse 161 +The Eddystone Lighthouse 168 +Portrait of Smeaton 170 +Interior of the Light-chamber of the Eddystone 171 +Lighthouse on the Inchcape Rock 176 +The Skerryvore Lighthouse 178 +Revolving Light Apparatus 184 +Breakwater at Venice 188 +Cherbourg from the Sea 192 +Portland 193 +Holyhead Breakwater 196 +Great Storm in the Downs 200 +The Storm in the Thames at Wapping 204 +West-Indiamen Driven Ashore at Tilbury Fort 205 +A Life-boat Going Out _To face page_ 209 +Greathead's Life-boat 209 +Life-boat Saving the Crew of the _St. George_ 213 +Loss of a Life-boat at the Shipwreck of the 216 +_Ann_ +A Life-boat and Carriage--Latest Form 217 +Ramsgate--The _Aid_ Going Out 220 +"Curly" weather +A Group of Life-boat Men 229 +On the Coast at Deal 232 +Rescue of the Danish Vessel 236 +Survivors Rescued from the Rigging of a Wreck +Wreckers Waiting for a Wreck 241 +Major Warburton at the Wreck of the _Inverness_ 244 +A Wreck Ashore +Loss of the _Albion_ Lugger 248 +Map showing Coast of Ramsgate and the Goodwin 252 +Sands +Wreck of the _Woolpacket_ on Bideford Bar _To face page_ 253 +The Lugger reaching Ramsgate Harbour 253 +Ronayne's Bravery 257 +The _Northfleet_ 260 +Wreck of the _Northfleet_ 265 +The Scilly Islands 268 +The Bishop Rock Lighthouse 269 +Wreck of the _Deutschland_ 272 +Burning of the _Amazon_ _To face page_ 281 +The _Amazon_ Steam-ship 281 +Rescue of the Survivors of the _Amazon_ 284 +The _London_ 289 +The _London_ Going Down 292 +Getting out the _London's_ Boats 296 +Wreck of the _Rothsay Castle_ _To face page_ 297 +The Menai Straits 300 +Saved at Last +Beaumaris 305 +Entrance to Cork Harbour 308 +The Survivors on the Rock 312 +Rescue of the Survivors of the _Killarney_ 316 + + [Illustration] + + + + + + + [Illustration] + + + THE SEA. + + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + + THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). + + + Extent of the Subject--The First American Colony--Hostilities with + the Indians--117 Settlers Missing--Raleigh's Search for El + Dorado--Little or no Gold discovered--2,000 Spaniards engage in + another Search--Disastrous results--Dutch Rivalry with the + English--Establishment of two American Trading Companies--Of the + East India Company--Their first Great Ship--Enormous Profits of the + Venture--A Digression--Officers of the Company in Modern Times--Their + Grand Perquisites--Another Naval Hero--Monson a Captain at + Eighteen--His appreciation of Stratagem--An Eleven Hours' + hand-to-hand Contest--Out of Water at Sea--Monson two years a Galley + Slave--Treachery of the Earl of Cumberland--The Cadiz + Expedition--Cutting out a Treasure Ship--Prize worth £200,000--James + I. and his Great Ship--Monson as Guardian of the Narrow Seas--After + the British Pirates--One of their Haunts--A Novel Scheme--Monson as a + Pirate himself--Meeting of the Sham and Real Pirates--Capture of a + Number--Frightened into Penitence--Another caught by a _ruse_. + + +Many and vast are the subjects which naturally intertwine themselves with +the history of the sea! Great voyages have not been organised for the mere +discovery of so much salt water--except as a means to an end--and the good +ship has almost always sailed with a definite and positive mission. The +history of but a single vessel involves the history, more or less, of +hundreds of people; it may mean that of thousands. So the history of the +ocean is that also of lands and peoples, far off or near. Subjects the +most diverse are still intimately connected with it. In the space of a few +years' time, war and peace are strangely contrasted; brilliant discoveries +are succeeded by disastrous failures, and heroic deeds stand side by side +with shameless transactions. Take only a few of the succeeding pages, and +we shall find recorded in them the stories of the early colonisation of +America, and of the disastrous voyages in quest of the fabled El Dorado, +followed by the brave and daring deeds of one of our greatest naval +heroes; these again by the establishment of the great commercial company +which once ruled India, succeeded by stories of pirates on the sea, and +"bubble" promoters ashore. Sketches of maritime affairs must be "in black +and white," so great are the contrasts. But let us turn to our first +subject, the early voyages to, and colonisation of, the great New World. + +About one hundred men formed the first little colony landed in Virginia +from the expedition of Greenville in 1585. Raleigh, at his own expense, +sent a shipload of supplies for them next year, but before it arrived the +settlers, and the very Indians of whom such flattering accounts had been +given, had quarrelled, and so many of the former had fallen as to imperil +the existence of the colony; the survivors thought themselves fortunate +when Drake unexpectedly arrived off the coast, and took them away. When +Greenville reached the settlement, a couple of weeks after, they had left +no tidings of themselves, and, wishing to hold possession of the country, +he landed fifteen men, well furnished with all necessaries for two years' +use, on the island of Roanoake. This voyage paid its expenses by prizes +taken from the Spaniards, and by the plunder of the Azores on the way +home, where they spoiled "some of the towns of all such things as were +worth carriage." + +Raleigh, next season, fitted out a third expedition of three vessels, with +one hundred and fifty colonists, under the charge of John White, who was +to be Governor, with twelve chosen persons as assistants: their town was +to be named after himself. After narrowly escaping shipwreck, they arrived +off Roanoake, and White, taking the pinnace, went in search of the fifteen +men left in the preceding year, but "found none of them, nor any sign that +they had been there, saving only the bones of one of them, whom the +savages had slain long before." Next day they proceeded to the western +side of the island, where they found the houses which had been erected +still standing, but the fort had been razed. They "were overgrown with +melons of divers sorts," and deer were feeding on the melons. While they +were employed repairing these, and erecting others, one George Howe +wandered some two miles away, when a party of half-naked Indians, who were +engaged in catching crabs in the water, espied him. "They shot at him, +gave him sixteen wounds with their arrows, and after they had slain him +with their wooden swords, they beat his head in pieces, and fled over the +water to the main." Captain Amadas had taken an Indian named Manteo to +England with him, and this man, now with White, was sent to the island of +Croatoan, where his tribe dwelt, to assure them of the friendship of the +English, and an understanding was established. It was ascertained that the +men left the preceding year had been treacherously attacked by hostile +natives, and that two had been killed, and their storehouse burned; the +remainder had successfully fought through the Indians to the water's edge, +and had escaped in their boat, whither they knew not. Their fate was never +learned. Manteo's friends entreated that a badge should be given them, as +some of them had been attacked and wounded the previous year by mistake. +Something similar occurred shortly afterwards, when the English, burning +to avenge Howe's death, attacked a settlement in the night, shooting one +of the men through the body before they discovered that the natives there +were of the friendly tribe. According to Raleigh's instructions, Manteo +was christened, and called lord of Roanoake. About this time, the wife of +Ananias Dare, one of the twelve assistants, was delivered of a daughter, +who, as the first English child born in that country, was very naturally +baptised by the name of Virginia. And now the ships had unladen the +planter's stores, and were preparing for departure. It was deemed +advisable that two of the assistants should go back to England as factors +and representatives of the company, but all appeared anxious to stop. At +length the whole party, with one voice urged White to return, "for the +better and sooner obtaining of supplies and other necessaries for them." +This he very naturally refused, as it would look at home as though the +Governor had deserted his band, and had led so many into a country in +which he never meant to stay himself. But at last he yielded to them, and +was furnished with a testimonial setting forth the reasons. White arrived +in England at a period when the danger of a Spanish invasion was imminent, +a most unfortunate time for the colonists. When Raleigh was preparing +supplies for them, which Greenville was to have taken out, the order was +countermanded. White represented the urgency of their wants, and two small +pinnaces were despatched with supplies, and fifteen planters on board. +Instead of proceeding to America, they commenced cruising for prizes, +till, disabled and rifled by two men-of-war from Rochelle, they were +obliged to retreat to England. And now Raleigh, who is said to have +already expended £40,000 over these attempts at colonisation, appears to +have sickened of them, and to have assigned his patent to a company of +merchant adventurers. White did his utmost for the poor settlers he +represented, and learning that some English ships were about to proceed to +the West Indies, tried his best to arrange that they should take some +provisions and stores to Virginia, the upshot of which was that he only +obtained a passage for himself. + +The colony had now been left to itself for two years. When the vessels +anchored near the spot, they observed a great smoke on the island of +Roanoake, and White, who had a married daughter among the colonists, hoped +that it might proceed from one of their camps. Two boats put off from the +ships, and the gunners were ordered to prepare three guns, "well loaded, +and to shoot them off with reasonable space between each shot, to the end +that their reports might be heard at the place where they hoped to find +some of their people." Their first search was vain, for though they +reached the spot from which the smoke came, there were no signs of life +there. The next day a second search was made, but one of the boats was +swamped, and the captain and four others were drowned. The sailors averred +that they would not seek further for the colonists; they were, however, +over-ruled, and another attempt was made. Again they noted a great fire in +the woods, and when the boat neared it, they let their grapnel fall, and +sounded a trumpet, playing tunes familiar at the time; but there was no +response. They landed at daybreak, and proceeded to the place where the +colony had been left. "All the way," says White, "we saw in the sand the +print of the savages' feet trodden that night; and as we entered up the +sandy bank, upon a tree at the very brow thereof were curiously carved +these fair Roman letters, C R O, which letters presently we knew to +signify the place where I should find the planters seated, according to a +token agreed upon at my departure." He had told them in case of distress +to carve over the letters or name a cross; but no such sign was found. At +the spot itself where he expected the settlement, he found the houses +taken down, and the place enclosed with logs or trees. Many heavy +articles, bars of iron, pigs of lead, shot, and so forth, were lying +about, almost overgrown with grass and weeds. Five chests, of which three +were his own, were found at last, but they had been evidently broken into +by the savages. "About the place," says White, "many of my things, spoiled +and broken, and my books torn from the covers, the frames of some of my +pictures and maps rotten and spoiled with rain, and my armour almost eaten +through with rust." But on one of the trees or chief posts of the +enclosure, the word CROATOAN was carved in large letters, and he now +understood that they were with Manteo's tribe. It was agreed that they +should make for that place; but again fortune was against them. + +One disaster followed another, and when at last they left Virginia, it was +with the intention of wintering in the West Indies, and returning the +following spring; but even this was not to be. Stress of weather drove +them to the Azores, and once there it was naturally decided to return to +England. No later attempt was made to succour them, and the fate of +ninety-one men, seventeen women, and nine children, and of two infants +born there, the names of which are preserved in Hakluyt, was never known. +Raleigh has been greatly blamed for inhumanity in this connection. His +excuse is that it was the busiest part of his eventful life. He had just +borne his part in the defeat of the Armada; had been one of eleven hundred +gentlemen who ventured on the unfortunate Portuguese expedition; had been +sent, in what was regarded as an honourable banishment, but none the less +an exile, to Ireland; on regaining his place in the queen's favour had +taken an active part in Parliamentary service; was concerned in a fresh +naval expedition from which he was recalled by the queen, and had his +first taste of that cell in the Tower, which later on he left only for the +scaffold. + +In 1595, we find Raleigh bent on a discovery which had long been a +feverish dream with him--the conquest of the fabled El Dorado. It was but +the result of the discoveries of the Spaniards in Mexico and Peru; and all +over the Spanish main there was a fond belief extant in something greater +and richer than anything yet found. One of the traditions of the day was +that a relative of the last reigning Inca of Peru, escaping from the wreck +of that empire, with a large part of its remaining forces and treasure, +had established himself in a new country, which was found to be itself as +rich in mines as that from which he had migrated. "The Spaniards," says +Southey, "lost more men in seeking for this imaginary kingdom than in the +conquest of Mexico and Peru." + + [Illustration: RALEIGH AT TRINIDAD.] + + [Illustration: SIR WALTER RALEIGH.] + +Raleigh was encouraged in this enterprise by such men as Cecil, and the +Lord High Admiral Howard, who contributed to its cost. His idea was to +enter the land of gold by the Orinoco, and prior to his own voyage he +despatched a ship, under Captain Whiddon, to reconnoitre on that part of +the coast, and to seek information at the island of Trinidad. When Raleigh +and his squadron had arrived at one of its ports he found a company of +Spaniards from whom he cautiously extracted all they knew or believed +concerning Guiana. "For these poor soldiers," says he, "having been many +years without wine, a few draughts made them merry; in which mood they +vaunted of Guiana, and of the riches thereof, and all what they knew of +the bays and passages, myself seeming to purpose nothing less than the +entrance or discovery thereof, but bred in them an opinion that I was +bound only for the relief of those English whom I had planted in Virginia, +whereof the bruit was come among them, which I had performed in my return +if extremity of weather had not forced me from the said coast." Raleigh +stopped some time here, not merely to extract all the information +possible, but also to be revenged on the Governor, who the year before had +behaved treacherously, entrapping eight of Captain Whiddon's men. This he +accomplished by taking and burning one of their new towns, and detaining +the Governor, Berrio, at his pleasure on board. The same day two more of +his ships arrived, and they prepared for the purposed discovery. "And +first," says Raleigh, "I called all the captains (_i.e._, caciques or +native chiefs) of the island together that were enemies to the Spaniards; +* * * and by my Indian interpreter, which I carried out of England, I made +them understand that I was the servant of the queen, who was the great +cacique of the north, and a virgin, and had more caciqui under her than +there were trees on that island; that she was an enemy to the Castellani +(_i.e._, Spanish from Castille) in respect of their tyranny and +oppression, and that she delivered all such nations about her as were by +them oppressed; and having freed all the coast of the northern world from +their servitude, had sent me to free them also, and withal to defend the +country of Guiana from their invasion and conquest. I showed them her +Majesty's picture, which they so admired and honoured as it had been easy +to have brought them idolatrous thereof." Raleigh used the Governor with +courtesy and hospitality, and sounded him well concerning Guiana; and +Berrio conversed with him readily, having no suspicion of Raleigh's +intentions. But when Sir Walter told him that he had resolved to see that +country, the Governor "was stricken into a great melancholy," and tried +all he could to dissuade him. He described the rivers as full of +sandbanks, and so shallow that no bark or pinnace could ascend them, and +scarcely a ship's boat; that they could not carry provisions for half the +journey, and that the "kings and lords of all the borders of Guiana had +decreed that none of them should trade with any Christians for gold, +because the same would be their own overthrow, and that for the love of +gold the Christians meant to conquer and dispossess them altogether." The +golden country was 600 miles farther from the coast than he had been +informed, which piece of news Raleigh carefully concealed from his +company, for he was resolved "to make trial of all, whatsoever happened." +After many explorations, on the part of his captains, of the rivers, the +mouths of which were found to be as shallow as he had been told, he, with +100 men divided in a galley, four boats and barges, and carrying +provisions for a month, resolved to see for himself. + +From the spot where the ships lay, they had as much sea to cross as +between Dover and Calais, the waves being high, and the current strong. +They at length entered a stream, which Raleigh called the River of the Red +Cross, and where they noted Indians in a canoe and on the banks. Their +interpreters, Ferdinando and his brother, went ashore to fetch fruit, and +drink with the natives, when they were seized by the chief with the +intention of putting them to death, because "they had brought a strange +nation into their territory to spoil and destroy them." Ferdinando and his +brother managed to escape, the former running into the woods, and the +latter reaching the mouth of the creek where the barge was staying, when +he cried out that his brother was slain. On hearing this, "we set hands," +says Raleigh, "on one of them that was next us, a very old man, and +brought him into the barge, assuring him that if we had not our pilot +again we would presently cut off his head." The old man called to his +tribe to save Ferdinando, but they hunted him through the forest, with +shouts that made the whole neighbourhood resound. At length he reached the +water, and climbing out on an overhanging tree, dropped down and swam to +the barge, half dead with fear. The old Indian was retained as pilot. + +Ascending with the flood, and anchoring during ebb tide, they went on, +till on the third day their galley grounded, and stuck so fast that it was +a question whether their discoveries must not end there; but at last, by +lightening her of all her ballast, and hauling and tugging, she was once +more afloat. Next day they reached a fine river, where there was no flood +tide from the sea, and they had to contend against a strong current; "and +had then," says Raleigh, "no shift but to persuade the company that it was +but two or three days' work" to reach their destination. "When three days +were overgone, our companies began to despair, the weather being extreme +hot, the river bordered with very high trees that kept away the air, and +the current against us every day stronger than the other; but we once more +commanded our pilots to promise to end the next day, and used it so long +as we were driven to assure them from four reaches of the river to three, +and so to two, and so to the next reach; but so long we laboured that many +days were spent, and we driven to draw ourselves to harder allowance, our +bread even at the last and no drink at all; and ourselves so wearied and +scorched, and doubtful withal whether we should ever perform it or no, the +heat increasing as we drew towards the line, for we were now in five +degrees. The farther we went on (our victuals decreasing and the air +breeding great faintness) we grew weaker and weaker, when we had most need +of strength and ability, for hourly the river ran more violently than +other against us; and the barge, wherries, and ship's boat had spent all +their provisions, so as we were brought into despair and discomfort, had +we not persuaded all the company that it was but one day's work more to +attain the land, where we should be relieved of all we wanted; and if we +returned that we should be sure to starve by the way, and that the world +would also laugh us to scorn." The old Indian now offered to take them to +a town at a short distance, where they could get bread, hams, fish, and +wine, but to reach it they must leave the galley, and proceed up a smaller +stream with the barge and wherries. Raleigh, with two of his captains and +sixteen musketeers started, but when, after hard rowing, it grew night, +and there were no signs of the place, they feared treachery. The old +native still assured them that it was but a little further, and they rowed +on past reach after reach, and still no town or settlement could be +discovered. At last they decided to hang the pilot, and Raleigh states +distinctly that "if we had well known the way back again by night, he had +surely gone, but our own necessities pleaded sufficiently for his safety, +for it was now as dark as pitch, and the river began so to narrow itself, +and the trees to hang from side, so as we were driven with arming swords +to cut a passage through those branches that covered the water." At last, +an hour after midnight, a light was seen, and the welcome noise of the +village dogs heard, as they rowed towards it. There were few natives there +at the time, but some quantity of provisions was obtained, with which they +returned to the galley next day. The natives called this stream the river +of alligators, and a negro, who was one of the galley's crew, venturing to +swim in it, was devoured by one of those animals. Raleigh says of the +country through which it passed, "whereas all that we had seen before was +nothing but woods, prickly bushes, and thorns, here we beheld plains of +twenty miles in length, the grass short and green, and in divers parts +groves of trees by themselves, as if they had with all the art and labour +in the world been so made of purpose; and still as we rowed, the deer came +down feeding by the water's side, as if they had been used to a keeper's +call." + +Still proceeding up the great river, their provisions almost exhausted, +they observed four canoes coming down the stream, to which they gave +chase. The people in two of the larger escaped into the woods, and left +behind a large stock of bread, which was very welcome. Searching the +woods, Raleigh came across an Indian basket, which proved to be that of a +refiner, as it contained quicksilver, saltpetre, and other things for +gathering and testing metals, and also the dust of such as he had +discovered. Raleigh offered £500 to the soldier who should take one of +three Spaniards known to have been with this party, but they escaped. He +was more fortunate with the Indians who had accompanied them, and one of +them was taken for pilot, from whom he learned that the richest mines were +"defended with rocks of hard stones, which we call white spar" (presumably +quartz). He states that in the canoes which escaped there was a good +quantity of ore and gold. + +Still proceeding, on the fifteenth day, to their great joy, the distant +mountains of Guiana came into view, and the same day brought them in sight +of the great Orinoco, about the branches of which river thousands of +tortoise eggs were found, which proved to be "very wholesome meat, and +greatly restoring." The natives, too, were friendly, and to Raleigh's +credit, be it said, he appears in all cases to have treated them fairly +and well. With the cacique he made merry, treating the natives to a small +quantity of Spanish wine, they in return bringing in fruits, bread, fish, +and flesh. The chief conducted them to his own town, "where," says +Raleigh, "some of our captains caroused of his wine till they were +reasonably pleasant; for it is very strong with pepper, and the juice of +divers herbs digested and purged; they keep it in great earthen pots of +ten or twelve gallons, very clear and sweet; and are themselves at their +meetings and feasts the greatest carousers and drunkards in the world." +The settlement stood on a low hill, "with goodly gardens a mile compass +round about it." And so they proceeded, meeting friendliness everywhere +among the natives, till the rivers commenced fast rising, and they could +not row against the stream. Small parties were then detailed ashore to +look for mineral stones. Raleigh describes the country as lovely; "the +deer crossing in every path; the birds towards the evening singing on +every tree with a thousand several tunes; cranes and herons, of white, +crimson, and carnation, perching on the river's side; the air fresh with a +gentle easterly wind; _and every stone that we stooped to take up promised +either gold or silver by its complexion_. * * * I hope some of them cannot +be bettered under the sun; and yet we had no means but with our daggers +and fingers to tear them out here and there, the rocks being most hard, of +that mineral spar aforesaid, which is like a flint, and is altogether as +hard, or harder; and besides, the veins lie a fathom or two deep in the +rocks. But we wanted all things requisite, save only our desires and good +will, to have performed more, if it had pleased God." Some of the others +brought glistening stones, and among them, apparently pyrites, which very +commonly accompanies gold, but of the precious metal itself Raleigh could +hardly boast a speck in truth. His account of these discoveries is mixed +up with the strangest fables, as for example of the Ewaipanoma, a people +of that country whose eyes were in their shoulders, and their mouths in +the middle of their breasts! + + [Illustration: RALEIGH ON THE RIVER.] + +The ships were regained, and the expedition sailed for England, where +Raleigh, in spite of the work which he published under the boastful title +of "The Discovery of the Large, Rich, and Beautiful Empire of Guiana, with +a Relation of the Great and Golden City of Manoa (which the Spaniards call +El Dorado)," &c., lost both popular and queenly favour, having brought +home no booty. In fact the narrative given to the world rather did him +harm than good, for it is full of excuses, admits that the voyage had been +most unprofitable, and is undoubtedly not veracious in many particulars. +His arguments for immediately attempting the conquest of Guiana were not +regarded. Yet still he had means and friends. Two expeditions to Guiana +were afterwards organised, neither of which resulted in any discovery or +profit. + +But others besides Raleigh and his followers had been inflamed with the +accounts floating about concerning El Dorado. Berrio, the Spanish Governor +before mentioned, despatched his camp master to Spain to levy men, sending +with him some golden carvings and "images, as well of men as beasts, +birds, and fishes," in order to obtain further aid from the king and his +subjects. This agent, Domingo de Vera, was a man of ability, and +thoroughly unscrupulous; he courted notoriety by appearing always in a +singular dress, adorned with golden trinkets and jewels, and being of +great stature, and riding always a great horse, attracted much attention, +being known popularly as the Indian El Dorado. He was successful in +raising seventy thousand ducats at Madrid, and a large additional sum at +Seville: obtained authority for raising a band of adventurers, and five +good ships to carry them out. Men of good birth left their estates, +respectable middle-class men gave up their incomes and employments, sold +everything, and embarked with their wives and children; even a prebendary, +and many priests, gave up sure prospects of advancement to join the +expedition, which at last aggregated two thousand persons. Berrio had only +asked for 300, and when the expedition reached Trinidad, they had to be +apportioned to various other settlements; the women and children being +serious encumbrances at the time, and enduring great misery. The savage +Caribs attacked their canoes when proceeding to St. Thomas and elsewhere. +One detachment of three hundred were reduced to thirty souls by the crafty +Indians, who, after very partially supplying them with provisions, watched +them sink with weakness and disease till they became an easy prey. In some +places they set fire to the grass, and the wretched travellers, unable to +fly before it, were burned to death. Those who reached the Orinoco, not +merely found no gold, but little of that abundance so glowingly described +by Raleigh. Vera himself soon died in Trinidad, and Berrio did not long +survive him. Of the original two thousand who left Spain, it is doubtful +whether a tithe survived the first year. Had Raleigh been a favourite with +the people, or had his character been above suspicion, it is more than +likely that some similar disaster might have had to be recorded on the +pages of English history. + +Sir Walter Raleigh has enlightened us,(1) as regards the condition of +commerce and of the English mercantile marine shortly before the union of +the crown of England and Scotland, in a remarkable paper, "which +contains," says a competent authority, "many remarkable commercial +principles far in advance of the age in which the author lived." He states +that the ships of England were not to be compared with those of the Dutch, +and that while an English ship of one hundred tons required a crew of +thirty men, the Dutch would sail such a vessel with one-third that number. +Holland became the depôt of numerous articles, "not one hundredth part of +which were consumed by the Dutch," while she gave "free custom inwards and +outwards for the better maintenance of navigation and encouragement of the +people to that business." Sir Walter tells us that France offered to the +vessels of all nations free customs twice and sometimes three times each +year when she laid in her annual stock of provisions, and also in such raw +materials as were not possessed by herself in equal abundance. Denmark +granted free customs the year through, excepting only one month. The Dutch +were the great carriers by sea, in consequence of the facilities granted +them at home, "and yet the situation of England lieth far better for a +storehouse to serve the south-east and the north-east kingdoms than theirs +do; and we have far the better means to do it if we apply ourselves to do +it." He complained that although the greatest fishery in the world is on +the coasts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Holland despatched to the +Baltic and up the Rhine more than a million pounds sterling worth of +herrings, where we did not export one. He states that Holland trafficked +in "every city and port of Britain with five or six hundred ships yearly, +and we chiefly to three towns in their country and with forty ships; the +Dutch trade to every port and town in France, and we only to five or six," +and that the Dutch were even ruining our Russian trade. In spite of +probable exaggerations in Raleigh's statements as laid before the King, it +is evident that with the laws as they stood, the Dutch must have had, as +regards their commercial marine, very much the best of it. + +While there was much depression among the shipowners, they did not +overlook the advantages to be derived from intercourse with the +newly-discovered world of North America. Though the expeditions promoted +by Raleigh and his associates had been unfortunate, profitable ventures +were soon after made, beads, trinkets, and articles of little value being +exchanged for skins and furs obtained by the Indians; and Captain Gosnold +made in 1602 the first _direct_ voyage across the Atlantic to America--all +other English sailors at least having sailed by way of the Canaries and +West Indies. "Steering in a small bark, directly across the Atlantic, in +seven weeks he reached Cape Elizabeth on the coast of Maine. Following the +coast to the south-west, he skirted 'an outpoint of wooded land;' and +about noon of the 14th of May he anchored 'near Savage Rock,' to the east +of York Harbour.... Not finding his 'purposed place' he stood to the +south, and on the morning of the 15th discovered the promontory which he +named Cape Cod. He and four of his men went on shore. Cape Cod was the +first spot in New England ever trod by Englishman." He traded with the +natives in peltries, sassafras, and cedar-wood, and was probably the first +to sow English corn on the Island of Martha's Vineyard. In 1606 two +maritime companies, the "Plymouth Adventurers," and the South Virginia +Company, were authorised to colonise and form plantations; the first +having right to the territory which now embraces Pennsylvania, New Jersey, +and New York; and the second, to that which now includes Maryland, +Virginia, and North and South Carolina. A single steamer of these days has +often landed more emigrants at New York than did a dozen of these early +expeditions at other points, for their progress at first was painfully +slow. + +The great East India Company was formed in England more than a century +after the discovery, by Vasco de Gama, of the route to India _viâ_ the +Cape. The first voyage of Thomas Cavendish is worthy of more note than it +has received, inasmuch as it contributed more than anything else to +awakening the merchants of London to the importance of the trade prospects +there. Starting in July, 1586, he circumnavigated the globe, passing +through the Straits of Magellan westward, in eight months less than Drake. +He was the first English navigator to discern the value of the position of +St. Helena, to describe with accuracy the Philippine Islands, and to bring +home a map and description of China; and what is more remarkable is the +fact that he was scarcely more than twenty-two years of age when he took +command in this first most adventurous voyage. He was shipwrecked five or +six years later on the coast of Brazil, and lost his life there. Through +Mr. Thorne, an English merchant, often mentioned in connection with these +early voyages, the London merchants gained a considerable amount of +knowledge relating to the important trade with the Indies enjoyed by the +Spanish and Portuguese; and at length, in the year 1600, more than 200 +shipowners, traders, and citizens associated, and formed a body corporate, +having received many special privileges from the Crown, "including," says +Lindsay,(2) "that of punishing offenders either in body or purse, provided +the mode of punishment was not repugnant to the laws of England. Its +exports were not subjected to any duties for the four first voyages, +important indulgences were granted in paying the duties on imports, and +liberty was given to export £30,000 each voyage in coin or bullion, +provided £6,000 of this sum passed through the Mint. But not exceeding six +ships, and an equal number of pinnaces, with 500 seamen, were allowed to +be despatched annually to whatever station might be formed in India, with +the additional provisoes that the seamen were not at the time required for +the service of the Royal Navy, and that all gold and silver exported by +the Company should be shipped at either London, Dartmouth, or Plymouth." +The Company started with a capital of £72,000, and equipped five vessels +for the first venture, the largest of which was the _Dragon_ of 600 tons; +her commander, according to the practice of the day, receiving the title +of "Admiral of the Squadron." The first voyage was very successful; +important commercial relations were formed with the King of Achin, in +Sumatra; and a factory established at Bantam, after which the ships +returned to England richly laden. + +A serious rival was, however, in the field. The separation of the Dutch +provinces from the crown of Spain had caused their merchants to be sent +abroad to seek new fields of commerce, and as they had gained an intimate +knowledge of Spanish and Portuguese affairs, they were then the +predominant naval power in the Indian Seas, and were quite ready to +contend against any supremacy on the part of England's traders. English +merchants were, however, ready for them, the profits on the first +expedition having incited them to grander efforts. They obtained a new +Charter in 1609, and the Company constructed a vessel of larger size than +any hitherto employed in the English merchant service, which they named +the _Trades' Increase_. She was 1,200 tons, and even her pinnace was 250 +tons. At her launch, the Company gave a great banquet, at which the dishes +were of china ware, then a great novelty in England. With these and two +other vessels Sir Henry Middleton set sail, touching at Mocha, on the Red +Sea, where, entrapped ashore by the Mohammedans, eighty of his crew were +massacred, sixteen others disabled, and he himself severely wounded. +Proceeding to Bantam, the _Trades' Increase_ was unfortunately +shipwrecked, and poor Middleton died heartbroken at the failure of the +expedition. But other voyages followed, which were enormously profitable +to the Company. One expedition is mentioned which, "though absent only +twenty months, earned in that time a profit of no less than 340 per cent." +"Factories"--trading posts or forts--were established, and the Company +obtained the favour of the Moghul Emperor, Jehangir, more especially after +they had been fortunate enough to repel some of the Portuguese who were +attacking his posts. They even contrived to obtain a footing in Japan, +through the influence of William Adams, a Kentish man, who had been pilot +on one of the earliest Dutch expeditions, and who stood high in the +Emperor's favour. The intercourse then opened was allowed to die out, and +has only been re-established late in our own time. In seventeen years +after the first establishment of the Company its affairs had become so +prosperous that its stock reached a premium of 203 per cent., and the +Dutch East India Company suggested an amalgamation of the two corporations +with a view to exclude and crush their common enemy, the Portuguese. This +was never carried into effect, but in 1619 a treaty of trade and +friendship was established. They were to "cease from rivalry, and +apportion the profits of the different branches of commerce between them." +Alas! all this amicable billing and cooing were to speedily end; such +self-abnegation was found hardly practicable between business rivals. A +series of hostilities ensued in the following year; a number of Englishmen +were massacred by the Dutch at Amboyna, and sea-fights occurred between +the vessels; the result being that the Dutch had it all their own way in a +few years afterwards. The directors of the English Company even meditated +winding up its affairs. Something similar happened more than once +afterwards before they became a grand company and the real governors of +India. The rise of British power there is one of those surprising +revolutions which never before occurred in history. The managers of a +trading company in London first became the lords of a manor a dozen times +the size of England, and controlled the destinies of kings and princes, +engaging in war or peace as occasion seemed to demand. Think of the +affairs of a great country settled in a counting-house! But at length the +anomaly had to cease, and, as most readers will remember, the East India +Company lost its powers and privileges in 1858, and ceased to exist as a +governing body. Retiring allowances were made to commanders and officers. +It may be interesting to note that up to 1814 trade with India, so long a +jealously-guarded monopoly with the Company, was thrown open to private +competition, but that they retained the exclusive trade with China for a +long period after that date. + +A trifling digression may be allowed here, as it really bears on our +subject. The East India Company was long a synonym for everything that was +rich and powerful, and many of its civil servants visited or retired to +England as opulent and independent men. The maritime branch of the service +received a goodly slice of the pie; and some facts relating thereto +recorded by Lindsay, the authority before quoted, himself long a great +shipowner, will astonish and interest the reader. A commander's position +in the H. E. I. Co.'s service was most assuredly worth having, for his +salary was a very small part indeed of his receipts. The Company granted a +number of "indulgences" to their naval officers, of which the following +are only part. Ninety-seven tons of space were reserved for the commander +and officers, of which the former of course took the lion's share, 56½ +tons. They were permitted to import on the homeward voyage tea to the +following extent:--9,336 lbs. for the commander, 1,228 lbs. for first mate, +and the lower grades were each privileged in the same way, but to a +smaller extent. The officers might bring in China-ware as a flooring for +the tea-chests, the quantity of which might range from 20 to 40 tons, +according to the size of the vessel. They were even allowed surplus +tonnage, when it could be safely and conveniently carried. The commander +received as his perquisite the passage-money paid by _all_ private +passengers, the cost of their provisions and wine being alone deducted. +His table was luxuriously supplied, and he was allowed to import for his +own use two butts of Madeira wine. The first mate had, among his extra +allowances, and quite apart from the regular supply of provisions on +board, 24 dozen of wine or beer, 2 firkins of butter, 1 cwt. of cheese, 1 +cwt. of groceries, and 4 quarter casks of pickles for the voyage. Lindsay +says, "So many were their privileges, and so numerous their perquisites, +that during five India or China voyages a captain of one of the Company's +ships ought to have realised sufficient capital to be independent for the +rest of his life." He was, in effect, a merchant, doing business for +himself while in the employ of a large mercantile concern, and his +officers were the same on a smaller scale. The above writer considers that +the direct and inevitable remuneration to a commander was from £3,000 to +£5,000 per round voyage, out and home, but that with his privileges and +perquisites it might and often did reach £8,000 to £10,000, or more. He +mentions one instance which came within his own knowledge, where "the +commander of one of the ships employed on the 'double voyage'--that is from +London to India, thence to China, and thence back to London, where he had +a large interest in the freight on cotton or other produce conveyed from +India to China--realised no less than £30,000." And yet some of them were +not satisfied, and the Company had to make laws and investigations +concerning illicit trading and smuggling with the connivance of the Custom +House officers. Some of the commanders had even put into ports for which +they had no orders, to carry out their own purposes. + +The internal economy of an East Indiaman was, as regards discipline and +order, modelled for the most part upon that of a man-of-war, and carried +more men, twice over, than does many a modern steamer double her tonnage. +Thus, one of the finest vessels of the Company, mentioned by Lindsay, was +for a considerable period the _Earl of Balcarras_. She was of 1,417 tons, +and had 130 souls on board. After the commander came six mates, a surgeon +and assistant, six midshipmen, purser, boatswain, gunner, carpenter, +master-at-arms, armourer, butcher, baker, poulterer, caulker, cooper, two +stewards, two cooks, eight boatswain's, gunner's, carpenter's, caulker's, +and cooper's mates; six quartermasters, a sailmaker, seven servants for +officers, and seventy-eight seamen. But we are wandering from our theme. + + [Illustration: MONSON AND THE BISCAYAN SHIP.] + +The reign of Elizabeth was a glorious epoch in the history of naval +affairs, and great names crowd upon us. It is impossible to pass by that +of Sir William Monson, who served his country for fifty years, through +three reigns, and whose "Naval Tracts" are almost as valuable as were his +services, illustrating as they do the condition of the navy and maritime +affairs of the period, and abounding in the details of well-described +exploits. + +Monson was of a good Lincolnshire family, and at an early age entered +Baliol College, Oxford, where he remained a couple of years, till the +excitement of the war with Spain determined him to run away to sea, as he +did not expect to get the consent of his parents. At this date, 1585, he +was only sixteen years of age. "I put myself," says he, "into an action by +sea, where there was in company of us two small ships, fitted for +men-of-war, that authorised us by commission to seize upon the subjects of +the King of Spain; then made I the sea my profession, being led to it by +the wildness of my youth." He had not long to wait for adventure. "A +strong and obstinate ship of Holland" was encountered, whose captain had +the audacity not to strike his flag immediately, when required to do so. +The Dutch vessel had an English pilot on board, through whom communication +was held; and the master of the privateer, by a ruse of navigation, +ordering his helmsman in a loud voice to port his helm, while in an +undertone he instructed him to do just the reverse, nearly fouled the +Dutchman, whose men got out oars and fenders to prevent the impending +collision. "When we saw their people thus employed," says Monson,(3) "and +not to have time to take arms, we suddenly boarded, entered, and took her +by this stratagem." Monson, when an old man, used to chuckle over his +boyish share in this exploit, and includes it among "stratagems to be used +at sea" in his "Tracts." + +But he was to have speedily a better opportunity of distinguishing +himself. The privateer on which he served--for she was nothing +more--encountered a large Biscayan ship off the Spanish coast, whose +captain refused to strike. A few of the English crew, including Monson, +managed to board her, when the sea suddenly rose, and this mere handful +were left on the Spaniard's decks, while the privateer was compelled to +ungrapple. The storm increased, and it was not possible to succour the +little band, who fought for _eleven_ hours, from eight o'clock in the +evening to seven the next morning. The Spaniards attempted to blow up the +deck which they maintained, but "were prevented by fire-pikes," and at +last surrendered after a desperate contest. The decks were covered with +the dead and dying. "I dare say," says the narrator of the event, "that in +the whole time of the war there was not so rare a manner of fight, or so +great a slaughter of men." Monson, who had now received his "baptism of +fire" with a vengeance, determined that nothing should take him from his +adopted profession, and it is presumable that his friends became +reconciled to it, for we find him suddenly raised, at one step, from the +grade of a volunteer to the rank of captain, although but eighteen years +old! Family influence, doubtless, had something to do with it. Gentlemen +captains, who were often brave men, but who knew little enough about naval +affairs, were common in those days. Raleigh distinguishes them very +distinctly from the "tarpauling captain," or mariner who had learned his +profession from a youth up. Monson, however, as his writings prove, soon +became an adept in navigation and all the arts of seamanship. + +Passing over a voyage in which Monson was nearly shipwrecked, we come to +1589, when he accompanied the Earl of Cumberland in his expedition to the +Azores. The crews were reduced to great distress from want of water, and +while cruising among the islands, a grand spout was seen issuing +apparently from one of their cliffs. Cumberland asked Monson to go with +four men and find out whether it was available for their use. While they +were rowing towards the land, a great whale, lying asleep on the water, +was noted from the ship, and was mistaken for a rock, whereupon the vessel +tacked about and put to sea, leaving Monson to his fate. (The original +narrative does not explain whether the waterspout, noticed from the ship, +had proceeded from the whale, before it fell asleep.) "I had no sooner," +says Monson, "set my foot ashore, than it began to be dark with night and +fog, and to blow, rain, thunder, and lighten in the cruellest manner that +I have seen. There was no way for me to escape death but to put myself to +the mercy of the sea; neither could I have any great hope of help in life, +for the ship was out of sight, and there only appeared a light upon the +shrouds to direct me." The narrative says that a countryman of Monson's on +board prevailed upon his lordship (the Earl of Cumberland) to forbear +sailing. This was, one would think, hardly necessary, as Monson was his +second in command; but stress of weather will probably account for the +vessel being driven some distance. They rowed and rowed, but lost all +sight of the ship. At length, in despair, they fired their last charge of +powder from a musket. The flash was seen through the fog, and they were +saved. "We were preserved," says the narrative, "rather by miracle than +any human act; and to make it the more strange we were no sooner risen +from our seats, and ropes in our hands to enter the ship, but the boat +sunk immediately." The subsequent sufferings of the crew from the +continued want of water have rarely been equalled. "For sixteen days +together," says Monson, "we never tasted a drop of drink, either of beer, +wine, or water; and though we had plenty of beef and pork of a year's +salting, yet did we forbear eating it, for making us the drier. Many drank +salt water, and those that did died suddenly; and the last words they +usually spoke were 'Drink, drink, drink!'" There were 500 men on board, +and the mortality, though not expressly stated in numbers, is said to have +been something fearful. At last they made the coast of Ireland, and +obtained relief. So severely was Monson's health affected by this voyage, +that he retired from the active pursuit of his profession for a year +afterwards. + +Again he joined the Earl of Cumberland in 1591 on an expedition directed +against Spain, off the coasts of which he successfully took two caravels +by one of the stratagems for which he was famous. He had boarded one from +the ship's boat; he manned her with a part of his boat's crew, and rowed +back to his ship. The Spaniards on the other caravel far in the distance +thought that the first, her consort, had been dismissed, and so shortened +sail to meet her; and was consequently taken unawares by a mere handful of +men. But Monson only wanted to obtain information as to the enemy, and let +them both off. This act turned out fortunately for him; for shortly +afterwards, being left in charge of a prize taken from the Dutch, he was +attacked by the Spaniards in six galleys, the consequence being that he +was taken prisoner, when he found that his recent conduct towards the +caravels had been reported favourably, and he was treated with more +courtesy than had been usual before. But he was to suffer a long captivity +for all that. At the Tagus he would probably have escaped had not an +unforeseen chance prevented. While the galleys were in the harbour, a +Brazilian, master of a Dutch ship, chanced to come on board that on which +Monson was confined, and, pitying his hard fate, offered to take him off +on his vessel, if he could devise any plan which should not implicate +himself. Monson gave out to the rest of the prisoners that, tired of his +life, he intended to drown himself. His intention really was to drop +quietly into the water, and if possible swim to the friendly bark. But +just before he had made his arrangements, the galleys were ordered to sea, +and when they returned the ship had sailed. It is probably fortunate for +him that he did not make the attempt, as, had it been frustrated, he would +have probably suffered death, as did an Italian a short time afterwards, +who had been trying to raise a general conspiracy on board. His execution +was effected in the most horrible manner, his arms and legs being +severally tied to the sterns of four galleys, which were rowed in four +different directions, thus quartering him. + +Monson was afterwards removed to the castle of Lisbon, from which an +attempt on his part to escape was frustrated by the treachery of an +English interpreter there, whom he had been forced to employ. Fortunately, +the letter which he had entrusted to a page, who was to have conveyed it +_in his boots_ to Lord Burleigh, became so saturated and obliterated by +rain, that nothing could be made of it, and the whole matter was allowed +to pass. Not so, however, after he had helped a Portuguese to escape, who +had been condemned to death. The latter, aided by Monson's skill, managed +to pass the sentinels disguised as a soldier, and then lowering himself by +a rope, effected his plans. The flight having been discovered, Monson was +accused of having assisted him, and was taken before the judge. "But +neither threats nor promises of liberty could induce him to confess. He +pleaded that he was a prisoner of war, that he was subject to the law of +honour and arms, and that it was lawful for him to seek his freedom: he +urged the improbability of holding such intercourse as was imputed to him +with one whose language he did not understand; and he concluded by +cautioning them to be wary what violence they offered him, as he had +friends in England, and was of a nation that could and would revenge his +wrongs." The latter argument probably it was that carried the day; but +until released--no doubt by exchange--he was closely guarded. + +In 1593, Monson again joined Cumberland, and considering the fidelity +which he had always shown to that admiral, the latter seems to have +treated him very badly. In the course of their voyage, a dozen Spanish +hulks laden with powder were taken, half of which were left to Monson to +haul over, while his admiral put to sea with the rest. Monson had with him +only about fifty men. What was his surprise towards night to find that +Cumberland had released the hulks which he had taken, and that they were +crowding on all sail to join their consorts in his charge, with hostile +intent, which it would be madness on his part to attempt to frustrate. He +barely escaped; when the enemy boarded him on one side of his vessel, he +leaped into the long boat on the other side, receiving a wound which +remained all his days. Southey certainly puts it mildly when he says, "The +conduct of the Earl of Cumberland in this affair admits of no reasonable +or satisfactory explanations," for it looks far more like downright +treachery. A couple of years afterwards, the Earl very plainly declared +his colours by first inducing him to join him in his voyage, and then +superseding him. Monson could not brook this, and returned, after some +adventures, to England, where we soon find him with the Earl of Essex, in +the expedition to Cadiz. At that most remarkable siege, he was in the +thick of the fight ashore with Essex, where he received a shot through his +scarf and breeches; another shot took away the handle and pommel of his +sword, while he remained uninjured. But his principal services were in +connection with the destruction of the fleet, which meant a loss of six or +seven millions sterling to Spain. "The King of Spain," says Monson, "never +received so great an overthrow, and so great an indignity at our hands as +this; for our attempt was at his own home, in his own ports, that he +thought as safe as his chamber, where we took and destroyed his ships of +war, burnt and consumed the wealth of his merchants, sacked his city, +ransomed his subjects, and entered his country without impeachment." +Monson was knighted for his conduct at this siege. + + [Illustration: MONSON AT CADIZ.] + +The abundant "pluck" possessed by Monson is illustrated in the following +example. In 1597, on the island expedition, Monson's ship was separated +some distance from the admiral's squadron, when a fleet of twenty-five +sail was noted approaching in the dead of the night. Not being able to +distinguish their flag, he determined to reconnoitre for himself, before +signalling to the English ships. He approached them in his boat, hailing +them in Spanish, and they, replying that they were of that nationality, +asked whence he came. He replied that he was of England, and told them +that his ship, then in sight, was a royal galleon, and could be easily +taken, his object being to make them pursue him, so that he might +gradually lead them into the wake of the squadron. All he got for this +impudently gallant attempt was a volley of bad language and another of +shot. + +But all Monson's exploits pale before an action which occurred in Cerimbra +roads, in which a great treasure-ship was cut out, in sight of a fortress +and eleven galleys, and within hearing of the guns of Lisbon. He was then +associated with Admiral Sir Richard Lewson, but the principal part of the +service was performed by himself. When the carrack and galleys were +discovered lying at anchor, a council was held on board the admiral's +vessel, which occupied the better part of a day, as many of the captains +thought it folly to attempt to capture a great ship defended by a fortress +and eleven galleys. Monson thought differently, and it was at length +agreed that he and the admiral should anchor as near the carrack as they +could, while the other and smaller vessels should ply up and down, holding +themselves in readiness for any emergency. It is likely, as Southey +remarks, that "the sight of these galleys reminded Sir William of the +slavery he had endured at Lisbon in similar vessels, if not indeed in some +of these identical craft, and he longed to take revenge upon them." Monson +says that in order to show contempt of them, he separated from the rest of +the fleet, by way of challenging and defying them. "The Marquis of St. +Cruz, General of the Portuguese, and Frederick Spinola, General of the +galleys, accepted the invitation, and put out with the intention of +fighting him; but they were diverted from their purpose by a renegade +Englishman, who knew the force of the vice-admiral's ship, and that she +was commanded by Monson." + +The town of Cerimbra lies at the bottom of a roadstead, which usually +affords protection for shipping. It had at that time a strong fortress +close to the beach, and a fortified castle, while there was a troop of +soldiers ashore, whose numerous tents lined the coast. The galleys were +partly covered or flanked by a neck of rock, and the batteries could play +over them, thus affording them great protection, while they could +themselves keep up a continuous fire at any approaching vessel. Again, +Monson tells us, "there was no man but imagined that most of the carrack's +lading was ashore, and that they would hale her aground under the castle +where no ship of ours would be able to come at her--all which objections, +with many more, were alleged, yet they little prevailed. Procrastination +was perilous, and therefore, with all expedition, they thought convenient +to charge the town, the fort, the galleys, and carrack, all at one +instant." This was done next morning, although a gale sprung up about the +time of the attack. The admiral weighed, fired the signal gun, hoisted his +flag, and was the first at the attack; "after him followed the rest of the +ships, showing great valour, and gaining great honour. The last of all was +Monson himself, who, entering into the fight, still strove to get up as +near the shore as he could, where he came to an anchor, continually +fighting with the town, the fort, the galleys, and the carrack all +together; for he brought them betwixt him, that he might play both his +broadsides upon them. The galleys still kept their prows towards him. The +slaves offered to forsake them ... and everything was in confusion amongst +them; and thus they fought till five of the clock in the afternoon." +Monson's stratagems and rapidity of action paralysed the commanders of the +galleys, and the men rowed about wildly to avoid him, not knowing what to +do. The admiral came on board his ship, and, embracing him in the presence +of the ship's company, declared that "he had won his heart for ever." + +And so the battle raged till the enemy showed such evident signs of +weakness, that it was proposed to board the carrack. Here, however, the +admiral interposed, as he wished to preserve the treasure on board. The +ships were ordered to cease firing, and one Captain Sewell, who had been +four years a prisoner on the galleys, from one of which he had only just +escaped by swimming, was selected to parley with them. He was to promise +honourable conditions, but insist that as the English held the roadstead, +as several of the galleys were _hors de combat_, and the castle powerless, +they must expect the worst in a case of refusal. The captain of the +carrack would not treat with an officer who had so recently been a slave +in their power, but sent a deputation of Portuguese gentlemen of quality, +desiring that they should be met by those of similar rank in the English +service. They were, of course, properly received, but having delivered +their message, evinced a great desire to hasten back; they revealed the +real state of affairs by admitting that it was a moot question on the +carrack whether the parley ought to be entertained, or the vessel set on +fire. Monson's promptitude once more saved the situation. Not waiting to +hear any more, or receiving any instruction from Admiral Lewson, he +ordered his men to row him to the carrack. Several officers on board +recognised him, and the commander, Don Diego Lobo, a young man of family, +motioning his men apart, received him courteously. After some little +palaver, Monson informing Don Diego of the rank he held in the expedition, +and assuring him of his high regard for the Portuguese nation, the real +business of their interview was approached. Diego asked that he, his +officers and men, should be put on shore that night; that the ship and its +ordnance should be respected, and its flags remain suspended; the treasure +he would concede to the victors. Monson agreed to the first proposition, +excepting only that he required a certain number of hostages whom he would +detain three days, but laughed at the idea of separating the ship and its +contents; and stated that "he was resolved never to permit a Spanish flag +to be worn in the presence of the Queen's ships, unless it were +disgracefully over the poop." A long discussion followed, and Monson, who +was determined to have his way, made a show of descending to his boat. His +firmness won the day, and all his demands were eventually conceded, after +which he conducted Don Diego and eight gentlemen on board his ship, "when +they supped, had a variety of music, and spent the night in great +jollity." This is Monson's account; it is doubtful whether the Portuguese +were thoroughly enjoying themselves under the circumstances! When next day +Sir William accompanied them on shore, he found the Count de Vidigueira at +the head of a force numbering 20,000 men, whose services were not of much +account now. The disgust ashore at the comparatively easy victory attained +by the English may be imagined. Besides the capture of the carrack, two of +the galleys were burnt and sunk; the captain of another was taken +prisoner, and the others fled during the engagement, although they were +afterwards shamed into returning by the heroic behaviour of Spinola, who +defended the carrack against desperate odds. The total loss of life in the +town, castle, and vessels, although never accurately known, must have been +immense, while the victory was purchased by the English with the loss of +only six men, scarcely a larger number being wounded. + + [Illustration: ACTION IN CERIMBRA ROADS.] + +The carrack, named the _St. Valentine_, was a vessel of 1,700 tons +burthen; she had wintered at Mozambique on her return from the Indies, +where a fatal malady killed the bulk of her crew; indeed, it is stated +that out of more than 600 men scarce twenty survived the whole voyage. The +Viceroy of Portugal sent the galleys before named to protect her, and put +on board 400 volunteers. The value of this prize was close on £200,000. It +is just to Monson to state that he offered Diego "permission to take out +of her whatever portion of the freight he could conscientiously claim as +his own." This proposal the proud young commander declined. His life +afterwards was a series of misfortunes. He was thrown into prison for +losing the carrack; escaped from captivity only to languish an exile in +Italy; and at last died just as fortune once more seemed to smile upon him +by offering him a chance in his own king's service. + +On the accession of James I. a general peace ensued so far as England was +concerned. All in all, the rest was beneficial to the navy, and many +defects were remedied and reforms inaugurated. In one of the earliest +reports presented to the king on the condition of the navy, after +enumerating certain pressing needs, we find the estimate for its _annual_ +expenditure placed at rather less than £21,000--an amount which a single +ironclad would have swallowed up entirely, and got considerably into debt. +James caused one fine vessel to be constructed, in 1610, in which every +improvement known at the time was introduced. She was christened the +_Prince Royal_. Stow describes her as follows:--"This year the king builded +a most goodly ship for warre, the keel whereof was 114 feet in length, and +the cross beam was forty-four feet in length; she will carry sixty-four +pieces of ordnance, and is of the burthen of 1,400 tons. This royal ship +is double built, and is most sumptuously adorned, within and without, with +all manner of curious carving, painting, and rich gilding, being in all +respects the greatest and goodliest ship that ever was builded in England; +and this glorious ship the king gave to his son Henry, Prince of Wales; +and the 24th September, the king, the queen, the Prince of Wales, the Duke +of York, and the Lady Elizabeth, with many great lords, went unto Woolwich +to see it launched; but because of the narrowness of the dock it could not +then be launched; whereupon the prince came the next morning by three +o'clock, and then at the launching thereof the prince named it after his +own dignity, and called it the _Prince_." Phineas Pett, one of a family of +leading naval constructors of those days, was its builder. A well-known +authority(4) says, "Were the absurd profusion of ornament with which the +_Royal Prince_ is decorated removed, its contour or general appearance +would not so materially differ from the modern vessel of the same size as +to render it an uncommon sight, or a ship in which mariners would hesitate +at proceeding to sea in, on account of any glaring defects in its form, +that in their opinion might render it unsafe to undertake a common voyage +in." A very large number of superior vessels were added to the royal navy +during this epoch, but the commercial marine was in a bad way until late +in James's reign. What its conviction was at this time may be gathered +from the fact that in 1615, half way in the reign, there were not more +than ten vessels of 200 tons burthen each in the port of London. Less than +seven years afterwards, such was the improvement, that Newcastle alone +could boast more than a hundred, each of which exceeded that tonnage. + +During this peaceful epoch Monson had to fulfil an unthankful office as +guardian of the narrow seas, _i.e._, the English and Irish Channels, and +adjacent waters. He had to transport princes and ambassadors while war was +going on, and as it would seem from a paper included in his "Tracts," at +his own expense. This document runs at a first glimpse very curiously. +Take one entry, "1604, August 4. The constable of Castile at his coming +over, 200 (followers) 3 (meals)." An unconscionable number of followers +and very few meals, it would seem, for so many; but it doubtless means +three meals apiece on the passage from Calais or Dunkirk to Dover. The +retinue of "followers" sometimes aggregated as many as 300. During this +period, however, Monson made some careful notes on the Dutch fisheries, +then a most important source of revenue to that nation, while ours were +almost entirely overlooked. Nine thousand Dutch vessels were kept in +constant employment by these fisheries, a considerable proportion of which +were on our own coasts, and conducted under our very noses. He was +employed at intervals for two years in combating similar encroachments on +the part of French fishermen. "The adventurous spirit of the age," says +Southey, "was averse to an employment so tranquil and so near home." Men +would rather seek the uttermost parts of the earth in a vain search for +wealth than settle down to a certain, safe, and profitable employment. +Monson waxes eloquently indignant on the subject in one of his chapters. +"My meaning is," he says, "not to leave our fruitful soil untilled, our +seas unfrequented, our islands unpeopled, or to seek remote and strange +countries disinhabited, and uncivil Indians untamed, where nothing appears +to us but earth, wood, and water, at our first arrival; for all other hope +must depend on our labour and costly expenses, on the adventures of the +sea, on the honesty of undertakers; and all these at last produce nothing +but tobacco(5)--a new-invented useless weed, as too much use and custom +make it apparent. * * * * You shall be made to know, that though you be +born on an island seated in the ocean, frequented by invisible fish, +swimming from one shore to the other, yet your experience has not taught +you the benefits and blessings arising from that fish. I doubt not but to +give you that light therein, that you shall confess yourselves blinded, +and be willing to blow from you the foul mist that has been an impediment +to your sight; you shall be awakened from your drowsy sleep, and rouse +yourselves to follow this best business that ever was presented to +England, or king thereof; nay, I will be bold to say, to any state in the +world. I will not except the discoveries of the West Indies by Columbus; +an act of greatest renown, of greatest profit, and that has been of +greatest consequence to the Spanish nation." Exaggerated as all this may +appear, Monson was right in his estimation of the profitable nature of the +business. At that time the Dutch used to vend their fish in every European +market, and obtain in exchange the productions of all countries. Monson +also remarks on the carelessness of the English at that time in regard to +lobsters, oysters, and lampreys, all of which the Dutch obtained from our +coasts. In order to encourage the fisheries an Act had been passed +prohibiting butchers from killing meat in Lent, and Monson wished it to be +made compulsory on the rural population to consume fish. "Neither," says +he, "will it seem a thing unreasonable to enjoin every yeoman and farmer +within the kingdom to take a barrel of fish for their own spending, +considering they save the value thereof in other victuals; and that it is +no more than the fisherman will do to them to take off their wheat, malt, +butter, and cheese for their food to sea." This agitation did good in +calling attention to a neglected industry. The great enemies of the +fishermen then were the pirates who infested the coasts, and who, if they +ran short of provisions, looked upon them as their natural providers, +rarely, if ever, paying for what they took. And before passing to other +subjects, let us accompany Monson--on paper--on a little expedition he took +against some of the said pirates. + +So considerable an amount of alarm had been caused by piratical +adventurers on the coasts of Scotland, that King James was in 1614 +urgently requested to send some royal ships there. Sir William Monson and +Sir Francis Howard were despatched at once, and after calling at Leith to +obtain information and also the service of pilots, proceeded to the Orkney +Islands. Touching at Sinclair Castle, the residence of the Earl of +Caithness, situate on "the utmost promontory" of Britain, they learned +that the accounts had been much exaggerated. There were only two known to +the Earl, and indeed one of them whom Monson took could hardly be deemed +such at all; he was a common sailor, and when he had found out the nature +of the service to which he had been engaged, he had abandoned it as soon +as possible. Clarke, the other adventurer, to whom the title of pirate +more fairly belonged, had been ashore to the castle a day previously, and +had been entertained in a friendly way, the fact being that the Earl and +his tenants were a little afraid of him as an ugly customer. Hearing that +Sir William was on the coast, he had fled: Monson, therefore, finding it +useless and needless to remain at Caithness, sailed for Orkney, where he +left Sir Francis Howard while he proceeded to explore the coasts in +detail, putting into every inlet where it was likely Clarke or other +pirates might be hidden. He was unsuccessful in his search, and at length +decided to make for Broad Haven--a noted rendezvous for pirates--partly on +account of its remoteness and inaccessibility, and partly because one +Cormat dwelt there, who, with his daughters, entertained these thieving +adventurers with great cordiality. On the voyage he encountered a terrible +gale, "that it were fit only for a poet to describe." One of his vessels +was engulfed in the seas, and no traces of it or of its crew remained, +while the others were dispersed and did not see each other again till all +met in England. Monson had now alone to beard the lion in his den. + + [Illustration: MONSON AT BROAD HAVEN.] + +Arrived at Broad Haven, which he describes as "the well-head of all +pirates," he made good use of the half-pirate he had secured, the only +person on board who knew anything of that den of sea-thieves. This man, +with some others of the crew who had had some experience in piratical +pursuits before, were sent to Cormat, "the gentleman of the place," with a +well concocted story. Monson was described, for the nonce, as one Captain +Manwaring, a grand sea-rover, liberal to all he liked, and whose ship was +full of wealth. "To give a greater appearance of truth to all this, the +crafty messenger used the names of several pirates of his acquaintance, +and feigned messages to the women from their sweethearts, making them +believe that he had tokens from them on board. The hope of wealth and +reward set the hearts of the whole family on fire; and the women were so +overjoyed by the love tales and presents, that no suspicion of deceit +entered into their minds." Cormat proffered his services, and recounted +how many pirates he had assisted, at great peril to himself; he further +volunteered to send two "gentlemen of trust" on board next day, as +hostages for his sincerity. He recommended that some of them should come +ashore next day, armed, and kill some of the neighbours' cattle; this was +intended doubtless to frighten the poor settlers round, so that he himself +might derive all the benefit of Manwaring's visit. Next morning the farce +began, the first part of the programme being followed as Cormat had +directed; Captain Chester, with fifty men, was despatched ashore by +Monson; some cattle were killed, and the pseudo-pirates, swaggering and +rollicking, were invited to Cormat's house, where they received a riotous +welcome. Cormat's two ambassadors went on board Monson's vessel, and +delivered a friendly message. When they had delivered it, Sir William +desired them to observe everything around them carefully, and to tell him +whether they thought that ship and company were pirates. It was idle to +dissemble any longer, especially as these men could not, if they would, +betray Sir William's design. He accordingly reproached them for their +transgressions, told them to prepare for death, and ordered them to be put +in irons, taking care that neither boat nor man should be allowed to go on +shore until he was ready to land. When he at length went ashore to visit +Cormat, four or five hundred people had assembled on the beach to receive +the famous "Captain Manwaring." He pretended to be doubtful of their +intentions, when they redoubled their protestations of friendship, three +of the principal men running into the water up to their arm-pits, striving +who should have the honour of carrying him ashore. One of these was an +Irish merchant, who did a thriving trade with the pirates; another was a +schoolmaster; and the third was an Englishman, who had formerly been a +tradesman in London. These gentry conducted Sir William to Cormat's house +amidst huzzas and shouts of welcome, everybody seeking to ingratiate +himself with the supposed pirate. "'Happy was he,' says Monson, 'to whom +he would lend his ear.' Falling into discourse, one told him they knew his +friends, and though his name had not discovered it, yet his face did show +him to be a Manwaring." In short, they made him believe he might command +them and their country, and that no man ever was so welcome as Captain +Manwaring. At the house a scene of revelry ensued; the harper played +merrily for the company, who danced on the floor, which had been newly +strewed with rushes for the occasion. The women made endless inquiries for +their distant lovers, and no suspicion seems to have crossed the minds of +any in regard to the fate of the two ambassadors, who were supposed to be +enjoying themselves with the sailors on board. In the height of the +festivities, the Englishman was particularly communicative; showed Sir +William a pass for the interior which he had obtained by false pretences +from the sheriff, authorising him to travel from Clare to make inquisition +for goods supposed to have been lost at sea, and which enabled him to +journey and sell his plunder without suspicion. He even proffered the +services of ten mariners who were hiding in the neighbourhood, and Monson, +of course, pretended heartily to accept their services, promising a +reward. He asked the man to write them a letter, which at once he did as +follows:--"Honest brother Dick and the rest, we are all made men, for +valiant Captain Manwaring and all his gallant crew are arrived in this +place. Make haste, for he flourisheth in wealth, and is most kind to all +men. Farewell, and once again make haste." Monson took charge of the +letter, and would, doubtless, have used it, had not the approach of night +obliged him to bring about the _denouement_ of this play. The comedy was +all at once to change into a tragedy. + +In the midst of their riotous mirth, he suddenly desired the harper to +cease, and in serious and solemn tones commanded silence. He told them +that, hitherto, "they had played their part, and he had no share in the +comedy; but though his was last, and might be termed the epilogue, yet it +would prove more tragical than theirs." He undeceived them as to his being +a pirate, and declared his real business was to punish and suppress all +such, whom his Majesty did not think worthy the name of subjects. "There +now remained nothing but to proceed to their executions, by virtue of his +commission; for which purpose he had brought a gallows ready framed, which +he caused to be set up, intending to begin the mournful dance with the two +men they thought had been merry-making aboard the ship. As to the +Englishman, he should come next, because being an Englishman his offence +did surpass the rest. He told the schoolmaster he was a fit tutor for the +children of the devil, and that as members are governed by the head, the +way to make his members sound was to shorten him by the head, and +therefore willed him to admonish his scholars from the top of the gallows, +which should be a pulpit prepared for him. He condemned the merchant as a +receiver of stolen goods, and worse than the thief himself; reminding him +that his time was not long, and hoping that he might make his account with +God, and that he might be found a good merchant and factor to Him, though +he had been a malefactor to the law." One can imagine the change which +came over the assembly; all their high spirits were quenched in a minute, +while the principals abandoned themselves to despair, believing that their +hour was at hand. When Sir William left them to go aboard, the carpenter +was still hammering away at the gallows. + +Next morning the prisoners were brought out to meet their doom, and were +kept waiting in an agony of terror, while the people generally were sueing +for their lives, and promising that they would never assist or connive at +pirates again. Sir William had never really the intention to hang any of +them, and "after four-and-twenty hours' fright in irons he pardoned them;" +the Englishman being the only one who suffered any actual punishment. He +was banished from the coast, and the sheriff was admonished to be more +careful in granting passes for the future. + +The very next day, while still at Broad Haven, Sir William nearly captured +a pirate who was entering the harbour, when the latter took alarm at +seeing a strange vessel, and stood off to sea, where he remained six days +in foul weather. A day later the pirate anchored at an island near Broad +Haven, and contrived to forward a letter to Cormat, who having just +escaped one danger, did not desire to risk his neck again; he accordingly +showed the letter to Monson. It ran as follows:--"Dear Friend, I was +bearing into Broad Haven to give you corn for ballast, but I was +frightened by the king's ship I supposed to be there. I pray you send me +word what ship it is, for we stand in great fear. I pray you, provide me +two kine, for we are in great want of victuals; whensoever you shall make +a fire on shore, I will send my boat to you." This just suited Monson, who +had a particular aptitude for stratagem. He directed Cormat to answer his +request in the affirmative. "He bid him be confident this ship could not +endanger him; for she was not the king's, as he imagined, but one of +London that came from the Indies with her men sick, and many dead. He +promised him two oxen and a calf; to observe his directions by making a +fire; and gave him hope to see him within two nights." A few of the ship's +company, disguised in Irish costumes of the period, were sent to accompany +the messenger, with instructions to remain in ambush. The hungry pirates +were keeping a sharp look out for the beacon fire, and it was no sooner +lighted, than they hastily rowed ashore, and received the letter, which +gave them great satisfaction. Sir William meanwhile was quietly laying +plans for their capture. Guided by the Irish peasantry, he took a number +of his company a roundabout trip by land and water till he brought them +suddenly upon the place where the fire was made, and the pirates were +taken so unawares that they yielded without an effort to escape. The whole +gang was seized and taken to Broad Haven, where the captain was hanged as +an example to the rest. Monson so completely cleared the coast of pirates, +and frightened those who had aided them, that on his way home, "groping +along the coast," he could not obtain a pilot. Monson's active career, +although it extended to the reign of Charles I., was now nearly over. + + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + + THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). + + + Charles I. and Ship Money--Improvements made by him in the Navy--His + great Ship, the _Royal Sovereign_--The Navigation Laws of + Cromwell--Consequent War with the Dutch--Capture of Grand Spanish + Prizes--Charles II. seizes 130 Dutch Ships--Van Tromp and the Action + at Harwich--De Ruyter in the Medway and Thames--Peace--War with + France--La Hogue--Peter the Great and his Naval Studies--Visit to + Sardam--Difficulty of remaining _incognito_--Cooks his own Food--His + Assiduity and Earnestness--A kind-hearted Barbarian--Gives a Grand + Banquet and _Fête_--Conveyed to England--His Stay at Evelyn's + Place--Studies at Deptford--Visits Palaces and Public Houses--His + Intemperance--Presents the King a £10,000 Ruby--Engages numbers of + English Mechanics--Return to Russia--Rapid increase in his + Navy--Determines to Build St. Petersburg--Arrivals of the First + Merchantmen--Splendid Treatment of their Captains--Law's Mississippi + Scheme and the South Sea Bubble--Two Nations gone Mad--The "Bubble" + to Pay the National Debt--Its one Solitary Ship--Noble and Plebeian + Stockbrokers--Rise and Fall of the Bubble--Directors made to + Disgorge. + + +Charles I., as we all know, had a fatal amount of belief in the royal +prerogative. One of his first acts, after ascending the throne, was to +assume the direct government of Virginia, and not only to treat the +charter of the company as annulled, "but broadly declared that colonies +founded by adventurers, or occupied by British subjects, were essentially +part and parcel of the dominion of the mother country." The Virginia +Company vainly complained that they had expended a fifth of a million +sterling over the undertaking; their territory was appropriated to the +Crown, as were shortly afterwards North and South Carolina, Georgia, +Tennessee, and part of Louisiana. But these arbitrary acts were as nothing +to the ship-money tax. There was some precedent for it. "The ancient +princes of England, as they called on the inhabitants of the counties near +Scotland to arm and array themselves for the defence of the border, had +sometimes called on the maritime counties to furnish ships for the defence +of the coast. In the room of ships, money had sometimes been accepted. +This old practice it was now determined, after a long interval, not only +to revive but to extend. Former princes had raised ship-money only in time +of war; it was now exacted in a time of profound peace. Former princes, +even in the most perilous wars, had raised ship-money only along the +coasts; it was now exacted from the inland shires. Former princes had +raised ship-money only for the maritime defence of the country; it was now +exacted, by the admission of the Royalists themselves, with the object, +not of maintaining a navy, but of furnishing the king with supplies which +might be increased at his discretion to any amount, and expended at his +discretion for any purpose."(6) The resistance which followed, and which +assisted the unfortunate monarch to his downfall, is too well known to +need recapitulation here. Worthy Monson, who, although bluff and hearty +enough as a sailor, was something of a courtier, defended the levy of the +obnoxious tax. But then he believed that Charles really wanted the money +for the navy alone, and for retaliation upon the Dutch, while the nation +at large had not much faith in their king, or in the alleged purposes for +which the tax was to be levied. This is not the place for any defence, +partial or otherwise, of Charles's policy. He did, however, show a +considerable amount of energy in his attempts to improve the navy, and +constructed one vessel, the _Sovereign of the Seas_, or _Royal Sovereign_, +which was in every respect an advance on anything built before it. One +Thomas Heywood wrote a very learned and flowery tract concerning it. +"There is one thing" says he, "above all things for the world to take +speciall notice of, that shee is beside tonnage so many tons in burden, as +their have beene yeares since our blessed Saviour's incarnation, namely, +1637, and not one under or over; a most happy omen, which, though it was +not the first projected or intended, is now by true computation found so +to happen." A description of her ornamentation would occupy several pages +of this work; gold and black were the colours alone employed. She was 232 +feet long, had three flush decks, besides quarter-deck and raised +forecastle. "Her lower tyre" had thirty ports; her middle tier the same; +and the third, twenty-six ports for guns. Her forecastle, half-deck, +stern, and bows were all pierced for heavy guns--that is, heavy for those +days. On the stern was painted a Latin inscription, thus "Englisht," as +Heywood puts it:-- + + "He who seas, windes, and navies doth protect, + Great Charles, thy great ship in her course direct!" + +She was built of the best oak, and no more seaworthy ship had ever been +turned out from Woolwich previously. _The Royal Prince_, built only +nineteen years before, seems to have been a mere holiday ship, and was at +the above-mentioned date laid up; the _Royal Sovereign_ was in active +service for nearly sixty years, and would have been rebuilt but for an +untoward accident. The history and fate of this fine ship are thus briefly +described by a descendant of the architect, Phineas Pett, writing in +January, 1696:-- + +"The _Royal Sovereign_ was the first great ship that was ever built in +England; she was then designed only for splendour and magnificence, and +was in some measure the occasion of those loud complaints against +ship-money in the reign of Charles I.; but being taken down a deck lower, +she became one of the best men-of-war in the world, and so formidable to +her enemies that none of the most daring among them would willingly lie by +her side. She had been in almost all the great engagements that had been +fought between France and Holland; and in the last fight between the +English and the French, encountering the _Wonder of the World_, she so +warmly plied the French Admiral, that she forced him out of his +three-decked wooden castle, and chasing the _Royal Sun_ before her, forced +her to fly for shelter among the rocks, where she became a prey to lesser +vessels, that reduced her to ashes. At length, leaky and defective herself +with age, she was laid up at Chatham to be rebuilt; but being set on fire +by negligence, she was, on the 27th of this month, devoured by the element +which so long and so often before she had imperiously made use of as the +instrument of destruction to others." + +Charles, in spite of his troubles, either rebuilt or added eighteen +vessels to the Royal Navy, leaving it not merely numerically stronger, but +improved in all other particulars. The immense square sterns and full bows +originally copied from the Dutch (who built their ships apparently on +their own model) gave place to more shapely sterns and sharper bows. +Extremely high poops and forecastles--copied, one would think, from the +Chinese--were abandoned as increasing the dangers of seamanship. Tonnage +and number of guns were largely increased. A "first rate" advanced from +fifty to sixty, and afterwards to a hundred guns. + +Holland, during the reigns of James I. and Charles I., had been carrying +off all the commercial honours from England, and it was becoming evident +that prohibitory laws were needed to stop their triumphant progress on the +sea. In 1646, and again in 1650, two Acts were passed, both having the +same tendency, to prevent foreign ships trading with England's new +plantations in Virginia, Bermuda, Barbadoes, "and other places in +America."(7) On the 9th of October, 1651, the celebrated Navigation Act of +Cromwell came into operation. There were no half measures in that Act. It +declared that no goods or commodities whatever of the growth, production, +or manufacture of Asia, Africa, or America, should be imported either into +Great Britain or Ireland, or any of the colonies, except in _British-built +ships, owned by British subjects, and of which the master and +three-fourths of the crew belonged to that country_. This, literally +translated, meant that England wanted the carrying trade of everything +that concerned her own well being. The next enactment went further. It +provided that no goods of the growth, production, or manufacture of any +country in Europe should be imported into Great Britain except in British +ships, owned and navigated by British subjects, "_or in such ships as were +the real property of the people of the country or place in which the goods +were produced, or from which they could only be, or most usually were, +exported_." This provision was aimed at the Dutch; they had little to +export. But unless one can understand the long-stifled animosity and +jealousy felt in England regarding their commercial supremacy on the seas, +and as regards the carrying trade, he can hardly understand why laws, +which would nowadays be considered ridiculous and unjust, were so popular +then. So strong had these feelings become, that when the Dutch despatched +an embassy to England for the purpose of obtaining a revocation of the +navigation laws, its members had to be guarded from the violence of the +mob. + +England had now unmistakably asserted her right to carry on her own +over-sea trade in her own ships, and to enter the lists with any other +nation as regards foreign trade. This action was a defiance hurled at +Holland, and after a little manoeuvring ended inevitably in war. A few +facts only regarding that war may be permitted here. The Dutch were at +first, and indeed for the most part, the sufferers. Within a month of its +declaration, Blake captured 100 of their herring boats, and twelve of +their frigates, sinking a thirteenth. In 1652-3 there were five actions. +In the first Blake was successful; in the second he was thoroughly beaten +by Martin Tromp (father of the Tromp best known in history). The third, +early in 1653, resulted in a victory for the English, the Dutch losing 300 +merchantmen they had captured not long before; the fourth was a decided +victory for England, and the fifth was an indecisive action. The English, +however, took possession of the Channel, and scarcely a day passed without +Dutch prizes being brought into English ports. Many of the Dutch ships, +returning from distant parts of the world, rounded Scotland, rather than +pass up the Channel. On the fifth of April, 1654, a treaty of peace was +concluded; Cromwell requiring, before it was signed, an admission of the +English sovereignty of the seas, and the Dutch consenting to strike their +flag to the ships of the Commonwealth. + +One of the greatest maritime successes of the Protector's time was the +capture of Spanish galleons worth, with their freight, £600,000. The fleet +had been lying idly off Cadiz endeavouring to provoke the Spanish squadron +to an engagement, or trusting to intercept their returning treasure ships. +Captain Stayner in the _Speaker_, accompanied by the _Bridgewater_ and +_Plymouth_, left the English fleet temporarily with the intention of +taking water on board in a neighbouring bay. On his course he luckily fell +in with eight galleons from America. Such an opportunity warmed up the +hitherto drooping spirits of the English sailors, and they fought with +fury. In a few hours one of the galleons was sunk, a second burned, two +ashore, and four taken prizes. They were loaded with plate, ore, and +money. When the treasure reached London it was placed in open carts and +ammunition wagons, and carried in triumph through the streets to the +Tower, with a guard of only _ten_ soldiers. This rather ostentatious +display of confidence in the people proved an excellent move for Cromwell; +nothing added more to his popularity among the lower classes. The Earl of +Montague, who convoyed it home, but who in reality had nothing to do with +its capture, was the subject of universal panegyrics and parliamentary +thanks. + +If Charles II. could have reversed any of Cromwell's legislative measures, +he and his court would most assuredly have done so. But they were simply +modified, and not to the advantage of the Dutch, who were very much +irritated, but attempted to gain time. Charles, however, without waiting +for a formal declaration of hostilities, seized 130 of their ships laden +with wine and brandy, homeward bound from Bordeaux, which were taken into +English ports, and condemned as lawful prizes, although such an act could +not be justified by any law of nations. War was again declared in 1665, +and an action occurred off Harwich, in which the celebrated Van Tromp was +engaged. The Dutch lost nineteen ships, burnt or sunk, with probably 6,000 +men; the English lost only four vessels, and about 1,500 men. Then came a +coalition between the French and Dutch, and the great battle of June 1st, +1666, in which England lost two admirals, and twenty-three great ships, +besides smaller vessels, 6,000 men, and 2,600 prisoners; and the Dutch +four admirals, six ships, and 2,800 soldiers. The Dutch could fairly claim +the victory here, but less than eight weeks later, July 24th, were +thoroughly beaten, De Ruyter being driven into port, and a large number of +merchant ships and two men-of-war being taken immediately afterwards. +While negotiations were going on for peace next year, the Dutch, believing +Charles to be trifling, despatched De Ruyter to the Thames. All London was +in a panic. A strong chain had been thrown across the Medway, but the +Dutch, with favourable wind and strong tide, broke through it, destroyed +the fortifications of Sheerness, burnt royal and merchant ships, and +pushed up the river as far as Upnor Castle, near Chatham. It was even +feared that the fleet would sail up to London Bridge, and to prevent it, +thirteen ships were sunk in the river at Woolwich, and four at Blackwall. +Numerous platforms furnished with artillery were hastily prepared at +various points. After committing all the damage that he could in the +Thames, De Ruyter sailed for Portsmouth, intending to cause similar havoc, +but finding the fleet well prepared, he passed down the Channel and +captured several vessels at Torbay. Thence turning back, he hovered about +hither and thither, keeping the coast in continual alarm until the treaty +of peace was signed in the following summer. By its provisions each nation +retained the goods and prizes it had captured, while all ships of war and +merchant vessels belonging to the United Provinces meeting our men-of-war +in British waters, were required to "strike the flag and lower the sail as +had been formerly practised." From this date the merchant navy of England +steadily increased, and London became that which Amsterdam had been, the +mart of nations, the chief emporium of the commercial world. In spite of +De Ruyter, England had therefore greatly gained by this war. + + [Illustration: DE RUYTER ON THE MEDWAY.] + +And now France sought to pluck from England the laurels she had won from +the Dutch. Her naval force had become formidable, and augmented by +privateers, played havoc with our merchant vessels. By the destruction or +capture of nearly the whole of our Smyrna fleet, with two English ships of +war convoying them, and other captures, it was estimated that the loss to +England was a million sterling. But May 12th, 1692, brought its revenge. +On that day the memorable battle of La Hogue was fought, and the French +lost nearly the whole of their navy to us. + +From 1688 to the death of Queen Anne, the trade of the American +plantations had steadily and rapidly increased, till at the latter date it +employed 500 vessels, a large proportion of which were engaged in the +slave trade from Africa. It started as a monopoly in the hands of the +African Company, incorporated at first under Act of Parliament as traders +in gold and ivory, but soon developing into traffickers in human flesh. In +1698 an Act of Parliament gave permission to all the king's subjects, +whether of England or America, to trade to Africa on payment of a certain +percentage to the company on all goods exported or imported, negro slaves +being, nevertheless, exempted from this tax. How great this inhuman and +nefarious trade had developed may be gathered from the fact that the +French, _in one year_, and to supply _one_ island, that of St. Domingo, +transported 20,000 slaves from Africa. + + [Illustration: PETER THE GREAT.] + +Passing rapidly over the pages of history, we come to an important epoch +in the progress of merchant shipping, when the trade to Russia was +practically thrown open to our merchants by an Act "entitling any person +to admission to the Russia Company upon payment of an entrance fee of five +pounds." It was about this time that the Czar abdicated temporarily, and +made a voyage to Holland and England, travelling _incognito_, or as much +so as he could. Many popular accounts of Peter the Great's stay in these +two countries are so full of errors that the present writer may be +permitted to give, moderately in detail, some account of them, derived +from the best authorities.(8) They have a distinct bearing on our subject, +not merely because one of Peter's leading objects was the study of +ship-building and maritime affairs, but because his studies led to an +immense increase in Russia's naval power. Previously, in fact, she could +hardly be said to have had any at all. + +In many published accounts the Czar is represented as a mere youth at the +period of his visit to the dockyards of Holland and England. The fact is +that he was twenty-five years of age, and had already served in two +campaigns. Indeed, it may be said that the latter campaign, in which he +conquered Azoff, partly by the assistance of foreigners and ships built by +foreigners, was the means of opening his eyes to the superiority of the +Western Europeans over his own barbarous subjects. Resolute, ambitious, +and intelligent, he determined that his people should not remain half +savages. Influenced by such motives, he dispatched, in 1697, sixty young +Russians, selected out of the army, to Venice and Leghorn, under orders to +make themselves instructed in everything pertaining to the arts of +ship-building and navigation; forty more were sent to Holland for the same +purpose, and his own voyage had largely the same object. "It was a thing," +says Voltaire, "unparalleled in history, either ancient or modern, for a +sovereign of five-and-twenty years of age to withdraw from his kingdom for +the sole purpose of learning the art of government." It happened that +Peter was not as yet represented at any of the foreign courts, and he +therefore appointed an embassy extraordinary to proceed, in the first +instance, to the States-General of Holland, while he would accompany it +simply in the character of an _attaché_. The three ambassadors were +General Le Fort, a native of Geneva, who had been of immense service to +the Czar, and was now his confidential friend; Alexis Golowin, Governor of +Siberia; and Voristzin, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. With +secretaries, attachés, pages, and guards, the retinue numbered 200 +persons. Their passage through Germany was a grand carouse, and the hard +drinking for which the Russians are still noted, was very much observed. +At one of these bacchanalian debauches, the Czar, who was a hot-headed +man, took such violent offence at something said by Le Fort, that he drew +his sword and ordered him to defend himself. "Far be it from me," said Le +Fort; "rather let me perish by the hand of my master." Peter had raised +his arm, but one of the retinue dared to interfere, and caught hold of it. +Peter's anger was of short duration; he displayed, says Voltaire, "_autant +de regret de cet emportement passager qu'Alexandre en eut du meurtre de +Clitus_," and immediately asked Le Fort's pardon, saying, "that his great +desire was to reform his subjects, but he was ashamed to say he had not +yet been able to reform himself." + +Having reached Emmerich, the impetuous and youthful monarch left the +embassy, and proceeded in a boat down the Rhine, not halting till he +reached Amsterdam, "through which," says one authority, "he flew like +lightning, and never once stopped till he arrived at Zardam,(9) fifteen +days before the embassy reached Amsterdam." One of his small party in the +boat happened to recognize a man there who was fishing in a boat, as one +Kist, who had worked for some time in Russia. He was called to them, and +his astonishment may be conceived at seeing the Czar of all the Russias in +a little boat, dressed like a Dutch skipper, in a red jacket and white +trousers. Peter told Kist that he should like to lodge with him; the poor +man did not know what to do, but finding the Czar in earnest procured him +a cottage behind his own, consisting of two small rooms and a loft. Kist +was instructed not to let any one know who the new lodger was. A crowd +collected to stare at the strangers; and to the questions put to them, +Peter used to answer in Dutch that they were all carpenters and labourers +hard up for a job. But the crowd did not believe it, for the dresses of +some of his companions belied the statement. The Czar, shortly after +arriving at Zardam, paid visits to a number of the families of Dutch +seamen and carpenters whom he was employing at Archangel and elsewhere, +representing himself as a brother workman. Among others he called upon a +poor widow, whose deceased husband had once been a skipper in his employ, +and to whom he had some time before sent a present of 500 guilders. The +poor woman begged him to tell the Czar how "she never could be +sufficiently thankful" for his great kindness, little dreaming that the +rough-looking young man before her was that monarch. He assured her that +the Czar should most certainly be acquainted with her message. Peter +proceeded to purchase a quantity of carpenter's tools, and his companions +were ordered to clothe themselves in the common garb worn in the +dockyards. + +Next day was Sunday, and it became evident that some one had let the cat +more or less out of the bag, for crowds of sailors and dock-hands +assembled before Peter's lodgings, which annoyed him terribly. But the +fact is that a Dutch resident of Archangel had written home to his +friends, informing them of the projected voyage, and enclosing a portrait +and description of the Czar. Among the crowd a garrulous barber, who +believed he had recognised him, shouted out, "Dat is der Tzar!" and all +poor Peter's little stratagems could not save him from the curiosity of +the populace. A Hollander has left a description of him, which would +indicate that he was too noticeable to be mistaken by any who had once +seen him. He was very tall and robust, quick and nimble of foot, and +dexterous and rapid in all his actions; his face was plump and round, +fierce in his look, with brown eyebrows, and short curling hair of a +brownish colour. His gait was quick, and he had a habit of swinging his +arms violently, while he always carried a cane, which he occasionally used +very freely over the shoulders of those who had offended him. "His +extraordinary rapidity of movement in landing or embarking used to +astonish and amuse the Dutch, who had never before witnessed such +'_loopen, springen, en klauteren over der schepen_.'" + + [Illustration: THE IMPERIAL WORKMAN RECEIVING A DEPUTATION.] + +When the embassy entered Amsterdam formally, Peter took part in the +procession, but only as a private gentleman in one of the last carriages, +and he was not recognised. But little of his time was given to the +ambassadors; it was almost entirely spent in the docks, among +shipbuilders, and on the shipping, and in sailing about the Zuyder Zee and +elsewhere, where he was accustomed to carry so much sail on his little +boat as to alarm his companions for his safety. "His first exploit in the +dockyard of Mynheer Calf, a wealthy merchant and shipbuilder, with whom he +was prevailed on to lodge, after quitting his first cabin, was to purchase +a small yacht, and to fit her with a new bowsprit, made entirely with his +own hands, to the astonishment of all the shipwrights; they could not +conceive how a person of his high rank could submit to work till the sweat +ran down his face, or where he could have learned to handle the tools so +dexterously." While in the dockyard he was entered in the books as a +ship-carpenter, and conformed in every way to its regulations. He was +known among the workman as Pieter Zimmerman, sometimes as Pieter Bass, or +Master Peter. Dutch authorities speak of his simple habits; he was an +early riser, lighted his own fire, and frequently cooked his own food +while living in the cottage. When any one wished to speak to him, "he +would go with his adze in his hand, and sit down on a rough log of timber +for a short time, but seemed always anxious to resume and finish the work +on which he had been employed." An English nobleman visited the yard, and +asked the superintendent to point out the Czar to him unnoticed. This was +done, and the superintendent, seeing that the Czar was resting for a +moment, called out to him, "Pieter Zimmerman, why don't you assist those +men?" Peter immediately got up and helped to shoulder the heavy log they +were carrying. He would lend a helping hand at everything connected with +ships, even rope and sail making, and smith's work. Once, at Müller's +manufactory, at Istia, he forged several bars of iron, and put his own +mark on them, making his companions blow the bellows and fetch the coals. +The Czar insisted upon receiving the same payment as the other workmen, +and bought a pair of shoes with the money, remarking "I have earned them +well, by the sweat of my brow, with hammer and anvil." Peter finished his +labours at ship-carpentering by assisting to put together a yacht, which, +at the suggestion of one of the burgomasters, was to be presented to him +as a _souvenir_ of his visit to Holland. He worked at it every day till it +was finished, when he christened it the _Amsterdam_. His numerous +investigations into science included surgery, and he carried his +instruments about with him, ever ready to pull a tooth, or bleed, or even +tap a patient for the dropsy. In short, his desire for practical knowledge +was insatiable. Ten times a day, while accompanying his friend Calf and +others about the ships, and yards, and factories, and mills, he would ask, +"Wat is dat?" and being told, would answer, "Dat wil ik zien,"--"I shall +see that." His companions were not half so earnest as their master, and +after awhile they hired a large house, kept a professed cook, and enjoyed +themselves in idleness. + +While in Holland, the news arrived of a Russian victory over the Turks and +Tartars, and the imperial workman received the congratulations of the +Emperor of Germany, the Kings of Sweden, Denmark, and other countries. He +celebrated the event by giving a grand entertainment to the principal +officials and merchants of Amsterdam, their wives and daughters. "The +sumptuous dinner was accompanied and followed by a band of music, and in +the evening were plays, dancing, masquerades, illuminations, and +fireworks. His respectable friend, Witsen, told him that he had +entertained his countrymen like an emperor." And now, after nine months' +hard work at Zardam, he had an interview with King William at the Hague, +who arranged to transport him and his suite in one of the royal yachts, +accompanied by two men-of-war. + + [Illustration: OLD DOCKYARD AT DEPTFORD.] + + [Illustration: SAYE'S COURT, DEPTFORD.] + +No secret was made of the Czar's rank in London, although he tried to live +as privately as possible. He was placed under the special charge of the +Marquis of Carmarthen, and a great intimacy sprang up between them. A +large house was hired for him and his suite at the bottom of York +Buildings, where the marquis and he used to spend their evenings together +frequently in drinking "hot pepper and brandy." But then a pint of brandy +and a bottle of sherry was nothing uncommon as a morning draught for the +Czar. After seeing all the sights of London, he paid visits to Chatham, +Portsmouth, and elsewhere, but the larger part of his time was spent at +Deptford, where he repaired to investigate and learn the higher branches +of naval architecture and navigation. There is little or no evidence, +popular tradition to the contrary notwithstanding, that he ever worked as +a shipwright there,(10) or engaged in more laborious employment than +rowing, or in sailing yachts and boats about the Thames. The writer has +before him now one of the conventional pictures of "Peter at Deptford." It +represents a smooth-faced youth of feminine appearance, and about sixteen +years old at most, vigorously engaged, apparently, in doing damage to a +ship's bulwarks with a gigantic hammer and formidable spike. The fact is +that Peter was in his twenty-sixth year, had been the ruler of a great +empire for several years, and was beyond his years in acquirements and +earnestness; a man of strong passions, and sadly given to drink. Peter was +glad to get out of town. Crowds gave him an amount of annoyance that was +inexplicable to a Londoner; and he avoided, as much as he could, balls and +assemblies and public gatherings for the same reason. Nor could he have +desired a more pleasant and suitable place than that which was provided +for him, the celebrated Saye's Court, Evelyn's charming house and +grounds(11) close to Deptford Dockyard, which had just become vacant by +the removal of Admiral Benbow, who had been its tenant. A special doorway +was broken through the boundary wall of the dockyard to facilitate +communication for the Czar. Benbow had given poor Evelyn much +dissatisfaction, but the new occupant was rather worse. His servant wrote +to him, "There is a house full of people, right nasty. The Tzar lies next +your study, and dines in the parlour next your study. He dines at ten +o'clock, and six at night; is very seldom at home a whole night; very +often in the king's yard, or by water, dressed in several dresses. The +king is expected there this day; the best parlour is pretty clean for him +to be entertained in. The king pays for all he has." But, alas for poor +Evelyn's hedges! The Czar, by way of exercise, and to prove his strength, +used to trundle a wheel-barrow, full tilt, through a favourite +holly-hedge, "which," says Evelyn, "I can still show in my ruined gardens +at Saye's Court (thanks to the Tzar of Muscovy)." The Czar employed his +days in acquiring information on all branches of naval architecture, and +in sailing about the river with Carmarthen and Sir Anthony Deane, +commissioner of the navy. "The Navy Board received directions from the +Admiralty to hire two vessels to be at the command of the Tzar whenever he +should think proper to sail on the Thames," and the king made him a +present of a small vessel, the _Royal Transport_, giving orders to have +such alterations and accommodations made in her as the Czar might desire. +"But his great delight was to get into a small-decked boat, belonging to +the dockyard, and taking only Menzikoff, and three or four others of his +suite, to work the vessel with them, he being the helmsman; by this +practice he said he should be able to teach them how to command ships when +they got home. Having finished their day's work, they used to resort to a +public house in Great Tower Street, close to Tower Hill, to smoke their +pipes, and drink beer and brandy. The landlord had the Tzar of Muscovy's +head painted and put up for his sign." The original sign remained till +1808. + +Greenwich Hospital surprised him, and King William, having one day asked +him how he liked his hospital for decayed seamen, Peter answered simply, +"If I were the adviser of your Majesty, I should counsel you to remove +your court to Greenwich, and convert St. James's into a hospital." In the +first week of March a sham naval fight was organised near Spithead, for +his amusement, eleven ships being engaged. The _Postman_, a journal of the +period, says, "The representation of a sea engagement was excellently +performed before the Tzar of Muscovy, and continued a considerable time, +each ship having twelve pounds of powder allowed; but all the bullets were +locked up in the hold, for fear the soldiers should mistake." The +enterprising journal did not, probably, send down a special +representative, as would any leading paper of to-day, and the small +quantity of powder allowed must be a mistake. The Czar was greatly pleased +with the performance, and told Admiral Mitchell, who arranged the +performance, that "he considered the condition of an English admiral +happier than that of a Tzar of Russia." On their way home from Portsmouth, +the Russian party, twenty-one in all, stopped a night at Godalming. The +sea air had done so much good to their appetites that at dinner they +managed to get through an entire sheep, three quarters of lamb, five ribs +of beef, weighing three stone, a shoulder and loin of veal, eight fowls, +eight rabbits, two dozen and a half of sack, and one dozen of claret. +Their light breakfast consisted of half a sheep, a quarter of lamb, ten +pullets, twelve chickens, seven dozen eggs, salad "in proportion," three +quarts of brandy, and six quarts of mulled wine. + +When residing at Deptford, he made the acquaintance of the celebrated Dr. +Halley, "to whom he communicated his plan of building a fleet, and in +general of introducing the arts and sciences into his country," and asked +his opinions and advice on various subjects. The doctor spoke German +fluently, and the Tzar was so much pleased with the philosopher's +conversation and remarks that he had him frequently to dine with him; and +in his company he visited the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park. An +important concession was made by him to some leading merchants, through +the influence of the Marquis of Carmarthen. Tobacco had been so highly +taxed that none but the wealthy Russians could afford it. The Czar agreed +that on paying him down £12,000 (some accounts say £15,000) it should go +in duty free. He stipulated that his friend Carmarthen should receive five +shillings for every hogshead so admitted. Peter stuck to his friends, and +his kindheartedness in general does much to obliterate the memory of some +traits of character which are not to his credit. On leaving England, he +"gave the king's servants, at his departure, one hundred and twenty +guineas, which was more than they deserved, they being very rude to him," +says one plain-speaking historian. To the king he presented a rough ruby +which the jewellers of Amsterdam had valued at £10,000 sterling. Peter +carried this gem to King William in his waistcoat pocket, wrapped up in a +piece of brown paper. The king had treated him in a royal fashion, so far +as Peter would allow him, and before he departed induced him to sit to Sir +Godfrey Kneller for his portrait, which is now at Windsor. Four yachts and +two ships of the Royal Navy were placed at his disposal when he departed +once more for Holland. Peter took with him to Russia three English +captains who had served in the Royal Navy, twenty-five captains of the +merchant service, thirty pilots, thirty surgeons, two hundred gunners, and +a number of mechanics and smiths, making a total of little less than five +hundred persons, all natives of Great Britain. A letter from one of them +to a relative in England shows how much Peter did, almost immediately on +his return to Russia, in the interests of his navy. He had already +thirty-six ships of war: twenty, ranging from thirty to sixty guns each, +were to be launched the following spring; eighteen galleys were being +constructed by Italian workmen, and one hundred smaller vessels were on +the stocks. The forests of masts he had seen at London and Amsterdam had +fired his ambition, and we now find him not merely determined to have a +navy, but a port of the first class. Hence St. Petersburg. + +Passing over events in the history of Peter the Great not bearing on +maritime subjects, we learn that "Five months had scarcely elapsed from +laying the first stone of St. Petersburg, when a report was brought to the +Tzar that a large ship, under Dutch colours, was standing into the river. +It may be supposed this was a joyful piece of intelligence for the +founder. It was nothing short of realising the wish nearest his heart: to +open the Baltic for the nations of Europe to trade with his dominions, it +constituted them his neighbours; and he at once anticipated the day when +his ships would beat the Swedish navy, and drive them from a sea on which +they had long ridden triumphant with undivided sway. When Peter was +employed in building his fleet at Voronitz, Patrick Gordon one day asked +him, 'Of what use do you expect all the vessels you are building to be, +seeing you have no seaports?' 'My vessels shall make ports for +themselves,' replied Peter, in a determined tone; a declaration which was +now on the eve of being accomplished. + +"No sooner was the communication made, than the Tzar, with his usual +rapidity, set off to meet this welcome stranger. The skipper was invited +to the house of Menzikoff: he sat down at table, and to his great +astonishment, found that he was placed next the Tzar, and had actually +been served by him. But not less astonished and delighted was Peter on +learning that the ship belonged to, and had been freighted by his old +Zaardam friend, with whom he had resided, Cornelius Calf. Permission was +immediately given to the skipper to land his cargo, consisting of salt, +wine, and other articles of provisions, free of all duties. Nothing could +be more acceptable to the inhabitants of the new city than this cargo, the +whole of which was purchased by Peter, Menzikoff, and the several +officers, so that Auke Wybes, the skipper, made a most profitable +adventure. On his departure he received a present of five hundred ducats, +and each man of the crew, one hundred rix-dollars, as a premium for the +first ship that had entered the port of St. Petersburg."(12) The second +ship to arrive was also Dutch; the third was an English vessel; both +received the same premium. The rapidity with which the swampy banks of the +Neva were covered with wharfs and buildings has been almost unexampled in +history. Peter had Amsterdam in his eye when he laid out St. Petersburg, +and he had secured the services of a number of Dutch ship-builders and +masons, architects, and surveyors well versed in making solid foundations +on swampy land. + +And now, while England was distracted by the civil war of the first +Pretender, and by the rupture with Charles XII. of Sweden, she had much +trouble with the Barbary pirates, who, in the West Indies in particular, +constantly harassed her shipping interests. So great a nuisance had these +"water-rats" become that £100 head-money was offered for every captain, +£40 for any rank from a lieutenant to a gunner, and £20 for every pirate +seaman. Any private who delivered up his commander was entitled to £200 on +the conviction of the latter. But there were also at that period +"land-rats" at home, as bad as any pirate, preying on the public purse. +This was the epoch when Hamlet's words "they're all mad there," might +almost have been said of England, and with even greater truth of our +neighbours across the Channel. Two extraordinary schemes, one of which was +to make France the richest of commercial nations, and the second of which +was to pay the national debt of England, were propounded, great companies +raised, and supported by half the people, from princes to petty tradesmen. +As projects depending upon commerce with foreign countries, they, of +course, are intimately connected with our subject. Need it be said that +the writer refers to the two extraordinary delusions known as the +Mississippi Scheme and the South Sea Bubble? + +The first of these projects was designed to develop the resources of the +great country lying round the Mississippi, especially Louisiana; to open +up mineral deposits supposed to be wonderfully rich; and to carry on a +general trade with that part of America. The second, which more intimately +concerns us, included a monopoly of trade with the South Sea, a somewhat +elastic title, but which meant at the time commerce with the countries of +Spanish America. The South Sea Company was originated by Harley, Earl of +Oxford, in 1711, with the distinct view of "providing for the discharge of +the army and navy debentures, and other parts of the floating debt, +amounting to nearly ten million sterling." A company of merchants took +this debt upon themselves, the Government agreeing to secure them, for a +certain period, six per cent. interest, and grant them the monopoly of the +trade to the South Seas. The most exaggerated ideas relating to the +mineral wealth of South America were prevalent at the time, and when a +report, most industriously spread, was circulated that Philip V. of Spain +was ready to concede four ports of Chili and Peru for purposes of trade, +South Sea stock rose in value with extraordinary rapidity. That monarch, +however, never meant to grant anything like a free trade to the English. +After sundry negotiations had been opened the royal assent was given to a +contract, conceding the privilege of supplying the colonies with negroes +for thirty years, and of sending _once a year one vessel_ "limited both as +to tonnage and value of cargo" to trade with Mexico, Peru, and Chili, the +king to enjoy one-fourth of the profits. On these hard conditions and +slender privileges was the great Bubble blown into popular esteem. Rumours +of commercial treaties between England and Spain were circulated, whereby +the latter was to grant free trade to all her colonies; the rich produce +of the Potosi mines "was to be brought to England until silver should +become almost as plentiful as iron. For cotton and woollen goods, with +which we could supply them in abundance, the dwellers in Mexico were to +empty their golden mines. The company of merchants trading to the South +Seas would be the richest the world ever saw, and every hundred pounds +invested would produce hundreds per annum to the stockholder."(13) These +and still more lying statements were spread in every direction. The stock +rose like a rocket. And, so far as the present writer can discover, the +first voyage of the one annual ship, not made till 1717, six years after +the first establishment of the company, was also its last! The following +year the trade was suppressed by the rupture with Spain. + +"It seemed at that time as if the whole nation had turned stock-jobbers. +Exchange Alley was every day blocked up by crowds, and Cornhill was +impassable for the number of carriages. Everybody came to purchase stock. +'Every fool aspired to be a knave.' In the words of a ballad published at +the time, and sung about the streets-- + + "'Then stars and garters did appear + Among the meaner rabble; + To buy and sell, to see and hear + The Jews and Gentiles squabble. + + 'The greatest ladies thither came, + And plied in chariots daily; + Or pawned their jewels for a sum + To venture in the Alley.'" + +Not merely South Sea stock, but schemes of even a wilder nature now +deluged the market. It would seem incredible, but it is vouched for on +good authority, that one adventurer started "_A company for carrying on an +undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is_," and in +one day sold a thousand shares, the deposit on which was £2 per share. He +thought it prudent to decamp with the £2,000, and was no more heard of. +Mackay publishes a list of eighty-six bubble companies, which were +eventually declared illegal and abolished. But the South Sea Bubble was a +Triton among these minnows, and the directors, having once tasted the +profits of their scheme by the rapid rise of its shares, kept their +emissaries at work. Nor indeed were they much needed, for every person +interested in the stock endeavoured to draw a knot of listeners round him +in 'Change Alley, or its purlieus, to whom he expatiated on the treasures +of the South American Seas. Then came the rumour that Gibraltar was to be +exchanged for certain places on the coast of Peru. Instead of paying a +tribute to the King of Spain, the company would be able to trade freely, +and send as many ships as they liked. + + "Visions of ingots danced before their eyes," + +and the directors opened their books for a subscription of a million, and +then for a second million, and the frantic speculators took it all. Swift +described 'Change Alley as a gulf in the South Seas:-- + + "Subscribers here by thousands float, + And jostle one another down, + Each paddling in his leaky boat, + And here they fish for gold and drown. + + "Now buried in the depths below, + Now mounted up to heaven again, + They reel and stagger to and fro, + At their wits' end, like drunken men. + + "Meantime, secure on Garraway cliffs, + A savage race, by shipwrecks fed, + Lie waiting for the foundering skiffs, + And strip the bodies of the dead." + +The directors used every art to keep up the price of the stock. It rose +finally to £1,000 per share. A few weeks afterwards it was down to £175, +then to £135, and the Bubble had burst. + +To detail the various plans tried or suggested to bolster up the company, +the Parliamentary inquiries, or the stringent measures adopted to punish +the directors, would be out of place here. Suffice it to say that a bill +was brought in for restraining the South Sea directors and officers from +leaving the kingdom for a twelvemonth. They were forbidden to realise on +their estates and effects, neither must they will or remove them. +Eventually they were obliged to disgorge their gains. "A sum amounting to +two million and fourteen thousand pounds was confiscated from their +estates towards repairing the mischief they had done, each man being +allowed a certain residue in proportion to his conduct and circumstances, +with which he might begin the world anew. Sir John Blunt was only allowed +£5,000 out of his fortune of upwards of £183,000; Sir John Fellows was +allowed £10,000 out of £243,000; Sir Theodore Janssen £50,000 out of +£243,000; Mr. Edward Gibbon £10,000 out of £106,000; Sir John Lambert +£5,000 out of £72,000." After every effort on the part of the Committee of +Investigation, a dividend of about 33 per cent. was divided among the +unfortunate proprietors and stock-holders. It took long before public +credit was restored. + + [Illustration: COMMODORE ANSON.] + + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + + THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). + + + A Grand Epoch of Discovery--Anson's Voyage--Difficulties of manning + the Fleet--Five Hundred Invalided Pensioners drafted--The Spanish + Squadron under Pizarro--Its Disastrous Voyage--One Vessel run + ashore--Rats at Four Dollars each--A Man-of-war held by eleven + Indians--Anson at the Horn--Fearful Outbreak of Scurvy--Ashore at + Robinson Crusoe's Island--Death of two-thirds of the Crews--Beauty + of Juan Fernandez--Loss of the _Wager_--Drunken and Insubordinate + Crew--Attempt to blow up the Captain--A Midshipman shot--Desertion of + the Ship's Company--Prizes taken by Anson--His Humanity to + Prisoners--The _Gloucester_ abandoned at Sea--Delightful Stay at + Tinian--The _Centurion_ blown out to Sea--Despair of those on + Shore--Its Safe Return--Capture of the Manilla Galleon--A Hot + Fight--Prize worth a Million and a half Dollars--Return to England. + + +The second of the greatest epochs of discovery--one, indeed, hardly +inferior to that of Columbus and Da Gama, when Dampier, Byron, Wallis, and +Carteret, Cook, and Clerke may be said to have substantially completed the +map of the world in its most essential and leading features--would follow +in proper sequence here, but for a pre-arranged plan, which will place +"The Decisive Voyages of the World" by themselves. One voyage of this +period, that of Commodore Anson, deserves mention, inasmuch as it was +instigated for the purpose of making reprisals on the Spaniards for their +behaviour in searching English ships found near any of their settlements +in the West Indies or Spanish Main, and not for attempts at discovery. It +also gives some little insight into the condition of the navy at the +period. It was most wretchedly equipped and manned, and although the ships +were placed under Anson's command in November, 1739, they were not ready +to sail till ten months later, so great was the difficulty in obtaining +men. They had to be taken from all and any sources. Five hundred +out-pensioners from Chelsea Hospital were sent on board, many of whom were +sixty years of age, and some threescore and ten. Before the ships sailed, +240 of them, fortunately for themselves, deserted, their place being +filled by a nearly equal number of raw marines, recruits who were so +untrained that Anson would not permit them to fire off their muskets, for +fear of accidents! Of the poor pensioners who sailed, not one returned to +tell the story of their disasters, while of the whole squadron, consisting +of six ships of war, mounting 226 guns, one alone, the _Centurion_, +commanded by Anson himself, reached home, after a cruise of three years +and nine months. The history of this voyage, as told by the chaplain of +the vessel,(14) is one round of miseries and disasters. + +"Mr. Anson," says the narrator of this eventful voyage, "was greatly +chagrined at having such a decrepit attachment allotted to him; for he was +fully persuaded that the greatest part of them would perish long before +they arrived at the scene of action, since the delays he had already +encountered necessarily confined his passage round Cape Horn to the most +rigorous season of the year. Sir Charles Wager (one of the Lords of the +Admiralty) too, joined in opinion with the Commodore, that the invalids +were no way proper for this service, and solicited strenuously to have +them exchanged; but he was told that persons who were supposed to be +better judges than he or Mr. Anson, thought them the properest men that +could be employed on this occasion." All of the poor pensioners "who had +limbs and strength to walk out of Portsmouth deserted, leaving behind them +only such as were literally invalids.... Indeed, it is difficult to +conceive a more moving scene than the embarkation of these unhappy +veterans. They were themselves extremely averse to the service they were +engaged on, and fully apprised of all the disasters they were afterwards +exposed to, the apprehensions of which were strongly marked by the concern +that appeared in their countenances, which were mixed with no small degree +of indignation." Nor can one read these facts without sharing the same +feeling. Brave men who had spent the best of their youth and prime in the +service of their country, were ruthlessly sent to certain death. + +On the 18th of September, 1740, the squadron, consisting of five +men-of-war, a sloop-of-war, and two tenders, or victualling ships, made +sail. The vessels comprised the _Centurion_, of sixty guns and 400 men, +commanded by George Anson; the _Gloucester_ and _Severn_, each fifty guns +and 300 men; the _Pearl_, of forty guns and 250 men; the _Wager_, of +twenty-eight guns and 160 men; and the _Tryal_ sloop, eight guns and 100 +men. On their way down the Channel they were joined by other men-of-war +convoying the Turkey, Straits, and American merchant fleets, so that for +some distance out to sea the combined fleet amounted to no less than +eleven vessels of the Royal Navy, and 150 sail of merchantmen. Anson +called at Madeira, and refreshed his crews, from thence appointing the +Island of St. Catherine's, on the coast of Brazil, as the rendezvous for +his fleet. Arrived there it was found that a large number of the men were +sickly, as many as eighty being so reported on the _Centurion_ alone, and +the other ships in proportion. Tents were erected ashore for the invalids, +and the vessels were thoroughly cleaned, smoked between decks, and finally +washed well with vinegar. The vessels themselves required many repairs to +fit them for the intended voyage round the Horn. The then governor of this +Portuguese island, one Don Jose Sylva De Paz, behaved very badly, doing +all in his power to prevent Anson from obtaining fresh provisions, and +secretly dispatched an express to Buenos Ayres, where a Spanish squadron +under Don Josef Pizarro then lay, with an account of the number and +strength of the English ships. The history and disasters of this squadron +would fill a long chapter. + +Pizarro had with him six ships of war, and a very large force of men, two +of the vessels having seven hundred each on board. But in spite of his +superior strength, he avoided any engagement at this time, and seems to +have been extremely desirous of rounding Cape Horn before Anson, for he +left before his provision ships arrived. Notwithstanding this haste the +two squadrons were once or twice very close together on the passage to +Cape Horn, and the _Pearl_, being separated from the fleet, and mistaking +the Spanish squadron for it, narrowly escaped falling into their hands. In +a terrible gale off the Horn the Spanish vessels became separated, and +Pizarro turned his own ship's head, the _Asia_, for the Plata once more. +One of his squadron, the _Hermiona_, of fifty-four guns and 500 men, is +believed to have foundered at sea, for she was never heard of more. +Another, the _Guipuscoa_, a still larger ship, with 700 souls on board, +was run ashore and sunk on the coast of Brazil. Famine and mutiny were +added to the horrors of these voyages. On the latter-named ship 250 died +from hunger and fatigue, for those who were still strong enough to work at +the pumps received only an ounce and a half of biscuit _per diem_, while +the incapable were allowed an ounce of wheat! Men fell down dead at the +pumps, and out of an original crew of 700, not more than eighty or a +hundred were capable of duty. The captain had conceived some hopes of +saving his ship by taking her into St. Catherine's. When the crew learned +his intention, they left off pumping, and "being enraged at the hardships +they had suffered, and the numbers they had lost (there being at that time +no less than thirty dead bodies lying on the deck) they all, with one +voice, cried out, 'On shore! on shore!' and obliged the captain to run the +ship in directly for the land, where the fifth day after she sunk with her +stores and all her furniture on board her." Four hundred of the crew got, +however, safely to shore. On another of the Spanish ships they became so +reduced "that rats, when they could be caught, were sold for four dollars +apiece; and a sailor who died on board had his death concealed for some +days by his brother, who during that time lay in the same hammock with the +corpse, only to receive the dead man's allowance of provisions." The +_Asia_ arrived at Monte Video with only half her crew; the _Esperanza_, a +fifty-gun ship, had only fifty-eight remaining out of 450 men, and the +_St. Estevan_ had lost about half her hands. The latter vessel was +condemned, and broken up in the Plata. + +When Pizarro determined, in 1745, to return to Spain, they managed to +patch up the _Asia_, at Monte Video, but had only 100 of the original +hands left. They pressed a number of Portuguese, and put on board a number +of English prisoners (not, however, of Anson's squadron) and some Indians +of the country. Among the latter was a chief named Orellana, and ten of +his tribe, whom the Spaniards treated with great inhumanity. The Indians +determined to have their revenge. They managed to acquire a number of long +knives, and employed their leisure in cutting thongs of raw hide, and in +fixing to each end of the thongs the double-headed shot of the +quarter-deck guns, which when swung round their heads, became powerful +weapons. In two or three days all was ready for their scheme of vengeance. + +It was about nine in the evening, when the decks were comparatively clear, +that Orellana and his companions, having divested themselves of most of +their clothes, came together to the quarter-deck, approaching the door of +the great cabin. The boatswain ordered them away. Orellana, however, paid +no attention to him, placed two of his men at either gangway, and raising +a hideous war-cry, they commenced the massacre, slashing in all directions +with the knives, and brandishing the double-headed shot. The six who +remained with the chief on the quarter-deck laid nearly forty Spaniards +low in a few minutes, of whom twenty were killed on the spot. Many of the +officers fled into the great cabin, and hastily barricaded the door. A +perfect panic ensued on board. Many attempting to escape to the forecastle +were stabbed as they passed by the four Indian sentries, and others jumped +into the waist, where they thought themselves fortunate to lie concealed +among the cattle on board; a number fled up the main shrouds and kept on +the tops or rigging. The fact is that those on board did not know whether +it was not a general mutiny among the pressed hands and prisoners, and the +yells of the Indians and groans of the dying, and the confused clamour of +the crew, were all heightened in effect by the obscurity of the night. And +now Orellana secured the arm-chest, which had been placed on the +quarter-deck for security a few days before. It was of no use to him, as +he only found a quantity of fire-arms, which he did not understand, or for +which he had no ammunition; the cutlasses, for which he was in search, +were fortunately hidden underneath. By this time Pizarro had established +some communication with the gun-rooms and between decks, and discovered +that the English prisoners had not intermeddled in the mutiny, which was +confined to the Indians. They had only pistols in the cabin, and no +ammunition for them; at last, however, they managed to obtain some by +lowering a bucket out of the cabin window, into which the gunner, out of +one of the gun-room ports, put a quantity of cartridges. After loading, +they cautiously and partially opened the cabin door, firing several shots, +at first without effect. At last, Mindinuetta, one of the captains of the +original squadron, had the fortune to shoot Orellana dead on the spot, on +which his faithful companions one and all leaped into the sea and +perished. For full two hours these eleven Indians had held a ship of +sixty-six guns, and manned by nearly 500 hands! + +Pizarro, having escaped this peril, reached Spain in safety, "after having +been absent between four and five years, and having," says the narrator, +"by his attendance on our expedition, diminished the naval power of Spain +by above three thousand hands (the flower of their sailors), and by four +considerable ships of war and a patache." He had not encountered Anson, +nor done any of his ships damage. To the disasters and adventures +encountered by that commander we must now return. + + [Illustration: THE "CENTURION" OFF CAPE HORN] + +Off Cape Horn the weather was so terrible that it obliged the oldest +mariners on board "to confess that what they had hitherto called storms +were inconsiderable gales." Short, mountainous waves pitched and tossed +the vessels so violently that the men were in perpetual danger of being +dashed to pieces. One of the best seamen on the _Centurion_ was canted +overboard and drowned; his manly form was long seen struggling in the +water, he being a good swimmer, while those on board were powerless to +assist him. Another man was thrown violently into the hold and broke his +thigh; a second dislocated his neck, and one of the boatswain's mates +broke his collar-bone twice. The squalls were so sudden that they were +obliged to lie-to for days together, almost under bare poles, and when in +a lull they ventured to set a little canvas, the blasts would return and +carry away their sails. Squalls of rain and snow constantly occurred. The +_Centurion_, labouring in the heavy seas, "was now grown so loose in her +upper works that she let in the water at every seam, so that every part +within board was constantly exposed to the sea-water, and scarcely any of +the officers ever lay in dry beds. Indeed, it was very rare that two +nights ever passed without many of them being driven from their beds by +the deluge of water that came in upon them." Shrouds snapped, and yards +and masts were lost on several of the squadron. Two of the vessels, the +_Severn_ and the _Pearl_, became separated from the fleet, and were no +more seen by them on the voyage. + +But their worst trouble was a terrible outbreak of that insidious disease, +the scurvy. In April, May, and part of June, the loss on the _Centurion_ +alone was two hundred men, and at length they could not muster more than +six fore-mast hands in a watch capable of duty. The symptoms of this +horrible complaint are various; but apart from the universal scorbutic +manifestations on the body, diseased bones, swelled legs, and putrid gums, +there is an extraordinary lassitude and weakness, which degenerate into a +proneness to swoon, and even die, on the least exertion of strength, and a +dejection of spirits which leads the invalid to take alarm at the most +trifling accident. Let the reader imagine what all this meant on +closely-packed ships, tempest-tossed off the dreaded Horn. When at length +the _Centurion_ reached the famed Crusoe Island, Juan Fernandez, the +lieutenant "could muster no more than two quartermasters, and six +fore-mast hands capable of working." Without the assistance of the +officers, servants, and boys, they might never have been able to reach the +island after sighting it, and with such aid they were _two hours_ in +trimming the sails. When their sloop, the _Tryal_, followed them to this +haven of refuge, only the captain, lieutenant, and three men were able to +stand by the sails. When, ten days later on, the _Gloucester_ was seen in +the offing, and Anson had sent off a boat laden with fresh water, fish, +and vegetables for the crew, it was found that they had already thrown +overboard two-thirds of their complement. It took them, with some +assistance sent by Anson, a month before they could fetch the bay, +contrary winds and currents, but more their utterly exhausted condition, +being the causes. They were now reduced to eighty out of an original crew +of three hundred men. Severe as have been the sufferings from scurvy +endured on many of the Arctic expeditions, there is no case on record as +painful as this. The three ships which reached Juan Fernandez had on board +when they left England 961 men; before the ravages of the disease were +stopped the number was reduced to 335, scarcely sufficient to man the +_Centurion_ alone. And it must be remembered that all this time they were +uncertain of the movements of Pizarro and his fleet, which might appear +among them at any moment. The refreshment obtained at the island, fresh +water, vegetables, fruit, fish in abundance, a little goat's flesh, and +seal-meat, proved of great value to those of the crew whose constitutions +were not thoroughly undermined by the fell disease; but it was as much as +they could do to effect the many repairs required on the vessels, to the +extent even of removing and replacing masts. + +Of the beauty of many parts of Juan Fernandez the chaplain speaks in +enthusiastic terms. "Some particular spots occurred in these valleys, +where the shade and fragrance of the contiguous woods, the loftiness of +the overhanging rocks, and the transparency and frequent falls of the +neighbouring streams, presented scenes of such elegance and dignity, as +would with difficulty be rivalled in any other part of the globe.... I +shall finish this article with a short account of the spot where the +commodore pitched his tent, and which he made choice of for his own +residence, though I despair of conveying an adequate idea of its beauty. +The piece of ground which he chose was a small lawn, that lay on a little +ascent, at the distance of about half a mile from the sea. In the front of +his tent there was a large avenue cut through the woods to the seaside, +which, sloping to the water with a gentle descent, opened a prospect of +the bay and the ships at anchor. This lawn was screened behind by a tall +wood of myrtle sweeping round it, in the form of a theatre; the slope on +which the wood stood rising with a much sharper ascent than the lawn +itself, though not so much but that the hills and precipices within-land +towered up considerably above the tops of the trees, and added to the +grandeur of the view. There were besides two streams of crystal water, +which ran on the right and left of the tent within a hundred yards' +distance, and were shaded by the trees which skirted the lawn on either +side, and completed the symmetry of the whole." + +Meantime, the other vessels of the squadron did not put in an appearance. +That two of them, the _Pearl_ and _Severn_, were not to be expected, we +have already learned; but what had become of the _Wager_? It was learned +afterwards that while making the passage to the island of Socoro, one of +the rendezvous of the squadron, she had become entangled among the rocks +and grounded, soon becoming an utter wreck. The Honourable John Byron, +afterwards a commodore in his Majesty's service, but then a youngster on +board, has left an account of the disaster in his well-known work.(15) "In +the morning, about four o'clock," says he, "the ship struck. The shock we +received upon this occasion, though very great, being not unlike a blow of +a heavy sea, such as in the series of preceding storms we had often +experienced, was taken for the same; but we were soon undeceived by her +striking again more violently than before, which laid her upon her +beam-ends, the sea making a fair breach over her. Every person that now +could stir was presently upon the quarter-deck; and many of those were +alert upon this occasion that had not showed their faces upon deck for +above two months before; several poor wretches, who were in the last stage +of the scurvy, and who could not get out of their hammocks, were +immediately drowned." Some seemed bereaved of their senses; one man was +seen stalking about the deck flourishing a cutlass over his head, calling +himself king of the country, and striking everybody he came near, till he +was knocked down by some of those he had assaulted. "Some, reduced before +by long sickness and the scurvy, became on this occasion as it were +petrified and bereaved of all sense, like inanimate logs, and were bandied +to and fro by the jerks and rolls of the ship, without exerting any +efforts to help themselves.... The man at the helm, though both rudder and +tiller were gone, kept his station; and being asked by one of the officers +if the ship would steer or not, first took his time to make trial by the +wheel, and then answered with as much respect and coolness as if the ship +had been in the greatest safety; and immediately after applied himself +with his usual serenity to his duty, persuaded it did not become him to +desert it as long as the ship kept together." The captain, who had +dislocated his shoulder by a fall the day before, was coolness itself, and +one of the mates did all in his power to inspire them with the belief that +they would not be lost so near land. This wrought a change in many who but +a few minutes before had been in despair, praying on their knees for +mercy. It was another illustration of-- + + "When the devil was sick," + +for they commenced breaking in the casks of brandy or wine as they came up +the hatchway, and several got so intoxicated that they were drowned on +board, and lay floating about the decks for several days. The boatswain +and some of the men would not leave the ship so long as there was any +liquor to be found on her; and Captain Cheap, having got off as many of +the crew as would come, about a hundred and forty in number, suffered +himself to be helped out of his bed, put into the boat, and carried +ashore. + +After passing a miserable night, almost without shelter, the calls of +hunger--most of them having fasted forty-eight hours--obliged them to seek +for sustenance. Two or three pounds of biscuit dust, one sea-gull, and +some wild celery, were boiled up into a kind of soup, which made all very +ill who partook of it. It was at first supposed that the wild herb was the +cause, but it was soon discovered that the biscuit dust, the sweepings of +the bread-room, had been gathered in a tobacco bag, and that the tobacco +dust mingled with it had acted as an emetic. + +Still a number of the wretched crew remained on board, pilfering all they +could find, often whether it could be of use to them or not, and showing a +particular desire to provide themselves with arms and ammunition. They +averred that the authority of the officers must cease with the loss of the +ship; but as they came ashore, the arms were taken from them. When the +boatswain came ashore in laced clothes, Captain Cheap knocked him down. +"It was scarce possible to refrain from laughter at the whimsical +appearance these fellows made, who, having rifled the chests of the +officers' best suits, had put them on over their greasy trousers and dirty +checked shirts. They were soon stripped of their finery, as they had +before been obliged to resign their arms." The cutter, turned keel +upwards, was now placed on props and covered, so that it made a reasonably +comfortable habitation. Shell-fish were found in tolerable abundance, "but +this rummaging of the shore," says Byron, "was now become extremely +irksome to those who had any feeling, by the bodies of our drowned people +thrown among the rocks, some of which were hideous spectacles, from the +mangled condition they were in by the violent surf that drove in upon the +coast. These horrors were overcome by the distresses of our people, who +were even glad of the occasion of killing the gallinazo (the carrion crow +of that country) while preying on these carcases, in order to make a meal +of them." + +Such stores as could be landed were placed in a guarded tent, and doled +out carefully. A few Indians arrived, and, after some parley, proved +friendly, and were presented with sundry trifles. The looking-glasses +astonished them; "the beholder could not conceive it to be his own face +that was represented, but that of some other behind it, which he therefore +went round to the back of the glass to find out." They left, and in two +days returned with three sheep, which astonished the officers, inasmuch as +they were far from any of the Spanish settlements. + +And now mutiny and desertion ensued. One section of the men, "a most +desperate and abandoned crew," attempted, by placing a barrel of gunpowder +close to the captain's hut, with a train to be lighted at a distance, to +destroy their commander and his authority by one fell blow, but were +dissuaded by one of their number, who had some conscience left. They +eventually built a punt, and converted the hull of one of the ship's masts +into a canoe, escaping therewith to the mainland. They were never heard of +more. These men were a good riddance, but a more unfortunate event was to +follow. Mr. Cozens, a midshipman, had been placed under confinement for +being drunk, and using abusive language to the captain, but was soon after +released. Subsequently he had a dispute with the surgeon, and later with +the purser. The latter told him that he had "come to mutiny," and fired +his pistol at him, narrowly missing him. The captain, hearing all this, +rushed out, and, without asking any questions, shot Cozens through the +head, and then declined to allow him to be removed to shelter. The +wretched young man (whom Byron believes to have been purposely "kept warm +with liquor, and set on by some ill-designing persons," as he had always +been a good-natured, inoffensive man when sober) was allowed by the +captain to die like a dog, "with no other covering than a bit of canvas +thrown over some bushes," fourteen days afterwards. This gave the men a +good excuse for that which they were about to execute. + +It had been arranged that the long-boat, rescued from the wreck, should be +lengthened. The captain proposed that they should proceed northwards in +the Pacific, hoping that they might encounter and master one of the +enemy's ships, and rejoin Commodore Anson; the men, very generally, were +bent on making their voyage home through the Straits of Magellan. While +the alterations were in progress, the matter rested temporarily, as they +were occupied in saving portions of, or stores from, the wreck, or in +obtaining shell-fish and sea-fowl, which seem not to have been too +abundant. Byron had cherished in his little hut a poor Indian dog, which +had become much attached to him. One day a hungry party of the men came to +him, and, after a little ineffectual remonstrance, took the dog away and +killed it; "upon which," says Byron, "thinking that I had at least as good +a right to a share as the rest, I sat down with them, and partook of their +repast. Three weeks after that I was glad to make a meal of his paws and +skin, which, upon recollecting the spot where they had killed him, I found +thrown aside and rotten." One of the men constructed a novel craft from a +large cask, to which he lashed two logs, one on either side. In this he +ventured out to sea, and often managed to get wild fowl. One day he was +upset by a heavy sea, but managed to scramble to a solitary rock, where he +remained two days, till accidentally rescued by a boat party. + +While the coast was being reconnoitred, the "old cabal" had been revived, +the debates of which generally ended in riot and drunkenness. The meeting +of the leading mutineers was held in a large tent, which had been made +snug, by lining it with bales of broadcloth driven from the wreck. +Eighteen of the ship's company had possession of this tent, from whence +committees were dispatched with their resolutions, and quite as often with +demands for liquor. The captain seemingly acquiesced, so far as their +projected voyage was concerned; but when they began to stipulate that his +powers as commander must be restricted, he naturally insisted upon the +full exercise of his rights. "This broke all measures between them, and +they were from this time determined he should go with them, whether he +would or no." The unfortunate affair concerning Cozens was raked up, and +they threatened to put him under confinement, and bring him to trial in +England. When, however, they found that the long boat, cutter, and barge +were barely large enough to carry all, they agreed to leave him behind, +with the surgeon, and one of the officers of marines. Byron was taken on +board, but, as he says, "was determined, upon the first opportunity, to +leave them." They were in all eighty-one when they left the island. Their +intention was to put into some harbour, if possible, every evening, as +they were in no condition for long sea-trips, neither would their scanty +provisions have lasted many days. Their water was contained in a few small +powder barrels; their flour was to be lengthened out by a mixture of +sea-weed; and their other supplies must depend upon their success in +hunting or fishing. Next day they considered it necessary to send back the +barge for some spare canvas, and Byron took the opportunity of leaving +them. When they were clear of the long-boat, he found that the men on +board contemplated deserting the deserters also. They "were extremely +welcome to Captain Cheap." Some attempts were made to get a share of the +provisions from the mutineers, but they absolutely refused. When they had +left the captain and the two other officers, they had given them six +pieces of beef, the same of pork, and ninety pounds of flour. For a day or +two after Byron's return with a few of the men, a small allowance was +doled out to them; "yet it was upon the foot of favour," and soon ceased, +after which they had to subsist on "a weed called laugh," fried in the +tallow of some candles they had saved, and wild celery. The account of +their sufferings, and eventual escape to Chili, forms the bulk of the +volume from which this narrative is taken. What became of the long-boat +and its crew of mutineers? More than three months after they deserted the +captain, thirty of them arrived at Rio Grande, on the coast of Brazil; +twenty had been left at various points, and a larger number had died from +starvation. + +But to return once more to Anson. Just at the time they were straining all +points to make ready for leaving Juan Fernandez, a sail was espied far in +the offing. Whilst the vessel advanced, they fancied that she might be one +of their own ships; but when she hauled off, it was determined to pursue +her. The _Centurion_ being in the most forward state, immediately got +under sail; but the wind being light, they soon lost sight of the +stranger. Persuaded that she was an enemy, they steered in the direction +of Valparaiso for a couple of days; then considering that she must have +reached her port, were on the point of abandoning the chase, when a gale +blew them out of their course, at the same time bringing them once more in +sight of the unknown vessel, which at first bore down upon them, showing +Spanish colours. She appeared to be a large ship which had mistaken the +_Centurion_ for her consort, and was thought to be one of Pizarro's +squadron; this induced Anson to clear the guns of all casks of water or +provisions which encumbered them, and prepare for action. When near +enough, she was discovered to be only a merchantman, the _Carmelo_, +without even as much as a tier of guns. A little later, four shot were +fired among her rigging, on which not one of the crew would venture aloft. +The ship yielded immediately. When the first lieutenant went on board, he +was received with abject submission; and the passengers on board, +twenty-five in number, were terrified at the prospect of the ill-treatment +they should receive. But Anson was always humane and generous with a +fallen foe, and they were soon re-assured. His kindness was not thrown +away. When at length Captain Cheap and his brother-officers of the wrecked +_Wager_ arrived in Chili (then an appanage of the Spanish Crown) they were +particularly well treated at Santiago. "We found," says Byron, "many +Spaniards here that had been taken by Commodore Anson, and had been for +some time prisoners on board the _Centurion_. They all spoke in the +highest terms of the kind treatment they had received; and it is natural +to imagine that it was chiefly owing to that laudable example of humanity +our reception here was so good." They even said that they should not have +been sorry had he taken them to England.(16) Anson's prize on this +occasion had on board large quantities of sugar, cloth, and some little +cotton and tobacco; and in addition, that which was more valuable, several +trunks of wrought plate, and over _two tons_ of dollars ("twenty-three +serons of dollars, each weighing upwards of 200 lbs. avoirdupois"). + +Shortly afterwards, Anson noted two sail, one of which appeared to be "a +very stout ship," and which made for them, whilst the other stood off. By +evening they were within pistol-shot of the nearest, "and had a broadside +ready to pour into her, the gunners having their matches in their hands, +and only waiting for orders to fire." The ship was hailed in Spanish, when +the welcome voice of Mr. Hughes, lieutenant of the _Tryal_, answered in +English that it was a prize taken by him a couple of days before. She had +tried to escape in the night by showing no lights, but an opening or +crevice in one of the ports had betrayed them. She was a merchantman of +about 600 tons, and had much the same cargo as that taken by Anson, but +not so much money on board. Her capture at that moment was invaluable, for +the _Tryal_ had sprung her mainmast, and was altogether unseaworthy. She +was condemned, and her crew, guns, and stores, with some additions, were +put on board the prize, now appropriately christened _The Tryal's Prize_. +The sloop herself was scuttled and sunk. Shortly afterwards a third prize +was taken, on which several Spanish lady passengers were found, who hid +themselves in corners, till assured of honourable and courteous treatment. +Anson ordered that they should retain their own cabins, with all the other +conveniences and privileges they had enjoyed before, and ordered the +Spanish pilot, the second in command, to stay with them as their guardian +and protector. A fourth prize, of little value to the captors, as they +could not dispose of much of the cargo in any way, but a clear loss to the +Spaniards of 400,000 dollars, was taken a few days afterwards. + +Next followed the capture of Paita, Peru, an important place in those +days, though it offered little or no resistance. When the sailors in +search of private pillage found the clothes of the Spaniards who had fled, +they were seized with an irresistible impulse to try them on; and soon +their dirty unmentionables and jackets were covered by embroidered clothes +and laced hats, not forgetting the bag-wig of the day. Those who could not +find men's clothes put on women's, and half the _Centurion's_ crew were +transformed into masqueraders. The town was burned to the ground, after +treasure, in the shape of plate, dollars, and other coin, to the amount of +upwards of £30,000, had been taken, besides a number of valuable jewels, +and plunder generally, which became the property of the immediate captors. +A vessel in the harbour was taken, and five others scuttled and sunk. The +Spaniards, in their representations sent to the Court of Madrid, estimated +their total loss at a million and a half of dollars. After Anson left +Paita, there were dissensions on board regarding the miscellaneous +plunder, between those who had been ordered ashore and those whose duty +obliged them to remain on board. The Commodore ruled that it should be put +into one common fund, to which he gave his entire share, and then divided +impartially, in proportion to each man's rank and commission. To all but a +few greedy grumblers this was perfectly acceptable, and the discontent, +which might easily have been fanned into mutiny, was quashed at once. + + [Illustration: SURRENDER OF THE "CARMELO."] + +A day or two afterwards, they rejoined the _Gloucester_, and found that +its captain had taken a couple of small prizes, one of them with a cargo +of wine, brandy, and olives in jars, and about £7,000 in specie. The +people on the other, which was hardly more than a large boat or launch, +pleaded poverty, and that their cargo was only cotton. The men on the +barge had surprised them at dinner upon pigeon pie served on silver +dishes, and suspicion was aroused, which subsided when some little +examination had been instituted. When the packages, however, were more +carefully examined on board the _Gloucester_, a considerable quantity of +doubloons and dollars, to the amount of near £12,000, was discovered +concealed among the cotton. Before leaving the South American coast, Anson +sent fifty-nine prisoners, in two well-equipped launches taken from his +prizes, to Acapulco, where they arrived safely, and spoke highly of the +treatment they had received. + +Anson was now on his way to the China Seas, to intercept, if possible, the +Manilla galleon, of which he had received some tidings. On the voyage it +became necessary to abandon the _Gloucester_. Besides the loss of masts, +which were literally rotted out of her, she was tumbling to pieces from +sheer rottenness; and when her captain reported on her condition, she had +seven feet of water in the hold, although his officers and men had been +kept constantly at the pumps for the past twenty-four hours. Her crew had +become greatly reduced in numbers, and out of her total complement of +ninety-seven, officers included, only sixteen men and eleven boys were +capable of keeping the deck. The removal of the _Gloucester's_ people, and +such stores as could most easily be taken, occupied two days. It was with +difficulty that the prize-money taken in the South Seas was secured; the +prize goods were necessarily abandoned. "Their sick men, amounting to +nearly seventy, were conveyed into the boats with as much care as the +circumstances of that time would permit; but three or four of them expired +as they were hoisting them into the _Centurion_." The _Gloucester_ was set +on fire in the evening, but did not blow up till six o'clock the following +morning. + +At Tinian, one of the Ladrone Islands, Anson stopped some time, refreshing +his worn-out crew, and strengthening the ship. The island abounded in +cattle, hogs, and poultry, running wild; in oranges, limes, lemons, +cocoa-nuts, and bread-fruit. "The country did by no means resemble that of +an uninhabited and uncultivated place; but had much more the air of a +magnificent plantation, where large lawns and stately woods had been laid +out together with great skill, and where the whole had been so artfully +combined, and so judiciously adapted to the slopes of the hills and the +inequalities of the ground, as to produce a most striking effect, and to +do honour to the invention of the contriver." These compliments to Nature +may often be paralleled in writers of the last century. When they had +dropped anchor, such was the weakness of the crew that it took them five +hours to furl their sails. "All the hands we could muster capable of +standing at a gun," says the narrator, "amounted to no more than +seventy-one, most of whom, too, were incapable of duty, except on the +greatest emergencies. This, inconsiderable as it may appear, was the whole +force we could collect in our present enfeebled condition from the united +crews of the _Centurion_, the _Gloucester_, and the _Tryal_, which, when +we departed from England, consisted of near a thousand hands." Some +Indians ashore fled when they landed, leaving their huts, one of which, +used as a large storehouse, was converted into a hospital for the sick, +one hundred and twenty-eight in number. Numbers of these were so helpless +that they had to be carried from the boats, the commodore assisting, as he +had before at Juan Fernandez, and the officers following suit. The poor +invalids soon felt the benefit of the abundant fresh fruits and water; and +although twenty-one were buried in the first and succeeding day, they did +not lose above ten more during the two months of their stay at the island. + +One of the drawbacks of a stay at Tinian was the roadstead, which, with +its coral bottom, afforded a bad anchorage during the western monsoons. +This was convincingly proved to the people of the _Centurion_. In the +third week of September the wind blew with such fury that all +communication with the shore was cut off, as no boat could live in the sea +raised by it. The small bower cable, and afterwards their best bower, +parted. The waves broke over the devoted ship, and the long-boat, at that +time moored astern, was on a sudden canted so high that it broke the +transom of the commodore's cabin on the quarter-deck, and was itself stove +to pieces, the poor boat-keeper, though extremely bruised, being saved +almost by a miracle. The end of all this was that the ship was driven to +sea, leaving Anson, several officers, and a great part of the crew on +shore, amounting in the whole to one hundred and thirteen persons. The +poor wretches on the ship expected each moment to be their last, as they +were altogether too few and weak to work a large vessel. + +"The storm which drove the _Centurion_ to sea blew with too much +turbulence to permit either the commodore or any of the people on shore to +hear the guns which she fired as signals of distress; and the frequent +glare of the lightning had prevented the explosions from being observed; +so that when at daybreak it was perceived from the shore that the ship was +missing, there was the utmost consternation amongst them, for much the +greatest part of them immediately concluded that she was lost." Anson, +whatever he thought himself, did all in his power to reason them out of +the idea, and immediately proposed that if she did not return in a few +days they should cut in half a small bark, a Spanish prize they had taken, +and lengthen her about twelve feet, which would enable her to carry them +all to China. After some days the men began to consider this their only +chance, and worked zealously at their allotted employments. These were +interrupted one day by "A sail!" being announced. Presently a second was +descried, which quite destroyed the conjecture that it was the ship +herself. The revulsion of feeling in Anson's bosom was so strong, that for +once he was quite unmanned, and retired to his tent, with the bitter +feeling that now he could not hope to signalise the expedition by any +great exploit. He was, however, soon relieved by finding that the boats +were Indian proas, which, after cruising off the island for a time, +suddenly departed, and were lost to sight. The recital of the details +connected with the transformation of the bark would be tedious; suffice it +to say, that they had to manufacture many of the necessary tools, cut down +trees, and saw them into planks, and dig a dry dock, while others were +employed in collecting provisions. They were much mortified to find that +all the powder ashore did not amount to more than ninety charges. What if +the Spaniards should appear at this juncture? + +However, in spite of all obstacles, they had proceeded so far with their +work as to have fixed upon a date for their departure from the island. +"But their project and labours were now drawing to speedier and happier +conclusion; for, on the 11th of October, in the afternoon, one of the +_Gloucester's_ men, being upon a hill in the middle of the island, +perceived the _Centurion_ at a distance, and, running down with his utmost +speed towards the landing-place, he in the way saw some of his comrades, +to whom he hallooed out with great ecstasy, 'The ship! the ship!'" It was +indeed the ship; and when Anson heard of it, we can well believe that he +broke through "the equable and unvaried character" he had hitherto +preserved. The men were in a perfect state of frenzy. A boat with eighteen +men, and fresh meats and fruits, was sent off to the _Centurion_, which +came to anchor next day. She had been nearly three weeks absent. The +chaplain who has left us the narrative of Anson's voyage was on board at +the time. He describes their deplorable condition in a leaky ship, with +three cables hanging loose, from one of which dragged their only remaining +anchor; not a gun lashed or port closed; shrouds loose, and topmasts +unrigged, and no sails which could be set except the mizen. The pumps +alone gave employment for the whole of the available crew. "In these +exigencies," says he, "no rank or office exempted any person from the +manual application and bodily labour of a common sailor. They eventually +raised their sheet anchor, which had been dragging at the bows, got up +their mainyard, and generally got the ship in something like sailing trim. +They were quite as rejoiced to see the island once more as were their +companions to see them." + +After a long stay at Macao, where the Chinese officials put all kinds of +obstacles in the way of refitting and provisioning his ship, Anson set +sail for the express purpose of intercepting the Manilla galleon or +galleons, which, indeed, had been the object of his long cruise off Mexico +and South America. The annual ship plying between Acapulco and Manilla, +and _vice versâ_, was always richly laden with the best the Spanish +colonies afforded, and all on board the _Centurion_ were now eager for the +fray. Anson determined to lay off Cape Spiritu Santo, Samal (one of the +Philippine group of islands), as the galleons always made that land first +on the voyage to Manilla. It was a month after they had gained the station +that the coveted prize hove in sight. "On this a general joy spread +through the whole ship." The Spaniards had determined to risk the fight, +and it is needless to say that Anson was ready for them. He picked out +about thirty of his choicest marksmen, whom he distributed among the tops, +and they eventually did great execution. "As he had not hands enough +remaining to quarter a sufficient number to each great gun in the +customary manner, he therefore on his lower tier fixed only two men to +each gun, who were to be solely employed in loading it, whilst the rest of +his people were divided into different gangs of ten or twelve men each, +who were continually moving about the decks, to run out and fire such guns +as were loaded. By this management he was enabled to make use of all his +guns; and instead of whole broadsides, with intervals between them, he +kept up a constant fire without intermission; whence he doubted not to +procure very signal advantages. For it is common with the Spaniards to +fall down upon the decks when they see a broadside preparing, and to +continue in that posture till it is given; after which they rise again, +and presuming the danger to be for some time over, work their guns and +fire with great briskness, till another broadside is ready; but the firing +gun by gun, in the manner directed by the commodore, rendered this +practice of theirs impossible." Several squalls of wind and rain about +noon often obscured the galleon from their sight; but when the weather +cleared up she was observed resolutely lying to, waiting her impending +doom. Towards one o'clock the _Centurion_ hoisted her colours, the enemy +being within gunshot. Anson noted that the Spaniards had neglected to +clear the decks, as they were still engaged in throwing overboard cattle +and lumber; and as all is supposed to be fair in war, he determined to +worry them at once, and ordered the chase-guns to be fired into them. The +galleon returned the fire with two of her stern chase-guns; "and the +_Centurion_ getting her sprit-sail-yard fore and aft, that if necessary +she might be ready for boarding, the Spaniards, in a bravado, rigged their +sprit-sail-yard fore and aft likewise. Soon after, the _Centurion_ came +abreast of the enemy, within pistol-shot, keeping to the leeward of them, +with a view of preventing their putting before the wind, and gaining the +port of Talapay, from which they were about seven leagues distant. And now +the engagement began in earnest, and for the first half-hour Mr. Anson +over-reached the galleon, and lay on her bow, where, by the great wideness +of his ports, he could traverse almost all his guns upon the enemy, whilst +the galleon could only bring a part of hers to bear. Immediately on the +commencement of the action, the mats with which the galleon had stuffed +her netting took fire, and burnt violently, blazing up half as high as the +mizen-top. This accident, supposed to be caused by the _Centurion's_ wads, +threw the enemy into the utmost terror, and also alarmed the commodore, +for he feared lest the galleon should be burnt, and lest he himself might +suffer by her driving on board him. However, the Spaniards at last freed +themselves from the fire by cutting away the netting, and tumbling the +whole mass which was in flames into the sea. All this interval, the +_Centurion_ kept her first advantageous position, firing her cannon with +great regularity and briskness; whilst at the same time the galleon's +decks lay open to her top-men, who, having at their first volley driven +the Spaniards from their tops, made prodigious havoc with their +small-arms, killing or wounding every officer but one that appeared on the +quarter-deck, and wounding in particular the general of the galleon +himself." + +Then for a little the _Centurion_ lost the superiority of her original +position; but still her grape-shot raked the Spaniard's decks with such +cruel precision that they were covered with the dead and dying, +encumbering the movements of those still fighting, who kept up as brisk a +fire as they could. But the general himself was pretty nearly _hors de +combat_, while the Spanish officers were rushing hither and thither, +endeavouring vainly to keep the now disheartened men at their posts. They +made one last effort, pointed and fired five or six guns with more +precision than usual, and then yielded the contest. The galleon's colours +had been singed off the ensign-staff in the beginning of the engagement, +so she had to haul down the royal standard from her main-top-gallant-mast +head, "the person who was employed to perform this office having been in +imminent peril of being killed, had not the commodore, who perceived what +he was about, given express orders to his people to desist from firing." +And so the great _Nostra Signora de Cabadonga_ became Anson's prize. + + [Illustration: ANSON TAKING THE SPANISH GALLEON.] + +And she was indeed a prize. She had on board 35,682 ounces of virgin +silver, 1,313,843 pieces of eight, besides some cochineal and other +trifles, which hardly counted in comparison with the specie. She was a +much larger vessel than the _Centurion_, and had five hundred and fifty +men, and thirty-six large guns, besides twenty-eight pedreroes each +carrying four-pound balls. During the action she had sixty-seven men +killed, and eighty-four wounded; whilst the _Centurion_ had only two +killed, and seventeen wounded. Shortly after the galleon had struck, an +officer came quietly to Anson, and told him the ship was on fire near the +powder-room. The commodore showed no emotion, and gave orders to a few in +regard to extinguishing it, which was happily done, without alarming the +crew or informing the enemy. The galleon was constituted by Anson a +post-ship in his Majesty's navy, the command being given to his first +lieutenant, Mr. Saumarez. All but the officers and wounded of the +prisoners were kept in the hold of the _Centurion_, two guarded hatchways +being left open. As the Spaniards were two to one of the English, every +precaution was necessary, but otherwise they were treated as well as +possible. Unfortunately their allowance of water was necessarily small, +one pint per day, the crew only receiving a pint and a half; and although +not one died on the passage to the river of Canton, they were reduced to +ghastly skeletons when they were discharged. Anson refitted and sold the +galleon to the merchants of Macao, and, with about £400,000 worth of +Spanish treasure, sailed for England, where he arrived in safety. The +damage done by him to Spain was probably three or four times that +represented by the above amount. The great galleon was alone, with her +cargo, valued at a million and a half dollars; whilst the destruction of +Paita, and the minor Spanish prizes, with large parts of their cargoes, +were serious losses to Spain. + + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + + THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). + + + Progress of the American Colonies--Great Prevalence of + Piracy--Numerous Captures and Executions--A Proclamation of + Pardon--John Theach, or "Black Beard"--A Desperate + Pirate--Hand-and-glove with the Governor of North Carolina--Pretends + to accept the King's Pardon--A Blind--His Defeat and Death--Unwise + Legislation and consequent Irritation--The Stamp Act--The Tea + Tax--Enormous Excitement--Tea-chests thrown into Boston + Harbour--Determined Attitude of the American Colonists--The Boston + Port Bill--Its Effects--Sympathy of all America--The final + Rupture--England's Wars to the end of the Century--Nelson and the + Nile--Battle of Copenhagen. + + +During the early part of the eighteenth century, while Europe was +distracted by war, the American colonies were, "by peaceful and +undisturbed pursuits, laying the foundation of that prosperity which +enabled them, before the close of the century, to demand and obtain their +severance from the mother country, and their social and political +independence." So early as 1729, Philadelphia had 6,000 tons of shipping, +and received in that year 6,208 emigrants from Great Britain. New York was +then carrying on a large trade in grain and provisions with Spain and +Portugal, besides forwarding considerable quantities of furs to England. +New England was furnishing the finest spars and masts in the world, while +that part of it which is now the State of Massachusetts had already +120,000 inhabitants, employing 40,000 tons of shipping, or about 600 +vessels of all sizes. The fisheries were of great value, as much as a +quarter of a million quintals of dried fish being annually exported to +Spain, Portugal, and the Mediterranean. Carolina was doing a magnificent +business in the export of rice, Indian corn, and provisions of all kinds; +in pitch, turpentine, and lumber. + +But one serious evil caused the colonists great annoyance and loss--the +prevalence of piracy. The State last named suffered far more than the +rest. Commercial restrictions, unwisely imposed by Great Britain, gave +rise to a large amount of smuggling, and from smuggling to piracy was an +easy transition. "These gangs of naval robbers were likewise frequently +recruited by British sailors, who had been trained to ferocity and +injustice by the legalised piracy of the slave-trade."(17) One Captain +Quelch, the commander of a vessel which had committed numerous piracies, +ventured to take shelter, with his crew, in Massachusetts in the year +1704. He was detected, tried, and hanged, with six of his accomplices, in +Boston. In 1717 several vessels were captured on the coasts of New England +by a noted pirate, Captain Bellamy, a man who carried matters with a high +hand, having a vessel with twenty-three guns, and a crew of one hundred +and thirty men. The vessel was wrecked shortly afterwards on Cape Cod, the +captain and the whole of his crew, except six, perishing in the waves. The +pitiful remainder gained the shore, their fate literally realising Defoe's +words-- + + "When what the sea would not, the gallows may;" + +for they were immediately conveyed to Boston, tried, and executed. A +number of pirates were about the same time hanged in Virginia. In +consequence of the repeated complaints of British merchants regarding +these freebooters, George I. issued a proclamation offering a pardon to +all pirates who should surrender to any of the colonial governors within +twelve months; and in 1718 dispatched a few ships of war under Captain +Rogers, who, repairing to New Providence, then a perfect den of +sea-thieves, took possession of the place, and nearly all the pirates +there took the benefit of the royal proclamation. Steed Bennet and Richard +Worley, two pirate chiefs who had fled from New Providence at the approach +of Rogers, took possession of the mouth of Cape Fear River. They were +captured by Governor Johnson and Captain Rhett; and Bennet, who was a man +of good education, and had held the rank of major in the British army, was +executed at Charlestown, with forty-one of his accomplices. North Carolina +had been for a long time the haunt of one of the most desperate villains +of his time, John Theach, generally known as "Black Beard," from an +enormous beard he wore, and which was adjusted, Grahame records, "with +elaborate care in such an inhuman disposition as was calculated to excite +both disgust and terror.... In battle, he has been represented with the +look and demeanour of a fury; carrying three braces of pistols on holsters +slung over his shoulders, and lighted matches under his hat, protruding +over each of his ears. The authority and admiration which the pirate +chiefs enjoyed among their fellows was proportioned to the audacity and +extravagance of their outrages on humanity; and none in this respect ever +challenged a rivalship with Theach.... Having frequently undertaken to +personify a demon for the entertainment of his followers, he declared at +length his purpose of gratifying them with an anticipated representation +of hell; and in this attempt had nearly stifled the whole crew with the +fumes of brimstone under the hatches of his vessel. In one of his +ecstasies, whilst heated with liquor, and sitting in his cabin, he took a +pistol in each hand, and, cocking them under the table, blew out the +lights, and then with crossed hands fired on each side at his companions, +one of whom received a shot that maimed him for life." He was an early +Mormon, for he had fourteen women whom he called his wives. His chief +security had been the fact that Charles Eden, the governor, and Tobias +Knight, the secretary of the province, shared in his plunder and protected +him. As he was rich, and had been apprised of Rogers' operations at New +Providence, he judged it wise to accept the benefit of the king's +proclamation, and, with twenty of his men, pretended to surrender to Eden, +who had been a receiver of goods or gold stolen by him. + + [Illustration: CAPE COD.] + +This was, however, only a blind. He fitted out almost immediately +afterwards a sloop, which he entered at the Custom House as a regular +trader. In a few weeks he returned to North Carolina, bringing with him a +French ship in a state of perfect soundness, and with a valuable cargo on +board, which he deposed on oath that he had found deserted at sea, a +statement which quite satisfied Eden and Knight. Nobody else believed him, +and some of the Carolinians who had suffered by his hands appealed to the +Government of Virginia for aid in hunting down this pest of humanity. +Maynard, the lieutenant of a ship of war, was dispatched after him, found +him in Pamlico Sound, and, after a close encounter, prevailed. "Foreboding +defeat, Theach had posted one of his followers with a lighted match over +his powder magazine, that in the last extremity he might defraud human +justice of a part of its retributive triumph. But some accident or mistake +prevented the execution of this act of despair. Theach himself, surrounded +by slaughtered foes and followers, and bleeding from numerous wounds, in +the act of stepping back to cock a pistol, fainted from loss of blood, and +expired on the spot." The few survivors threw down their swords, and were +spared--to die on the gallows shortly afterwards. Piracy was checked, but +not obliterated, by these means; and about five years after this period no +less than twenty-six of these "sea rats" were executed in Rhode Island. + + [Illustration: THE "DARTMOUTH" IN BOSTON HARBOUR.] + +This not being a history of America, the writer is spared all allusion to +events of the period except so far as they bear on the sea and maritime +matters. One of the greatest among a long series of mistakes made at the +time by Great Britain was an expedient, ascribed to George Grenville, +intended to strike a death-blow at smuggling. All the commanders and other +officers of British ships of war stationed off the American coasts, or +cruising in the American seas, now received injunctions and authority from +the Crown to act as officers of the customs; they were compelled to take +the usual oaths of office administered to the civil functionaries ashore; +and, to reconcile them to what they might think a service degrading to +them, they were to receive an ample share of contraband and confiscated +cargoes. It must be remembered that they were totally ignorant of the laws +which they were now required not merely to guard, but to administer; and +they had not the restraints of the ordinary Custom House officials, for +whatever wrong they might commit, no nearer redress was open to the +sufferer than an appeal to the Admiralty or Treasury of England. Many +cargoes were unjustly confiscated, and a number of others unreasonably +detained, to the great detriment of the owners; "and in several instances +these violations of justice were ascribed rather to eager cupidity and +confidence of impunity than to involuntary error." In other words, the +legitimate merchant was often put in the same box as though he had been a +pirate or smuggler. A traffic had long sprung up between the British and +Spanish colonies of North and South America, advantageous to both. The +same existed, in a lesser degree, between America and the French West +India Islands. These new auxiliaries of the Custom House now and again +seized indiscriminately and confiscated the ships, American or foreign, +engaged in this trade. Meantime, the Government at home, ill-informed as +it was, learned that there was much discontent in America, and hastened to +repair the damage by passing a special Act of Parliament, declaring the +legitimacy of the commerce between the American colonies and those of +France and Spain. Unfortunately, they at the same time loaded the more +valuable articles with duties which were nearly prohibitive, and must +encourage smuggling. + +Then came the passage of the Stamp Act, which was to tax every paper of a +commercial, legal, or social nature, and which was so unpopular that the +merchants of New York directed their correspondents in England to ship no +more goods to them till it should be repealed. The people very generally +agreed to confine their purchases to native productions. "I will wear +nothing but homespun!" exclaimed one angry citizen. "I will drink no +wine," echoed another, angry that wine must pay a new duty. "I propose," +cried a third, "that we dress in sheepskins, with the wool on."(18) To +encourage a woollen manufacture in America, it was recommended to the +colonists to abstain from eating the flesh of lambs, and not a butcher +durst afterwards expose lamb for sale. Its operations were ushered in at +Boston by the tolling of bells; effigies of the authors and abettors were +carried about the streets, and afterwards torn in pieces by the populace. +At Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a funeral procession was organised, and a +coffin bearing the inscription, "LIBERTY, AGED CXLV. YEARS," was paraded, +amidst the booming of minute guns, and the roll of muffled drums. An +oration was made over a grave prepared for its reception, at the +conclusion of which some remains of life were, it was pretended, +discovered in the body, which was thereupon snatched from the grave. The +inscription was altered to "LIBERTY REVIVED," and a cheerful and hilarious +procession then marched off with it. In several instances the residences +of the governors, officials, and tax-collectors of States were burned to +the ground, or greatly damaged. So strong was the current of popular will +that the Custom House officers did not, in a large number of cases, +attempt to stamp the clearances of vessels sailing. The law courts +remained open, and ignored the want of stamps on legal documents, and +marriages were consummated simply after putting up the banns, and not by +stamped certificate. The almost total suspension of business with English +shippers and merchants alarmed them greatly, and they were among the first +to petition for its repeal. In Parliament, among many others, Pitt was a +warm friend to the American cause. In answer to a taunting speech from +Grenville, he replied: "We are told that America is obstinate--that America +is almost in open rebellion. _Sir, I rejoice that America has resisted._ +Three millions of people so dead to all the feelings of liberty as +voluntarily to submit to be slaves, would have been fit instruments to +make slaves of all the rest." The Stamp Act was repealed March 19th, 1766, +and in London itself was received with so much joy, that there was a +general illumination, amid the ringing of church bells; and in America it +was hailed with satisfaction, although subsequent action on the part of +the English Government soon obliterated all memory of the concession. + +Passing over political complications which led to the American Revolution, +we must allude to the Tea Tax, the resistance to which was as strong as to +any previous measure of our misguided Government. The Government decided +to enforce it, although they were aware of its unpopularity, and the East +India Company, which had the vast stock of 17,000,000 lbs. on hand, +freighted several of their ships to America. Mark the result.(19) + +On the 28th November, 1773, the ship _Dartmouth_ appeared in Boston +Harbour with one hundred and fourteen chests of the East India Company's +tea. To keep the Sabbath strictly was the New England usage. But hours +were precious; let the tea be entered, and it would be beyond the power of +the consignee to send it back. The Select men held one meeting by day, and +another in the evening, but they sought in vain for the consignees, who +had taken sanctuary in the castle. + +The Committee of Correspondence was more efficient. They met also on +Sunday; and obtained from the Quaker, Potch, who owned the _Dartmouth_, a +promise not to enter his ship till Tuesday; and authorised Samuel Adams to +invite the Committees of the five surrounding towns, Dorchester, Roxbury, +Brookline, Cambridge, and Charlestown, with their own townsmen and those +of Boston, to hold a mass meeting the next morning. Faneuil Hall could not +contain the people that poured in on Monday. The concourse was the largest +ever known. Adjourning to "The Old South" Meeting House, on the motion of +Samuel Adams, the assembly, composed of five thousand persons, resolved, +unanimously, that "the tea should be sent back to the place from whence it +came at all events, and that no duty should be paid on it." "The only way +to get rid of it," said Mr. Young, "is to throw it overboard." The +consignees asked for time to prepare their answer; and, "out of great +tenderness," the body postponed proceeding with it till the next morning. +Meantime the owner and master of the ship were _convented_, and forced to +promise not to land the tea. A watch was also proposed. "I," said Hancock, +"will be one of it, rather than that there should be none;" and a party of +twenty-five persons, under the orders of Edward Proctor as its captain, +was appointed to guard the tea-ship during the night. + +The next morning the consignees jointly gave in their answer:--"It is +utterly impossible to send back the teas; but we now declare to you our +readiness to store them, until we shall receive further directions from +our constituents!"--that is, until they could notify the British +Government. The wrath of the meeting was kindling, when the Sheriff of +Suffolk entered with a proclamation from the governor, warning the +assembly to disperse. The notice was received with hisses, derision, and a +unanimous vote not to disperse. In the afternoon Potch, the owner, and +Hall, the master, of the _Dartmouth_, yielding to an irresistible impulse, +engaged that the tea should return as it came, without touching land or +paying duty. A similar promise was exacted of the owners of the other +tea-ships, whose arrival was daily expected. In this way "it was thought +the matter would have ended." Every shipowner was forbidden, on pain of +being deemed an enemy to the country, to import or bring as freight any +tea from Great Britain, till the unrighteous Act taxing it should be +repealed; and this vote was printed and sent to every seaport in the +Province, and to England. Six persons were chosen as foot-riders, to give +due notice to the country towns of any attempt to land the tea by force; +and the Committee of Correspondence, as the executive organ of the +meeting, took care that a military watch was regularly kept up by +volunteers armed with muskets and bayonets, who at every half-hour in the +night regularly passed the word "All is well!" like sentinels in a +garrison. Had they been molested in the night, the tolling of the bells +would have been the signal for a general uprising. + +The ships, after landing the rest of their cargo, could neither be cleared +in Boston with the tea on board, nor be entered in England, and on the +twentieth day from their arrival would be liable to seizure. + +The spirit of the people rose with the emergency. Two more tea-ships which +arrived were directed to anchor by the side of the _Dartmouth_, at +Griffin's Wharf, that one guard might serve for all. In the meantime the +consignees conspired with the Revenue officers to throw on the owner and +master of the _Dartmouth_ the whole burden of landing the tea, and would +neither agree to receive it, nor give up their bill of lading, nor pay the +freight. Every movement was duly reported, and the town became as furious +as in the time of the Stamp Act. On the 9th there was a vast gathering at +Newburyport, of the inhabitants of that and the neighbouring towns, and +they unanimously agreed to assist Boston, even at the hazard of their +lives. "This is not a piece of parade," they say, "but if an occasion +shall offer, a goodly number from among us will hasten to join you." + +In this state of things it was easily seen by the people of Boston that, +the ships lying so near, the teas would be landed by degrees, +notwithstanding any guard they could keep or measures taken to prevent it; +and it was as well known that if they were landed nothing could prevent +their being sold, and thereby the purpose of establishing the monopoly and +raising a revenue fulfilled. + +The morning of Thursday, the 16th of December, 1773, dawned upon Boston, a +day by far the most momentous in its annals. The town of Portsmouth held +its meeting on that morning, and, with six only protesting, its people +adopted the principles of Philadelphia, appointed their Committee of +Correspondence, and resolved to make common cause with the Colonies. At +ten o'clock the people of Boston, with at least two thousand men from the +country, assembled in the Old South. A report was made that Potch (the +owner of the _Dartmouth_) had been refused a clearance from the collector. +"Then," said they to him, "protest immediately against the Custom House, +and apply to the governor for his pass, so that your vessel may this very +day proceed on her voyage to London." + +The governor had stolen away to his country house at Milton. Bidding Potch +make all haste, the meeting adjourned to three in the afternoon. At that +hour Potch had not returned. It was incidentally voted, as other towns had +already done, to abstain totally from the use of tea. Then, since the +governor might refuse his pass, the momentous question recurred, "Whether +it be the sense and determination of this body to abide by their former +resolutions, with respect to the not suffering the tea to be landed?" +After hearing addresses from Adams, Young, the younger Quincy, and others, +the whole assembly of seven thousand voted unanimously, that the tea +should not be landed. + +It had been dark for more than an hour. The church in which they met was +dimly lighted; when, at a quarter before six, Potch appeared, and +satisfied the people by relating that the governor had refused him a pass, +because his ship was not properly cleared. As soon as he had finished his +report, Samuel Adams rose and gave the word: "This meeting can do nothing +more to save the country!" On the instant a shout was heard at the porch; +the war-whoop resounded; a body of men, forty or fifty in number, +disguised as Indians, passed by the door, and, encouraged by Samuel Adams, +Hancock, and others, repaired to Griffin's Wharf, posted guards to prevent +the intrusion of spies, took possession of the three tea-ships, and in +about three hours three hundred and forty chests of tea, being the whole +quantity that had been imported, were emptied into the bay, without the +least injury to other property. All things were conducted with great +order, decency, and perfect submission to Government. The people around, +as they looked on, were so still that the noise of breaking open the +tea-chests was plainly heard. + + [Illustration: DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA CARGOES.] + +In Philadelphia, when a tea-ship arrived, the captain fearing the loss of +his cargo, agreed to sail back again the following day. + +During the whole period of her controversy with Great Britain, America was +deriving a constant increase of strength, not merely from domestic growth, +but by the immense volume of emigration from Europe. No complete record +remains of its amount, but sufficient facts are known to show how vast it +had become. "Within the first fortnight of August, 1773, there arrived at +Philadelphia 3,500 emigrants from Ireland; and from the same document +which has recorded this circumstance, it appears that vessels were +arriving every month freighted with emigrants from Holland, Germany, and +especially from Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland. About 700 Irish +settlers repaired to the Carolinas in the autumn of 1773; and in the +course of the same season no fewer than ten vessels sailed from Britain +with Scottish Highlanders emigrating to the American States." Connecticut +in ten years gained 50,000 in population, and when the final rupture +occurred with the mother country, the United States had already reached +the important number of about three and a quarter millions, or say a good +million over the united populations of the Australasian colonies of +to-day, including New Zealand. And it must never be forgotten that of the +new-comers a large proportion were flying from grievances at home to which +they could no longer submit, and that they therefore added to and fanned +the discontent prevailing in America. In view of such facts the action of +the home Government is nearly inexplicable. + +When the intelligence of the destruction of the tea reached England, +although it was obvious that the opposition which had been shown was +common to all the colonies, it was determined to make an example of +Boston. "It was reckoned that a partial blow might be dealt to America +with much greater severity than could be prudently exacted in more +extensive punishment; and it was, doubtless, expected that the Americans +in general, without being provoked by personal suffering, would be struck +with terror by the rigour inflicted on a city so long renowned as the +bulwark of their liberties. Without even the decent formality of requiring +the inhabitants of Boston to exculpate themselves, but definitely assuming +their guilt in conformity with the despatches of a governor who was +notoriously at enmity with them, the Ministers introduced into Parliament +a bill for suspending the trade and closing the harbour of Boston during +the pleasure of the king. They declared that the duration of this severity +would depend entirely upon the conduct of the objects of it; for it would +doubtless be relaxed as soon as the people of Boston should make +compensation for the tea that had been destroyed, and otherwise satisfy +the king of their sincere purpose to render due submission to his +Government." The bill encountered little or no opposition in Parliament, a +few members only contending that milder measures should be tried. It is +impossible to imagine such an occasion to-day. Think of the ports of +Sydney or Melbourne, for example, being closed to all trade and commerce +from outside, and hundreds of vessels prevented from unloading or loading +there, because of irritation prevailing among the Australians, entirely +produced by unwise legislation, and unjust taxation on the part of the +mother country. Yet this is what was done with our American colonies +little more than a hundred years ago. + +Mark what followed. On the arrival of the first copy of the Boston Port +Bill a town meeting was convened in that city, and it was recommended, +"That all commercial intercourse whatever with Britain and the West Indies +should be renounced by the American States till the repeal of the Act." At +Philadelphia a liberal subscription was made for the relief of such of the +poorer inhabitants of Boston whose livelihood had been ruined by this +arbitrary proceeding. The Virginian House of Burgesses appointed the date +on which the operation of the Act was to commence as a day of fasting, +humiliation, and prayer. + +On the 1st of June, 1774, the operation of the Boston Port Bill commenced. +All the commercial business of the capital of Massachusetts was concluded +at noon, and the harbour of this flourishing port was closed--till the +gathering storm of the Revolution was to re-open it. "At Williamsburgh, in +Virginia, the day was devoutly consecrated to the religious exercises +which had been recommended by the Assembly. At Philadelphia it was +solemnised by a great majority of the population with every testimonial of +public grief; all the inhabitants, except the Quakers, shut up their +houses; and after divine service a deep and ominous silence reigned +through the city. In other parts of America it was also observed as a day +of mourning; and the sentiments thus widely awakened were kept alive and +exasperated by the distress to which the inhabitants of Boston were +reduced from the continued operation of the Port Bill, and by the +fortitude with which they endured it. The rents of all the land-holders in +and around Boston now ceased, or were greatly diminished; all the wealth +which had been vested in warehouses and wharfs was rendered unproductive; +from the merchants was wrested the commerce which they had reared, and the +means alike of providing for their families and paying their debts; all +the artificers employed in the numerous occupations created by an +extensive trade shared the general hardships; and a great majority of that +class of the community who earned daily bread by their daily labour were +deprived of the means of support." The sympathy shown by the sister +colonies was highly creditable, and often took the form of substantial +relief. The inhabitants of Marblehead offered to the Boston merchants the +use of their harbours, wharfs, and warehouses, together with their +personal services in lading and unlading goods, free of all expense. The +citizens of Salem (in the same State as Boston) concluded a remonstrance +against the British measures as follows:--"By shutting up the port of +Boston, some imagine that the course of trade might be turned hither, and +to our benefit.... We must be lost to every idea of justice, and dead to +all the feelings of humanity, could we indulge one thought of raising our +fortunes on the ruins of our suffering neighbours." A country so +thoroughly bound together surely deserved the independence which a couple +of years later it secured. + +No better excuse can be urged for England than that her hands were +constantly full at this period. When there was not actual war there were +always rumours of war. Fortunately for our country, in its greatest need +its greatest hero's star was in the ascendant. How often in these pages +must we recur again and again to the name of Nelson? The year after +America had declared her independence, he was, it is true, but simply a +lieutenant, and scarcely over nineteen years of age. He had already seen +some service. He had been to the West Indies and to the Arctic Ocean, +where, on Captain Phipps' expedition, occurred one of those little +incidents which indicated a hero in embryo. Young Nelson was one day +missing, and though every search was instantly made for him, it seemed +entirely in vain, and all imagined he was lost. Somebody at length +discovered him at a considerable distance off, on the ice, armed with a +single musket, and fighting away with some object which, on nearer +approach, proved to be an immense bear. Always slight in frame, and +comparatively feeble in body, what was the youngster about? It was found +that the lock of his musket proving useless, he had pursued the animal +with the hope of tiring him, and then intended to knock him on the head. +On his return he was reprimanded for leaving the ship without permission, +and asked why he had been so rash. The young hero replied, "I wished, sir, +to get the skin for my father;" and although there is no record of the +fact, it may well be believed that his little escapade was not very +severely punished. Almost immediately after his return from the frozen +regions, we find him in the East Indies, where his health nearly gave way. +For the second time in Nelson's career we find him almost abandoning the +sea. "I felt impressed," wrote he long afterwards, "with an idea that I +should never rise in my profession. My mind was staggered with a view of +the difficulties which I had to surmount, and the little interest I +possessed. I could discover no means of reaching the object of my +ambition. After a long and gloomy reverie, in which I almost wished myself +overboard, a sudden glow of patriotism was kindled within me, and hope +presented my king and country as my patrons. 'Well then,' I exclaimed, 'I +will be a hero, and confiding in Providence, I will brave every danger.'" +From that moment his aspirations became inspirations, and he believed +fully that + + "The light which led him on, + Was light from Heaven." + + [Illustration: NELSON AND THE BEAR.] + +The young sailor, or he who may become one, may learn very much from the +earlier part of Nelson's career. Again and again was he disappointed, and +although momentarily irritable, he always ended by looking forward to the +inevitable reward due to the man who places country and duty above all +other considerations. After his services at Bastia and Calvi, where he +lost that eye which afterwards served him so well from its blindness, his +bravery was altogether overlooked in the despatches. "One hundred and ten +days," said he, "I have been actually engaged at sea and on shore against +the enemy; three actions against ships, two against Bastia in my own ship, +four boat actions, two villages taken, and twelve sail of vessels burnt. I +do not know that any one has done more; I have had the comfort to be +always applauded by my commanders-in-chief, but never to be rewarded; and, +what is more mortifying, for services in which I have been wounded, others +have been praised who, at the time, were actually in bed, far from the +scene of action. They have not done me justice; but never mind--I'll have a +gazette of my own!" + +And what a gazette it was! When, in 1797, Nelson received a special grant +for his services, a memorial had to be drawn up, when it was found that he +had been engaged against the enemy upwards of _one hundred and twenty +times_! During the latest war up to the above date he had assisted at the +capture of seven sail of the line, six frigates, four corvettes, and +eleven privateers; he had taken or destroyed nearly fifty sail of merchant +vessels. + +Then followed the great battle of the Nile. The French fleet having been +discovered by Captain Samuel Flood, the action commenced at sunset. The +shores of the Bay of Aboukir were lined with spectators, who beheld the +approach of the English and the terrible conflict which ensued, in silent +and awe-stricken astonishment. A brisk fire was opened by the _Vanguard_, +which ship covered the approach of those in the rear; in a few minutes +every man stationed at the first six guns in her fore part were all down, +killed or wounded. Admiral Nelson was so entirely resolved to conquer, or +to perish in the attempt, that he led into action with six ensigns, red, +white, and blue--he could not bear the idea of his colours being carried +away by a random shot from the enemy. + +Nelson--long minus one eye and one arm--in this battle received a severe +wound in his head, the skin of the forehead hanging down over his face. +Captain Berry, who was standing near, caught him in his arms. It was the +opinion of everyone, including the sufferer, that he was shot through the +head. On being carried down in the cockpit, where several of his gallant +crew were stretched with shattered limbs and mangled wounds, the surgeon +immediately came with great anxiety to the admiral. "No," replied the +hero, "I will take my turn with my brave fellows!" The agony of his wound +increasing, he became convinced that he was dying, and sent for the +chaplain, begging him to remember him to Lady Nelson; he even went so far +as to appoint Hardy post-captain for the _Vanguard_. When the surgeon came +to examine and dress the wound, it clearly appeared that it was not +mortal, and the joyful intelligence spread quickly through the ship. As +soon as the operation was over, Nelson sat down, and that very night wrote +the celebrated official letter which appeared in the _Gazette_. He came on +deck just in time to witness the conflagration of _L'Orient_. So terrible +was the carnage at the battle of the Nile that the Bay of Aboukir was +covered for a week with the floating corpses, and though men were +continually employed to sink them, many of the bodies, having slipped from +the shot, would re-appear on the surface. Alas! the accounts of these +horrible scenes, painful as they are, yet pale before the latest horror in +our own Thames--the loss of the _Princess Alice_, where more perished than +in many a recorded sea-fight of days gone by. + +After the battle, the officers vied with each other in sending various +presents to the admiral, to show their delight that he had, though +severely wounded, escaped death. Captain Hallowell, who had long been on +the most intimate terms with Nelson, hit on the extraordinary idea of +having an elegantly-furnished coffin constructed by his carpenter from the +wreck of _L'Orient_, a grim present, which he ordered to be made for the +admiral. It was conveyed on board, and it is stated that Nelson highly +appreciated the present of his brave officer. Nelson kept it for some +months upright in his cabin, till at length an old servant tearfully +entreating him, he allowed it to be carried below. Nelson was now at the +height of glory; never had before, or has since, any admiral received +honours from so many various nations and crowned heads. The following is a +list of presents bestowed on him for his services in the Mediterranean +between October, 1798, and October, 1799:-- + + From his king and country, a peerage of Great Britain and gold + medal. + From Parliament, for his own life and two next heirs, per annum, + £2,000. + From the Parliament of Ireland, per annum, £1,000. + From the East India Company, £10,000. + From the Turkey Company, a piece of plate of great value; from the + City of London, a magnificent sword. + From the Grand Signor, a diamond aigrette and rich pelisse, valued + at £3,000. + From the Grand Signor's mother, a rose set with diamonds, valued at + £1,000. + From the Emperor of Russia, a box set with diamonds, valued at + £2,500. + From the King of the Two Sicilies, a sword richly ornamented with + diamonds, valued at £5,000. + From the King of Sardinia, a box set with diamonds, valued at + £1,200. + +In addition to these, all accompanied by complimentary addresses or +letters, he received presents from the Island of Zante, the city of +Palermo, and private individuals. Had he not attained a "_Gazette_ of his +own?" + + [Illustration: LORD NELSON.] + +The battle of Copenhagen made Nelson's talents, in some respects, even +more conspicuous. The Danes were admirably prepared for defence. Upwards +of a hundred pieces of cannon were mounted on the Crown Batteries at the +entrance of the harbour, while a line of twenty-five two-deckers, +frigates, and floating batteries were moored across its mouth. A Dane who +came on board during the ineffectual negotiations which preceded +hostilities, having occasion to express his proposals in writing, found +the pen thick and blunt, and holding it up, sarcastically said, "If your +guns are not better pointed than your pens, you will make little +impression on Copenhagen." Nelson himself said that of all the engagements +in which he had borne a part, this was the most terrible. He had with him +twelve ships of the line, besides frigates and smaller craft, the +remainder of the fleet being with Sir Hyde Parker, the Commander-in-chief, +four miles off. Three of his squadron grounded, and, owing to the fears of +the masters and pilots, the anchors were let go nearly a cable's length +from the enemy, whereas, had they proceeded a little further, they would +have reached deeper water, and the victory would have been effected in +half the time. The fight, which commenced at ten o'clock in the morning, +was by no means decided at one in the afternoon, when Sir Hyde Parker +signalled for the action to cease. It was reported to Nelson, who took no +notice of it. The signal-lieutenant meeting him at the next turn, asked +him if he should repeat it. "No," answered Nelson, "acknowledge it." +Shortly afterwards he called after him to know if the signal for close +action was still hoisted, and being answered in the affirmative, said, +"Mind you keep it so." He now rapidly paced the deck, moving the stump of +his right arm in a manner which always denoted great agitation; for the +Commander-in-chief still signalled "leave off action." At last, turning to +the captain, he said, "You know, Foley, I've only one eye, and I have a +right to be blind sometimes," and he ordered his signal for closer battle +to be nailed to the mast. Admiral Graves disobeyed the Commander-in-chief +in similar manner, but the squadron of frigates moved off. About two +o'clock great part of the Danish line had ceased to fire, some of their +lighter ships were adrift, and some had struck. It was, however, difficult +to take possession of them, as they were protected by the batteries of an +island, and they themselves fired on the English boats as they approached. +This irritated Nelson: "We must either," he said, "send on shore and stop +these irregular proceedings, or send in fire-ships and burn the prizes." +In this part of the battle the victory was complete, but the three ships +ahead were still engaged, and considerably exposed. Nelson, with his usual +presence of mind, seized the occasion to open a negotiation, and wrote to +the Crown Prince as follows: "Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson has directions to +spare Denmark when she no longer resists. The line of defence which +covered her shores has struck to the British flag; but if the firing is +continued on the part of Denmark, he must be obliged to set on fire all +the prizes that he has taken, without having the power of saving the brave +Danes who have defended them." Captain Frederick Thesiger was sent in with +it. During his absence the remainder of the enemy's line eastward was +silenced; the Crown Batteries continued to fire, till the Danish General +Lindholm returned with a flag of truce, when the action closed. His +message from the prince was to inquire what was the object of Nelson's +note? Nelson replied that "it was humanity; he consented that the wounded +Danes should be taken on shore, and that he on his part would take his +prisoners out of the vessels and burn or carry off his prizes as he +thought fit. He presented his humblest duty to the prince, saying that he +should consider this the greatest victory he ever gained if it might be +the cause of a happy reconciliation between the two countries." This +proposal was accepted in the course of the evening, and a suspension of +hostilities for twenty-four hours agreed upon, during which it was +resolved that Nelson should land and negotiate in person with the prince. + + [Illustration: NELSON AT COPENHAGEN.] + +Accordingly next morning he landed, being protected by a strong guard from +the possible vengeance of the Danish population. "The battle so dreadfully +destructive to the Danes was in sight of the city; the whole of the +succeeding day was employed in landing the wounded, and there was scarcely +a house without its cause for mourning. It was no new thing for Nelson to +show himself regardless of danger, and it is to the honour of Denmark that +the populace suffered themselves to be restrained. Some difficulty +occurred in adjusting the duration of the armistice. He required sixteen +weeks, giving, like a seaman, the true reason, that he might have time to +act against the Russian fleet and return. This not being acceded to, a +hint was thrown out by one of the Danish commissioners of the renewal of +hostilities. 'Renew hostilities!' said he to the interpreter, 'tell him we +are ready at a moment; ready to bombard this very night!' Fourteen weeks +were at length agreed upon; the death of the Emperor Paul intervened, and +the Northern Confederacy was destroyed. Nelson was raised to the rank of +viscount, and, indeed, had not the Government dealt out honours to him +slowly and by degrees, their stock would long ere that have been +exhausted." The grand sea battle in which he saved his country and lost +his life has been already described in these pages. + + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + + THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). + + + Early Paddle-boats--Worked by Animal Power--Blasco de Garay's + Experiment--Solomon de Caus--David Ramsey's Engines--The Marquis of + Worcester--A Horse-boat--Boats worked by Water--By Springs--By + Gunpowder--Patrick Miller's Triple Vessel--Double Vessels worked by + Capstans--The First Practical Steam-boat--Symington's Engines--The + Second Steamer--The _Charlotte Dundas_--American Enterprise--James + Rumsey's Oar-boats worked by Steam--Poor Fitch--Before his + Age--Robert Fulton--His Torpedo Experiments--Wonderful Submarine + Boat--Experiments at Brest and Deal--His first Steam-boat--Breaks in + Pieces--Trip of the _Clermont_, the first American + Steamer--Opposition to his Vessels--A Pendulum-boat--The first Steam + War-ship--Henry Bell's _Comet_. + + +The employment of animal power in the propulsion of vessels is of very +ancient date, and we shall see that steam-power was proposed for the same +purpose as soon as the steam-engine had been utilised for pumping mines, +although it was some time before it could be applied practically and +profitably. We are told that "in some very ancient manuscripts extant in +the King of France's library, it is said that the boats by which the Roman +army under Claudius Caudex was transported into Sicily, were propelled by +wheels moved by oxen. And in many old military treatises the substitution +of wheels for oars is mentioned."(20) "Although an old work on China," +says another authority,(21) "contains a sketch of a vessel moved by four +paddle-wheels, and used perhaps in the seventh century, the earliest +distinct notice of this means of propulsion appears to be by Robertus +Vulturius, in A.D. 1472, who gives several wood-cuts representing +paddle-wheels." + +The first use of steam in connection with the propulsion of vessels is +perhaps that said to have been made by Blasco de Garay, in 1543. He had +proposed to the Emperor Charles V. the construction of an engine capable +of moving large vessels in a calm, and without the use of sails or oars. +"In spite of the opposition this project encountered, the emperor +consented to witness the experiment, which was accordingly made in the +_Trinity_, a vessel of 200 tons, laden with corn, in the port of +Barcelona, on the 17th June, 1543. Garay, however, would not uncover his +machinery, or exhibit it publicly, but it was evident that it consisted of +a cauldron of boiling water (_una gran caldera de aqua hirviendo_), and of +two wheels set in motion by that means, and applied externally on each +side (_banda_) of the vessel. + +"The persons commissioned by the emperor to report on the invention seem +to have approved it, commending especially the readiness with which the +vessel tacked. The Treasurer Ravago, however, observed that a ship with +the proposed machinery could not go faster than two leagues in three +hours; that the apparatus was complex and expensive; and that there was +danger of the boiler bursting. The other commissioners maintained that +such a vessel might go at the rate of a league an hour, and would tack in +half the time required by an ordinary ship. When the exhibition was over, +Garay removed the apparatus from the _Trinity_, depositing the woodwork in +the arsenal at Barcelona, but retaining himself the rest of the machinery. +Notwithstanding, however, the objections urged by Ravago, the emperor was +inclined to favour his project, but his attention at the time was +engrossed by other matters. Garay was, however, promoted, and received a +sum of money, besides the expenses of the experiment made at Barcelona." +The above account is from Spanish sources, supposed to be authentic, till +Mr. MacGregor, in 1857, made a journey into Spain for the express purpose +of verifying them. The conclusions to which he came were that the +paddle-wheels were turned by men. + +About this epoch, however, frequent mention is made of means of propulsion +other than by sails or oars, and it is evident that men of learning in +various places were nearly simultaneously musing and thinking over the +matter. J. C. Scaliger (who died 1558) published at Frankfort a short +account of a vessel to be propelled without oars. Another inventor(22) a +few years later, says quaintly, "And furthermore you may make a boat to +goe without oares or sayle, by the placing of certain wheeles on the +outside of the boate, in that sort, that the armes of the wheeles may goe +into the water, and so turning the wheeles by some provision, and so the +wheeles shall make the boate goe." Bessoni, in 1582, describes a vessel +consisting of two hulls decked above,--like the _Castalia_ or +_Calais-Douvres_--and a wheel worked by ropes and a windlass in the +interval between them. Ramelli, in 1588, designed a paddle-wheel +flat-bottomed boat, worked by men turning a winch-handle. Indeed, Roger +Bacon had, three centuries and a half before, spoken of a "vessel which, +being almost wholly submerged, would run through the water against waves +and winds with a speed greater than that attained by the fastest London +pinnaces." + +The power of steam was rapidly becoming understood. In 1601, Baptista +Porta (the inventor of the magic-lantern) made many experiments on steam +and its condensation, and its relative bulk to water. Rivault shortly +after describes the power of steam in bursting a strong bomb-shell, partly +filled by water, tightly plugged, and then heated. In 1615, we find +Solomon de Caus proving that "water will mount by the help of fire higher +than its level;" and Branca, in 1629, applying steam to the vanes of a +wheel to make it revolve, as in some toys to-day. In our own country we +find David Ramsey, one of the Pages of the King's Bedchamber, obtaining, +with a partner, a patent in 1618, "To exercise and put in use _divers newe +apt formes or kinds of Engines_, and other pfitable Invenc'ons, as well to +plough grounds without horse or oxen, and to make fertile as well as +barren peats, salts and sea lands, as inland and upland grounds within the +Realmes of England, &c. As, also, to raise waters, _and to make boats for +carriages runnin upon the water as swift in calmes, and more safe in +storms, than boats fall sayled in great windes_." Twelve years later we +find Ramsey applying alone for a patent of most comprehensive character. +It was designed "_To raise water from lowe pitts by fire_ [the +steam-engine]. To make any sort of Milles to go on standing Waters by +continual moc'on without the helpe of Windes, Weight, or Horse. To make +all sortes of Tapestry without any weaving loome or way even yet in use in +this kingdom. _To make Boats, Ships, and Barges to goe against the Wind +and Tyde, &c._" And so on through the century. Woodcroft, in his standard +work,(23) enumerates over a dozen more patents having for their object the +propulsion of boats and vessels, which were granted before 1700, including +one to the celebrated Marquis of Worcester, which, however, did not +contemplate the use of steam. In the "Century of Invencions" Lord +Worcester says: "By it, I can make a vessel, of as great burden as the +river can bear, to go against stream, _which the more rapid it is, the +faster it shall advance_, and the moveable part that works it, may be by +one man still guided to take advantage of the stream, and yet to steer the +boat to any point; and this engine is applicable to any vessel or boat +whatsoever, without being, therefore, made on purpose, and worketh these +effects:--_it roweth, it draweth, it driveth_, (if needs be) to pass London +Bridge against the stream at low water; and a _boat laying at anchor, the +engine may be used for loading or unloading_." Woodcroft explains this as +follows: "It is obvious that the Marquis did not, by this, mean a +steam-propelled paddle-wheel boat, the action of which would not have been +such as he describes; but a rope fastened at one end up the stream, and at +the other to the axis of water-wheels laying across the boat, and dipping +into the water, so as to be turned by the wheels, would fulfil the +conditions proposed of advancing the boat faster, the more rapid the +stream; and when at anchor such wheels might have been applied to the +other purposes." Floating mills, worked by large water-wheels, may be seen +on the Rhine to-day. + +Papin, the French philosopher, while in England, witnessed an experiment +on the Thames, in which a boat, fitted with revolving oars or paddles, was +worked from a kind of treadmill turned round by horses. "The velocity with +which this horse-boat was impelled was so great, that it left the king's +barge, manned with sixteen rowers, far astern in the race of trial." In +1682, a horse tow vessel was used at Chatham. It was "constructed with a +wheel on each side of the vessel, connected by an axle going across the +boat, and the paddles were made to revolve by horses moving a wheel turned +by a trundle fixed on the axle. It drew but four and a half feet of water, +and towed the greatest ships by the help of four, six, or eight horses." + +In 1729, Dr. John Allen obtained a patent for his new invention, one which +has been revived with some success in later days. It was to propel a +vessel by forcing water through the stern, at a convenient distance under +the surface of the water, into the sea, by suitable engines on board. +"Amongst," says the doctor, "the several and various engines I have +invented for this purpose, is one of a very extraordinary nature, whose +operation is owing to the explosion of _gunpowder_, I having found out a +method of firing gunpowder in vacuo, or in a confined space, whereby I can +apply the whole force of it, which is inconceivably great, so as to +communicate motion to a great variety of engines, which may also be +applied in working mines and other purposes." And again, in 1760, a Swiss +clergyman published a pamphlet in London, in which oars worked with +springs were to be used, and the expansive power of gunpowder was to be +used to bend the springs. He states, candidly enough, that since he +arrived in England he had learned that thirty years before a Scotchman had +proposed to make a ship proceed by means of gunpowder, but that thirty +barrels had scarcely forwarded it ten miles. We may smile at these +attempted uses of gunpowder, but they were doubtless suggested by the +scientific studies of the day, which were particularly directed to the +expansive power of vaporised water. In our own day, steam has been +substituted for powder in discharging a cannon. Perkins' "steam-gun" was +long one of the curiosities of the Polytechnic Institution. + +On the 5th of January, 1769, James Watt obtained a patent for a series of +improvements in the steam-engine, one of which was most important in its +bearing on naval engines. It was that which provided for steam acting +_above_ the piston as well as below it, in, of course, the same cylinder. +Here was a grand move at once. Previously every engine for pumping, the +only practical purpose to which steam was yet put, was worked by a beam +engine and pair of cylinders. In 1779, Matthew Wasborough, an engineer of +Bristol, obtained a patent, as others, indeed, had before him, for +converting a rectilinear into a continuous circular motion. It failed, as +the others had done, because they required ratchet wheels, pulleys, &c. +The following year James Pickard invented the present connecting-rod and +crank, with fly-wheel, and removed the great obstacle to propelling +vessels by steam. The following year, again, Watt invented what is now +known as the "sun and planet motion," another step in the same direction. + +We now approach the name of one of those who are most intimately connected +with the history of steam navigation, Patrick Miller of Dalswinton. In +1787 he published a pamphlet(24) describing a _triple vessel_, propelled +by paddle-wheels, and worked by cranks. In it he very distinctly says: "I +have also reason to believe that the power of the _steam-engine_ may be +applied to work the _wheels_, so as to give them a quicker motion, and +consequently to increase that of the ship. In the course of this summer I +intend to make the experiment," &c. A statement was presented to the Royal +Society, Dec. 20th, 1787, regarding experiments made by Mr. Miller in the +Firth of Forth, the previous summer, in a _double_ vessel, sixty feet long +and fourteen and a half feet broad, put in motion by a water-wheel, +wrought by a capstan of five bars. On the lower part of the capstan a +wheel was fixed, with teeth pointing upwards, to work in a trundle fixed +on the axis of the water-wheel. She was worked at from three and a half to +five miles an hour, with four or five men at the capstan. Two men +propelled her at the rate of two and a half miles. + +The vessel was three-masted, and sailed well with a smart breeze, when the +wheel was invariably raised above the surface of the water. "After making +sundry tacks in the Firth," says the narrator, "with all the sails set, +the wind fell to a gentle breeze, when all the sails were taken in, and +the following experiments made:-- + +"The vessel being put in motion by the water-wheel, wrought by five men at +the capstern (_sic_) was steered so as to keep the wind right ahead, and +her going was found by the log to be three and a half miles in the hour. + +"After this the wind was brought on the beam (that situation being +considered as the nearest to trying the effect of the wheel in a calm), +when five men at the capstern made the vessel to go at the rate of four +miles an hour. + +"With the wind brought on the quarter, five men caused her to go at the +rate of four and a half miles an hour," &c. + +And so it goes on. Miller made some very distinct statements as to the +distance the different vessels should be placed from each other, and +further states that the objection that the sea would separate the +different bottoms is not well founded, "top weight not being detrimental +to these ships in point of stiffness, all the beams on the different decks +may be of the same size; and the strength of these united must be very +superior to any weight or force which can operate against it when the ship +is afloat, however agitated or high the sea may be." These early +experiments are particularly interesting now, when the _Calais-Douvres_, a +vessel which must be described hereafter, has proved a success. + +Mr. James Taylor may also be considered as one of the authors or inventors +of the present system of steam navigation. In a memorial laid before a +Select Committee of the House of Commons in 1824, he says:-- + +"Before, however, entering upon the main object, permit me to introduce it +by a short statement explanatory of my connection with Mr. Miller. In the +autumn of 1785, I went to live in Mr. Miller's house as preceptor to his +two younger sons. I found him a gentleman of great patriotism, generosity, +and philanthropy, and at the same time of a very speculative turn of mind. +Before I knew him he had gone through a very long and expensive course of +experiments upon artillery, of which the carronade was the result. When I +came to know him he was engaged in experiments upon shipping, and had +built several (ships or vessels) upon different constructions, and of +various magnitudes. The double vessel seemed to fix his attention most. In +the summer of 1786 I attended him repeatedly in his experiments at Leith, +which I then viewed as parties of pleasure and amusement. But in the +spring of 1787 a circumstance occurred which gave me a different opinion. +Mr. Miller had engaged in a sailing match with some gentlemen at Leith, +against a Custom House boat (a wherry), which was reckoned a first-rate +sailer. A day was appointed, and I attended Mr. Miller. His was a double +vessel, sixty feet deck, propelled by two wheels, turned by two men each. +* * * Being then young and stout, I took my share of the labours of the +wheels, which I found very severe exercise, but it satisfied me that a +proper power only was wanting to produce much utility from the invention." +This led to long and interesting discussions on the subject, and Miller +explained that his principal object was to enable vessels to avoid or +extricate themselves from dangerous situations, and also give them powers +of motion during calms. He asked Mr. Taylor to give him the benefit of his +brains. At last the latter told him that he could suggest no power equal +to the steam-engine. The question then became how to apply it. Taylor made +sketches according to his ideas, and Mr. Miller then said, "Well, when we +go to Edinburgh we will apply to an operative engineer, and take an +estimate for a small engine, and if it is not a large sum, we will set +about it; but as I am a stranger to the steam-engine, you shall take +charge of that part of the business, and we will try what we can make of +it." + +"At this time William Symington, a young man employed at the lead mines at +Wanlockhead, had invented a new construction of the steam-engine, by +throwing off the air-pump. I had seen a model work, and was pleased with +it, and thought it very answerable for Mr. Miller's purpose. Symington had +come into Edinburgh that winter for education. Being acquainted with him, +I informed him of Mr. Miller's intentions and mine, and asked if he could +undertake to apply his engine to Mr. Miller's vessels, and if he could I +would recommend him. He answered in the affirmative, and from friendship I +recommended both himself and engine, and afterwards introduced him to Mr. +Miller. After some conversation, Symington engaged to perform the work, +and Mr. Miller agreed to employ him. It was finally arranged that the +experiment should be performed on the lake at Dalswinton, in the ensuing +summer (1788). Accordingly in the spring, after the classes of the College +broke up, I remained in town to superintend the castings, &c., which were +done in brass, by George Watt, founder, back of Shakspear Square. When +they were finished I sent the articles to the country, and followed +myself. After some interval I took Symington with me to Dalswinton to put +the parts together. This was accomplished about the beginning of October, +and the engine, mounted in a frame, was placed upon the deck of a very +handsome double pleasure-boat, upon the lake. We then proceeded to action, +and a more complete, successful, and beautiful experiment was never made +by any man at any time, either in art or science. The vessel moved +delightfully, and notwithstanding the smallness of the cylinders (four +inches diameter), at the rate of five miles an hour. After amusing +ourselves a few days, the engine was removed, and carried into the house, +where it remained as a piece of ornamental furniture for a number of +years." The vessel was 25 feet long and 7 broad. Thus was steam navigation +inaugurated! How few of the readers of the _Dumfries Newspaper_, the +_Edinburgh Advertiser_, or the _Scots' Magazine_, when reading the brief +account printed in their columns, dreamt of the revolution which this +interesting and successful little experiment involved. The latter could +not see farther than its utility in canals, and other inland navigation. +The _Annual Register_ for the year does not even mention it. + +It was now agreed to repeat the experiment. A double engine with +eighteen-inch cylinder was constructed at Carron under Symington's +directions. In November, 1789, she was tried on the Forth and Clyde Canal. +"After passing Lock 16," says Taylor, "we proceeded cautiously and +pleasantly for some time, but after giving the engine full play the arms +of the wheels, which had been constructed too slight, began to give way, +and one float after another broke off, till we were satisfied no accuracy +could be attained in the experiment until the wheels were replaced by new +ones of a stronger construction. This was done with all possible speed, +and upon the 26th December, we again proceeded to action. This day we +moved freely without accident, and were much gratified to find our motion +nearly seven miles per hour. Next day we repeated the experiment with the +same success and pleasure. Satisfied now that everything proposed was +accomplished, it was unnecessary to dwell longer upon the business; for, +indeed, both this and the experiment of last year were as complete as any +performance made by steam-boats, even to the present day." Mr. Miller, who +paid all the expenses of these steam experiments, did not pursue them +further, and it is to be regretted, inasmuch as his name has not been so +popularly associated with the infancy of steam navigation as could be +wished. He was an enthusiast in many branches of practical science, and +seems latterly to have given his mind more particularly to improvements in +agriculture. Mr. Taylor's connection with steam-boat experiments ceased +with those of the second boat in 1789. "And it is clear," says Woodcroft, +"from his own statement and those of his friends, that he was neither the +inventor of the machinery by which either of those boats was driven, nor +of the mode of connecting the engines to the boat and wheels." His widow +received a small pension from Government, and in 1837 each of his four +daughters received a gift of £50 for their father's connection with the +experiments. Miller sought no pecuniary aid or reward of any kind; and, +although he devoted his time and talents, and expended nearly £30,000 of +his own fortune in the improvement of artillery and naval architecture, +his services were wholly overlooked by the powers that were. Mr. Woodcroft +has very clearly shown that Miller, in spite of the apparent success of +the experiments, had not great faith in Symington's machinery, which he +describes in a letter "as the most improper of all steam-engines for +giving motion to a vessel." We find him much later describing, in a patent +specification, a new form of flat boat, with centre-boards and +paddle-wheels, still worked by his favourite capstans. + + [Illustration: THE "CHARLOTTE DUNDAS."] + +More than ten years elapsed before Symington, the builder of Miller's +engines, found another patron. In 1801, Thomas, first Lord Dundas, +employed him to fit up a steam-boat for the Forth and Clyde Canal Company, +in which he was a large shareholder. "Having," says Lindsay,(25) "availed +himself of the many improvements made by Watt and others, Symington +patented his new engine on the 14th of March of that year, and fitting it +on board the _Charlotte Dundas_, named after his lordship's daughter, +produced, in the opinion of most writers who have carefully and +impartially inquired into this interesting subject, 'the first _practical +steam-boat_.'" In March, 1802, the _Charlotte Dundas_ made her trial trip +on the canal. It was in one sense a fortunate day for the experiment, for +a gale of wind blew, and no other vessel attempted to move to windward. +The little steamer, towing two barges of seventy tons burden, accomplished +the trip to Port Dundas, Glasgow, a distance of 19½ miles, in six hours, +or at the rate of 3¼ miles per hour. Lord Dundas, who was on board, +thought favourably of the experiment, and in a letter of introduction to +the Duke of Bridgewater, recommended Symington's new engine to his notice. +His grace almost immediately gave him an order to construct eight vessels +similar to the _Charlotte Dundas_, and the struggling engineer naturally +thought that his fortune was made. Alas! before the arrangements could be +consummated the duke died, and the committee who had charge of the canal +after his decease, came to the conclusion that the wash from steam-boats +would injure its banks. Woodcroft considers that "this vessel might, from +the simplicity of its machinery, have been at work to this day with such +ordinary repairs as are now occasionally required for all steam-boats," +and claims that to Symington belonged "the undoubted merit of having +combined for the first time those improvements which constitute the +_present system of steam navigation_." The success of the engine consisted +in this: that, "after placing in a boat a double-acting reciprocating +engine, he _attached his crank to the axis of the paddle-wheel_," a +combination on which there has been no improvement to the present day, as +rotatory motion is secured without the interposition of a lever or beam. +So much for the engine, but how about the poor engineer? This boat was +laid up in a creek of the canal, where she remained for many years exposed +as a curiosity, and perhaps also as a warning to ambitious speculators. +Symington's means were nearly exhausted, and after having had to fight +Taylor at law in regard to some of the minor inventions employed, we find +him in 1825 receiving the miserable gift of £100 from the Privy Purse, and +later, a further sum of £50. What a return for labours which so distinctly +led to our present system of steam navigation! + + [Illustration: SYMINGTON.] + +In 1797, an experiment which took place in the neighbourhood of Liverpool +is recorded in the _Monthly Magazine_, on oars worked by steam; the engine +made eighteen strokes per minute, and propelled a vessel, heavily laden +with copper slag, through the Sankey Canal. The claims of other countries +have also been put forth, but the first attempts at _practical_ steam +navigation belong to Scotland, and, as we shall see, were improved to such +an extent in America, that to that country belongs the credit of having +first organised a steam-boat line for continuous and paying traffic. + +The Americans had at an early period turned their attention to new modes +of propelling vessels. As early as 1784, James Rumsey proposed to General +Washington a project of steam navigation, but having been refused a patent +in Pennsylvania, came to England, and succeeded in inducing a wealthy +countryman of his own, then in London, and others to disburse the expenses +of an experiment, for which he afterwards obtained a patent. In this also +oars were worked by steam. A couple of years later, Fitch obtained from +the States of Pennsylvania and New York the exclusive right to run +steamers on their waters, and is said to have attained with one of his +vessels the rate of four or five miles an hour against the current of the +Potomac. In 1787 he built another vessel, 12 feet beam and 45 feet long, +with a 12-inch cylinder, which progressed at the rate of seven miles an +hour. In 1790 he completed another and larger boat, which was advertised +and used for a time as a regular passenger boat on the Delaware. The oars +or paddles were worked from the stern. + + [Illustration: OUTLINE OF FITCH'S FIRST BOAT.] + + [Illustration: FITCH'S SECOND BOAT.] + +Poor Fitch! He, in common with many others of the day who did and did not +give their ideas to the world, was on the right track, but could not put +them into practical and practicable shape. He was really a man of +remarkable genius. The son of a Connecticut farmer, he had been +apprenticed to a watch and clock maker, where doubtless he increased his +knowledge of the mechanical arts. During the early part of the +Revolutionary War, he was armourer to the State of New Jersey, and later, +became a land surveyor. While acting in that capacity, the idea first +suggested itself to him, as it did almost simultaneously to Symington in +Scotland, of propelling carriages by steam, but he soon abandoned it on +account of the roughness of the American roads. After that he turned his +attention almost exclusively to the propulsion of vessels by steam, +visiting England and France, but obtaining no pecuniary advantage from the +experiments he proposed or consummated. In a sketch of his life, which +appeared a few years since,(26) the writer describes Fitch's difficulties +in raising the money to finish his second steam-boat: "In a letter to +David Roltenhouse, when asking an advance of £50 to finish the boat, he +says, 'This, sir, whether I bring it to perfection or not, will be the +mode of crossing the Atlantic for packets and armed vessels.' But +everything failed, and the poor projector loitered about the city for some +months, a despised, unfortunate, heart-broken man. 'Often have I seen +him,' said Thomas P. Cope, many years afterwards, 'stalking about like a +troubled spectre, with downcast eyes and lowering countenance, his coarse +soiled linen peeping through the elbows of a tattered garment.' Speaking +of a visit he once paid to John Wilson, his boat-builder, and Peter Brown, +his blacksmith, in which, as usual, he held forth upon his hobby, Mr. Cope +says: 'After indulging himself for some time in this never-failing topic +of deep excitement, he concluded with these memorable words: "Well, +gentlemen, although I shall not live to see the time, you will, when +steam-boats will be preferred to all other means of conveyance, and +especially for passengers; and they will be particularly useful in the +navigation of the river Mississippi." He then retired, on which Brown, +turning to Wilson, exclaimed, in a tone of deep sympathy, "Poor fellow! +what a pity he is crazy!"'" Fitch, reduced to utter poverty and despair, +threw himself into the Alleghany in 1798, and thus terminated his +chequered life. + +The experiments of John Cox Stevens, of New York, were not particularly +successful, although made at an expense of some 20,000 dollars. His vessel +was a "stern-wheeler," similar to those common enough on many American +rivers to-day. But he deserves the credit, apparently, of having been the +first to practically apply a tubular boiler to marine engines. His boiler, +only 2 feet long by 15 inches wide and 12 inches high, consisted of no +less than 41 copper tubes, each an inch in diameter. While Fitch and +Stevens were experimenting, another American citizen, Oliver Evans, was +endeavouring to mature a plan for using steam at a very high pressure, to +be employed in propelling road wagons, and in an account of his plans, +which he published in 1786, he suggests a mode of propelling vessels by +steam. "He states," says Lindsay, "that in 1785 he placed his engine, used +to clean docks, in a boat upon wheels, the combined weight being equal to +200 barrels of flour, which he transported down to the water, and when it +was launched he fixed a paddle-wheel to the stern, and drove it down the +Schuylkill to Delaware, and up the Delaware to the city, 'leaving all the +vessels going up behind, one at least half-way, the wind being ahead.'" In +1794 and 1797 one Samuel Morey, of Connecticut, is said to have built two +steamers, which were publicly exhibited and made passages, but which do +not appear to have been afterwards employed. It is to Robert Fulton, who +all this time was working at naval applications of many kinds, that not +merely America, but the whole world owes the practical and continuous use +of steam-vessels. He and his associates started the first paying line of +steam-boats. + +The life of this remarkable man is little known in England, and not +generally even in his own country. Pursuing then the plan which has guided +the writer throughout this work, he proposes to give it, for these very +reasons, in fuller detail than has been usual with better known examples +of patient and struggling inventors. + +Robert Fulton was born in the year 1765, in the village of Little Britain, +Pennsylvania, of respectable, but not wealthy, parents. From his earliest +years he showed a great aptitude for the study of the mechanical arts, +and, indeed, for the fine arts also. So marked was his progress in drawing +and painting, that he was recommended to go to England and study art +seriously. This at length he did, and for several years we find him an +inmate of Benjamin West's house. Most readers will remember that West, +although he spent the larger part of his life in England, and made his +great successes there, was by birth American. Fulton afterwards lived in +Devonshire and other parts of England, and practised art for a time, while +his brain was busy with schemes for improving inland navigation by the +construction of canals, with new forms of bridges and aqueducts. Next we +find him in France living with the family of one of his countrymen, Joel +Barlow; during this period he painted a panorama, which was a great +success. In 1797 he experimented with carcases of gunpowder--practically +torpedoes--under water, and was engaged in perfecting a wonderful submarine +boat. The French and Dutch Governments gave him some little encouragement, +so far as fair words were concerned, and he wasted a considerable amount +of time in hanging about public offices, to be eventually disappointed, +for his plans were rejected. + +But the French Government changed. Bonaparte placed himself at the head of +it, with the title of First Consul. Mr. Fulton soon presented an address +to him, soliciting him to patronise the project for submarine navigation, +and praying him to appoint a commission with sufficient funds and powers +to give the necessary assistance. This request was immediately granted, +and the citizens Volney, La Place, and Monge were named the commissioners. +In the spring of the year 1801, Mr. Fulton repaired to Brest, to make +experiments with the plunging-boat he had constructed the previous winter. +This, so he says, had many imperfections, natural to a first machine of +such complicated combinations; added to this, it had suffered much injury +from rust in consequence of his having been obliged to use iron instead of +brass or copper for bolts and arbours. Notwithstanding these +disadvantages, he engaged in a course of experiments with the machine, +which required no less courage than energy and perseverance. Of his +proceedings he made a report to the committee appointed by the French +executive, from which report we learn the following interesting facts:-- + +"On the 3rd July, 1801, he embarked with three companions on board his +plunging-boat in the harbour of Brest, and descended in it to the depth of +five, ten, fifteen, and so to twenty-five feet; but he did not attempt to +go lower, because he found that his imperfect machine would not bear the +pressure of a greater depth. He remained below the surface one hour. +During this time they were in utter darkness. Afterwards, he descended +with candles; but, finding a great disadvantage from their consumption of +vital air, he caused, previously to his next experiment, a small window of +thick glass to be made near the bow of his boat, and he again descended +with her, on the 24th July, 1801. He found that he received from his +window, or rather aperture covered with glass, for it was no more than an +inch and a half in diameter, sufficient light to enable him to count the +minutes on his watch. Having satisfied himself that he could have +sufficient light when under water, that he could do without a supply of +fresh air for a considerable time, that he could descend to any depth, and +rise to the surface with facility, his next object was to try her +movements as well on the surface as beneath it. On the 26th July he +weighed his anchor and hoisted his sails; his boat had one mast, a +mainsail, and a jib. There was only a light breeze, and, therefore, she +did not move on the surface at more than the rate of two miles an hour, +but it was found that she would tack and steer, and sail on a wind or +before it, as well as any common sailing-boat. He then struck her mast and +sails; to do which, and perfectly to prepare the boat for plunging, +required about two minutes. Having plunged to a certain depth, he placed +two men at the engine, which was intended to give her progressive motion, +and one at the helm, while he, with a barometer before him, governed the +machine which kept her balanced between the upper and lower waters. He +found that with the exertion of one hand only, he could keep her at any +depth he pleased. The propelling engine was then put in motion, and he +found, upon coming to the surface, that he had made, in about seven +minutes, a progress of four hundred meters, or about five hundred yards. +He then again plunged, turned her round while under water, and returned to +near the place he began to move from. He repeated his experiments several +days successively, until he became familiar with the operations of the +machinery and the movements of the boat. He found that she was as obedient +to her helm under water as any boat could be on the surface; and that the +magnetic needle traversed as well in the one situation as in the other. On +the 7th August, Mr. Fulton again descended with a store of atmospheric air +compressed into a copper globe of a cubic foot capacity, into which two +hundred atmospheres were forced. Thus prepared, he descended with three +companions to the depth of about five feet. At the expiration of an hour +and forty minutes, he began to take small supplies of _pure_ air from his +reservoir, and did so, as he found occasion, for four hours and twenty +minutes. At the expiration of this time he came to the surface, without +having experienced any inconvenience from having been so long under +water." + +Fulton's boat is pretty evidently the original from which Jules Verne took +the idea of his wonderful submarine ship, the _Nautilus_. It was utilised +for an important torpedo experiment, and a shallop was successfully blown +up at Brest in the presence of Admiral Villaret and other officials. The +submarine boat approached within two hundred yards of the hull which was +to be destroyed, and fired its torpedo under water. The French Government +employed him for a time to cruise about and watch our vessels, but no +opportunity seems to have occurred for any attack, and he was evidently +looked upon as a failure. In 1803, a correspondence passed between the +English Government and Fulton, and he was induced to come to London, where +he had an interview with Mr. Pitt and Lord Melville. "When Mr. Pitt first +saw a drawing of a torpedo, with a sketch of the mode of applying it, and +understood what would be the effects of its explosion, he said, that if +introduced into practice, it could not fail to annihilate all military +marines." Fulton accompanied an expedition sent against the French +flotilla in the roads of Boulogne, where his torpedoes were launched, but +did no damage. + +On the 15th October, 1805, he blew up a strongly built Danish brig, of the +burden of 200 tons, which had been provided for the experiment, and which +was anchored in Walmer roads, near Deal; within a mile of Walmer Castle, +the then residence of Mr. Pitt. He has given an interesting account of +this experiment in a pamphlet which he published in this country, under +the title of "Torpedo War." In a letter to Lord Castlereagh, of the 16th +October, 1805, he says, "Yesterday, about four o'clock, I made the +intended experiment on the brig, with a carcass of one hundred and seventy +pounds of powder; and I have the pleasure to inform you that it succeeded +beyond my most sanguine expectations. Exactly in fifteen minutes from the +time of drawing the peg and throwing the carcass into the water, the +explosion took place. It lifted the brig almost bodily, and broke her +completely in two. The ends sunk immediately, and in one minute nothing +was to be seen of her but floating fragments. Her mainmast and pumps were +thrown in the sea; her foremast was broken in three pieces; her beams and +knees were thrown from her deck and sides, and her deck planks were rent +to fibres. In fact, her annihilation was complete, and the effect was most +extraordinary. The power, as I had calculated, passed in a right line +through her body, that being the line of least resistance, and carried all +before it. At the time of her going up she did not appear to make more +resistance than a bag of feathers, and went to pieces like a shattered +egg-shell." + +Notwithstanding the complete success of the experiment, the British +ministry seem to have been but little disposed to have anything further to +do with Mr. Fulton and his projects. Indeed, the evidence it afforded of +their efficiency may have been a reason for this. However Mr. Pitt and +Lord Melville may have thought on the subject, there had been a change in +the administration, and the new ministers probably agreed with the Earl +St. Vincent, that it was great folly in them to encourage a project which, +if it succeeded, would revolutionise all maritime questions. Lord +Grenville and his Cabinet were not only indisposed to encourage Mr. +Fulton, but they were unwilling to fulfil the engagements which their +predecessors had made, and that inventor, after some further experiments, +of which we have no particular account, wearied with incessant +applications, disappointments, and neglect, at length embarked for his +native country. + +But Fulton's greatest fame rests on his steam-boats. In his first attempt +made in France, where he was aided by Mr. Robert R. Livingston, a +fellow-countryman, he was not successful. Their experimental boat was +completed early in the spring of 1803; they were on the point of making an +experiment with her, when one morning, as Mr. Fulton was rising from a bed +in which anxiety had given him but little rest, a messenger from the boat, +whose precipitation and apparent consternation announced that he was the +bearer of bad tidings, presented himself to him, and exclaimed in accents +of despair, "Oh, sir, the boat has broken to pieces and gone to the +bottom!" Mr. Fulton, who himself related the anecdote, declared that the +news created a despondency which he had never felt on any other occasion; +but this was only a momentary sensation. Upon examination, he found the +boat had been too weakly framed to bear the great weight of the machinery, +and that, in consequence of an agitation of the river by wind the +preceding night, what the messenger had represented had literally +happened. The boat had broken in two, and the weight of her machinery had +carried her fragments to the bottom. It appeared to him, as he said, that +the fruits of so many months' labour, and so much expense, were +annihilated, and an opportunity of demonstrating the efficiency of his +plan was denied him at the moment he had promised it should be displayed. +His disappointment and feelings may easily be imagined, but they did not +check his perseverance. On the very day that this misfortune happened, he +commenced repairing it. He did not sit down idly to repine at misfortunes +which his manly exertions might remedy, or waste in fruitless lamentations +a moment of that time in which the accident might be repaired. Without +returning to his lodgings, he immediately began to labour with his own +hands to raise the boat, and worked for four and twenty hours incessantly, +without allowing himself rest or refreshment; an imprudence which, as he +always supposed, had a permanently bad effect on his constitution, and to +which he imputed much of his subsequent ill health. + +The accident did the machinery very little injury; but they were obliged +to build the boat almost entirely anew. She was completed in July; her +length was sixty-six feet, and she was eight feet wide. Early in August, +Mr. Fulton addressed a letter to the French National Institute, inviting +them to witness a trial of his boat, which was made in their presence, and +in the presence of a great multitude of the Parisians. The experiment was +entirely satisfactory to Mr. Fulton, though the boat did not move +altogether with as much speed as he expected. But he imputed her moving so +slowly to the extremely defective fabrication of the machinery, and to +imperfections which were to be expected in the first experiment with so +complicated a machine, but which he saw might be easily remedied. Such +entire confidence did he acquire from this experiment, that immediately +afterwards he wrote to Messrs. Watt and Boulton, of Birmingham, ordering +certain parts of a steam-engine to be made for him and sent to America. He +did not disclose to them for what purpose the engine was intended, but his +directions were such as would produce the parts of an engine that might be +put together within a compass suited to a boat. Mr. Fulton then designed +to return to America immediately; but, as we have seen, he first visited +England, and it is probable that he then gave new orders on this subject, +as we find that the engine which was employed in the first American Fulton +boat was of the manufacture of Messrs. Watt and Boulton, but it did not +arrive in America till long after the time of which we are speaking. + +Mr. Livingston also wrote immediately after this experiment to his friends +in America, and through their interference, an Act was passed by the +Legislature of the State of New York, on the 5th of April, 1803, by which +the rights and exclusive privileges of navigating all the waters of that +State, by vessels propelled by fire or steam, granted to Mr. Livingston by +the Act of 1798, were extended to Mr. Livingston and Mr. Fulton for the +term of twenty years from the date of the new Act. By this law, the time +for producing proof of the practicability of propelling by steam a boat of +twenty tons' capacity, at the rate of four miles an hour, with wind +against the ordinary current of the Hudson River, was extended for a +period of two years. And by a subsequent law the time was enlarged to +April, 1807. + +Very soon after Mr. Fulton's arrival in New York he commenced building the +first American boat. While she was constructing, he found that her +expenses would greatly exceed his calculation. He endeavoured to lessen +the pressure on his own finances by offering one-third of the exclusive +right which was secured to him and Mr. Livingston by the laws of New York, +and of his patent rights, for a proportionate contribution to the expense. +He made this offer to several gentlemen, and it was very generally known +that he had made such propositions; but no one was then willing to afford +this aid to his enterprise. + +"In the spring of 1807, the first Fulton boat built in America was +launched from the ship-yards of Charles Brown, on the East River. The +engine from England was put on board of her; in August she was completed, +and was moved by her machinery from her birth-place to the Jersey shore. +Mr. Livingston and Mr. Fulton had invited many of their friends to witness +the first trial. Nothing could exceed the surprise and admiration of all +who witnessed the experiment. The minds of the most incredulous were +changed in a few minutes. Before the boat had made the progress of a +quarter of a mile, the greatest unbeliever must have been converted. The +man who, while he looked on the expensive machine, thanked his stars that +he had more wisdom than to waste his money on such idle schemes, changed +the expression of his features as the boat moved from the wharf and gained +her speed; his complacent smile gradually stiffened into an expression of +wonder. The jeers of the ignorant, who had neither sense nor feeling +enough to suppress their contemptuous ridicule and rude jokes, were +silenced for a moment by a vulgar astonishment, which deprived them of the +power of utterance, till the triumph of genius extorted from the +incredulous multitude which crowded the shores shouts and exclamations of +congratulation and applause." + +There can be no doubt that Fulton derived his general plan from the +experiments of Symington. While that engineer was conducting his +experiments under the patronage of Lord Dundas, a stranger came to the +banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal and requested an interview, announcing +himself as Mr. Fulton, of the United States, whither he intended to +return, and expressing a desire to see Mr. Symington's boat and machinery, +and to procure some information of the principles on which it was moved, +before he left Europe. He remarked that, however beneficial the invention +might be to Great Britain, it would be of more importance to North +America, considering the numerous navigable rivers and lakes of that +continent, and the facility for procuring timber for building vessels and +supplying them with fuel; that the usefulness of steam-vessels in a +mercantile point of view could not fail to attract the attention of every +observer; and that, if he were allowed to carry the plan to the United +States, it would be advantageous to Mr. Symington, as, if his engagements +would permit, the constructing or superintending the construction of such +vessels would naturally devolve upon him. Mr. Symington, in compliance +with the stranger's request, caused the engine-fire to be lighted, and the +machinery put in motion. Several persons entered the boat, and along with +Mr. Fulton were carried from where she then lay to Lock No. 16 on the +Forth and Clyde Canal, about four miles west, and returned to the +starting-place in one hour and twenty minutes, being at the rate of six +miles an hour, to the astonishment of Mr. Fulton and the other gentlemen. +Mr. Fulton obtained leave to take notes and sketches regarding the boat +and engine, "but he never afterwards communicated with Mr. Symington."(27) +He, it has been shown, almost immediately afterwards ordered a marine +engine from Messrs. Boulton and Watt, of Soho, near Birmingham. This +engine reached America before the _Clermont_, which had been constructed +at the instance of Fulton and Livingston, had been launched from the yard +of Charles Brown, on the East (Hudson) River. She was decked for a short +distance only, at stem and stern, her engines being open to view, while a +house on deck, and over the boiler, accommodated passengers and crew. _The +boiler was set in masonry._ Her engine was of almost identical size to +that of the _Charlotte Dundas_. It is right to add that Fulton claimed no +patent or privilege for this engine, which was so evidently founded on +that of Symington. Her hull was quite as distinctly his own design, and +was vastly superior in build to the Scotch vessel. The first trip of the +_Clermont_ was from New York to Clermont, the seat of Mr. Livingston, +returning to Albany, and the average speed was five miles per hour. + + [Illustration: THE "CLERMONT."] + +"The _Clermont_, on her first voyage, arrived at her destination without +any accident. She excited the astonishment of the inhabitants of the +shores of the Hudson, many of whom had not heard even of an engine, much +less of a steam-boat. There were many descriptions of the effects of her +first appearance upon the people on the banks of the river; some of those +were ridiculous, but some of them were of such a character as nothing but +an object of real grandeur could have excited. She was described by some +who had indistinctly seen her passing in the night, to those who had not +had a view of her, as a monster moving on the waters, defying the winds +and tide, and breathing flames and smoke. She had the most terrific +appearance from other vessels which were navigating the river when she was +making her passage. The first steam-boats, as others yet do, used dry +pine-wood for fuel, which sends forth a column of ignited vapour many feet +above the flue, and whenever the fire is stirred a galaxy of sparks fly +off, and in the night have a very brilliant and beautiful appearance. This +uncommon light first attracted the attention of the crews of other +vessels. Notwithstanding the wind and tide were adverse to its approach, +they saw with astonishment that it was rapidly coming towards them; and +when it came so near as that the noise of the machinery and paddles was +heard, the crews (if what was said in the newspapers of the time be true), +in some instances, shrunk beneath their decks from the terrific sight, and +left their vessels to go on shore, while others prostrated themselves, and +besought Providence to protect them from the approaches of the horrible +monster which was marching on the tides and lighting its path by the fires +which it vomited." + +The _Clermont_ was soon afterwards lengthened and considerably improved in +appearance and usefulness. Her hull was covered from stem to stern with a +flush deck, beneath which two cabins were formed, surrounded by double +ranges of berths, and fitted up with great regard to comfort. Her +dimensions now were--length, 130 feet; breadth, 16½ feet; diameter of +paddle-wheels, 15 feet, the paddles dipping into the water 2 feet. Fulton +afterwards built a number of steam-boats, and, it will be well understood, +encountered a vast deal of opposition from the owners of sailing craft and +ferry-boats. Attempts were also made to put forward rival inventions, and +a company was started who proposed to navigate boats on the Hudson by the +following somewhat incomprehensible mode of propulsion. The quotation is +from the biography of Fulton(28) by his friend, C. D. Colden:-- + +"The opposition boats on the Hudson, which the owners had built to rival +the steam-boats, were at first to have been propelled by a pendulum, +which, according to the calculations of some ingenious gentlemen, would +give a greater power than steam, but when their boat came to be put in the +water they soon found that their wheels, which were turned with great +facility and velocity while their vessel was on the stocks, could not be +made to perform their functions without the application of a great power +to the pendulum. The projectors were utterly at a loss to account for so +extraordinary a phenomenon, and could not conceive why the wheels, which +had moved so much to their satisfaction when they were resisted only by +the air, should require so much force when they turned in the water, and +were to drag the weight of the vessel. But having by actual experiment +determined that a pendulum would not supply the place of steam, and +knowing no other way of supplying steam than that which they saw practised +in the Fulton boats, they adopted all their machinery with some very +insignificant alterations, which were made with no other view than to give +those persons who had set out by professing to make a pendulum-boat a +pretence for claiming to be the inventors of improvements in steam-boats." + +Fulton, without doubt, designed and superintended the construction of the +first steam war-vessel. On the 20th June, 1814, the keel was laid, and in +little more than four months, that is, on the 29th October, she was +launched from the yard of Adam and Noah Brown, her able and active +architects. The scene exhibited on that occasion was magnificent. It +happened on one of the brightest autumnal days. "Spectators," says Colden, +"crowded the surrounding shores, and were seen upon the hills which +limited the beautiful prospect. The river and bay were filled with vessels +of war, dressed in all their variety of colours, in compliment to the +occasion. In the midst of these was the enormous floating mass whose bulk +and unwieldy form seemed to render her as unfit for motion as the land +batteries which were saluting her. Through the fleet of vessels which +occupied this part of the harbour were seen gliding in every direction +several of our large steam-boats, of the burden of three or four hundred +tons. These, with bands of music, and crowds of gay and joyous company, +were winding through passages left by the anchored vessels as if they were +moved by enchantment. The heart could not have been human that did not +share in the general enthusiasm expressed by the loud shouts of the +multitude. He could not have been a worthy citizen, who did not then say +to himself, with pride and exultation, 'This is my country!' and when he +looked on the man whose single genius had created the most interesting +objects of the scene, 'This is my countryman!'" + +By May, 1815, her engine was put on board, and she was so far completed as +to afford an opportunity of trying her machinery. But, unhappily, before +this period the mind that had conceived and combined it was gone. Fulton, +almost to the last day of his life, worked incessantly at this, the first +steam war-vessel. + +On the 4th July, in the same year, the steam frigate made a passage from +New York to the ocean and back, and went the distance--which, going and +returning, is fifty-three miles--in eight hours and twenty minutes, by the +mere force of her engine. These trials suggested the correction of some +errors, and the supplying of some defects in the machinery. In September +she made another passage to the sea, and having at this time the weight of +her whole armament on board, she went at an average of five and a half +miles an hour, with and against tide. When stemming the tide, which ran at +the rate of three miles an hour, she advanced at the rate of two and a +half miles an hour. + +We now reach the period which brings us to practical steam navigation in +Europe. In January, 1812, Henry Bell, of Helensburgh, Scotland, completed +the construction of a small passenger steam vessel, the _Comet_, of thirty +tons burden. She was only forty feet in length, with an engine of +three-horse power. The circular which announced its regular trips is worth +reprinting, as it is the first advertisement of the kind made in all +Europe. It reads as follows:-- + + + + + + +"STEAM PASSAGE BOAT, THE _COMET_, BETWEEN GLASGOW, GREENOCK, AND +HELENSBURGH FOR PASSENGERS ONLY. + +"The Subscriber having, at much expense, fitted up a handsome vessel to +ply upon the river Clyde, between Glasgow and Greenock, to sail by the +power of wind, air and steam, he intends that the vessel shall leave the +Broomielaw on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays about mid-day, or at such +hour thereafter as may answer from the state of the tide; and to leave +Greenock on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the morning, to suit the +tide. + +"The elegance, comfort, safety, and speed of this vessel requires only to +be proved to meet the approbation of the public; and the proprietor is +determined to do everything in his power to merit public encouragement. + +"The terms are for the present fixed at four shillings for the best cabin, +and three shillings for the second, but beyond these rates nothing is to +be allowed to servants or any other person employed about the vessel. + +"The Subscriber continues his establishment at Helensburgh Baths, the same +as for years past, and a vessel will be in readiness to convey passengers +in the _Comet_ from Greenock to Helensburgh. + +"Passengers by the _Comet_ will receive information of the hour of sailing +by applying at Mr. Houslem's office, Broomielaw, or Mr. Thomas Blackney's, +East Quay Head, Greenock. + + "(Signed), HENRY BELL. +"Helensburgh Baths, Aug. 5, 1812." + + + + + + + [Illustration: BELL'S "COMET."] + +Bell's claims to recognition are very much the same as those of Fulton and +Livingston in the United States. He was instrumental in bringing steam +navigation to a practical issue, but was not its inventor or first +introducer. In 1816, he addressed an interesting letter to the _Caledonian +Mercury_, showing the intimacy which existed between himself and Fulton, +and proving that the leaders of the new steam movement were in frequent +communication. In this letter he commences by recapitulating Miller's +experiments in propelling vessels or rafts by paddles worked by capstans +or by wind, like a windmill. These ideas were communicated to all the +Courts of Europe, and the French, at one time, actually proposed something +of the nature of rafts worked by Miller's plan, for the conveyance of +troops to England. Miller sent one of his capstan vessels as a present to +the King of Sweden. Bell makes the following statement:-- + +"Fulton came to the knowledge of steam-boats by employing me (H. Bell) +about some plans of machinery, and begged me to call on Miller and see how +he had succeeded in his steam-boat plan; and if it answered, to send him +full drawings and description along with my machinery. I had a +conversation with Miller, who gave me every information. I (H. Bell) told +him that his engineer was wrong, and that I intended giving Fulton my +opinion on steam-boats. I left Fulton's letter with Miller. + +"Two years after, a letter from Fulton arrived, stating that he had +constructed a steam-boat from the drawings I had sent him, but +improvements were required. This letter I also sent to Miller." + +He goes on to say that he set on foot his steam-boat after making various +models, and when convinced they would answer, contracted with John Wood +and Co., ship-builders, Port Glasgow, to build the _Comet_, so called from +a comet which appeared in Scotland at that period. He claims that the +_Comet_ was the first steam-vessel built in Europe "that would work," but +this is unfair to the memories of Miller and Symington. + +Oddly enough, while Bell was experimenting on the Clyde, Mr. Dawson was +doing the same in Ireland. He even claims that he built a fifty-ton +steamer in 1811, and which, by a coincidence simply, as it would seem, he +had also named the _Comet_. He put the first steamer for public +accommodation on the Thames in 1818, to run between London and Gravesend. +Mr. Lawrence, of Bristol, introduced a steam-boat on the Severn shortly +after Bell put the _Comet_ on the Clyde, and brought her to London, but so +great was the opposition from the watermen that he took her back to +Bristol. She was afterwards taken to Spain, and long plied between Seville +and St. Lucar. These were the precursors of those grand steam-ship lines +which now run to every part of the habitable world. Bell's steamer was +made, in the second year of its career, a pleasure-boat to many parts of +the coasts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and may therefore count as +one of the first ocean-going as well as river steamers. + + [Illustration: FOUR GREAT ENGINEERS.] + + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + + THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). + + + The Clyde and its Ship-building Interests--From Henry Bell to + Modern Ship-builders--The First Royal Naval Steamer--The First + Regular Sea-going Steamer--The Revolution in Ship-building--The Iron + Age--"Will Iron Float?"--The Invention of the + Screw-propeller--Ericsson, Smith, and Woodcroft--American + 'Cuteness--Captain Stockton and his Boat--The First Steamer to Cross + the Atlantic--Voyages of the _Sirius_ and _Great Western_--The + International Struggle--The Collins and Cunard Lines--Fate of the + _Arctic_--The _Pacific_ never heard of more--Why the Cunard Company + has been Successful--Splendid Discipline on Board their Vessels--The + Fleets that Leave the Mersey. + + +What a contrast to the days of Henry Bell does the Clyde now present! From +a mere salmon stream it has become, in little more than half a century, by +far the largest and most important ship-building river in the wide world. +"Ancient historians have told us that when the first Punic war roused the +citizens of Rome to extraordinary exertions in the equipment of a fleet +for the destruction of the maritime supremacy of Carthage, the banks of +the Tiber resounded with the axe and the hammer, and that the extent of +the ship-building operations then carried on was a matter not merely of +surprise, but of wonder. How insignificant, however, was that sound when +compared with that of the steam-hammer and the anvil, and the din of the +work now to be heard on the banks of the Clyde. For miles on both sides of +the river stupendous ship-building yards line its banks, employing tens of +thousands of hardy and skilled mechanics earning their daily bread, as God +has destined all men to do, by 'the sweat of their brow.'... Along those +banks there is now annually constructed a much larger amount of steam +tonnage than in all the other ports of Europe combined, those of England +alone excepted." These great private yards have been and will be +invaluable in war times. Take such a firm as that of John Elder and Co., +Fairfield, Glasgow, whose works cover sixty acres of ground. They have +built vessels in the course of a year aggregating 35,000 to 40,000 tons, +and have contracted for as many as six 4,000-ton steam-ships at a time. +One of these was delivered to her owners complete and ready for sea, with +steam up, within thirteen months of the time she was contracted for. +Bell's _Comet_ was only of thirty tons, and its engine but of four-horse +power! Mr. James Deas, C.E., in a work on the Clyde and its commerce, &c., +says:--"It was no uncommon occurrence for the passengers, when the little +steamer was getting exhausted, to take to turning the fly-wheel to assist +her."(29) Poor Bell, like so many of the pioneers of grand and important +undertakings, did not profit much by his successful application of steam +to navigation, and in his declining years was chiefly supported by an +annuity of £50 granted by the Clyde trustees. + +While the public, after the successful experiments already mentioned, and +others which followed, were beginning to appreciate the value of steamers, +the Admiralty would have nothing to do with them, and it took them about +forty years before they reluctantly applied steam to war vessels. The +absolutely first steam vessel built for the Royal Navy was a tug, also +named the _Comet_. She was constructed in 1819, after some experiments had +convinced Lord Melville and Sir George Cockburn of the value of steam +power in towing men-of-war. "At this period, Mr. Ronnie, who planned the +breakwater at Plymouth and new London Bridge, was 'advising engineer' to +the Admiralty, and on every occasion urged the application of steam power +to vessels of war. More than this, he hired at his own cost the Margate +steam-boat, the _Eclipse_, and successfully towed the _Eastings_, 74, +against the tide from Woolwich to Gravesend, June 14th, 1819. On this, the +Admiralty, supported by Lord Melville, gave up their objections."(30) + +Still, practically, it was not till after the Crimean war that steam +became the leading motive power in our war navy. The merchants were more +sensible. Mr. David Napier had, in 1818, launched a steamer of ninety tons +burden--the _Rob Roy_--from the yard of Mr. William Denny, of Dumbarton. For +two years she ran between Glasgow and Belfast, carrying the mails, and was +the first regular _sea-going steamer_ which had been built in either +Europe or the United States. But she also calls for particular mention for +another reason: she was subsequently transferred to the English Channel as +a packet-boat between Dover and Calais. And there are still, no doubt, +many travellers or residents of those towns who can remember the +inauguration of what is now a most important service. The same Napier, +whose name is very intimately connected with the history of the marine +engine, which he was constantly striving to improve, inaugurated, with the +assistance of capitalists, a line between Liverpool, Greenock, and +Glasgow. Next followed a line from London to Leith, which commenced with +two steamers, each fitted with engines of fifty horse-power. Now came an +immense advance, for in 1826, the first of the then considered "leviathan" +class of steamers--the _United Kingdom_--was built for the trade between +London and Edinburgh. She was 160 feet long, with engines of 200 +horse-power. "People flocked from all quarters to inspect and admire her." + + [Illustration: THE "UNITED KINGDOM". + (_From a Drawing by E. W. Cooke, R.A._)] + +Although these two lines of regular steam communication between Liverpool +and the river Clyde, and between London and Edinburgh, were now +successfully established and proved of considerable importance in the +encouragement of steam navigation elsewhere, some years elapsed before +those rapid strides were made in its adaptation as a propelling power +which have rendered it one of the wonders of the present age. Indeed, this +power would probably never have made such an extraordinary advance had +iron not been adopted instead of wood for the construction of our ships. + +Hitherto throughout all ages, timber alone had been used in ship-building. +The forests of Lebanon had supplied the naval architects of Tyre with +their materials; Italy cultivated her woods with unusual care so that +sufficient trees might be grown for the timber-planking and masts of ships +for its once powerful maritime republics; and in our own time how often +have we heard fears expressed that Great Britain would not be able to +continue the supply of sufficient oak for her royal dockyards, much less +for her merchant fleets? Yet, when shrewd, far-seeing men, no farther back +than the year 1830, talked about substituting iron for the "ribs" of a +ship instead of "timber," and iron plates for "planking" instead of oak, +what, a howl of derision the public raised. + +"'Who ever heard of iron floating?' they derisively inquired," says +Lindsay. "It is true they might have seen old tin kettles float on every +pool of water before their doors almost any day of their lives--nay, +floating even more buoyantly than their discarded wooden coal-boxes, but +such common-place instructors were beneath their notice. Timber-built +ships had from time immemorial been in use in every nation and on every +sea, and had bravely battled with the storm from the days of Noah, and +were these, they sneeringly asked, to be supplanted by a material which in +itself would naturally sink? Such was the reasoning of the period; and, +indeed, the best of the arguments against the use of iron rested on +scarcely more solid foundation."(31) + +It is true that so early as 1809, Richard Trevethick and Robert Dickenson +had proposed to build "large ships with decks, beams, and sides of plate +iron," and had even suggested "masts, yards, and spars" of iron, which +latter are now by no means uncommon. "But," says Lindsay, "as these +inventors or patentees did not put their ideas into practice, no other +person (if, indeed, any other person gave even a passing thought to the +subject) was convinced that any craft beyond a boat or a river-barge could +be constructed of iron, much less that if made in the form of a ship, this +material would oppose more effectual resistance to the storms of the +ocean, or, if dashed upon the strand, to the angry fury of the waves, than +timber, however scientifically put together. But though no available +substance can withstand the raging elements with less chance of +destruction than plates of iron riveted together in the form of a boiler +(the principle on which iron ships are now constructed), the public could +not then appreciate their superior value; and it was not until 1818 that +the first _iron vessel_ was built." This vessel is in use even now. Three +years afterwards a steam-engine was, for the first time, fitted into a +vessel built of iron--the _Aaron Manby_--constructed for Mr. Manby and +Captain Napier, afterwards Admiral Sir Charles Napier. Gradually the +suitableness of these vessels was becoming apparent, and from this time +dates the establishment of some of the greatest ship-building yards, like +those of the Lairds and Fairbairns. In 1834 the first-named firm built the +_Garry Owen_ for service between Limerick and Kilrush. Almost fortunately, +she was driven on shore with a number of wooden vessels, all of which were +wrecked or seriously damaged, while she got off with scarcely any damage, +and the credit of iron vessels became improved. But another of the chief +and more tenable objections to the extended use of iron vessels was the +perturbation of the compass. This has been clearly shown to proceed almost +entirely from the proximity of iron _not_ forming a part of the _hull_ of +the ship, the magnetic influence of which is comparatively even all round. +A funnel, tank, boilers, the machinery, the iron fastenings even of a +deck-house, &c., may all have their influences. Still these influences are +now regulated and understood, and iron ships are more commonly employed +than those of wood, showing that it is not an objection which can be urged +to-day. After the early steamers came by degrees iron sailing vessels, +till at length we find iron applied to a grand steamer, magnificent then +and first-class still, the _Great Britain_. "Experience by degrees +successfully met almost every objection; and science was again triumphant +over prejudice and ignorance. Iron had been made not merely to float, but +to ride buoyantly over the crest of the wave amid the raging elements." + + [Illustration: SECTION AND PLAN OF THE STERN OF A SCREW STEAMER.] + +Then came the introduction of the screw-propeller, which, if we are to +believe some authorities, is an early invention of the Chinese. There have +been many claims to its invention in modern times. In May, 1804, Mr. J. +Stevens, of the United States, put to sea with a steam-boat propelled with +some form of screw. Trevethick, the engineer, in 1815, patented "a worm or +screw revolving in a cylinder at the head, sides, or stern of a vessel;" +and the following year, Robert Kinder applied for a patent for a shaft and +screw almost of exactly the form now in use. The French claim it, and only +a few years since erected at Boulogne a monument to Frédéric Sauvage, as +its inventor. On the front is a bronze bas-relief showing a vessel with a +screw-propeller. Sauvage's life was similar to those of many other +inventors, in that he spent his days and fortune in perfecting inventions +which brought him no profit. Having lost his own money, and got into great +difficulties, he was thrown into a debtors' prison, and subsequently ended +his days in a madhouse. Lindsay remarks properly that "the number of +claimants to every important invention is remarkable. An impartial student +will, however, probably come to the conclusion that the invention of the +screw and its application was, like that of the steam-engine itself, the +sole property of no one man." The time for its development and proper use +had come, and many scientific students were inquiring concerning its +value. + +There can be little doubt that the first demonstration in our country of +its value on a proper scale and in convincing form, was that made by +Captain John Ericsson, a Swedish engineer resident in London. After a +successful experiment with a model, he had a boat built forty-five feet in +length, and fitted with engine and two propellers. She was named the +_Francis B. Ogden_. "The result of her first trial went far beyond his +most sanguine expectations. No sooner were the engines put at full speed, +than she shot ahead at the rate of more than ten miles an hour." +Afterwards she towed a schooner of 140 tons burden at seven miles an hour. +The next experiment was made in the presence of the Lords of the +Admiralty, and they were minute in their inspection. Ericsson felt +confident that they were convinced, and would soon order the construction +of a war-vessel on the new principle. In this, however, he was +disappointed, though he had given them a tolerably good proof of its value +by towing their barge at the rate of ten miles an hour for a considerable +distance. Scientific theorists reported against it, and said that a ship +thus propelled would be unsteerable. Lindsay records how Admiral Beechey, +one of the old school, in 1850, stated that "he did not believe that the +navy of the future--the Royal Navy--ever could consist of steamers! Nor +could he endure iron ships." + +While Ericsson was thus employed, Mr. Thomas Pettit Smith, who, on the +31st May, 1836, had taken out a patent for a "sort of screw or 'worm,' +made to revolve rapidly under water in a recess or open space formed in +that part of the after-part of the vessel commonly called the dead rising +or dead wood of the stern," was experimenting, and the following year +exhibited it in practical form in a small vessel. It appeared to several +gentlemen so satisfactory that a company was formed in July, 1839, to +purchase the patent. It was now applied to a vessel called the +_Archimedes_, the burden of which was 237 tons, and although her speed was +somewhat less than Ericsson's vessel, the trial was undeniably +satisfactory, more especially as it was obvious that her engine was really +not large enough for a propeller of the size. In her next trials against +the _Widgeon_, the fastest paddle-wheel steamer then running between Dover +and Calais, the success of the screw might be regarded as an established +fact. The _Archimedes_ laboured under the disadvantage of having ten +horse-power less steam, while her burden was seventy-five tons more; she +had the advantage of carrying more sail. On the first three trials the +_Widgeon_ had a very slight advantage, in spite of her superior +steam-power and smaller tonnage, while on the last two the _Archimedes_ +made the trip in less time than it had ever previously been performed by +any of the mail packets. Captain Chappell, R.N., afterwards took her clear +round England and Scotland, calling at numerous ports. The Admiralty at +length ordered the construction of a screw vessel, and the lines of the +_Rattler_ were laid down on the same model as the _Alecto_, a paddle-wheel +steamer then building. + +Another claimant as an inventor, who should be mentioned most honourably, +is Mr. Woodcroft, some of whose experiments were being patented in 1826. +They were not tried on a suitable scale till after the successes of +Ericsson and Smith. Woodcroft's "varying pitch screw-propeller," patented +in 1844, the title of which describes itself, is to-day "considered the +best and most useful type." + +In following the progress of the screw, as applicable to the propulsion of +merchant vessels,(32) and its use in other countries, we must now recur to +the period when Ericsson was making his experiments on the Thames. At that +time an intelligent gentleman, Captain Robert F. Stockton, of the United +States' Navy, was on a visit to London; being of an inquisitive turn of +mind, like most of his countrymen, he watched with great interest the +trials with the screw then in progress, and having obtained an +introduction to Ericsson, he accompanied him on one of his experimental +expeditions on the Thames. Unlike the Lords of the British Admiralty, who +allowed eight years to elapse before they built their first +screw-propeller, the _Rattler_, Captain Stockton was so impressed with the +value and utility of the discovery, that, although he had only made a +single trip in the _Francis B. Ogden_, and that merely from London Bridge +to Greenwich, he there and then gave Ericsson a commission to build for +him two boats for the United States, with steam machinery and propeller as +proposed by him. Stockton, impressed with its practical utility for war +purposes, was undismayed by the recorded opinions of scientific men, and +formed his own judgment from what he himself witnessed. He, therefore, not +only ordered the two iron boats on his own account, but at once brought +the subject before the Government of the United States, and caused various +plans and models to be made at his own expense, explaining the fitness of +the new invention for ships of war. So sanguine was he, indeed, of the +great importance of this new mode of propulsion, and so determined that +his views should be carried out, that he encouraged Ericsson to believe +that the Government of the United States would test his propeller on a +large scale; Ericsson, relying upon these promises, abandoned his +professional engagements in England, and took his departure for the United +States. But it was not until a change in the Federal administration, two +years afterwards, that Captain Stockton was able to obtain a favourable +hearing. Orders were then given to make an experiment in the _Princeton_, +which was successful. The propeller, as applied to this war vessel, was +similar in construction to that of the _Francis B. Ogden_, as well in +theory as in minute practical details. One of the boats, named after her +owner, the _Robert F. Stockton_, was built by Messrs. Laird, of +Birkenhead, and launched in 1838. She was 70 feet in length, 10 feet wide, +and drew 6 feet 9 inches of water. Her cylinders were 16 inches diameter +with 18 inches stroke, and her propellers 6 feet 4 inches in length. On +her trial trip on the Thames, made in January of the following year, she +accomplished a distance of nine miles in about half an hour with the tide, +proving the speed through the water to be between eleven and twelve miles +an hour. On her second trial, between Southwark and Waterloo Bridges, she +took in tow four laden barges with upright sides and square ends, having a +beam of fifteen feet each, and drawing four feet six inches of water. One +of these was lashed on each side, the other two being towed astern, and +though the weight of the whole must have been close upon 400 tons, and a +considerable resistance was offered by their forms, the steamer towed them +at the rate of 5½ miles an hour in slack water, or in eleven minutes +between the two bridges, a distance of one mile. + + [Illustration: THE "ROBERT F. STOCKTON."] + +These experiments having been considered in every way satisfactory, the +_Robert F. Stockton_ left England for the United States in the beginning +of April, 1839, under the command of Captain Cram of the American merchant +service. Her crew consisted of four men and a boy; and having accomplished +the voyage _under sail_ in forty days, Captain Cram was presented with the +freedom of the city of New York for his daring in crossing the Atlantic in +so small a craft, constructed only for river navigation. + +The first steamer to cross the Atlantic was the _Savannah_, of 300 tons, +which arrived in Liverpool from Savannah, Georgia, in thirty-one days, her +voyage having been made partly under sail. So to America belongs the +credit of having shown the practicability of employing steam power for the +most difficult and dangerous voyages. The _Savannah's_ horse-power was too +small for her size, and although she arrived safely, the experiment was +not regarded by men of science as particularly successful. Dr. Lardner in +particular, and other scientists, expressed their belief that no vessel +could carry coal enough to steam the whole distance, and their discussions +greatly retarded the progress of Transatlantic steam navigation. The +voyage of the _Savannah_ was made in 1819; ten years elapsed before the +Atlantic traffic was renewed, so far as steam was concerned, by the +dispatch of an English-built steam-ship, the _Curaçoa_, which made several +trips from Holland to the West Indies. In 1833 a steam-ship, named the +_Royal William_, sailed from Quebec, and arrived safely at Gravesend. But +it was not till 1838 that the practicability of profitably employing +steam-ships on the Atlantic was demonstrated by the voyages of the +_Sirius_ and _Great Western_, the latter one of the finest vessels of the +day. Their arrival at New York is thus described by one of the journals of +that city:-- + + [Illustration: ARRIVAL OF THE "GREAT WESTERN" AT NEW YORK.] + +"At three o'clock p.m., on Sunday the 22nd of April, the _Sirius_ first +descried the land, and early on Monday morning, the 23rd, anchored in the +North River immediately off the battery. The moment the intelligence was +made known, hundreds and thousands rushed, early in the morning, to the +battery. Nothing could exceed the excitement. The river was covered during +the whole day with row-boats, skiffs, and yawls, carrying the wondering +people out to get a close view of this extraordinary vessel. While people +were yet wondering how the _Sirius_ made out to cross the rude Atlantic, +it was announced, about eleven a.m. on Monday, from the telegraph, that a +huge steam-ship was in the offing. '_The Great Western! The Great +Western!_' was on everybody's tongue. About two o'clock p.m., the first +curl of her ascending smoke fell on the eyes of the thousands of anxious +spectators. A shout of enthusiasm rose in the air." The movements of a +great steam-ship in and out of port are always watched with interest--why, +even the arrival of the "husbands' boat" at Margate or Ramsgate is an +event! One can, then, well imagine and understand the excitement caused in +New York by the arrival of two fine vessels almost simultaneously from +England. It meant, in some branches of commerce, a complete revolution. +These first passages were made in seventeen and fifteen days respectively. +Almost immediately after this, the great Cunard Company commenced +operations, the Admiralty awarding them the mail contract. Then came the +great contest for the maritime supremacy, commercially regarded, of the +Atlantic Ocean, when American enterprise came into the field, and +organised a formidable rival to the English company in the Collins Line. +The history of this contest would fill a volume. + + [Illustration: THE FIRST CUNARD STEAMER.] + +The national pride of the Americans had been touched by the commercial +success of British steam-ships frequenting their ports, and they +determined, vulgarly speaking, "to have a piece of the pie." American +genius and enterprise had sent forth a fleet of steamers to trade on their +coasts, lakes, and rivers, which a leading English authority considers +"were marvels of naval architecture, unsurpassed in speed, and in the +splendour of their equipment." Their clipper-sailing ships "were the +finest the world had then produced, while their perfection in the art of +ship-building had even reached so high a point that they constructed +steamers to ascend rivers where there was hardly depth of water for an +Indian canoe; indeed, it was proverbially said, in honour of their skill +in the art, that their vessels would traverse valleys if only moistened by +the morning dews." Why should they not have a great ocean line? It was +looked upon in Congress and by the country generally as almost a national +question, and it resulted in a heavy mail subsidy to Mr. Collins and his +colleagues. They immediately made arrangements for the construction of +four large vessels. Later, the Government increased the subsidy by over +one-third (from $19,250 per trip to $33,000) _but increased speed was +required in return_. How much this may have had to do with the two +terrible disasters about to be related will no doubt strike the reader. +The Collins Line commenced its voyages in 1850. + +"A voyage across the Atlantic," says Lindsay, "must ever be attended with +greater peril than almost any other ocean service of similar length and +duration; arising, as this does, from the boisterous character and +uncertainty of the weather, from the icebergs which float in huge masses +during spring along the northern line of passage, and from the many +vessels of every kind to be met with either employed in the Newfoundland +fisheries, or in the vast and daily-increasing intercourse between Europe +and America. + +"In such a navigation the utmost care requires to be constantly exercised, +especially by steam-ships. Nevertheless, although the Collins Line of +steamers performed this passage with a speed hitherto unequalled, they +encountered no accidents worthy of notice during the first four years of +their career; but terrible calamities befell them soon afterwards." + +On the 21st of September, 1854, the _Arctic_, according to the usual +course, left Liverpool for New York. She had on board 233 passengers, of +whom 150 were first-class, together with a crew of 135 persons and a +valuable cargo. At mid-day on the 27th of that month, when about sixty +miles south-east of Cape Race, and during a dense fog, she came in contact +with the French steamer _Vesta_. By this collision the _Vesta_ seemed at +first to be so seriously injured, that in their terror and confusion, her +passengers, amounting to 147, and a crew of fifty men, conceived she was +about to sink, and that their only chance of safety lay in their getting +quickly into the _Arctic_. Impressed with this idea many of them rushed +into the boats, of which, as too frequently happens, one sank immediately, +and the other, containing thirteen persons, was swamped under the quarter +of the ship, all on board of her perishing. When, however, the captain of +the _Vesta_ more carefully examined his injuries, he found that though the +bows of his vessel were partially stove in, the foremost bulk-head had not +started. He therefore at once lightened his ship by the head, +strengthening the partition by every means in his power, and by great +exertions, courage, forethought, and seamanship, brought his shattered +vessel, without further loss, into the harbour of St. John's. + +In the meantime a frightful catastrophe befell the _Arctic_, and was so +little anticipated that the persons on board of her supposing that she had +only sustained a slight injury by the collision, had launched a boat for +the rescue of the passengers and crew of the _Vesta_. It was soon, +however, discovered that their own ship had sustained fatal injuries, and +the sea was rushing in so fast through three holes which had been pierced +in the hull below the water-line, that the engine fires would soon be +extinguished. The _Arctic's_ head was therefore immediately laid for Cape +Race, the nearest point of land; but within four hours of the collision +the water reached the furnaces, and soon afterwards she foundered. As it +was blowing a strong gale at the time, some of the boats into which the +passengers and crew rushed were destroyed in launching; others which got +clear of the sinking ship were never again heard of, and only two, with +thirty-one of the crew and fourteen passengers, reached Newfoundland. +Among those who perished were the wife of Mr. Collins, and their son and +daughter; but the captain, who remained on board to the last, and the +first as well as the second and fourth officers, were saved. Seventy-two +men and four females sought refuge on a raft, which the seamen, when they +found the ship sinking, had hastily constructed; but one by one they were +swept away--every wave as it washed over the raft claiming one or more +victims as its prey; and at eight o'clock on the following morning _one_ +human being alone was left out of the seventy-six persons, who only twelve +or fifteen hours before had hoped to save their lives on this temporary +structure. The solitary occupant of this fragile raft must have had a +brave heart and a strong nerve to have retained his place on it for a day +and a half after all his companions had perished, for it was not until +that time had elapsed that he was saved by a passing vessel. His tale of +how he and they parted was of the most heart-rending description.(33) + +As a large portion of the first-class passengers of the _Arctic_ consisted +of persons of wealth and extensive commercial relations in the United +States, as well as in England and the colonies, and besides more than one +member of her aristocracy, the loss of the _Arctic_, and the terrible +incidents in connection with her fate, caused an unusual amount of grief +and consternation on both sides of the Atlantic. + +Within little more than twelve months from this time another great +calamity befell the Collins Company, and the sad loss of their steamer +_Pacific_--from the mystery in which it was shrouded, if not as lamentable +as that of the _Arctic_ (for the soul of man has never been harrowed with +its details)--was equally deplorable. Although the ocean in this instance +has left no record of its ravages, the stern fact announced in the brief +words, "_she was never heard of_," tells itself the sad, sad tale that a +great ship, with all her living inmates, in infancy, in manhood and old +age, and it may be full of hope and joy, had been engulfed in the blue +waters of the Atlantic--summoned, perhaps in a moment, to an eternity more +mysterious than that which surrounded their melancholy fate. + +The splendid but unfortunate ship left Liverpool on the 23rd of January, +1856, having on board twenty-five first-class passengers, twenty +second-class passengers, and a crew of 141 persons, almost all of whom +were Americans. She carried the mails and a valuable cargo, the insurances +effected on her being 2,000,000 dollars. But no living soul ever returned +to tell where or how she was lost, nor were any articles belonging to her +ever found to afford a clue to her melancholy fate; it can only be +supposed that she sprang an overflowing leak, or more probably struck +suddenly when at full speed on an iceberg, and instantly foundered. + +The Collins Line ceased to exist a few years after these serious +disasters, but the Cunard became more firmly established than ever, and +entered on that career of prosperity which has been the most remarkable of +any in the long list of steam-ship lines. Its fleet consisted of +forty-nine vessels in 1875, running not merely on the Atlantic service, +but to Mediterranean and other ports. A competent authority puts the money +value of the ships at about seven millions sterling. In the ocean line the +crews are engaged for a single voyage out and home. The company shipped +and discharged during the year ending July 1st, 1872, 43,000 men, which +means that they continuously employed about 8,600 persons on their ships. +About 1,500 men find regular employment in loading and unloading the +steam-ships, and from 500 to 1,500 more are engaged at the docks of the +company in Liverpool in fitting and refitting these vessels. "Hence the +company, although a private enterprise in the hands of only three +families, is entitled to rank with the great railway and other public +companies as an employer of labour."(34) The Cunard Company, in 1861, +enrolled a regiment of Volunteer Artillery (the 11th Lancashire) 500 +strong, composed entirely of their own _employés_, and they have always +shown much public spirit in Liverpool in the promotion of schools, +asylums, and other provident and charitable institutions for the seamen's +benefit. During the Crimean war, and in 1861, when the friendly relations +between Great Britain and America were put in jeopardy by the forcible +arrest of Messrs. Mason and Slidell, when on board the Royal Mail steamer +_Trent_, the resources of the company were put into requisition for the +conveyance of troops and stores. Their two largest ships, the _Bothnia_ +and _Scythia_, each of 4,535 tons burden, have saloons where 300 persons +can dine at one time, while their decks afford an unbroken promenade, for +passengers, of 425 feet. + + [Illustration: THE CUNARD SCREW STEAM-SHIP "BOTHNIA."] + +The wonderful exemption from shipwreck and casualties, which is the just +pride of this company, is due to the admirable discipline and order +enforced. Take the following description of life on the _Bothnia_ as +detailed in the columns of our leading journal:--"The _Bothnia_ carries ten +boats, which are capable of containing her full complement of people; and +she has a crew of 150 officers and men, all told, divided into the three +classes of seamen, engineers and firemen, and stewards. It has always been +part of the Cunard Company's system that every man, whatever his duties on +board the ship, should be a member of some particular boat's crew, and +that the crew of each boat should be formed from all three of the classes +which have been mentioned.... As soon as all are on board, each man is +informed to which boat he is attached, and who is the commanding officer +of that boat, and each boat's officer is expected to know every member of +his boat's crew. In order to prevent mistakes, each man wears a metal +badge, with a brooch-fastening, which bears the number of his boat," and +so forth. Before the passengers are on board, there is an inspection, the +crew being drawn up in two lines, each man being expected to answer to his +name. The muster-roll having been called, orders are given to prepare for +boat service; and the men break up into the necessary number of crews. +After the order "Boats out!" is given, the men fall to work with a will, +and the ten boats, each containing a keg of water, oars, spars, sails, an +axe, &c., are in three minutes properly launched into the water, the +captain from his place of vantage on the bridge looking sharply after +laziness or awkwardness. The same organisation of crews is applied to fire +duty. Some have charge of the buckets; others fetch and join the hose, or +take care of the jets; others are ready with wet blankets to throw over +the flames; but the essential matter is that each man has his place and +his duty. So for manning the pumps and other essential matters. These +drills over, the inspecting party proceeds to make a complete tour of the +vessel. The store-rooms are visited, and the steward cautioned never to +use any other light than a closed and locked lamp. The supply of rockets +and other signals is examined, the steering and signalling apparatus +tried, and only after everything has been found in order is the word given +for the ship to embark her passengers and proceed on her course. "If the +smallest defect," says the _Times_, before quoted, "is discovered in any +part of a ship, no question is raised whether it will bear one voyage or +two voyages more, but the order, 'Out with it!' is given at once." The +reign of order is as complete as on board a well-regulated man-of-war. On +the many other great steam-ship lines more or less of the same inspection +occurs, and on some, no doubt, the precautions taken are nearly as +careful. The Cunard Line is generally admitted to be, however, pre-eminent +in the care taken of life and property on board, the fact being that the +company has never lost a ship on the Atlantic. The illustration on page +109 shows one of their finest ships, the _Scotia_. + + [Illustration: CUNARD PADDLE STEAM-SHIP "SCOTIA."] + +From the Mersey alone there are ten distinct fleets sailing to America, +including such magnificent steam-ships as those of the White Star and +Inman Lines. In the former the luxurious saloons are placed amidships, the +motion being less felt there. The Inman Line has made the quickest +passages across the Atlantic on record, and has carried as many as 50,000 +steerage passengers in one year. In 1856 and 1857 this line carried 85,000 +passengers, of both classes, to and from the United States, or about +one-third of all those crossing "the Great Ferry" for those years. The +shortness of time to which the Inman steamers have reduced the passage +across the Atlantic was conspicuously shown by the voyage of Prince Arthur +in 1869, who attended service at Queenstown on the Sunday morning of his +departure, and was landed at Halifax in time to attend morning service at +that place on the Sunday following. Their ship, the _City of Berlin_, of +5,500 tons, is the largest vessel afloat except the _Great Eastern_, and +has accommodation for 1,700 passengers. The White Star Line has two +vessels of 5,004 tons each, the _Britannic_ and _Germanic_. These few +facts will indicate--although we may not be able to grasp them in their +entirety--the immense growth of the ocean steam navigation in a period so +short as that which has elapsed from the first steam-voyage across the +Atlantic. + + [Illustration: MR. PLIMSOLL.] + + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + + THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). + + + A Contrast--Floating Palaces and "Coffin-ships"--Mr. Plimsoll's + Appeal--His Philanthropic Efforts--Use of Old Charts--Badly + Constructed Ships--A Doomed Ship--Owner's Gains by her Loss--A + Sensible Deserter--Overloading--The Widows and Fatherless--Other + Risks of the Sailor's Life--Scurvy--Improper Cargoes--"Unclassed + Vessels"--"Lloyd's," and its History. + + +Turning by way of that contrast which our subject so abundantly presents, +let us pass from the consideration of well-regulated, well-found +steam-ship lines, to a different class of vessels--those "coffin-ships" of +which we heard so much a few years since. As we all know, the term has +been lately used to signify unseaworthy ships of all kinds--such as that +mentioned by Mr. Plimsoll, which was loaded at Newcastle with nearly twice +her proper tonnage, and dispatched to the Baltic in mid-winter, _with her +main-deck two feet two inches below the level of the water_. She foundered +eighteen miles from the coast. We are told of one man who had in six years +lost twelve rotten ships, and 105 men; and of the _Elizabeth_, a vessel so +weak and leaky, that it was necessary to pump her every hour when floating +empty in harbour, but which was sent to sea with 180 tons of coal to +founder with three out of five hands. It was certainly time for +legislation when the statement could be made truly that a ship which had +been refused a class by Lloyd's Committee, and had been declared utterly +unfit to go to sea by Lloyd's surveyor, was dispatched across the +Atlantic, or rather to the bottom of the Atlantic, there to lie with one +crew, while another was safe in an English prison for refusing to proceed +in her. + +In 1870, Mr. Samuel Plimsoll first commenced, so far as Parliament is +concerned, those benevolent efforts for the amelioration of the sailor's +hard life, which must always place him among the highest ranks of +philanthropists. Moved evidently by the purest motives, there are one or +two mistakes to be recorded against him, but they were of the head, not of +the heart. Government was at the time endeavouring, as far as can be seen, +to accomplish nearly the same ends, but was hampered by the pressure of +Parliamentary business. Lindsay, who was somewhat opposed to the views +expressed by Plimsoll, and it is rather unfortunate that he was so, having +been so long a ship-owner himself, yet endorses the remarks of a friend--a +Vice-Admiral of Her Majesty's service--who wrote to him: "Should there not +be some more stringent provisions with respect to the inspection of +sailing vessels? It is an old proverb, 'Who ever saw a dead donkey?' But +who ever saw an old sailing-ship broken up? I am inclined to think that it +is more to the interest of small owners to let an old tub go on shore than +to bring her safe into port. This works two evils:--1, the danger to human +life; 2, the greater rate of insurance on honest owners to make up an +average for the dishonest." The evil had become a most terrible one, and, +in spite of some little reform, it is to be feared, goes on to-day with +only partially-abated vigour. + +"Imperfect charts," says Lindsay, "were often made to cover, as I fear may +be the case to some extent now, incompetency, drunkenness, or +carelessness. Indeed, about that period, they frequently served as excuses +when other objects were in view. I remember a ludicrous example of this. +When a boy at school at Ayr, I used to accompany my uncle to 'the meeting +of owners' of the brig _Eclipse_, in which he held some eight or ten 64th +shares. Every spring the owners met on board to discuss matters relating +to her affairs, and to dispose of what I recollect best, a round of salt +beef, sea-biscuits, and rum and water. The _Eclipse_ had hitherto been +invariably employed during the summer season in the conveyance of timber +from some one or other of the ports of New Brunswick for Ayr. On one +occasion, a tempting freight had been offered for her to proceed to +Quebec, and the owners in conclave assembled, had all but unanimously +decided to send her to that port. While, however, the discussion was going +on, her skipper, Garratt, or, 'old Garratty,' as he was called, seemed +very uneasy, and gulping down an extra tumbler of rum and water, he at +last said, 'Weel, gentlemen, should you send the _Eclipse_ to Quebec, I'll +not be answerable for her safety.' 'How so?' asked one of the owners. +'Ah,' said Garratty, drawing his breath, '_the charts are a'wrang in the +St. Lawrence_. Ye'll ne'er see the _Eclipse_ again gin ye send her to +Quebec.' The skipper carried the day. + +"It is much to be regretted that ship-owners, when they leave their +captains to provide their own charts (instead of supplying them) do not +stipulate that they are to be the best and the _latest_. I remember a ship +and cargo (numerous other instances could be produced), valued at £70,000, +lost near Boulogne from the master mistaking the two lights at Etaples for +the South Foreland lights; and this, as appeared from the Board of Trade +inquiry, because his Channel chart, which was thirty years old, had not +the Etaples lights marked on it." The terrible wreck of the _Deutschland_ +steam-ship, on the 30th December, 1875, was caused, with hardly the shadow +of a doubt, from the use of an old chart. + +Mr. Plimsoll in a most remarkable and vigorous book,(35) published in +1873, puts the matter of "coffin-ships" forcibly before his readers. He +says, "No means are neglected by Parliament to provide for the safety of +life ashore; and yet, as I said before, you may build a ship in any way +you please, you may use timber utterly unfit, you may use it in quantity +utterly inadequate, but no one has any authority to interfere with you. + +"You may even buy an old ship 250 tons burden by auction for £50, sold to +be broken up, because extremely old and rotten; she had had a narrow +escape on her last voyage, and had suffered so severely that she was quite +unfit to go to sea again without more being spent in repairs upon her than +she would be worth when done. Instead of breaking up this old ship, bought +for 4s. per ton (the cost of a new ship being from £10 to £14 per ton), as +was expected, you may give her a coat of paint--she is too rotten for +caulking--and to the dismay of her late owners, you may prepare to send her +to sea. You may be remonstrated with, in the strongest terms, against +doing so, even to being told that if you persist, and the men are lost, +you deserve to be tried for manslaughter. + +"You may engage men in another port, and they, having signed articles +without seeing the ship, you may send them to the port where the ship lies +in the custody of a mariner. You may then (after re-christening the ship, +which ought not to be allowed), if you have managed to insure her heavily, +load her until the main deck is within two feet of the water amidships, +and send her to sea. Nobody can prevent you. Nay, more, if the men become +riotous, you may arrest them without a magistrate's warrant, and take them +to prison, and the magistrates, who have no choice (they have not to make, +but only to administer the law), will commit them to prison for twelve +weeks with hard labour, or, better still for you, you may send for a +policeman on board to overawe the mutineers, and induce them to do their +duty! And then, if the ship is lost with all hands, you will gain a large +sum of money and you will be asked no questions, as no inquiry will ever +be held over those unfortunate men, unless (which has only happened once, +I think) some member of the House asks for inquiry. + +"The river policeman who in one case threatened a refractory crew with +imprisonment, and urged them to do their duty (!) told me afterwards (when +they were all drowned) that he and his colleagues at the river-side +station had spoken to each other about the ship being dreadfully +overloaded as she passed their station on the river, before he went on +board to urge duty (!) and that he then, when he saw me, 'rued badly that +he had not locked 'em up without talk, as then they wouldn't have been +drowned.'" + +Here Mr. Plimsoll indicates another risk for the poor sailor: "There is, I +fear, great reason to think that ships are occasionally lost from the very +imperfect manner in which some of them are built; in some cases, I think +you will see that something worse ought to be said. I do not say the cases +are many; still, they exist, and we have done nothing to prevent it. The +first time I introduced a bill to prevent overloading, I alluded +(mentioning no names) to the case of one ship-owner who, trading to the +West Indies for sugar (a good voyage, deep water, and plenty of sea room +all the way) had, out of a fleet of twenty-one vessels, lost no less than +ten of them in less than three years. + +"After I had concluded my speech in moving the second reading, a member +accosted me in the lobby and said: 'Mr. Plimsoll, you were mistaken in +that statement of yours.' 'What statement?' I answered. 'Oh, that when you +said a ship-owner had lost ten ships in less than three years from +overloading.' 'I mentioned no names,' I said. 'No, but I know who you +meant. He is one of my constituents, and a very respectable man indeed. It +is not his fault; it is the fault of the man who built his ships, for one +of them was surveyed in London and was found to be put together with +devils. He knew nothing about it, I assure you.' 'Devils?' I said. 'Yes.' +'I don't know what you mean.' 'Oh, devils are sham bolts, you know; that +is, when they ought to be copper, the head and about an inch of the shaft +are copper, and the rest is iron.' + +"I have since found there are other and different sham bolts used, where +merely a bolthead (without any shaft at all) is driven in, and only as +many real bolts used as will keep the timbers in their places. Now these +bolts are used to go through the outside planking, the upright timber, not +the inner planking (ceiling) of a ship, and through the vertical or +drooping part of a piece of iron called a knee, on the upper part of which +the deck-beams rest, and to which the deck-beams are also bolted from +above. These bolts, therefore, are from thirteen to eighteen inches in +length." + +The following examples will speak for themselves. Mr. Plimsoll says:--"On +the occasion of one of my visits to a port in the north, I was met by a +gentleman who knew what my errand there was likely to be, and he said, +'Oh, Mr. Plimsoll, you should have been here yesterday: a vessel went down +the river so deeply loaded, that everybody who saw her expects to hear of +her being lost. She was loaded under the personal directions of her owner, +and the captain himself said to me, "Isn't it shameful to send men with +families to sea in a vessel loaded like that?" Poor fellow, it is much if +ever he reaches port.' Half a dozen others confirmed this statement. The +captain 'was greatly depressed in spirits,' and a friend--not the owner, +mark you!--gave him some rockets--'in case of the worst.' Two men averred +that they would not go if the owner gave them the ship. + +"She was sent. The men were some of them threatened, and one at least had +a promise of 10s. extra per month if he would go. As she went away, the +police-boat left her; the police had been on board to overawe the men with +going. As the police-boat left her side, two of the men, deciding that +they would rather be taken to prison, hailed the police, and begged to be +taken by them. The police said, 'they could not interfere,' and the ship +sailed. My friend was in great anxiety, and told me that if the wind came +on to blow, the _ship could not live_. + + [Illustration: MR. PLIMSOLL SPEAKING IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.] + +"It did blow a good half-gale all the day after Sunday--the ship sailed on +Friday. I was looking seaward from the promontory on which the ruins of +T---- Castle stand, with a heavy heart; the wind was not above force +7--nothing to hurt a well-found and properly-loaded vessel: I had often +been out in much worse weather; but then this vessel was not properly +loaded (and her owner stood to gain over £2,000 clear if she went down, by +over insurance), and I knew that there were many others almost as unfit as +she was to encounter rough weather--ships so rotten that if they struck +they would go to pieces at once; ships so overloaded that every sea would +make a clean sweep over her, sending tons and tons of water into her hold +every time, until the end came. + +"On Monday we heard of a ship in distress having been seen, rockets had +been sent up by her; it was feared she was lost. On Tuesday the nameboard +of a boat was picked up, and this was all that ever we heard of her." + +Some cases seemed to be looked on as matters of course, and a gentleman as +he saw his wife reading the newspaper, said to her, "Look out, for the ---- +in a day or two; I saw her go out of the river. She is sure to be lost." +She was lost, and nearly twenty men returned home never more. + +Mr. Plimsoll tells another story of two gentlemen, who told him one day +that they saw a vessel leaving dock; she was so deep that, having a list +upon her, the scuppers on the bow side were half in the water and half +out. (A "list" means that she was so loaded as to have one side rather +deeper down than the other; the "scuppers" are the holes in the bulwarks +that let the water out that comes on deck from the rain, the washing, or +the seas breaking over her.) They heard a slight commotion on board, and a +voice said to the captain: "Larry's not on board, sir." He had run for it. +Nothing could be done, for lack of time, to seek him, so they sailed +without him. And these gentlemen heard the crew say, as they slowly moved +away from the dockyard: "Then Larry's the only man of us'll be alive in a +week." That vessel was lost. + +Another large ship was sailing on a long voyage, from a port in Wales, +with a cargo of coal. A gentleman called a friend's attention to her +state. She was a good ship, but terribly deep in the water. He said, "Now, +is it possible that vessel _can_ reach her destination unless the sea is +as smooth as a mill-pond the whole way?" The sea evidently was not as +smooth as a mill-pond, for that ship was never heard of again, and +twenty-eight of our poor, hard-working, brave fellow-subjects never more +returned to gladden their wives and play with their children. + +Mr. Plimsoll saw a large ship put to sea one day. She was so deep that a +friend who was standing by said to him as she went: "She is nothing but a +coffin for the poor fellows on board of her." He watched and watched, +almost fascinated by the deadly peril of the crew, and he did not watch +for nothing. Before he left his look-out to go home, he saw her go down. + +Even more touching are the records of some visits made by him to the +sufferers left behind to mourn the fate of their husbands, drowned in +leaky ships which should never have left port. + +"In this house, No. 9, L----ll Street, lives Mrs. A----r R----e. Look at her--she +is not more than two or three and twenty, and those little ones are hers. +She has a mangle, you see. It was subscribed for her by her poor +neighbours: the poor are very kind to each other. That poor little fellow +has hurt his foot, and looks wonderingly at the face of his young mother. +She had a loving husband but very lately, but the owner of the ship on +which he served, the _S----n_, was a very needy man, who insured her for +£3,000 more than she had cost him. So if she sank he would gain all this. +Well, one voyage she was loaded _under the owner's personal +superintendence_; she was loaded so deeply that the dockmaster pointed her +out to a friend as she left the dock, and said emphatically, 'That ship +will never reach her destination.' She never did, for she was lost with +all hands--twenty men and boys. A---- R---- complained to him before he sailed +that she was 'so deep loaded.' She tried to get to the sands to see the +ship off with Mrs. J----r, whose husband was on board. They never saw their +husbands again. + +"In this most evil-smelling room, E---- Q---- C---- Street, you may see in the +corner two poor women in one bed, stricken with fever (one died two days +after I saw them), mother and daughter. The husband of the daughter, who +maintained them both, had been lost at sea a little while before, in a +ship so loaded that when Mr. B----l, a Custom House officer who had to go on +board for some reason while she was lying in the river, was told, 'She's +yonder; you can easily find her, she is nearly over t'head in the water,' +Mr. B----l told me, 'I asked no questions, but stepped on board; this +description was quite sufficient.' + +"Mrs. R----s, H----n Place, told me her young brother was an orphan with +herself. She said her sister brought him up till she was married. Then her +husband was kind to him, and apprenticed him to the sea. He had passed as +second mate in a sailing ship, but (he was a fine young fellow--I have his +portrait) he was ambitious to 'pass in steam' also, and engaged to serve +in the _S----_ ship, leaking badly, but was assured on signing that she was +to be repaired before loading. The ship was not repaired, and was loaded, +as he told his sister-mother, 'like a sand-barge.' Was urged by his sister +and her husband not to go. His sister again urged him as he passed her +door in the morning. He promised he would not, and went to the ship to get +the wages due to him. Was refused payment unless he went, was +over-persuaded and threatened, and called a coward, which greatly excited +him. He went, and two days afterwards the ship went down. Her husband and +Mrs. R----s also told me that he and his wife 'had a bit crack,' and decided +to do all they could to 'persuade Johnnie not to go.' The young man was +about twenty-two. + +"Mr. J---- H----l told me that the captain was his friend, and the captain was +very down-hearted about the way in which she was loaded (mind, she was +loaded under the owner's personal supervision). The captain asked him (Mr. +A----) to see his wife off by train after the ship had sailed. She, poor +soul, had travelled to that port to see him off. The captain said to him, +'I doubt I'll never see her more!' and burst out crying. Poor fellow, he +never did see her more. + +"Now come with me to 36, C----, and see Mrs. J----e R----e. She is a young woman +of superior intelligence, and has a trustable face--very. She may be about +seven-and-twenty. She lost her husband in the same ship. He was thirty +years of age, and, to use her own words, 'such a happy creature; so full +of jokes.' He was engaged as second engineer, at £4 10s. and board. 'After +his ship was loaded he was a changed man; he got his tea without saying a +word, and then sat looking into the fire in a deep study, like. I asked +him what ailed him, and he said, more to himself than to me, "She's such a +beast!" I thought he meant the men's place was dirty, as he had complained +before that there was no place to wash. He liked to be clean, my husband, +and always had a good wash when he came home from the workshop, when he +worked ashore. So I said, "Will you let me come on board to clean it out +for you?" And he said, still looking at the fire, "It ain't that." Well, +he hadn't signed, only agreed, so I said, "Don't sign, Jim," and he said +he wouldn't, and went and told the engineer he shouldn't go. The engineer +"spoke so kindly to him," and offered him 10s. a month more. He had had no +work for a long time, and the money was tempting,' she said, 'and so he +signed. When he told me I said, "You won't go, Jim, will you?" He said, +"Why, Minnie, they will put me in gaol if I don't go." I said, "Never +mind, you can come home after that." "But," said he, "they called me a +coward, and you would not like to hear me called that."' + +"The poor woman was crying very bitterly, so I said gently, 'I hope you +won't think I am asking all these questions from idle curiosity;' and I +shall never forget her quick disclaimer, for she saw that I was troubled +with her: 'Oh no, sir; I am glad to answer you, for so many homes might be +kept from being desolate if it was only looked into.' + +"I ascertained that she is 'getting a bit winning for a livelihood,' as my +informant phrased it, by sewing for a ready-made clothes-shopkeeper. She +was in a small garret with a sloping roof and the most modest fireplace I +ever saw; just three bits of iron laid from side to side of an opening in +the brickwork, and two more up the front; no chimney-piece, or jambs, or +stone across the top, but just the bricks laid nearer and nearer until the +courses united. So I don't fancy she could be earning much. But with the +very least money value in the place, it was as beautifully clean as I ever +saw a room in my life. + +"I also saw a poor woman, who had lost her son aged twenty-two. She too +cried bitterly, as she spoke with _such_ love and pride of her son, and of +the grief of his father, who was sixty years of age. Her son was taken on +as a stoker, and worked on the ship some days before she was ready for +sea. He did not want to go when he saw how she was loaded. She looked like +a floating wreck, but they refused to pay him the money he had earned +unless he went, and he too was lost with the others. + +"Just one more specimen of the good, true, and brave men we sacrifice by +our most cruel and manslaughtering neglect. This time I went and called +upon an old man I knew, and, after apologising for intruding upon his +grief, I asked him to tell me if he had any objection to tell me if his +son had had any misgiving about the ship before he went. He said, 'Yes, I +went to see the ship myself, and was horrified to see the way in which she +was loaded. I tried all I could to persuade him not to go, but he'd been +doing nothing for a long time, and he didn't like being a burden on me. +He'd a fine sperret, he had, my son,' said the poor old man. + +"Here a young woman I had not observed (she was in a corner with her face +to the wall) broke out into loud sobs and said, 'He was the best of us +all, sir--the best of the whole family. He was as fair as a flower, and +vah-y canny-looking.'" + +But it is not merely rotten hulks which may become coffin-ships: many +superior vessels are woefully deficient in accommodation for the sailor's +comfort. He may, and often does, wade to his bunk through water, and the +forecastle is too often a miserable hole, full of dirt and filth, where +the men are packed like herrings. The food provided is principally "salt +horse" and "hard bread," _i.e._, sailor's biscuit of the most inferior +description; and when scurvy ensues, as a natural consequence of exposure +to damp and cold, with poor living superadded, the very lime-juice, which +is nearly worthless if not pure, is found to be a miserable imitation or +grossly adulterated with citric acid, which, strange as it may appear, has +no anti-scorbutic properties. In the Russian and French mercantile marines +there is little or no scurvy, in consequence of the pretty general use of +common sour wine, which in some degree makes up for the lack of fresh +vegetables. And in French mercantile ships the sailor may at any time +demand the same rations as those served out in the navy of the Republic. +Owing to the carefully prepared dietary of our Royal Navy, scurvy has +entirely disappeared, except in extreme cases of exposure and lack of +precaution, as in the late Arctic Expedition.(36) + +"In the West India Docks, which contain vessels trading to the West +Indies, I observed a very different class of ships. Some are large and +well supplied with provisions, but the majority are small, with wretched +accommodation, badly manned, provisions indifferent in quality and +deficient in quantity. Even in the larger vessels there is not that care +taken of the men, and that amount of attention paid to their quarters and +to the nature of their provisions, as in the ships belonging to the owners +engaged in the East Indian and China trade. Captain Henry Toynbee strongly +advocates the better ventilation and comfort of the forecastles, which he +thinks should be under the control of Government. He has himself seen +forecastles and seamen's chests in first-class ships black from the gas +which rises from the cargo, and which smells like sewage, which is +especially the case in sugar ships. Captain Toynbee informed me a day or +two since that he had actually seen a place containing two packs of +foxhounds and three horses, which received half its ventilation by a hatch +which opened into the sailors' forecastle!... + +"In the Commercial Docks are to be seen both English and foreign ships, +varying in size and class, most of which are in the timber trade, and have +arrived from Norway, Sweden, or Memel, or the Baltic. The number of +patients taken from ships in these docks to the _Dreadnought_ hospital +ship usually exceeds that from any other dock; but the cases are those not +of scurvy, but consumption, bronchitis, and other chest diseases, which +occur not so frequently in English sailors as in Norwegians, Swedes, and +Russians--a fact due more, I think, to national predispositions than to +hygienic conditions. In ships belonging to northern countries the +provisions are abundant and good, the men's quarters are roomy, and there +is nearly always a house upon deck in which there is a fair amount of +space and good ventilation. The hygienic condition of the men on board +Swedish and Norwegian ships is far superior to that of the ships of our +own country; the chief fault is the extremely dirty and lazy habit of the +men themselves, who allow filth of all kinds to accumulate in the +deck-house and galley, without taking the slightest trouble to remove it. +In English ships belonging to owners in the timber trade the state of +things is disgraceful; a house on deck is an exception, and the men live +and sleep in a small, close, ill-ventilated hole called a forecastle. The +quality of provisions varies in different ships, some owners being more +liberal than others; most of the men, however, live upon salt meat and +biscuit, and sometimes a little salt fish. Timber in itself is considered +a healthy cargo, but the ship is in most cases so overladen that the +forecastle is very much reduced in size--too much so, considering the +number of men that form the crew; these have either to remain on deck +exposed to wet and cold, or have to breathe the foul atmosphere of a small +forecastle, in which are stowed rusty chains, wet ropes, and all kinds of +animal decaying matter...." + +The vessels used for the coal trade are now principally screw steamers, +though there are still many of the old class, generally found lying +between Blackwall and Woolwich. Our authority describes them as +follows:--They "are of small size (varying from 150 to 600 tons), and are +built as sloops, schooners, or brigs. The majority are brigs; a visit to +two or three presents a view of a state of things which is common to all. +A collier brig is generally worked by a captain and a mate, who live in a +small dirty cabin, and by four men and a boy, who live and sleep in the +most miserable of forecastles. This forecastle is very small, and so low +that no person of ordinary stature can stand upright in it. It is dark, +and the only approach is by a very small hatchway. It generally contains a +quantity of old ropes, some rusty chains, a large tub of grease, and some +damp canvas. These things, together with three or four dirty hammocks, +take up the whole space, and it is only from sickness and the most urgent +necessity that the sailor remains there for any length of time. So old and +ill-constructed are some of these colliers, that in rough weather the +forecastle is deluged with water. This condition of things is made much +worse by the negligence of the sailor himself, for it seems to be a rule +that the cook, instead of throwing over the side of the ship the refuse of +material used for food, as dirty water, potato parings, &c., deposits +these with great care in some corner of the forecastle. No attention is +paid by the captain to the sanitary state of the ship; during the voyage, +which is often a rough one, he is engaged in working the vessel, and while +she is in harbour he is on shore waiting upon the owners of the vessel, or +transacting their business in the Coal Exchange. I was informed the other +day by a friend, who was engaged during the recent cholera epidemic as a +sanitary inspector, that a patient afflicted with cholera was taken to the +Belleisle in the month of September, who had been lying in his hammock for +two days prostrate, and with much vomiting and purging, and during this +time the captain, although on board, was not aware of the man's absence +from deck. The provisions supplied in this class of ships vary both in +quality and quantity; the supply, though, is very deficient, and there is +an almost universal complaint among the men and boys that they have not +sufficient to eat. Although coasting voyages last not longer than three or +four days, and the ship is very seldom far away from land, the men +scarcely ever get fresh meat; the supply always consists of salt beef--the +coarsest parts of the animal. To this I may add that the biscuits are of +the worst description, very hard, and are masticated with the greatest +difficulty. The quality of provisions depends entirely upon the liberality +of the captain, who not unfrequently has a share in the ship, and whose +interest is consequently concerned in keeping down all expenses; the +comfort of the men seems to be made subservient to pecuniary advantages." + +And now--for a change--to good owners. There are many, and the present +writer believes fully that the average ship-owner not merely wishes to +preserve his ship, but all on board--crew, passengers, and cargo. The +proprietor of a grand vessel feels, as he should, that her loss is a very +great deal more than his loss. Dr. Stone, some years ago made an +inspection of the docks, and his remarks, published in our leading +journal,(37) deserve to be recorded. He says:-- + +"From conversations I had with many of the officers and crews engaged in +Green's, Wigram's, Smith's, the Black Ball, and other services, and from +what I saw, I judged that the provisions are good and ample, and I was +informed that scurvy is seldom met with in the vessels belonging to these +owners, owing to the fact of the masters not being content with simply +ordering the crew to take a certain quantity of lime-juice every day +during the ship's voyage, but satisfying themselves by personal inspection +that the juice is actually drank. Outside the dock gates, and off Plaistow +Wharf, may occasionally be seen American vessels which have arrived with +petroleum. An inspection confirmed the opinion I have always entertained +regarding the superior accommodation met with in the vessels of the United +States; they are large, well manned, and supplied with good provisions. +The berths and sleeping quarters are better even than those in large East +Indiamen; every ship has a raised house on deck, spacious, well +ventilated, and clean, which, being furnished with a stove, the men are +thereby enabled in wet weather to dry their clothes, which is of course a +great preservation of their health. The general condition of the men is +far better than that of the sailor of any other nation. Although the cruel +treatment exercised by the officers of American ships is proverbial, there +is seldom any difficulty in obtaining a good crew. The masters in the +commercial marine of America pride themselves upon the general appearance +of their crews, and they say that it is the best economy to give them good +and abundant food, and to pay rigid attention to their sleeping quarters." + +Sometimes it is the cargo itself which is a fatal cause of disease or +death. Ships carrying large quantities of minerals, sulphur, petroleum, +&c., sometimes smell intolerably, but are not considered unhealthy places +of residence. But how of guano and other manure ships? In one of Dr. +Stone's letters to the _Times_, published in 1867, he says:--"The most +objectionable and unhealthy cargoes brought into the Thames are those +consisting of the different kinds of manure. A large bone trade is carried +on in the port of London; barges are constantly passing up and down the +Pool laden with bones collected from bone-dealers and the slaughter-houses +of London. Many of the bones are not dry, but are covered with decomposing +flesh. The smell is very bad, and is not limited to the immediate +neighbourhood of the barge itself, but may be carried for a long distance. +These bone barges discharge their cargoes into some small coasting +ship.... The sailors and bargemen engaged in work of this kind suffer very +much: they are nauseated by the offensive smell; their appetites fail +entirely; they consume large quantities of spirit; and, as a consequence, +are invariably attacked by diarrhoea, accompanied with vomiting. In the +summer time it is a matter of surprise how anyone can remain, for a short +time even, in the neighbourhood of the vessel; a thick offensive steam is +constantly rising from the bones, and the decks and rigging are covered +with large blue flies. When the vessel (generally a small, very old, and +ill-manned schooner) puts to sea, the hatchways are kept open, so as to +give free egress to the gaseous products of decomposition and to prevent +the ship from taking fire." + +Many have been the instances of ships' decks being blown up by the gas +from coal becoming ignited, and loss of life has been caused thereby. +Gunpowder may, under certain conditions, become a most dangerous cargo. +Take the case of the _Great Queensland_, which was blown up entirely, +leaving no survivors to tell the tale. The cause is not far to seek when +we learn that two tons of impure wood powder, sufficient of itself to +burst the ship to pieces, and from its condition likely to explode, were +stored in the same compartment with thirty tons of ordinary black +gunpowder. + +Compulsory survey and no overloading were Mr. Plimsoll's main remedies for +the prevention of the terrible loss of life in the mercantile marine. He +cites two cases of great firms--the first engaged in the coal carrying, and +the second in the guano trade--who do not permit overloading, and the +first, in fifteen years had not, out of a large fleet of steamers, lost a +single vessel, although they made from fifty to seventy double trips per +annum. And yet the voyage from the Thames to the Tyne is more dangerous +than an over-sea voyage. There are a whole crowd of dangerous shoals off +the Essex coast alone, to be avoided or steered between, as the case may +be, as soon as the ship leaves the Thames, followed by equal dangers on +the Suffolk and Norfolk coasts. The latter sands are all under water even +when the tide is at ebb, but there is not water enough on them to float a +ship; hence the losses when ill-found, overloaded, and undermanned vessels +get on them. Further north there are others, and then come the dangerous +rocky coasts of Yorkshire and Durham. The second case deserves particular +mention. About the year 1860, the firm of Anthony Gibbs and Co., of +London, took a contract from the Peruvian Government to charter and load +ships from the Chincha Islands with guano, and as many as three or four +hundred ships left those islands annually for different parts of the +world. At first they were allowed to load and proceed to sea without +inspection or surveying, and were permitted to load as deeply as the +masters thought fit. What was the result? Accidents and losses were +reported every few days, and many of their ships foundered at sea, some +with all hands on board. When the head of the house at Lima, Peru, +introduced proper surveying before loading, to discover what repairs were +needed, &c., allowing no overloading, and not permitting the ships to go +to sea without full inspection of her pumps and gear, a sudden and +wonderful change took place, and for years after not one of these ships +foundered at sea. + + [Illustration: EXTERIOR OF LLOYD'S.] + +We often hear and read of "unclassed" ships; does the reader understand +the term? Nearly all new ships are fit to take valuable merchandise--silks, +tea, provisions, cloth, or what not; and if "tight," _i.e._, not leaky, +would be classed A 1 by Lloyd's Committee. The letter refers to the ship +proper; the numeral to its equipment, rigging, boats, cables, anchors, &c. +The term or period for which she is classed varies with the quality and +kind of timber employed, and the quality of the workmanship is also taken +into account. A ship built mainly of hemlock, yellow pine, beech, or fir, +will generally be classed A 1 for four or five years; of elm or ash five +to seven years; and so on through various grades, until, if built of +English oak or teak, she may be rated nine to twelve years. All are +subject to the "half-time" survey of a strict character; thus a ship +classed A 1 for eight years is examined by Lloyd's surveyors at the end of +four years. "She may again, at the request of the owner, be examined for +continuation, _i.e._, to be continued A 1 for a further term; usually +two-thirds of that originally granted. She may again and again be +re-examined for continuation, or, if she have meantime gone into a lower +class, be examined for restoration to the character A, but each of these +surveys is increased in thoroughness and stringency as the age of the ship +increases. When from age she ceases to be entitled to the character A in +the opinion of Lloyd's surveyor, but is still tight enough and strong +enough to carry valuable merchandise to any part of the world, she is +classed A red, usually for a term of half or two-thirds the original term +granted her in the first character.... When from increasing age she is no +longer fit to carry valuable goods for long voyages, she falls back into +class black, diphthong Æ; while in this class she is deemed fit to carry +the same class of goods, but only on short voyages (not beyond Europe). +And when after survey and re-survey at intervals, as before, she is no +longer fit to carry valuable goods at all, she falls into class E, and is +deemed fit only to carry goods which sea-water won't hurt, as metallic +ores, coal, coke, &c." And so it goes on till she is classed 1; and when +she is run through her terms here she is said to have run out of her +classes: to be, in fact, an "unclassed ship." The lettering is slightly +varied for iron ships. But it must be remembered that all this submitting +to survey is entirely optional, and that a newly-built ship may be +"unclassed" also. In the former case--a ship which has run out of all its +classes--the vessel is usually fit for nothing more than a river trip, and +ought really to be broken up. It is then that the disreputable shipowner +steps in and purchases her. Happy is it for its poor crew if she does not +prove their coffin! + + [Illustration: INTERIOR OF LLOYD'S.] + +It may be asked, as Lloyd's will now have nothing to do with such a rotten +tub, How does the owner get anyone to insure it? It is generally done by +mutual insurance clubs formed among these very owners, though not +exclusively. Plimsoll says: "It almost seems as if there was a race who +should lose his ships first on the formation of a new club, so great are +the sums the members are called upon to pay as premium;" and such clubs +are constantly failing. + +To be classed A 1 in anything is good, and, as applied to a ship at +Lloyd's, means, as we all know, that the vessel is first-class in every +particular. But what is Lloyd's? Many readers would find it difficult to +give a clear answer to this query. The secretary of that institution told +M. Esquiros, when that distinguished writer was visiting England, that he +received many business letters addressed to "Mr. Lloyd," and we all know +there was long, in fact, a celebrated Lloyd's Coffee-house in the City, +where the merchants interested in maritime matters used to congregate. A +poem, "The Wealthy Shopkeeper, or Charitable Christian," published in +1700, alludes to the establishment, and the writer adds, as an addendum, +that the London merchant at that time never missed "resorting to Lloyd's +to read his letters and attend sales." Later, Steele and Addison both +spoke of it in the same light. "The veritable, personal Lloyd," says +Esquiros, "as we see, has made a great deal more noise in the world after +his death than he ever did during his lifetime." The name of the +coffee-house keeper has become inseparably connected with the greatest +maritime institution of the world. + +The original Lloyd was a wonderfully good example of a pushing London +citizen. Little was, speaking in these later days, known of Edward of that +ilk till Mr. Frederick Martin unearthed, in the vaults of the Royal +Exchange, a long-forgotten series of its archives. Then he found "huge +stores of manuscript papers and immense leather-cased folios, partly +singed in the great fire which, in 1838, destroyed the Royal Exchange +above them." Now we know that Lloyd, early in the reign of Charles II., +kept a coffee-house in Tower Street, and contrived to make it the +gathering point for the underwriters, who had been previously scattered +all over the city. This house was near the Custom House, the Navy Office, +and the Trinity House, as well as to the Thames "below bridge," and the +position was obviously a good one for the purpose. Having surrounded +himself with a growing connection in Tower Ward, Lloyd found himself in a +position to approach the haunts of the leading merchants and bankers, and +we find him in 1693 securely established at the corner of Lombard Street +and Abchurch Lane, near the spot where the Lombard Street post-office now +stands. Here he held periodical auction sales "by the candle," and started +a weekly paper devoted to maritime affairs, the first of its kind: indeed +it was, saving the _London Gazette_, the only London newspaper yet in +existence. But he now met a severe blow, for, as we learn from Macaulay, +"the judges were unanimously of opinion that this liberty (of printing) +did not extend to gazettes," and that, by English law, no man not +authorised by the Crown had the right to publish political news. The said +political news in this case consisted of mere headings and brief +paragraphs, as, "Yesterday the Lords passed the Bill to restrain the +wearing of all wrought silks from India," or that they had received a +"petition from the Quakers." Lloyd had to succumb and stop the +publication, but his sales of ships and cargoes increased, so that in +fifteen or twenty years Lloyd's had become the recognised London centre of +maritime business, including marine insurance. From this comparatively +small beginning has sprung the all-powerful organisation whose agents are +to be found in every part of the habitable globe. + +"When," says a writer already quoted, "I landed, about three years back, +upon one of the group of rocks lost in the bosom of the waves, and which +are called the Scilly Islands, there was only one thing which brought +London to my mind, and that was the name 'Lloyd's', in letters of brass, +on the door of one of the least poor-looking houses. I might have gone +much further afield, into some of the still wilder islands of the Old or +New World, and there, even at the very ends of the earth--provided only +that there was a town or port of some sort--I should have found an agent of +this English society. The definition of Lloyd's which was given by a City +merchant can now be better understood by us. 'It is,' said he, 'a spider +planted in the centre of a web which covers the whole sea, and the +shipwrecked vessels are the dead flies.'"(38) + +"The loose connection existing between the underwriters of London," says +the leading authority on the subject,(39) "as frequenters of the same +coffee-house, where they carried on their business transactions, formed +itself into a final 'system of membership' by transmigration to the Royal +Exchange in 1774. The author and leading spirit in this all-important +movement, which had far-reaching consequences for the commerce, not only +of England, but for that of the whole world, was Mr. John Julius +Angerstein, a native of St. Petersburg, but of German extraction, +descended from an old and highly respected family of merchants." The +writer goes on to show how young Angerstein, from junior clerk, had risen +to be a successful merchant and underwriter. He became one of the most +honoured of those who assembled at Lloyd's Coffee-house, as he was a most +sagacious and far-seeing man, of unimpeachable integrity, and when the +movement for obtaining a suitable home for the underwriters was mooted he +was its greatest supporter. He became virtually the leader in the whole +matter, and seventy-nine underwriters agreed to pay one hundred pounds +each to start it fairly. Thus was the "New Lloyd's," as it was then +called, first organised. It is not, nor ever has been, an insurance +_company_, but rather a fraternity of merchants, shipowners, bankers, and +capitalists subscribing for a place where they could meet and transact +business. It is a maritime exchange. But each man is guided by his own +intelligence, and must measure the extent of business which he undertakes +by the standard of his personal capital. + +"The English merchant especially," says Esquiros, in his charming work, +"having so many bonds of union with the ocean, can hardly expect to always +have tranquil sleep. Let the south-west squalls be ever so little let +loose, the ruin of his house and family is hoarsely muttered through his +dreams. Oh, if he could only see from afar the good ship in which he has +risked the better part of his fortune! In the morning he rushes to +Lloyd's, the fountain-head of all marine news. Nothing, either in his face +or conduct, shows the least emotion--he has the art of veiling his features +with a mask of indifference; but what a tempest of anxiety rages under +this outward calm! He asks himself a thousand questions: What does the +telegraph say? What ships have touched at distant ports? What are the +names of those which have reached England? To all these questions and many +more he finds answers affixed to the walls of the vestibule. There the +lists and advices give exactly the maritime bulletin of the day. But the +critical moment has yet to come; this man, whose whole fortune perhaps is +on the sea, has not at present consulted the 'Loss Book,' or, as it is +also called, the 'Black Book.'" + +This gloom-inspiring volume is placed by itself on a high desk, and each +can refer to it in turn. It is, of course, written by hand, and contains +every day the wreck record, briefly told. Laconic as is the formal +record--the name of the ship, destination, nature of cargo, coast on which +shipwrecked, and so forth--there have been as many as twelve pages +blackened with the sad summary of the losses announced by telegraph during +one day. "In each of these announcements--frigid and taciturn as fate +itself--the mind may conjure up many a sad drama. How many human lives are +there sacrificed? This is often the fact of which the 'Black Book' takes +but little notice; the matter with which it has exclusively to deal is the +property insured against the perfidy of the sea. Who was the insurer? and +who has lost? These are the great questions. It is also remarkable, after +a storm, to see with what anxious and fidgety hands some of the insurance +speculators turn over the pages of this sibylline book." And no wonder: +for the underwriter(40) is a speculator who is taking long odds against a +terrible gambler--the ocean. + +The Underwriters' Room at Lloyd's to-day is a splendid hall, with +Scagliola columns and richly decorated ceiling, and mahogany tables placed +at intervals all round the room. "What an animated, yet demure, hubbub is +here!" says the French writer before quoted. "One might fancy that the +sea, with the thoughts of which every brain is occupied here, had imparted +some of its agitation and uproar to the business world. The current of +news, transactions taking place, and chat going on, runs from one end of +the hall to the other with a kind of deep murmuring roar." Those going to +and fro are of two very distinct classes--the insurers of ships and the +insurance brokers. The latter have become very necessary, the reason being +as follows:--The merchant who wishes to insure a ship, or a certain kind of +merchandise that he is about to export, may by no means always meet the +underwriter who is prepared to take that particular risk. While he is +trying to insure his ship she may have already started--may even be at the +bottom of the sea. In the latter case a delay might be fatal, for the news +once arrived that his ship had been wrecked, he could not, of course, +effect any insurance. He therefore goes to a broker who knows the habits +of the place, and probably the very underwriter whose means or known +predilections for certain forms of investment will make him desirous of +taking the risk. + +The business of Lloyd's is conducted by a committee of twelve influential +members, while the working staff includes a secretary, clerks, and a staff +of assistants technically known as "waiters," which would make it seem as +though the odour of the original Lloyd's Coffee-house still clung to the +body. The funds of Lloyd's Association, as it might be termed, are large, +and are used to great advantage: partly in charity bestowed upon +deserving, though unfortunate seamen, and partly in rewards, in various +forms, to special cases of merit. It costs an underwriter £50 entrance fee +and £12 annual subscription to belong to it; the brokers are let off for +about half the above rates; an ordinary subscriber pays £5 per annum for +the privilege of entering the rooms of the Association. We have now traced +the history of the greatest maritime company of the world, one that could +only belong to a great nation. No other could devise, much less support +it. + + [Illustration: THE "GREAT EASTERN" IN A GALE OFF CAPE CLEAR.] + +[Illustration: MR. I. K. BRUNEL. MR. SCOTT RUSSELL. (_From a Photograph by + Mayall, 1858._)] + + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + + THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). + + + The Largest Ship in the World--History of the _Great Eastern_--Why + she was Built--Brunel and Scott Russell--Story of the + Launch--Powerful Machinery Employed--Christened by Miss Hope--Failure + to move her more than a few feet--A Sad Accident--Launching by + inches--Afloat at last--Dimensions--Accommodations--The Grand + Saloon--The Paddle-wheel and Screw Engines--First Sea Trip--Speed--In + her first Gale--Serious Explosion on Board off Hastings--Proves a + fine Sea-boat--Drowning of her Captain and others--First + Transatlantic Voyage--Defects in Boilers and Machinery--Behaves + splendidly in Mid-ocean--Grand Reception in New York--Subsequent + Trips--Used as a Troop-ship to Canada--Carried out 2,600 Soldiers--An + eventful Passenger Trip--Caught in a Cyclone Hurricane--Her Paddles + almost wrenched away--Rudder Disabled--Boats Carried Away--Shifting + of Heavy Cargo--The Leviathan a Gigantic Waif on the Ocean--Return + to Cork. + + +Many competent authorities doubt whether the ships of the future will be +so very much larger than the largest now in use, but it is one of those +questions on which it is idle to theorise, and absurd to dogmatise. The +greatest ship of this or any other age has not proved a success, except +for some very special purposes for which no other vessel would have proved +available. The history of the _Great Eastern_ is one of interest to all, +and especially to too sanguine and over-ambitious individuals and +companies. + +In reply to an advertisement from the Admiralty in 1851 for the conveyance +of the East Indian and Australian mails, was an application from a new +organisation, the Eastern Steam Navigation Company. This offer was +declined, and then some of the directors, on the suggestion of Mr. I. K. +Brunel, the great engineer, recommended the construction of a steam-ship +of extraordinary dimensions to trade with India. Having made calculations +that the big ship intended could maintain a speed of fifteen knots an +hour, there was, in their judgment, no doubt that they would attract a +proportion of the traffic so handsome as to afford full cargoes both +outward and homeward. Many of the original shareholders withdrew, but a +large number held firm. Brunel argued that there need be no limit to the +size of a ship, except what quality of material imposed. He further urged +from scientific theory and actual experience, that upon the "tubular +principle," which provided the greatest amount of strength of construction +with any given material, it was possible to construct a ship of six times +the capacity of the largest vessel then afloat,(41) and one, too, that +would steam at a speed hitherto unattainable by smaller vessels. Mr. Scott +Russell, the eminent ship-builder, shared these views. The idea of having +two sets of engines and two propellers--paddle-wheels and screw--was solely +due to Mr. Brunel, as was also the adoption of the cellular construction, +like that at the top and bottom of the Britannia Bridge. Her model in +general construction was like that of the ships built by Scott Russell, on +the principle of the "wave line," which he had carried out during the +previous twenty years. In spite of much virulent criticism, the +construction of a 25,000 ton vessel was commenced on May 1st, 1854, in +Scott Russell's yard, at Millwall, on the north side of the Thames. + +Novel as was the construction of the ship, the mode devised for her launch +was no less novel. As her immense length would render it impossible to +launch her in the usual manner and by the force of her own gravity, she +was built lengthwise to the river on cradles, which carried her upright +and dispensed with "shores." These cradles were made to travel on a double +series of "ways," each 120 feet in breadth, which were carried to +low-water mark. The ways were 300 feet in length, with an incline of one +in twelve. At the stem and stern were placed a powerful hydraulic ram to +give the first start, and when she was once in motion her progress was to +be kept up in the following manner. On the river-side four large lighters +were moored in the tideway, and were to work with crabs and sheaves or +pulleys upon chains, fastened to the vessel amidships. Two lighters were +also moored at the stem and two at the stern of the vessel. The chains +passing from the ship to these latter were returned again on shore, so as +to be worked with a double purchase. Small stationary engines on land were +to be used to haul on these, making a force available to pull the vessel +off the shore. The calculations, as the event proved, were made on a false +notion of the amount of friction to be overcome, and the attention of the +engineer had been chiefly directed to prevent her dashing into the water +with too great a speed. For this purpose two powerful drums had been +constructed, to which the cradles were attached by enormous sheaves of +cast iron, expressly cast for this purpose, and weighing five tons each. +One sheave was fastened to each cradle, and wrought-iron chain cables of +the largest size connected these with two other sheaves, each of which was +screwed to the drum which was to pay out the chain and, in fact, regulate +the whole operation. The axle of the drum was set in a frame of iron, +while around its outer edge passed a band of iron, to work in the manner +of a friction-clutch, or break. This, with the aid of strong iron levers +twenty feet long, brought such a pressure to bear upon the discs of the +drum as to entirely stop them in case of the chain being paid out too +fast. Everything being thus prepared that human ingenuity could devise (as +was supposed), the launch was fixed for the 3rd of November, 1857. On that +day, although the sight-seeing public did not congregate in large numbers, +and the scaffolding erected on many points was untenanted, yet there was a +swarm of well-laden craft of all kinds on the river, and crowds on both +its banks and around the yard. The engineers and men of science mustered +strongly, not only from all parts of England, but from Germany, France, +America, and Russia. The Comte de Paris, the Duke d'Aumale, the Siamese +Ambassadors, and some of the Lords of the Admiralty, were the most +conspicuous persons present. + +At half-past one Miss Hope, the daughter of the chairman of the company, +appeared, and dashing a bottle of wine on the bows, bade the Leviathan, as +she was originally called, "God speed!" amid the cheers of those +assembled. In a few moments afterwards the word was passed to commence the +launch. At the signals the lighters slowly but steadily commenced to haul +taut their tackle from the river. This strain appeared to have no effect +on the vessel. It remained stationary for about ten minutes, when the +peculiar hissing noise of the hydraulic rams at work to push her off was +heard. It should have been mentioned that each of the drums was +constructed so as to be turned by ordinary windlasses, in order to wind up +the slack chain between the drums and the cradles; otherwise, if any slack +were left when the hydraulic rams started the vessel, it would run it +rapidly out, and dreadful consequences might ensue. When the "rams" began +to work, the order was distinctly given to "wind up" the slack between the +drum and the cradle. This was done at the forward drum; but, +unfortunately, at the stern of the vessel the men did precisely the +reverse, and uncoiled more slack chain. Suddenly there was a cry "She +moves! She moves!" The fore part of the vessel slipped, and the stern +rushed down some three or four feet in the space of a couple of seconds, +in consequence of the slack chain from the after drum offering not the +least check. In an instant the strain came upon the drum, which was +dragged round, and, of course, as that was connected with the windlass by +multiplying wheels, the latter turned round some ten or fifteen times for +every foot the drum moved. The men at the windlass madly tried to hold it, +but the heavy iron handle flew round like lightning, striking them, and +hurling five or six high into the air as if they had been blown up by some +powerful explosion. A panic seemed to spread as this disastrous accident +took place, and the men stationed at the tackle and fall of the lever next +the windlass rushed away. Fortunately for the lives of hundreds of the +spectators, the men at the lever at the other side of the drum stood firm, +and, hauling on their tackle, drew their lever up, and applied the break +on the drum with such terrific force that the ship instantly stopped, +though she seemed to quiver under the sudden shock as if she had received +a violent blow. The injured men were then carried off to a neighbouring +house, where one of them shortly died. When the wreck of the accident had +been cleared away, it was determined to make another effort to launch the +vessel, but without effect; for all pressure that the "rams" could apply +was found insufficient to move her. After straining for some time, the +piston-rod of one of the hydraulic rams gave way, and this accident put an +end to the attempt to launch the great ship for this day. + +Numerous hydraulic machines were now borrowed and fixed, fresh tackle +applied, and many novel and ingenious expedients adopted. It was thought +necessary to await the next spring tides, in order that the monster when +she should be launched might find a sufficient depth of water. The +precaution was needless; many weary weeks were to pass before she was +afloat. On some days, when every exertion seemed vain, she would +capriciously slip a few inches at the stem or stern. After a long +interval, another small distance would be accomplished; sometimes a day's +journey would be three or four feet, sometimes twenty or thirty. Finally, +by continued perseverance, she was brought down the ways until she was +immersed some eight or ten feet at high water, and then, as the final +launch was certain of accomplishment, it was thought desirable to leave +her till the high tides of January should rise so far as to aid materially +in her final flotation, and make it practicable to tow her to a secure +berth, where her last fittings could be put in, and she could be made +ready for a voyage. + +With the spring tides the water rose under the great ship nearly eighteen +feet; and on the 31st January she gave such signs of buoyancy that it was +resolved to float her on that day. The tide ran up with unusual swiftness, +and as the flood relieved the weight upon the launching ways some of the +hydraulic machines were set to work, for the last time, to push the +monster as far as possible towards the centre of the river. She moved +easily; and at half-past one the men in the rowing boats stationed +alongside observed that she no longer rested on the cradles--that she was, +in fact, afloat. The tugs fastened to her began steaming ahead, and showed +that at last she was fairly under way. Then the cheers which arose from +the yard and from the decks, from the boats in the river, and the crews of +the ships at anchor up and down the stream, spread the great news far and +wide; and thus, under the most favourable circumstances, the huge vessel +commenced her first voyage on the Thames. + + [Illustration: THE LAUNCH OF THE "GREAT EASTERN."] + +And now we must give some description of her internal arrangements and +accommodations. The hull is divided transversely into ten separate +compartments of 60 feet each, and rendered perfectly watertight by +bulkheads, through which there is no opening whatever below the second +deck. Two longitudinal walls of iron, 36 feet apart, traverse 350 feet of +the ship. This mighty vessel was destined to afford accommodation for +4,000 passengers, viz., 800 first class, 2,000 second class, and 1,200 +third class, and a crew of 400. The series of saloons, which were +elegantly fitted and furnished, together with the sleeping apartments, are +situated in the middle of the ship, and extend over 350 feet of her +length. The lofty saloons and cabins are very imposing, more resembling +the drawing-rooms of Belgravia than ordinary cabins. The "Grand Saloon" is +62 feet long, 36 feet wide, and 12 feet high, with a ladies' cabin, or +rather boudoir, 20 feet in length. Massive looking-glasses in highly +ornamented gilt frames decorate its sides. The strong iron beams overhead +are encased in wood, the mouldings being delicately painted and enriched +with gilt beading. Around two of the funnels which pass through this +gorgeous apartment are large mirrors, with alternate highly ornamented +panels, and at their base are groupings of velvet couches. The walls are +hung with rich patterns in raised gold and white, and at the angles are +arabesque panels, while sofas covered with Utrecht velvet, buffets of +richly carved walnut-wood, carpets of surpassing softness, and _portières_ +of rich crimson silk to all the doorways, give an elegance to the whole +far surpassing the gigantic toy ships of ancient monarchs. The +paddle-wheel engines can be made to give 5,000 horse-power, and the +screw-engines 6,000 horse-power; making 11,000 in all. + +On the 9th September, 1859, the vessel, which had now been re-christened +the _Great Eastern_, took her first trip from the Thames under the most +favourable circumstances, the weather being very fine, with a light breeze +of wind, and blue sky overhead. Starting with four tugs, two on the bow +and two at the quarter, to guide her through the narrow parts of the +river, after some delay and a few slight mishaps, she reached Purfleet, +where she anchored for the night. At daylight on the following morning, +she started for the Nore, where she arrived about noon, having attained a +speed of thirteen knots an hour, though going only at half-speed, her +engines making not more than eight revolutions a minute. From the Nore the +_Great Eastern_ proceeded successfully to Whitstable, where she anchored, +getting under weigh there at a quarter past nine on the following morning, +with a fresh breeze. After passing Margate she encountered a stiff gale, +in which she appeared quite at ease when large ships were under +double-reefed topsails, and small vessels were obliged to lie to. But an +unfortunate accident occurred to her when off Hastings, through the +explosion of one of her funnel-casings, causing the death of six men +employed in the engineering department, injuring various others, and, +destroying nearly all the mirrors and other ornamental furniture in the +grand saloon. No injury was, however, done to the hull or machinery of the +vessel sufficient to prevent her proceeding on her voyage to Weymouth, +which she reached without any further misfortune, on the afternoon of +Friday, within the time anticipated for her arrival. On her arrival, the +pilot who had been in charge of her from Deptford to Portland (Weymouth +Bay) made an official report of her performances to the Company, +confirming, in some measure, the glowing accounts in many of the public +journals, and realising the sanguine expectations of the directors, though +their hopes of profit had been somewhat damped by the accident which, +apart from the loss of life, entailed an outlay of £5,000. The necessary +repairs having been completed, the _Great Eastern_ proceeded from Portland +to Holyhead, but without passengers as originally contemplated. Starting +at noon of the 8th of October she made the run to Holyhead in forty hours, +at an average speed of close upon thirteen knots, or more than fifteen +statute miles in the hour, having on some occasions attained a speed of +fifteen knots an hour. But upon the whole the expectations that had been +formed of her were disappointed. The paddles proved defective either in +power or mode of fitting; and the utmost speed attained fell far short of +calculation. It began to be suspected that the power of her engines was +not proportioned to her tonnage, and the ship was found to roll +considerably. It should have been mentioned that, whilst lying outside +Holyhead harbour for the purpose of further trials, she became exposed to +the full fury of the hurricane of the 26th October. In this terrific storm +the ship behaved nobly, but was at one time in considerable danger of +being driven ashore. She returned to Southampton, and was berthed for the +winter in Southampton Water. + +On the 21st January, the captain of the _Great Eastern_, Captain Harrison, +was drowned in Southampton Water by the capsizing of a small boat carrying +him from the ship to the town. The boat, which was fully manned by six +picked seamen and the captain's coxswain, was seized in a sudden squall +near the dock-gates, and upset before the trysail could be lowered. Boats +were at once put off from the _Indus_ to the rescue, but when Captain +Harrison was reached, the body was floating a little under water, and life +was quite extinct--death being apparently the result of apoplexy caused by +the intense cold. The coxswain was found insensible close by, and survived +only till the evening. A fine youth, son of the chief purser, was also +drowned; the chief purser himself (Mr. Lay), and Dr. Watson were amongst +those saved with the crew. + +The _Great Eastern_ made her first Transatlantic voyage to New York after +a very successful but by no means rapid passage of ten days and a half. In +many respects the vessel fully answered the expectations of her builders. +Her vast bulk aided the fineness of her lines in cutting through the +opposing waves without any apparent shock. To those which rolled upon her +sides she rose with a easy swing, and they passed to leeward, seemingly +deprived of their fury; others struck her with full force, but no +vibration or shock was communicated to the vast mass. It was speedily +discovered that there were two prime defects in her appointments--it was +impossible to raise the steam in the boilers which animate the +paddle-wheel engines to the full power; and the wheels themselves were not +so placed as to act on the water with effect. + +On the 21st, the power of the ship was put to a most trying test. A strong +northwesterly gale had raised a rough sea. "It has always been said that +she never could or would pitch, but the truth is this ship does just the +same on a small scale that ordinary vessels in a sea may do on a very +large one. The _Great Eastern_ against a head sea makes a majestic rise +and fall, where a steamer of 2,000, or even 3,000, tons would be labouring +heavily, and perhaps taking in great seas over her bows. On this Thursday +she dipped down below her hawse pipes. It was a fine sight to watch her +motion from the bows, splitting the great waves before her into two +streams of water, like double fountains, and to look along her immense +expanse of deck as she rose and fell with a motion so easy and regular +that the duration of each movement could be timed to the very second." + +On the 23rd, the ship being off the banks of Newfoundland, the temperature +decreased so rapidly that it was feared that floating icebergs were near, +and the speed was slackened, and precautions taken against accident; and, +on the 26th, when not more than 450 miles from New York, the ship ran into +a dense fog, through which she had to feel her way. These circumstances +materially affected the duration of the voyage. The most anxious part of +the whole navigation was now at hand--the passage over the shoals and bars +which impede the passage to New York harbour, and the ship was repeatedly +stopped to take soundings. All dangers were boldly passed, and the dawn of +the 27th showed the coast in a dim blue line, with the spit of Sandy Hook +lying like a haze across the sea. The lighthouse was passed at 7·20 a.m., +and the _Great Eastern_ had completed her first Transatlantic voyage. From +Sandy Hook the vessel passed into the harbour, stirring up the sand on the +bar, but escaping all danger by the admirable readiness with which she +answered her helm. The advent of the great ship had been expected in +America with an eagerness which cast into the shade even the interest +taken in her at home. She was a great and startling "fact." Therefore, no +sooner was her arrival telegraphed, than the bay was studded with yachts, +schooners, and steam-ships, whose passengers marked every portion of her +progress with vociferous cheers; all the ships were covered with flags, +the bells rang out, the cannon roared, the wharfs and houses were crowded +with enthusiastic welcomers. Even the Government Fort Hamilton fired a +salute of fourteen guns. The return voyage was uneventful. In May, 1861, +she again started from Milford Haven for New York, on an ordinary +passenger voyage, and made a very successful, but not very rapid, passage +of nine days thirteen and a half hours, the greatest distance run in one +day being 410 statute miles. She commenced the return voyage on the 25th +May, and arrived off Liverpool in nine and a half days, running in one day +416 statute miles. + + [Illustration: ARRIVAL OF THE "GREAT EASTERN" AT NEW YORK.] + +When civil war in the United States forced on the English Government the +fact of the defenceless state of Canada, it was resolved to send out +reinforcements with the greatest speed, and the _Great Eastern_ was taken +up as a troop-ship to convey 2,500 men, 100 officers, and 122 horses. In +addition to these, were about 350 wives and children of the soldiers. She +sailed from the Mersey on the 27th of June, and made her voyage with such +speed and safety that her real use appeared to have been discovered at +last. This success inspired confidence, and when she was next announced to +sail with passengers, nearly 400 persons engaged first and second-class +berths. Among them were several parties, and an unusual proportion of +ladies. A very considerable cargo was also sent on freight. She left the +Mersey on the 10th September, and commenced her voyage with every prospect +of success. But, when about 250 miles westward of Cape Clear, she was +caught in a tremendous gale. She appears to have been in the very centre +of a cyclone hurricane. In the midst of this whirlwind one of the forward +boats broke loose. The captain ordered the helm to be put down, in order +to bring the ship up into the wind, that the boat might clear the wheel. +The ship refused to answer her helm. Some hand-sails were then set with +the same object, but they were instantly blown to shreds. Soon a terrific +noise was heard, and it was clear that something had gone wrong with her +machinery. The waves had struck her paddles with such force that they were +bent, and scraped the ship's side at every revolution, threatening to +shear away her iron planking. Under these circumstances it was necessary +to stop the paddle engines and trust to the propeller for progress. This, +of course, did not add to the power of steering; for, if the helm was +insufficient when the power was amidships, it was, of course, still less +effectual when the power was all astern. The ship, therefore, lay exposed +to the tremendous lashing of the sea, which ran mountains high. One by one +the floats were struck away, and at daybreak the next morning nothing of +the paddle-wheels was left except twisted iron rods attached to the shaft. +Nor was this the extent of the misfortune. The stress upon the rudder, now +that it had to control the entire length of the ship, was tremendous, and +about 5.45 a.m., during a terrific sea, the top of the rudder-post, a bar +of iron ten inches square, was wrenched away. The ship had now entirely +lost steerage power, and lay utterly at the mercy of the waves. She rolled +tremendously. The hapless passengers were dashed from side to side; the +cabin furniture broke loose, as well as the cargo, crushing everything +they touched. In the hold, tallow-casks, weighing many hundredweight, and +a chain cable of many tons, got loose in one of the compartments, and +threatened to burst out the ship's side at every roll. Many of the +passengers were severely injured. The decks were swept, six boats were +carried away, and two were broken to pieces. In this precarious condition +the ship lay from Thursday to Sunday evening, a waif upon the ocean. At +length, on Sunday afternoon, the violence of the wind abated, the sea went +down, and chains were got out and connected with the rudder, so that some, +though a very imperfect, purchase was obtained. Some apparatus was +constructed and got overboard, by which the ship was steadied and the +steering power increased. By these means her head was got round and a +course was made for Cork Harbour. On Tuesday she was off the Old Head of +Kinsale, and in the afternoon at the entrance of Cork Harbour, but she was +unable to enter. She therefore remained outside in great peril, for she +was blown out to sea again, and drifted to some distance before she was +enabled to enter. Her subsequent history, in connection with the laying of +the Atlantic cable, belongs to another section of this work. + + [Illustration: THE "MONITOR" PASSING THE VICKSBURG BATTERIES.] + + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + + THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (_continued_). + + + The Ironclad Question--One of the Topics of the Day--What is to be + their Value in Warfare?--Story of the Dummy Ironclad--Two Real + Ironclads vanquished by it--Experience on board an American + Monitor--Visit of the _Miantonoma_ to St. John's--Her Tour round the + World--Her Turrets and Interior Arrangements--Firing off the Big + Guns--Inside the Turret--"Prepare!"--Effects of the Firing--A + Boatswain's-mate's Opinion--The _Monitor_ goes round the World + safely--Few of the Original American Ironclads left--English + Ironclads--The _Warrior_--Various + Types--Iron-built--Wood-built--Wood-covered--The Greatest Result yet + attained, the _Inflexible_--Circular Ironclads--The "_Garde + Côtes_"--Cost of Ironclads--The Torpedo Question--The Marquis of + Worcester's Inventions--Bishop Wilkins' Subaqueous Ark--Fulton's + Experiments--A Frightened Audience--A Hulk Blown Up--Government Aid + to Fulton--The _Argus_ and her "Crinoline"--Torpedoes successfully + foiled--Their use during the American War--Brave Lieut. Cushing--The + _Albemarle_ Destroyed--Modern Torpedoes: the "Lay;" the + "Whitehead"--Probable Manner of using in an Engagement--The Ram and + its Power. + + +Early in these chapters, allusion was made to one of the most important of +all vital topics connected with shipping interests--the ironclad +question--and as it concerns the well-being of the Royal Navy, it concerns +that of the nation itself, and no excuse can be needed for its discussion +here. Day by day we hear of new types of armoured vessels, single +specimens costing the price of a small fleet of former days. That, under +certain conditions, they must prove very formidable, there can be no +doubt. But, it must be asked, are the bulk of them seaworthy ships? How +far is torpedo warfare to interfere with their employment? Are they worth +their price to the nation? + +Their history so far has been one as much, and indeed far more, of failure +than success. "Our submarine fleet" has become a byword, while none of +their exploits have excelled those of the _Merrimac_ and _Monitor_, two of +the very earliest examples constructed. Indeed, the writer knows no more +successful results attained than by an improvised "dummy" ironclad during +the American war. The ridiculous often merges into or mingles with the +important and the sublime, and the story, little known in England, is +inserted here to show how much may sometimes be done in warfare with +insignificant means. + + [Illustration: PEACE AND WAR.] + +The incident occurred in February, 1863. An old coal barge(42) adrift had +been picked up in the James River, and the brilliant idea seized some of +Admiral Porter's men to convert her into a "monitor." The whole scheme was +carried out in twelve hours. In fact, her construction was hardly more +solid than the "paper forts" built of canvas and boards by the Chinese +during our war with them, and which collapsed after a shot or two as +readily as would the "Rock of Gibraltar" or "Mount Vesuvius" at a firework +display. The barge was built up high with boards, while funnels and +turrets constructed of pork-barrels reared above, and two old canoes did +duty for quarter-boats. A small house, taken from the back yard of a +planter's dwelling, stood for the pilot-house. Her furnaces were built of +mud or clay; they were only intended to make smoke, not steam. Then a good +coat of black paint or pitch; her furnaces were filled with pitch and +other inflammable materials, and she was ready. As soon as the "dummy" +turned adrift on the Mississippi came in range of the Vicksburg batteries, +the alarmed garrison opened fire upon it. The black monitor glided down +the stream, belching out fire and smoke, but gave not a shot in return. +With amazement the Vicksburg soldiers found that they could not make the +slightest impression on the turreted monster. They did not know that it +was full of water, and had not a man on board! In ominous and silent +disdain she seemed to be making for the Confederate ironclads; one of +them, the _Queen of the West_, leaving part of her crew ashore, +incontinently fled, with all her steam power, making the best of her way +to the Red River. The _Indianola_, a vessel previously captured from the +Northerners, was lying aground, and not to be taken by this ruthless +monster of a monitor, was ordered to be blown up, which was accordingly +done. Thus was this bloodless victory gained by the dummy ironclad. It is +not impossible that we may hear of similar tricks in future warfare, as +all is fair therein. + +The following experiences on board an American monitor are kindly sent to +the writer by a friend, formerly in the Royal Navy. + +"Great, indeed, was the excitement caused by the deeds of the _Monitor_ +and _Merrimac_ amongst the officers and men of Her Majesty's North +Atlantic Squadron. Whether dancing in Halifax, chasing French fishermen on +the Newfoundland coast, or 'sunning'(43) in St. George, there was always +to be found some one, from captain to loblolly boy, with a new story of +the prowess of these formidable monsters of the _shallows_! I write +'shallows' advisedly, for if the experience which I am about to narrate +proves anything, it will be that as a 'deep water' or sea-going craft the +_Monitor_ is practically useless. + +"Notwithstanding a certain eagerness to behold a specimen of their +floating batteries, curiosity was not destined to be gratified until +nearly two years after the close of the American War, when the United +States Government determined on sending a representative--the +_Miantonoma_--to make a tour of the world. The object of this resolution +was to prove that the American invention was not a mere floating battery, +but was destined to revolutionise the system of armour-plated ships. The +_Miantonoma_ was accompanied when she made her appearance in the harbour +of St. John's, Newfoundland, by two tenders, one a second-class corvette, +the other a captured blockade-runner, which had been mounted with a single +'Parrot' pivot gun, throwing a spherical shot of 180 lbs. This projectile +was dubbed 'the Devil' by those on board, who were by no means anxious to +hear its voice, for the lightly-built blockade-runner trembled in every +knee at each discharge. Nevertheless, such a vessel properly built is +destined to play an important part in the navy of the future, when our +present unwieldy ironclads shall have been relegated to that bourne where +torpedoes cannot terrify. + + [Illustration: THE "MIANTONOMA."] + +"The _Miantonoma_ was a twin-turreted monitor, carrying two of Parrot's +480 pounder smooth-bore. Her spar-deck, which was flush fore and aft, was +about two and a half to three feet above the surface of the water in +harbour. What we would call the gun-deck was below the water-line some +eight feet, and here at sea during any sort of rough weather, the men were +compelled to live. Air was supplied (faugh! what an atmosphere it was, +even in harbour!) by means of pipes which ran up to a scaffolding--I can +find no better name for the structure--elevated above the spar-deck fifteen +feet. Here were the wheel-house and a place for the look-out. But as it +was apprehended that the first respectable gale would take charge of the +flimsy structure and sweep it all away, a 'preventer' steering apparatus +worked below, and knowledge was gained of what was going on in the upper +world by means of reflectors. Two things struck the eye of an observant +stranger on gaining the side. The first was the formidable appearance of +the turrets--the latter, _mirabile dictu_, the number of spittoons! At once +it became evident that such a craft as that which, if you please, we are +now aboard of, could never be taken by boarding. Given the flush deck +filled with an armed host; one of these terrible turrets would slowly turn +round, the shield protecting the embrasure would fly back, a gaping +volcano would belch forth, a whirlwind of flame and smoke only--no need, +indeed, would there be for iron orbs at such quarters--and, ere its shield +had once more covered grinning death, the armed host would have been swept +away. + + [Illustration: INTERIOR OF A TURRET SHIP.] + +"It is Her Majesty's birthday, and the _Miantonoma_ steams away with those +who have been invited on board to witness the firing of the big guns. The +salute cannot be fired in the little harbour, else surely every pane of +glass from the block-house to Riverhead will pay the penalty. So +Freshwater Bay is to have the honour of hearing man's thunder +reverberating along its hill-girded shores. + +"Bang, bang--pop, pop, bang. You hear the Armstrongs and old field-pieces +go off from Her Majesty's men-of-war in harbour, and Her Majesty's Fort +William and water batteries. Then you descend to utter silence. You ascend +again through a trapdoor, and find yourself in a circular room, some +twelve feet in diameter, padded from top to bottom like the interior of a +carriage. By your side is a huge mass of iron. You are inside the turret. +A glimmering lamp sheds its feeble light on the moving forms around you, +and from below comes the faint whispering of the men, until the trap is +shut and you are again in utter silence. + +"'_Prepare!_' The gunner's mates stand you on your toes, and tell you to +lean forward and thrust your tongue out of your mouth. You hear the +creaking of machinery. It is a moment of intense suspense. Gradually a +glimmer of light--an inch--a flood. The shield passes from the opening--the +gun runs out. A flash, a roar--a mad reeling of the senses, and crimson +clouds flitting before your eyes--a horrible pain in your ears, a sense of +oppression on your chest, and the knowledge that you are not on your +feet--a whispering of voices blending with the concert in your ears--a +darkness before your eyes--and you find yourself plump up in a heap against +the padding, whither you have been thrown by the violence of the +concussion. Before you have recovered sufficiently to note the effects I +have endeavoured to describe, the shield is again in its place and the gun +ready for re-loading. They tell you that the best part of the sound has +escaped through the port-hole, otherwise there would be no standing it, +and our gunner's mate whispers in your ear: 'It's all werry well, but they +busts out bleeding from the chest and ears after the fourth discharge, and +has to be taken below.' You have had enough of it too, and are glad that +they don't ask you to witness another shot fired. + +"Since the _Miantonoma's_ time vast improvements have been made in the +matter of turret firing. The guns are now discharged by means of an +electric spark, which obviates the necessity for having anyone in the +turret, and is certainly a great blessing. + +"'And what do you think of her?' I asked a boatswain's-mate. 'Think of +her, sir!' he replied. 'I think, sir, that she's a floating coffin, and I +would as soon live in ----. Every time we're out of harbour she goes under +water, and don't come up till we get in again, as the saying is. We are +just cooped up here waiting for a big wave to come and swallow us, for she +don't rise to the waves, she goes through 'em.' Then, becoming more +confidential, 'Tower of the world be hanged, sir! None of us believe we'll +ever see Queenstown, and if we only had a chance to get ashore, there +ain't a man but what would desert, I guess.' + +"I must draw the reader's attention to the fact that I give this sailor's +statement for what it is worth. The officers, one and all, as far as my +memory serves me, stated that she was a very good sea boat; better, +indeed, than they expected, though somewhat sluggish in the water. I may +add that the _Miantonoma_ not only reached Queenstown, but _did_ succeed +in making a tour of the world. Yet it was alleged that her crew, with the +exception of some twenty men, were put into the tenders, and that she was +towed across the 'herring pond' and round the Horn by them. From these +facts and rumours the reader may form his own opinion as to the +seaworthiness of the American monitor. My belief is, that for a sea-fight, +especially should one occur in a gale of wind, they are practically as +useless as a hay-barge, while for harbour defences they have proved +themselves invaluable. Of all the splendid fleet of monitors possessed by +America at the close of the Federal and Confederate war, there are scarce +any left to keep up the reputation of the United States as a naval power. +They were contract built, of green oak. The Philadelphia and San Francisco +navy yards afford ample proof that a decade has sufficed to destroy what +shot and shell found almost invulnerable. Such splendid specimens of naval +architecture as the _Brooklyn_ and _Ohio_ alone are left to keep up the +appearance of America's naval strength on foreign stations. But let us +hope that her 'shoddy' monitors, like her shoddy blankets or wooden +nutmegs, have passed away with her convalescence from intestine wounds, +and that the next decade may witness the Stars and Stripes floating +powerfully and peacefully side by side with the Union Jack, omnipotent for +good." + +Any such expression of feeling in regard to the safety of English +ironclads, in spite of the terrible loss of the _Captain_, and that of the +_Vanguard_ (only less serious inasmuch as no lives were sacrificed), would +not be echoed by any British sailor on board them. The accommodations, +barring the general darkness and sense of gloom inside, only partially +illumined by the fitful light of lamps, are generally good, and it is by +no means certain that when the electric light has attained that perfection +at which its promoters are aiming, there can be any complaint on that +score at all. Still, until some grand success has been attained by +ironclads, it is very questionable whether they can be thoroughly popular, +except to courageous, scientific, and ambitious officers, of whom the +service, the writer is certain, does not stand in need. We have had a "Man +of iron" ashore, and we shall have him afloat when the occasion requires. + +The first types of ironclads introduced into the Royal Navy, as for +example, the _Warrior_ and _Black Prince_, were nearly identical in +general appearance to the war-ships of the day. Now _all_ British +ironclads are built with sides approaching the upright or vertical above +water. At first they only attempted broadside fire; now bow and stern guns +are common. The _Warrior_, as the earliest example of an ironclad in the +Royal Navy, deserves special mention. She is doing duty to-day, and is by +no means an effete example, but an excellent and useful vessel. She is +armoured at the middle only, in the most exposed parts. In other words, +her engines and leading guns are protected, while the rest of her hull, +though strong, is not armour-covered. _Now_, whatever weight of armour +this central, or "box-battery," as it has been termed, may have, there is +always a continuous belt of iron extending from stem to stern, and +protecting the region of the water-line and steering gear, the counter of +the ship being carried below the water in order to screen the rudder-head. +This improvement is due to Sir Spencer Robinson. The _Warrior's_ armour +was uniform in thickness; now it is strongest in the vital parts. The +_Warrior_ had only a main-deck battery armour plated; recent ships have +had a protected upper-deck battery given them. The _Warrior_ carried a +large number of guns in an outspread battery; all later ships, of whatever +type, have had a _concentrated_ battery of much heavier guns. This early +armoured ship is long; nearly all later examples are much shorter in +proportion to their breadth. + +And now to the armour itself, which is sometimes affixed to an iron and +sometimes to a wooden hull, and in a few cases has wood _outside_ it. +These facts, by no means generally known, must be studied, for it can +hardly yet be said to be determined which is the better form. It may be +said, in general terms, that the "adoption of armour-plating was +accompanied in this country by the introduction of iron for the +construction of the hulls of ships of war, and our ironclad fleet is for +the most part _iron-built_. We have, it is true, a number of wood-built +ironclads, but most of these are converted vessels."(44) Several were +built of wood (and then armoured) for the purpose of utilising the large +stocks of timber accumulated in the dockyards. In the future it is +probable that nearly all will be of iron, with wood backing. The armour of +the _Warrior_ is only 4½ inches thick, with, however, a "backing" of 18 +inches of timber. This type includes the _Black Prince_, _Achilles_, +_Defence_, _Hector_, _Valiant_, and _Prince Albert_. Then we come to +another series, of which the _Bellerophon_, _Penelope_, _Invincible_, +_Audacious_, _Swiftsure_, _Triumph_, _Iron Duke_, and unfortunate +_Vanguard_ furnish examples. They average 6 inches of iron-plating to 10 +inches of wood backing. The lost _Captain_ was somewhat heavier in both +plating and backing. Then again we advance to a still heavier type--12 +inches of iron to 18 inches of wood: the _Glatton_, _Thunderer_, and +_Devastation_ furnish examples. Then there is the _wood-built_ class, the +thickness of their (wooden) sides ranging from 19½ to as high as 36 +inches, with 4½ to 6 inches of armour. The _Royal Sovereign_ (a turret +ship) is a leading example of this class; she has 5½ inches of armour, +covering 36 inches of wood. + +To speak of all the types of armour-clad ships would most undoubtedly +weary the reader. Let us examine a leading example. The _Inflexible_ +(double turret ship) is probably the greatest result yet attained. She is +an ironclad of 11,400 tons, with 8,000 horse-power, her estimated first +cost being considerably over half a million sterling. She is 320 feet +long, and has armour of 16 to 24 inches thick, with a backing of 17 to 25 +inches of wood. She has no less than 135 compartments, while her engines +are so completely isolated that if one breaks down the other would be +working. "But already, as if to show the impossibility of attaining the +stage of finality as regards the construction of our men-of-war, there is +every reason to believe that she has been excelled.... Designed," says our +leading journal,(45) "as an improvement upon the Russian _Peter the +Great_, she will herself be surpassed by the two Italian frigates which +are building at La Spezzia and Castellamare.... While the _Inflexible's_ +turrets are formed of a single thickness of 18-inch armour, and her +armament consists of four 81-ton guns, the turrets of the _Dandolo_ and +the _Duilio_ are built of plates 22 inches thick, and are armed with four +100-ton guns." The writer then enlarges on recent gunnery experiments, +showing that even the enormous thickness of the _Inflexible's_ iron sides +have been pierced, and concludes by saying that, "so far as the exigencies +of the navy are concerned, the limit of weight seems to have already been +reached, for the simple reason that the buoyancy of our ironclads cannot +with safety be further diminished by the burden of heavier armour and +armaments." The leading feature in this vessel is the situation of the +turrets. In most turret ships afloat these batteries are placed on the +middle line, and in consequence only one-half the guns can be brought to +bear on an enemy either right ahead or directly astern. In the +_Inflexible_ the turrets rise up on either side of the ship _en échelon_ +within the citadel walls, the fore turret being on the port side and the +after turret on the starboard side. By these means the whole of the four +guns can be discharged _simultaneously_ at a ship right ahead or right +astern, or, in pairs, towards any point. What vessel could withstand such +a fire rightly directed? + + [Illustration: THE "INFLEXIBLE."] + +As we have seen, the forms and proportions of ironclads have undergone +enormous changes from the days when the success of the plated floating +batteries at Kinburn called the special attention of Europe to the +possibility of successfully protecting vessels in the same way. The shot +of the enemy had no effect on these batteries. A special correspondent of +the _Times_ said: "The balls hopped back off their sides without leaving +an impression, save such as a pistol-ball makes on the target of a +shooting gallery. The shot could be heard distinctly striking the sides of +the battery with a 'sharp smack,' and then could be seen flying back, +splashing the water at various angles according to the direction in which +they came, till they dropped exhausted." + +One of the greatest novelties is the _circular_ ironclad, proposed long +ago by Mr. John Elder, in a paper read before the United Service +Institution, and carried out by Admiral Popoff, of the Russian navy, who +designed one which was afterwards constructed and was christened the +_Novgorod_. She was 100 feet in diameter, with curved deck, the highest +point of which was only five or six feet above the water. She carried two +28-ton guns. Its model might be described as a floating saucer with a +comparatively flat covering. It is even asserted that a good speed is +attainable with such vessels, and that they are steerable, if hydraulic +machinery is employed. Mr. Elder's plan was as follows:--When a revolving +pilot-house on the vessel turned, a jet of water was ejected in a backward +line to the very course proposed to steer. The pilot or steersman--having a +complete control of the movements of the pilot-house, and a clear look out +a-head--only arranged to steer in a particular direction, and the water jet +propelled the vessel to its destination. Such vessels are fit for nothing +better than river or harbour protection. + +The _Alexandra_, whose batteries we show on the opposite page, is one of +the most efficient of our English armour-plated ships. She was built at +Chatham, and launched in 1875. She was specially built for speed, and +carries the maximum weight of armour consistent with sea-going qualities. +She is armed with three guns of twenty-five tons each and nine of eighteen +tons. + + [Illustration: SECTION OF THE "ALEXANDRA."] + +A new form of ironclad, destined for coast duty, has also been introduced +in Holland and France. These Governments consider that for the defence of +a coast-line, fixed land batteries are not sufficient. They have, +therefore, adopted a ponderous form of turreted ironclad, which the French +term _garde-côtes_. They are not supposed to be adapted for long sea +voyages, as they are veritable floating iron castles, carrying not merely +heavy guns, but whole batteries of smaller guns. They have good engine +power, and can, therefore, be moved to any part of the coast with ease. + +The cost of ironclads to this country has been very serious. Mr. Reed puts +it down at a million sterling a year since their inauguration.(46) For the +eighteen years preceding 1876, they cost £16,738,935, and with the cost of +wear and tear, repair, and maintenance, not less than £18,000,000. +£300,000 was required for repairs and maintenance alone in one year, +perhaps an exceptional case. The _Warrior_, built in the year 1860, cost, +to 1876, for maintenance and repair, no less than £124,245, or about a +third of her original cost. She is the earliest type of ironclad, and of +small tonnage compared with several of her successors. What _they_ may +cost to maintain is a still more serious problem. Single ironclads have +cost the country half a million sterling; the _Inflexible_, £600,000. + + [Illustration: PREPARING FOR TORPEDO EXPERIMENTS AT PORTSMOUTH.] + +Connected intimately with the ironclad question is the torpedo movement. +From an early date schemes have been devised for injuring an enemy's +vessel by submarine apparatus and otherwise than by guns. In the +seventeenth century, we find the celebrated Marquis of Worcester +describing such apparatus. The ninth of his "Century of Inventions" +describes a small engine, portable in one's pocket, which might be carried +and fastened on the inside of the ship, and at any appointed time, days or +weeks after, at the will of the operator, it should explode and sink that +vessel. + +In his tenth invention, the Marquis of Worcester describes "a way from a +mile off to dive and fasten a like engine to any ship, so as it may +punctually work the same effect, either for time or execution." The +details of construction and working are left to the reader's imagination. + +Bishop Wilkins, in a curious work on "Mathematical Magick," published in +1648, describes a possible submarine vessel, or "ark," as he terms it. He +says that it "may be effected beyond all question, because one Cornelius +Dreble hath already experimented on it here in England." Of Dreble very +little is known; but it is on record that he constructed a subaqueous +boat, which he exhibited before James I., which carried twelve rowers and +some passengers, and further, that that monarch was so pleased with it +that he sent a duplicate as a present to the grand Duke of Muscovy +(Russia). The bishop discusses the matter very fully. The boat is, of +course, to be watertight, all openings being sealed for the nonce by +leather bags, with two sets of fastenings. The oars were to project also +through leather bags, giving freedom of motion and yet excluding the +water. A serious difficulty--the lack of fresh air on board--is partially +slurred over; but he considers that the sailors, "by long use and +custome," will practically get used to it. The raising or lowering of the +vessel is to be accomplished by the lifting or depression of an enormous +stone hung to its keel. He considered that the steering would be easier +than on the surface, there being no contrary winds or atmospheric +disturbances to interfere. The vessel is to be well manned by artisans, +and children are to be born in the "ark:" one of the points specially +mentioned being their inevitable astonishment when they for the first time +behold the light of day at the surface, and are landed on _terra firma_! +The log is not merely to be written but is to be printed on board. "Among +the many conveniences of such a contrivance, it may be of very great +advantage against a navy of enemies, who, by this means, may be undermined +in the water and blown up." + +Another old writer, Schott, in a rare and curious work, entitled +"Mirabilia Mechanica," offers several schemes for submarine vessels, and +gives a drawing of one with a paddle-wheel as the propelling power. The +wheel, worked by men, was to work in a watertight box in the centre of the +vessel, the paddles projecting below the keel. A Frenchman built a vessel +of this description at Rotterdam in 1653, and publicly exhibited it. +Pepys, in his "Diary," writes, on the 14th of March, 1662: "This afternoon +came the German Dr. Knuffler, to discourse with us about his engine to +blow up ships. We doubted not the matter of fact--it being tried in +Cromwell's time--but the safety of carrying them in ships; but he do tell +us that when he comes to tell the King his secret (for none but kings +successively, and their heirs, must know it) it will appear of no danger +at all." We have before described Fulton's submarine boat, the _Nautilus_, +and his torpedo experiments in France and England; let us now follow him +to the New World. + +Fulton arrived in America in December, 1806, and so far from being +discouraged by the apathy displayed towards his inventions in Europe, +inaugurated fresh experiments, under Government sanction, a certain +expenditure being authorised. An amusing account of one of his semi-public +exhibitions is given by his biographer:(47)--"In the meantime, anxious to +prepossess his countrymen with a good opinion of his project, he invited +the magistracy of New York and a number of citizens to Governor's Island, +where were the torpedoes and the machinery with which his experiments were +to be made; these, with the manner in which they were to be used and were +expected to operate, he explained very fully. While he was lecturing on +his blank torpedoes, which were large empty copper cylinders, his numerous +auditors crowded round him. At length he turned to a copper case of the +same description, which was placed under the gateway of the fort, and to +which was attached a clockwork lock. This, by drawing out a peg, he set in +motion, and then said to his attentive audience, 'Gentlemen, this is a +charged torpedo, with which, precisely in its present state, I mean to +blow up a vessel; it contains one hundred and seventy pounds of gunpowder, +and if I were to suffer the clockwork to run fifteen minutes, I have no +doubt but that it would blow this fortification to atoms!' The circle +round Mr. Fulton was very soon much enlarged, and before five of the +fifteen minutes were out there were but two or three persons remaining +under the gateway; some, indeed, lost no time in getting at the greatest +possible distance from the torpedo with their best speed, and did not +again appear on the ground till they were assured it was lodged in the +magazine." Fulton, of course, displayed the utmost coolness, knowing that +his torpedo could not explode till the clockwork had run its allotted +time, and of course taking care that it should be stopped long before the +expiration of the fifteen minutes. + +On the 20th of July, 1807, he attempted to blow up with torpedoes, in the +harbour of New York, a large hulk brig which had been provided for the +purpose. Several unsuccessful attempts were made at first, owing to some +derangements connected with the locks of the exploding apparatus. At +length, however, the explosion took place, and was a thorough success. He +has left a full account of it in his own work.(48) Nothing was left of the +brig; all that was seen in her place was a high column of water, smoke, +and fragments. It showed, as Fulton always believed, that the torpedo +should, if possible, be exploded _under_ the vessel to be blown up. In his +cool but yet enthusiastic way he says: "Should a ship of the line +containing five hundred men contend with ten good row-boats, each with a +torpedo and ten men, she would risk total annihilation, while the boats, +under the cover of the night and quick movements, would risk only a few +men out of one hundred." + +Fulton, after this, lectured frequently before the members of Congress, +and so favourably impressed them that a sum of 5,000 dollars was voted in +aid of his experiments. One of the plans he proposed was to couple by a +line two torpedoes, then letting them drift on the bow of the vessel to be +destroyed, the line would catch on the cable or bows, and the torpedoes +would drift towards the vessel on either side. He also proposed "block +ships" of 50 or 100 tons, with cannon-proof sides and musket-proof decks +(_i.e._, virtually ironclads), to be propelled by machinery, _which was to +be worked by the crew_. "On each quarter and bow she was to be armed with +a torpedo fastened to a long spar, the interior end of which was to be +supported and braced by ropes from the yards.... By means of these spars +the torpedoes were to be thrust under the bottom of the vessel to be +destroyed." Half the many plans proposed for torpedo warfare may be traced +back to Robert Fulton at the end of the last and beginning of the present +century. Among his inventions was a "cable-cutting machine," a description +of which would occupy an undue amount of space in a popular work. Suffice +it to say that by its means he succeeded in cutting, several feet below +the surface of the water, the cable--a 14-inch one--of a vessel lying at +anchor. + +One of the most important experiments made at this time was his attempt, +under sanction of Government, to blow up the sloop-of-war _Argus_, and the +case demonstrates very clearly the ingenuity of the _defence_, and the +means taken to foil the assailing torpedo. We have heard quite recently of +propositions to defend a vessel by means of a kind of "crinoline," as it +has been termed, a strong network, &c., surrounding the whole or a part of +the vessel at some distance from it, which should prevent the torpedo from +exploding near the hull. Such was actually the means devised by Commodore +Rodgers, of the United States Navy, in the year 1809, and which proved +entirely successful in foiling Fulton's torpedo. Colden says:--"She had a +strong netting suspended from her spritsail-yard, which was anchored at +the bottom; she was surrounded by spars lashed together, which floated on +the surface of the water, so as to place her completely in a pen; she had +grappling-irons and heavy pieces of the same metal suspended from her +yards and rigging, ready to be plunged in any boat that came beneath them; +she had great swords, or scythes, fastened to the ends of long spars, +moving like sweeps, which unquestionably would have mowed off as many +heads as came within their reach." + + [Illustration: THE OLD STYLE AND THE NEW (A THREE-DECKER AND A TORPEDO + BOAT).] + +By these devices the torpedo-boat was unable to get near the _Argus_, +while the netting, anchored to the bottom of the harbour, prevented any +probability of the torpedo being fired under the vessel. The Government +had practically said to Fulton, "Do your best, and we'll do our best to +defeat you." The experiment was not one-sided, as are so many. Fulton, far +from complaining, thus wrote: "I will do justice to the talents of +Commodore Rodgers. The nets, booms, kentledge, and grapnels which he +arranged around the _Argus_ made a formidable appearance against one +torpedo-boat and eight bad oarsmen. I was taken unawares. I had explained +to the officers of the navy my means of attack; they did not inform me of +their means of defence. The nets were put down to the ground, otherwise I +should have sent the torpedoes under them. In this situation, the means +with which I was provided being imperfect, insignificant, and inadequate +to the effect to be produced, I might be compared to what the inventor of +gunpowder would have appeared had he lived in the time of Julius Cæsar, +and presented himself before the gates of Rome with a four-pounder, and +had endeavoured to convince the Roman people that by means of such +machines he could batter down their walls. They would have told him that a +few catapultas casting arrows and stones upon his men would cause them to +retreat; that a shower of rain would destroy his ill-guarded powder; and +the Roman centurions, who would have been unable to conceive the various +modes in which gunpowder has since been used to destroy the then art of +war, would very naturally conclude that it was a useless invention; while +the manufacturers of catapultas, bows, arrows, and shields would be the +most vehement against further experiments." + + [Illustration: LIEUT. CUSHING'S ATTACK ON THE "ALBEMARLE."] + +Torpedoes were used extensively during the civil war in America, but +almost entirely for rivers or harbour defence. One of the most prominent +examples was the following:--The ironclad ram _Albemarle_(49) had been +carrying all before it, till Lieutenant Cushing, a brave young officer, +scarcely twenty-one years of age, took a steam-launch, equipped as a +torpedo-boat, on the night of October, 1864, up the Roanoake River. He had +with him thirteen men. The launch was steered directly for the ironclad, +which lay at one of the wharfs of Plymouth, protected by a raft of logs +extending thirty feet. The enemy's fire was at once very severe, but the +torpedo-boat went bravely on, and succeeded in pressing in the logs a few +feet. Cushing, in his despatch, says--"The torpedo was exploded at the same +time that the _Albemarle's_ gun was fired. A shot seemed to go crashing +through my boat, and a dense mass of water rushed in from the torpedo, +filling and completely disabling her. The enemy then continued to fire at +fifteen feet range, and demanded our surrender, which I twice refused." +Cushing leaped into the water and, with one of his party, made good his +escape. The rest of the little crew were either captured, killed, or +wounded. The object of the attack was, however, successful, and the +_Albemarle_ was found to be a complete wreck. Torpedoes were also employed +with great effect by the Paraguayans in their war against the Brazilians +in 1866. + + [Illustration: PARAGUAYAN TORPEDO BLOWING UP A BRAZILIAN IRONCLAD.] + +Great are the varieties of torpedoes invented at various times in late +years, and a technical description of them, which would be wearying to the +reader, would fill a large volume. An ingenious kind, known as the "Lay" +torpedo, after the name of its inventor, comes from the New World. It is +of cylindrical form, with conical ends, the forward cone calculated to +hold a hundred pounds of some explosive substance--dynamite,(50) probably, +being used. A forward section of the main cylinder holds a powerful gas, +condensed into _liquid_ form, and used as the motive power, and connected +with the machinery by a valve operated by electricity. The torpedo has a +cable coiled as harpoon-ropes are arranged in whaling-vessels, which may +be of any length, the wires connected with the battery following its +course. This instrument of destruction is entirely under the control of +the operator, who may be stationed with his small portable battery on the +shore or on a vessel. It is said that they have been sent out half a mile +and brought back to the starting-point at a rate of twelve miles an hour, +and that the rapidity and precision with which the machine obeyed the +operator demonstrated them to be among the most formidable weapons ever +invented for naval warfare. + + [Illustration: _Porter Torpedo Boat. Fulton's Torpedo Boat._ + _ Spar Torpedo. (Front and Side Views.) Lay Torpedo._ + DIFFERENT FORMS OF TORPEDOES.] + +These subaqueous weapons have never been used in an engagement between +fleets. In an interesting essay(51) on the subject by Commander Noel, +R.N., he recommends or proposes that four torpedo vessels should accompany +a fleet, and describes their probable operations as follows:-- + + [Illustration: TORPEDO EXPERIMENTS AT PORTSMOUTH, WITH THE ELECTRIC + LIGHT.] + +"Let us imagine ourselves, then, on board a rakish little craft, fitted +for Harvey torpedo work; we can steam sixteen knots; we tow a torpedo on +each quarter; and we are so admirably fitted with steel-protecting +mantelets that neither officer nor man is exposed either to view or to +rifle fire. Our instructions are that on the approach of a hostile force +we and our three consorts are to hold ourselves in readiness to charge the +enemy's line, passing through at full speed, and doing all the damage that +lies in our power: these orders to be carried into effect in obedience to +a preconcerted signal. The enemy is observed approaching, and apparently +moving at about ten knots' speed. The torpedo vessels are let loose, and, +choosing the centre of the enemy's fleet, rush on, steering for a +flag-ship leading a column in line ahead. Heavy guns are fired at us as we +near, but we are so small and rapid in our movements that no shot takes +effect; we are reducing our distance at the rate of a mile in two and a +half minutes; soon comes the time of suspense; in a second or two we are +passing the flag-ship; the port torpedo is dipped--will it strike her? +Suddenly a tug on the wire towing-rope, and it parts. Her bow has been +protected, and our torpedo is torn away harmless. However, another mine +tows on the opposite quarter, still in working order; we are in the midst +of the enemy's fleet, rushing past one after another at half-minute +intervals; our only chance of using our other torpedo is in breaking +through the line; our commander is eminent for his skill, courage, and +confidence. Little choice is given us, but he observes a rather great +interval astern of the fourth ship. 'Starboard' is the order, and we break +through under her stern; our starboard torpedo is at the same time dipped, +and passes under the fifth ship. Owing to a combination of luck and good +management, the torpedo takes effect and the enemy is blown up. The other +torpedo vessels have thrown the enemy into considerable disorder, but none +have succeeded in using their torpedoes with effect. One of them has been +struck by a heavy shell and totally disabled, but the whole fleet has +passed on without finding it possible to capture or sink her without +losing their position in station and being left behind; the thought +foremost in every captain's mind also being that the enemy's fleet is +almost in contact with them, and that the moment to act has arrived. + +"This is an example of an attack with 'Harvey' torpedoes from ahead and +across the bow.... In my opinion, it would invariably be rendered +fruitless if the bows of the ships attacked were protected by an iron +framework of the simplest description. + +"But let us return to our little craft, in which we have already run the +gauntlet of the hostile fleet. Having cleared the enemy with little or no +damage, we look back and see our fleet of ironclads breaking through their +lines, which have been so shaken by our assault. When through, our fleet +re-forms and wheels for the next charge. We must be at work again; our +torpedoes are replaced, and everything is in working order. This time we +follow our ironclads to the charge. We are, if anything, more hopeful of +success. The enemy will not see us till we are at them; our blood is +warming to the work, and we feel that we have gained experience and +confidence by the first charge. Pressing on, we observe the second charge +of the fleet, amidst smoke, confusion, and thundering of cannon. The enemy +is prepared, and it is a case of 'Greek meeting Greek.' Our vessel is put +at full speed, and, with our consorts (now reduced to two), we go at the +enemy. However, in the charge that is made only one of us succeeds in +exploding a torpedo, and that without much damage to the enemy; one of our +consorts is run down and sunk, and we pass through, only dipping one +torpedo, and that too late to take effect. The enemy are not in the steady +line they were in before, and consequently we have not such an opportunity +of creating disorder, and have more difficulty in manoeuvring to use our +weapon. Passing on, fortune still favours us. We come across an enemy +disabled, stern on to us with her ensign flying. 'At her!' is the order. +Another moment and we are close to her, our torpedo in beautiful position, +and the enemy helpless. Down comes her ensign, just in time; we are able +to let go the torpedo so as to clear her--now a lawful prize. + +"So it is that I believe a torpedo vessel will be handled in an action. It +will be ticklish work; and all I can say is that the men who undertake it +should be gifted with coolness and courage above their fellows, as well as +with the utmost proficiency in handling their vessels." + +Perhaps the most formidable _ocean-going_ torpedo vessel yet constructed +is the American despatch-vessel _Alarm_, designed by Admiral David Porter, +of the United States Navy. It is 172 feet long, including a ram of +twenty-seven feet in length. One of her special qualities is the power of +launching torpedoes from almost any point, from cylinders specially +constructed for the purpose, that at the bow being thirty-two feet in +length. A torpedo-boat, built by the Messrs. Yarrow, of Poplar, for the +Russian Government during the late war, appears to have special merits. It +is built of light steel, with what is called a "whale-back"--a +semi-circular covering, which resists any ordinary shot and throws off any +sea whatever. The funnel is not in the centre, but towards the side, in +order not to interfere with the steersman's view nor with the torpedo +boom. It has a boom which can be lowered in the water, the torpedo being +submerged ten feet before it is started off on its deadly errand. And, +finally, it can be projected from the stern, which gives it a splendid +chance of leaving before the final explosion. + +In the late Turko-Russian war torpedoes were often attached to logs of +wood or clumps of brushwood, and floated into the stream of the Danube. +These often attracted little attention; and when they came into contact +with any obstacle the mine exploded by means of percussion, the blow being +delivered by a projecting arm or other contrivance driven back upon some +detonating substance within. The Harvey torpedo, one of the leading types, +consists of a stout wooden casing, strengthened on the outside with iron +straps, and containing a metal shell, which holds the powder charge. The +largest size of this weapon measures 4 feet 6 inches in length by 2 feet +in depth, and 2 feet 6 inches in width, and carries 100 lbs. of dynamite. +The torpedo is fired by being brought into hugging contact with an enemy's +ship, when one or other of two projecting levers acts upon an exploding +bolt causing the ignition of the charge. The exploding apparatus consists +of a tube containing a chemical agent and a bulb holding another. The +nature of these chemicals is such that when they combine violent +combustion ensues, which explodes the charge. These torpedoes are towed at +the end of a long hawser, connected to a spar, so arranged that the +torpedo itself, instead of following immediately in the wake or trail of +the vessel towing it, diverges in the same manner that an otter float +does: from which device Captain Harvey took his idea. Attached to the +torpedo are two large buoys, for the purpose of supporting it when the +vessel is not moving through the water, or when the towing-line is +slackened. Another variety is fired by electricity. + +The Whitehead, or "fish" torpedo, is a cigar-shaped steel cylinder 14 to +19 feet in length, and from 14 to 16 inches in diameter. It is sent off, +requiring no crew, against the ship to be destroyed; and if one torpedo +fails to deal the death-blow it can be followed up by another, or yet a +third. It consists of three compartments. The head contains the +explosive--say 360 lbs. of gun-cotton; the centre holds the machinery; and +the tail the highly-condensed air which works the engine. The engine is +about thirty-five pounds weight, and can be worked to forty horse power! +The explanation of this is simply that the working pressure of the +condensed air is 1,000 lbs. per square inch. The tail holds compressed air +sufficient to propel the torpedo 200 yards, at a rate of twenty-five miles +an hour, or 1,000 yards at the rate of seventeen miles. + +The "battle of the guns" has not yet been fought; but how about the rams? +They have been proved the deadliest weapons of destruction in modern +times. The lessons of Lissa have been already cited in these pages; so +have the lessons taught by the loss of the _Vanguard_ and the _Grosser +Kurfurst_. In the latter cases it was friends that struck the blow. Some +of our greatest authorities consider that nothing can exceed the power of +the ram of a modern ironclad, properly applied. Admiral Touchard, of the +French Navy, says: "The 'beak' (_i.e._ 'ram') is now the principal weapon +in naval combats--the _ultima ratio_ of maritime war." Captain Colomb, a +distinguished English authority, says: "Let us just recall the fact that +the serious part of a future naval attack does not appear to be the guns, +but the rams." Yet again another authority, Captain Pellew, says: "Rams +are the arm of naval warfare to which I attach the chief importance. In my +opinion, the aim of all manoeuvring and preliminary practice with the guns +should be to get a fair opportunity for ramming." + + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + + THE LIGHTHOUSE AND ITS HISTORY. + + + The Lighthouse--Our most noted one in Danger--The Eddystone + Undermined--The Ancient History of Lighthouses--The Pharos of + Alexandria--Roman Light Towers at Boulogne and Dover--Fire-beacons + and Pitch-pots--The Tower of Cordouan--The First Eddystone + Lighthouse--Winstanley and his Eccentricities--Difficulties of + Building his Wooden Structure--Resembles a Pagoda--The Structure + Swept Away with its Inventor--Another Silk Mercer in the + Field--Rudyerd's Lighthouse--Built of Wood--Stood for Fifty + Years--Creditable Action of Louis XIV.--Lighthouse Keeper alone with + a Corpse--The Horrors of a Month--Rudyerd's Tower destroyed by + Fire--Smeaton's Early History--Employed to Build the Present + Eddystone--Resolves on a Stone Tower--Employment of "Dove-tailing" + in Masonry--Difficulties of Landing on the Rock--Peril incurred by + the Workmen--The First Season's Work--Smeaton always in the Post of + Danger--Watching the Rock from Plymouth Hoe--The Last + Season--Vibrations of the Tower in a Storm--Has Stood for 120 + Years--Joy of the Mariner when "The Eddystone's in Sight!"--Lights + in the English Channel. + + + [Illustration] + +Round the history of ships and shipping interests innumerable subjects +intertwine. But for the good ship, we should not need coast +fortifications, grand breakwaters, and artificial harbours, lighthouses, +lifeboats, and coast-guard organisations. Just as England stands +pre-eminent on the sea, so in all subsidiary points connected therewith +she is fully represented. To the lighthouse and its history attention is +now invited. + +Not long since many an anxious eye was turned Channelwards from Plymouth +Hoe towards that group of rocks, on one of which the famous Eddystone +Light stood--and happily, still stands--for the light that should have +illumined the stormy waters was apparently quenched. Not till morning dawn +had nearly come was a re-assuring glimmer noted in the lantern of that +famed Pharos of our coasts. And there was good reason for anxiety, +although the immediate occasion was a mere temporary derangement of the +lighting apparatus: for the report had spread that Smeaton's greatest +architectural triumph had collapsed before the power of the sea. One +trembles to think what that might have meant, not merely to its few +inhabitants, but to scores of sailors and owners. "Happily," said one of +our leading journals, "the Eddystone is still safe, despite the terrible +effects of winds and waves, and the serious weakness of its own +foundations, which was discovered a few years ago. For the tower which +lights the way of the sailor into Plymouth Sound is, after all, not so +secure a structure as could be desired. Built of solid masonry and with +immense skill, by the clever architect from Hull who designed and carried +out the work, it had yet to trust for its foundation to the rock upon +which it stood. Should that give way the stone-work of the edifice might +be strong enough, and yet some day fall into hopeless ruin. Strange to +say, this very weakness has been self-revealed. The rock upon which the +lighthouse stands, and which, of the twenty-three that comprise the group, +is most exposed to the action of the sea, has been so violently attacked +by what Ovid calls the 'insane waters' as to have become very seriously +undermined. Gradually the waves have cut away the foundations of the +stone, rising now and then against the lighthouse, and pressing against +the structure with such force as to make the building itself serve the +turn of a crowbar, and so, little by little, creating fissures in the +foundations, and gradually preparing the way to the end." Many attempts +have been made to obviate these evils by the removal of rock which it was +supposed acted as a lever to the water, and by other means: but in vain. +At length the Board of Trinity House finding their efforts futile, +determined to erect another lighthouse. Meantime, a light-ship has been +provided, which, in case of accident to Smeaton's tower, will be moored in +the neighbourhood. A larger building is now in course of erection on an +adjacent rock, which affords a more durable foundation and is less exposed +to the merciless waves. It will be nearly double the height of the older +structure, which was seventy-two feet high, and is being built on a +principle of dovetailing, which, it is hoped and believed, will secure it +against the worst fury of the sea. Think what that fury is sometimes, +gentle reader! At the Skerryvore Rock they have an apparatus for +registering the power of the waves per square foot surface; once recently +it registered _three tons_ to the foot! + +The most noted lighthouse in the world was undoubtedly the Pharos of +Alexandria, named from the island on which it stood. The French, Italians, +and Spaniards to-day use the term almost in its original purity: thus, +French for lighthouse, _phare_; Italian and Spanish, _faro_. It was +commenced by the first Ptolemy, and finished about 280 B.C., the +workmanship, according to all accounts, being superb. This tower of white +stone was 400 feet high. It is stated by Josephus that the light, which +was always kept burning on its top at night, was visible over forty miles. +It is believed to have been destroyed by an earthquake, though the date of +its destruction is unknown. + +The Romans were the first to erect anything approaching a Pharos, or +lighthouse, on our coasts. Beacon fires may have been occasionally used +before; the conquerors made the matter an organised affair. On either side +the Channel, at Boulogne and Dover, structures of no mean altitude were +raised for this purpose. That at Boulogne is supposed to have been erected +by Caligula; all vestiges of it have passed away. It was originally called +_Turris Ardens_, afterwards corrupted to the _Tour d'Ordre_. From a +description left by Claude Châtillon, engineer to Henry IV., it appears +that it was built about a stone's throw from the edge of the cliff, above +and overlooking the high tower and the castle. Its form was octagonal, +with a base 192 feet in circumference. It was built of grey stone with +thin red bricks between. That at Dover still exists. It occupies the +highest point of the lofty rock on which the famous castle is built. This +Pharos was also octagonal in outward form, being square within. It is 33 +feet in diameter, and formerly about 72 feet high. On the summit three +holes on the three exterior sides indicate their purposes, both for +look-out and for exhibiting a light seawards. + +Long after, and indeed almost down to our days, fire-beacons were far more +common on exposed parts of our coasts than lighthouses. "The first idea of +a lighthouse," said Faraday, "is the candle in the cottage window, guiding +the husband across the water or the pathless moor." Lambarde says of the +lights shown along the coast that, "Before the time of Edward III., they +were made of great stacks of wood; but about the eleventh yeere of his +raigne it was ordained that in our shyre (Kent) they should be high +standards with their pitchpots." Such were long used. + +Lighthouses in these days differ greatly in material and mode of +construction. Stone, brick, cast and wrought iron, and even wood, are +used, according to the necessities of the case, or the lacks of the +special locality where they are placed. In the case of some iron +lighthouses they are literally screwed into the rock or hard ground. +Seventy of this class of structures now exist in the United States. + + [Illustration: THE TOWER OF CORDOUAN.] + +One of the most remarkable early lighthouses is the Tower of Cordouan, +situated on a ledge of rocks at the mouth of the Garonne, which empties +into the Bay of Biscay. It was commenced in 1584, and completed in 1610, +by Louis de Foix. + +The ledge is about 3,000 feet long and 1,500 feet broad, and is bare at +low water. It is surrounded by detached rocks, upon which the sea breaks +with terrific violence. There is but one place of access, which is a +passage 300 feet wide, where there are no rocks, and which leads to within +600 feet of the tower. The tower was a circular cone, rising from its +rocky base to a height of 162 feet. It is now shorter. The apartments of +the tower are highly ornamented, consisting of four storeys, all of +different orders of architecture, and adorned with busts and statues of +Kings of France and heathen gods. The basement, or lower storey, appears +to have been intended as a store-room; the second storey is called the +"King's apartments;" the third is a chapel; and the fourth consists of a +dome supported by columns, a kind of lower lantern; above this was +originally a lantern formed of a stone dome and eight columns. In the +upper lantern a fire of oak wood was kept burning for about a hundred +years, when, in 1717, the fire having weakened the stone supports by +calcining them, the upper lantern was taken down, and the light was kept +up in the lower lantern. As it did not show well there, an iron lantern +was erected in 1727 above this, in the place of the old stone lantern, and +coal was then used for fuel instead of wood. + +The following history of the Eddystone is largely derived from one of Mr. +Samuel Smiles' graphic and learned works.(52) + +In 1696, Mr. Henry Winstanley (a mercer and country gentleman), of +Littlebury, in the county of Essex, obtained the necessary powers to erect +a lighthouse on the Eddystone. That gentleman seems to have possessed a +curious mechanical genius, which first displayed itself in devising sundry +practical jokes for the entertainment of his guests. Smeaton tells us that +in one room there lay an old slipper, which, if a kick was given it, +immediately raised a ghost from the floor; in another the visitor sat down +upon a chair, which suddenly threw out two arms and held him a fast +prisoner; whilst, in the garden, if he sought the shelter of an arbour, +and sat down upon a particular seat, he was straightway set afloat in the +middle of the adjoining canal. These tricks must have rendered the house +at Littlebury a somewhat exciting residence for the uninitiated guest. The +amateur inventor exercised the same genius, to a certain extent, for the +entertainment of the inhabitants of the metropolis, and at Hyde Park +Corner he erected a variety of _jets d'eau_, known by the name of +Winstanley's Waterworks, which he exhibited at stated times at a shilling +a head. + +This whimsicality of the man in some measure accounts for the oddity of +the wooden building erected by him on the Eddystone Rock; and it is matter +of surprise that it should have stood the severe weather of the English +Channel for several seasons. The building was begun in the year 1696, and +finished in four years. It must necessarily have been a work attended with +great difficulty as well as danger, as operations could only be carried on +during fine weather, when the sea was comparatively smooth. The first +summer was wholly spent in making twelve holes in the rock, and fastening +twelve irons in them, by which to hold fast the superstructure. "Even in +summer," Winstanley says, "the weather would at times prove so bad that +for ten or fourteen days together the sea would be so raging about these +rocks, caused by out-winds and the running of the ground seas coming from +the main ocean, that although the weather should seem and be most calm in +other places, yet here it would mount and fly more than two hundred feet, +as has been so found since there was lodgment on the place, and therefore +all our works were constantly buried at those times, and exposed to the +mercy of the seas." + +The second summer was spent in making a solid pillar, twelve feet high and +fourteen feet in diameter, on which to build the lighthouse. In the third +year all the upper work was erected to the vane, which was eighty feet +above the foundation. In the midsummer of that year Winstanley ventured to +take up his lodging with the workmen in the lighthouse; but a storm arose, +and eleven days passed before any boats could come near them. During that +period the sea washed in upon Winstanley and his companions, wetting all +their clothing and provisions, and carrying off many of their materials. +By the time the boats could land, the party were reduced almost to their +last crust; but, happily, the building stood, apparently firm. Finally, +the light was exhibited on the summit of the building, on the 14th of +November, 1698. + +The fourth year was occupied in strengthening the building round the +foundations, making all solid nearly to a height of twenty feet, and also +in raising the upper part of the lighthouse forty feet, to keep it well +out of the wash of the sea. This timber erection, when finished, somewhat +resembled a Chinese pagoda, with open galleries and numerous fantastic +projections. The main gallery, under the light, was so wide and open that +an old gentleman who remembered both Winstanley and his lighthouse, +afterwards told Smeaton that it was possible for a six-oared boat to be +lifted up on a wave and driven clear through the open gallery into the sea +on the other side. In the perspective print of the lighthouse, published +by the architect after its erection, he complacently represented himself +as fishing out of the kitchen window! + + [Illustration: WINSTANLEY'S LIGHTHOUSE.] + +When Winstanley had brought his work to completion, he is said to have +expressed himself so satisfied as to its strength that he only wished he +might be there in the fiercest storm that ever blew. In this wish he was +not disappointed, though the result was the reverse entirely of the +builder's anticipations. In November, 1703, Winstanley went off to the +lighthouse to superintend some repairs which had become necessary, and he +was still in the place with the light-keepers, when, on the night of the +26th, a storm of unparalleled fury burst along the coast. As day broke on +the morning of the 27th, people on shore anxiously looked in the direction +of the rock to see if Winstanley's structure had withstood the fury of the +gale, but not a vestige of it remained. The lighthouse and its builder had +been swept completely away. + +The building had, in fact, been deficient in every element of stability, +and its form was such as to render it peculiarly liable to damage from the +violence both of wind and water. "Nevertheless," as Smeaton generously +observes, "it was no small degree of heroic merit in Winstanley to +undertake a piece of work which had before been deemed impracticable, and, +by the success which attended his endeavours, to show mankind that the +erection of such a work was not in itself a thing of that kind." He may, +indeed, be said to have paved the way for the more successful enterprise +of Smeaton himself; and its failure was not without its influence in +inducing that great mechanic to exercise the care which he did, in +devising a structure that should withstand the most violent sea on the +south coast. Shortly after Winstanley's lighthouse had been swept away, +the _Winchelsea_, a richly laden homeward-bound Virginian, was wrecked on +the Eddystone Rock, and almost every soul on board perished; so that the +erection of a lighthouse upon the dangerous reef remained as much a +necessity as ever. + + [Illustration: RUDYERD'S LIGHTHOUSE.] + +Mr. Smiles graphically describes the coming architect of the period. He +did not, however, come from the class of architects or builders, or even +of mechanics; and as for the class of engineers, it had not even yet +sprung into existence. The projector of the next lighthouse for the +Eddystone was again a London mercer, who kept a silk shop on Ludgate Hill. +John Rudyerd--for such was his name--was, however, a man of unquestionable +genius, and possessed of much force of character. He was the son of a +Cornish labourer, whom nobody would employ--his character was so bad; and +the rest of the family were no better, being looked upon in their +neighbourhood as "a worthless set of ragged beggars." John seems to have +been the one sound chick in the whole brood. He had a naturally clear head +and honest heart, and succeeded in withstanding the bad example of his +family. When his brothers went out pilfering, he refused to accompany +them, and hence they regarded him as sullen and obstinate. They ill-used +him, and he ran away. Fortunately he succeeded in getting into the service +of a gentleman at Plymouth, who saw something promising in his appearance. +The boy conducted himself so well in the capacity of a servant, that he +was allowed to learn reading, writing, and accounts; and he proved so +quick and intelligent, that his kind master eventually placed him in a +situation where his talents could have better scope for exercise than in +his service, and he succeeded in thus laying the foundation of the young +man's success in life. + +We are not informed of the steps by which Rudyerd marked his way upward, +until we find him called from his silk-mercer's shop to undertake the +rebuilding of the Eddystone Lighthouse. But it is probable that by this +time he had become well known for his mechanical skill in design, if not +in construction, as well as for his thoroughly practical and reliable +character as a man of business; and that for these reasons, amongst +others, he was selected to conduct this difficult and responsible +undertaking. + +After the lapse of about three years from the destruction of Winstanley's +fabric, the Brothers of the Trinity, in 1706, obtained an Act of +Parliament enabling them to rebuild the lighthouse, with power to grant a +lease to the undertaker. It was taken by one Captain Lovet for a period of +ninety-nine years, and he it was that found out and employed Rudyerd. His +design of the new structure was simple but masterly. He selected the form +that offered the least possible resistance to the force of the winds and +the waves, avoiding the open galleries and projections of his predecessor. +Instead of a polygon he chose a cone for the outline of his building, and +he carried up the elevation in that form. In the practical execution of +the work he was assisted by two shipwrights from the king's yard at +Woolwich, who worked with him during the whole time he was occupied in the +erection. + +The main defect of the lighthouse consisted of the faultiness of the +material of which it was built; for, like Winstanley's, it was of wood. +The means employed to fix the work to its foundation proved quite +efficient; dove-tailed holes were cut out of the rock, into which strong +iron bolts or branches were keyed, and the interstices were afterwards +filled with molten pewter. To these branches were firmly fixed a crown of +squared oak balks, across these a set of shorter balks, and so on till a +basement of solid wood was raised, the whole being firmly fitted and tied +together with tre-nails and screw-bolts. At the same time, to increase the +weight and vertical pressure of the building, and thereby present a +greater resistance to any disturbing forces, Rudyerd introduced numerous +courses of Cornish moorstone, as well jointed as possible, and cramped +with iron. It is not necessary to follow the details of the construction +further than to state that outside the solid timber and stone courses +strong upright timbers were fixed, and carried up as the work proceeded, +binding the whole firmly together. Within these upright timbers the rooms +of the lighthouse were formed, the floor of the lowest--the +store-room--being situated twenty-seven feet above the highest side of the +rock. The upper part of the building comprehended four rooms, one above +another, chiefly formed by the upright outside timbers, scarfed--that is, +the ends overlapping, and firmly fastened together. The whole building +was, indeed, an admirable piece of ship-carpentry, excepting only the +moorstone, which was merely introduced, as it were, by way of ballast. The +outer timbers were tightly caulked with oakum, like a ship, and the whole +was payed over with pitch. Upon the roof of the main column Rudyerd fixed +his lantern, which was lit by candles, seventy feet above the highest side +of the foundation, which was of a sloping form. From its lowest side to +the summit of the ball fixed on the top of the building was ninety-two +feet, the timber column resting on a base of twenty-three feet four +inches. "The whole building," says Smeaton, "consisted of a simple figure, +being an elegant frustum of a cone, unbroken by any projecting ornaments, +or anything whereon the violence of the storm could lay hold." The +structure was completely finished in 1709, though the light was exhibited +in the lantern as early as the 28th of July, 1706. + +That the building erected by Rudyerd was, on the whole, well adapted for +the purpose for which it was intended, was proved by the fact that it +served as a lighthouse for ships navigating the English Channel for nearly +fifty years. The lighthouse was at first attended by only two men. It +happened, however, that one of the keepers was taken ill and died, and +only one man remained to do the work. He signalled for assistance, but the +weather prevented any boat from reaching the rock for nearly a month. +What, then, was the surviving man to do with the dead body of his comrade? +The thought struck him that if he threw it into the sea, he might be +charged with murder. He determined, therefore, to keep the corpse in the +lighthouse until a boat should come off from the shore. At last a boat +came off, but the weather was still so rough that a landing was only +effected with the greatest difficulty. By this time the effluvia from the +corpse was overpowering; it filled the apartments of the lighthouse, and +the men were compelled to dispose of the body by throwing it into the sea. +In future three men were always employed. + + [Illustration: DESTRUCTION OF RUDYERD'S LIGHTHOUSE.] + +The chief defect of Rudyerd's building consisted of the material of which +it was constructed; the necessary lights and heat proceeding from them +made it a very dangerous structure. "The immediate cause of the accident +by which the lighthouse was destroyed was never ascertained. All that +became known was, that about two o'clock in the morning of the 2nd +December, 1755, the light-keeper on duty, going into the lantern to snuff +the candles, found it full of smoke. The lighthouse was on fire! In a few +minutes the wooden fabric was in a blaze. Water could not be brought up +the tower by the men in sufficient quantities to be thrown with any effect +upon the flames raging above their heads; the molten lead fell down upon +the light-keepers, into their very mouths,(53) and they fled from room to +room, the fire following them down towards the sea. From Cawsand and Rame +Head the unusual glare of light proceeding from the Eddystone was seen in +the early morning, and fishing-boats, with men, went off to the rock, +though a fresh east wind was blowing. By the time they reached it, the +light-keepers had not only been driven from all the rooms, but, to protect +themselves from the molten lead and red-hot bolts and falling timbers, +they had been compelled to take shelter under a ledge of the rock on its +eastern side, and after considerable delay the poor fellows were taken +off, more dead than alive. And thus was Rudyerd's lighthouse also +completely destroyed." The Eddystone rocks being in such an exposed place, +right in the way of so much shipping, it was resolved at once to rebuild +the lighthouse. + +Previous to the date of the destruction of Rudyerd's timber building, +Captain Lovet, the former lessee of the lighthouse, had died, and his +interest in it had been acquired by Mr. Robert Weston and two others. +Weston immediately applied to the Earl of Macclesfield, President of the +Royal Society, who strongly recommended John Smeaton, then away in the +north. Weston immediately wrote to him, but Smeaton, thinking apparently +that it only referred to some repairs required in the building, declined +to come up, unless there was to be some degree of permanency in his +engagement. The answer he received was to the effect that the building was +no more; that it must be rebuilt; and concluded with the words, "thou art +the man to do it." + +The life of Smeaton is one of the most interesting to be found among "The +Lives of the Engineers." He was born near Leeds, on the 8th of June, 1724, +his father being a respectable attorney, and he received an excellent +education. "Young Smeaton," says Mr. Smiles, "was not much given to boyish +sports, early displaying a thoughtfulness beyond his years. Most children +are naturally fond of building up miniature fabrics, and perhaps still +more so of pulling them down. But the little Smeaton seemed to have a more +than ordinary love of contrivance, and that mainly for its own sake. He +was never so happy as when put in possession of any cutting tool, by which +he could make his little imitations of houses, pumps, and windmills. Even +whilst a boy in petticoats, he was continually drawing circles and +squares, and the only playthings in which he seemed to take any real +pleasure were his models of things that would 'work.' When any carpenters +or masons were employed in the neighbourhood of his father's house, the +inquisitive boy was sure to be among them, watching the men, observing how +they handled their tools, and frequently asking them questions. His +life-long friend, Mr. Holmes, who knew him in his youth, has related, that +having one day observed some millwrights at work, shortly after, to the +great alarm of his family, he was seen fixing something like a windmill on +the top of his father's barn. On another occasion, when watching some +workmen fixing a pump in the village, he was so lucky as to procure from +them a piece of bored pipe, which he succeeded in fashioning into a +working pump that actually raised water. His odd cleverness, however, does +not seem to have been appreciated; and it is told of him that amongst +other boys he was known as 'Fooly Smeaton,' for though forward enough in +putting questions to the workpeople, amongst boys of his own age he was +remarkably shy, and, as they thought, stupid." He made great progress at +the Leeds Grammar School in geometry and arithmetic, still carrying on his +mechanical studies at home. It happened one day that some mechanics came +into the neighbourhood to erect a "fire-engine," as the steam-engine was +then called, for pumping water from the Garforth coal mines. Smeaton +watched their operations, and thereupon commenced the erection of a +miniature engine at home, provided with pumps and other apparatus, which +he succeeded in getting to work before the colliery engine was ready. He +immediately set it to work on one of his father's fish-ponds, which he +succeeded in pumping completely dry, killing all the fish, much to his +father's annoyance. By the time he had arrived at his fifteenth year, he +had contrived to make a turning-lathe, on which he turned wood and ivory, +making little presents of boxes and other articles for his friends. His +father had destined young Smeaton for the law, but at last consented to +his son's wish to become a mathematical instrument maker. The son came to +London, and was soon enabled to earn enough for his own maintenance. He +did not, however, live a mere workman's life, but frequented the society +of educated men, and was a regular attendant at the meetings of the Royal +Society. We find him at the age of twenty-six reading papers before that +most learned society. He had already attempted improvements in the +mariner's compass; had invented a machine for measuring the amount of +"way" on a ship at sea; and designed improvements in the air-pump, in +ships' tackle, and in water and wind-mills. He had already acquired an +honourable reputation as a scientific engineer when the question of +rebuilding the Eddystone Lighthouse arose. + +This afforded Smeaton a grand opening for advancement, and as soon as some +preliminaries were arranged, he came to town, where he studied the subject +in its entirety. He soon came to the conclusion that stone was the only +material to employ in the construction of a lighthouse, contrary to the +opinion of the Brethren of the Trinity House, who had faith in wood, and +that only. He also devised a system of dovetailing, then scarcely known in +masonry, though common enough in carpentry. All these investigations were +made before Smeaton had even paid a visit to the exposed site on which the +lighthouse was to be built. It was not till March, 1756, that he set out +from London to Plymouth, a journey which occupied him six days, on account +of the badness of the roads. At Plymouth he met Josias Jessop, to whom he +had been referred for information as to the previous lighthouse. Jessop +was then a foreman of shipwrights in the dockyard, and a first-class +draughtsman, full of ingenuity and mechanical knowledge. Smeaton was very +anxious to go out to the rocks at once; but the sea was so heavy that no +opportunity occurred till the 2nd of April, when they were able to reach +them. The sea was breaking over the landing-place with such violence that +there was no possibility of landing. All that the enthusiastic engineer +could do was to view the cone of bare rock--the mere crest of the mountain +whose base was laid so far in the sea-deeps beneath. Three days later +another voyage was made, and he was enabled to land on the site of his +future triumph. He stayed there more than two hours, when he was compelled +by the roughness of the sea to leave the rock. Several subsequent trials +were unsuccessful. On the 22nd of the same month, after a lapse of +seventeen days, Smeaton was able to effect his second landing at low +water. After a further inspection, the party retreated to their sloop, +which lay off until the tide had fallen, when Smeaton again landed, and +the night being perfectly still, he says, "I went on with my business till +nine in the evening, having worked an hour by candlelight." The following +day he again landed, and pursued his operations until interrupted by the +ground-swell, which sent the surf and waves high upon the reef, and the +wind rising, the sloop was forced to put for Plymouth. This is, as we +shall see, but a sample of the difficulties attending the actual +construction of the tower. Lord Ellesmere said of him that "bloody battles +had been won, and campaigns conducted to a successful issue, with less of +personal exposure to physical danger on the part of the +commander-in-chief, than was constantly encountered by Smeaton during the +greater part of those years in which the lighthouse was in course of +erection. In all works of danger he himself led the way--was the first to +spring upon the rock and the last to leave it; and by his own example he +inspired with courage the humble workmen engaged in carrying out his +plans; who, like himself, were unaccustomed to the special terrors of the +scene."(54) + +On his return to town, after several other visits, when he arranged for +the formation of a better landing-place, he made his report to the +proprietors, and was fully authorised to proceed with the design. He +accordingly proceeded to make a careful model of the lighthouse as he +intended it to be built. This having been approved by the proprietors and +by the Lords of the Admiralty, the engineer set out for Plymouth, +arranging at Dorchester, on his way, for a supply of Portland stone, of +which it was finally determined that the lighthouse should be mainly +constructed. Artificers and foremen were engaged; vessels provided for the +transport of men and material, and Mr. Jessop was appointed general +assistant, or as it is now termed, Resident Engineer. Mr. Smeaton fixed +the centre, and laid down the lines on the afternoon of the 3rd of August, +1756, and from that time the work proceeded, though with many +interruptions from bad weather and heavy seas. At best, six hours' work +was all that could be performed at one time, and when it was possible the +men worked by torchlight. One principal object of the first season was to +get the dovetail recesses cut out of the rock for the reception of the +foundation-stones. The _Neptune_ buss was employed as a store-ship, and +rode at anchor a convenient distance from the rock in about twenty fathoms +of water. For many days the men could not land from her, and even had they +been able to do so, must have been washed off the rock, unless lashed to +it. At such times the provisions ran short, no boat being able to come off +from Plymouth. Towards the end of October, the yawl riding at the stern of +the buss broke loose by stress of weather and was lost. Smeaton was very +anxious to finish the boring of the foundation-holes during that season, +and the men still persevered when the weather gave the slightest chance, +although sometimes only able to labour two hours out of the twenty-four. + +On the completion of the work at the end of November, the party prepared +to return to the yard on shore. The voyage proved most dangerous. Not +being able, in consequence of the gale that was blowing, to make Plymouth +Harbour, the _Neptune_ was steered for Fowey, on the coast of Cornwall. +The wind rose higher and higher, until it blew quite a storm; and in the +night, Mr. Smeaton, hearing a sudden alarm and clamour amongst the crew +overhead, ran upon deck in his shirt to ascertain the cause. It was +raining hard, and quite a hurricane was raging. "It being dark," he says, +"the first thing I saw was the horrible appearance of breakers almost +surrounding us; John Bowden, one of the seamen, crying out, 'For God's +sake, heave hard at that rope if you mean to save your lives!' I +immediately laid hold of the rope at which he himself was hauling as well +as the other seamen, though he was also managing the helm. I not only +hauled with all my strength, but called to and encouraged the workmen to +do the same thing." Their sails were carried away or torn to ribbons, +while the sea could be heard beating on the rocks, though nothing of the +coast could be seen. Fortunately the vessel obeyed her helm, and they put +to sea again. At daybreak they found themselves out of sight of land, and +driving for the Bay of Biscay. Wearing ship, they stood once more for the +coast, and before night sighted the Land's End. Finally, after having been +blown to sea for four days, they came to anchor in Plymouth Sound, much to +their own joy and that of their friends. + +Winter was very fully occupied in dressing stones at the yards ashore for +next season's work. Mr. Smeaton himself laid all the lines on the workshop +floor in chalk, in order to insure the greatest possible accuracy in +fitting. Nearly 450 tons of stone were thus dressed by the time the +weather was sufficiently favourable to continue operations on the rock. +During one of his visits to the quarries, a severe storm of thunder and +lightning occurred, by which the spire of Lostwithiel Church was +shattered, and this turned his attention to the necessity of protecting +his lighthouse in some way from the similar danger to which it would be +exposed. Franklin had just before published his mode of protecting tall +buildings by conductors, and Smeaton decided to adopt his plan. The work +of building fairly commenced in the summer of 1757, the first stone, of +two and a quarter tons weight, being in its place on the morning of +Sunday, the 12th of June. By the evening of the following day the first +course of four stones was laid, these being all required from the sloping +nature of the Eddystone Rock. The actual diameter of the tower itself kept +increasing until it reached the upper level of the rock. Thus the second +course consisted of thirteen pieces, the third of twenty-five, and so on. +The workmen were sometimes interrupted by ground-swells and heavy seas, +which kept them off the rock for days together, but, at length, on the +sixth course being laid, it was found that the building had been raised +above the average wash of the sea, and thenceforward the progress of the +work was much more rapid. The stones, when brought off from the vessels, +were all landed in their proper order, and everything was done to +facilitate the rapid progress of the work. Smeaton superintended the +construction of nearly the whole building, and was ever foremost in the +post of danger. Whilst working at the rock on one occasion, an accident +occurred which might well have proved more serious in its results. "The +men were about to lay the centre stone of the seventh course, on the +evening of the 11th of August, when Mr. Smeaton was enjoying the limited +promenade afforded by the level platform of stone which had, with so much +difficulty, been raised; but, making a false step into one of the cavities +made for the joggles, and being unable to recover his balance, he fell +from the brink of the work down among the rocks on the west side. The tide +being low at the time, he speedily got upon his feet, and at first +supposed himself little hurt, but shortly after he found that one of his +thumbs had been put out of joint. He reflected that he was fourteen miles +from land, far from a surgeon, and that uncertain winds and waves lay +between. He therefore determined to reduce the dislocation at once; and, +laying fast hold of the thumb with his other hand, and giving it a violent +pull, it snapped into its place again, after which he proceeded to fix the +centre stone of the building." The work now proceeded steadily, occasional +damage being done by the heavy seas washing over the stones, tools, and +materials. + + [Illustration: THE EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE.] + +The following winter was very tempestuous, and the floating light-ship, +stationed about two miles from the rock, was driven from its moorings, +though it eventually reached harbour in safety. It was the 12th of May +before Smeaton, anxious to see how his tower had stood the winter storms, +could land on the rock. He was delighted to find that the entire work +remained intact, as he had left it. At the end of this season, the +twenty-ninth course of stones had been laid, and the apartments of the +lighthouse-keepers commenced. While living at Plymouth, Smeaton used to +come out upon the Hoe(55) with his telescope and, from the spot where the +Spanish Armada was first descried making for the English coast, peer out +towards the rocks on one of which his lighthouse stood. "There were still +many who persisted in asserting that no building erected of stone could +possibly stand upon the Eddystone; and again and again the engineer, in +the dim grey of the morning, would come out and peer through his telescope +at his deep-sea lamp-post. Sometimes he had to wait long, until he could +see a tall white pillar of spray shoot up into the air. Thank God! it was +still safe. Then, as the light grew, he could discern his building, +temporary house and all, standing firm amidst the waters; and, thus far +satisfied, he could proceed to his workshops, his mind relieved for the +day." + +The winter following the third season was spent by Smeaton in London, +where he made the designs for the cast and wrought iron and copper works +of the lantern, the glass, and rails of the balcony, which were carried +out under his own eye. The ensuing season proved so stormy that it was the +5th of July before a landing could again be made on the rock, but from +this point the work proceeded with such rapidity that in thirteen days two +entire rooms were erected, and by the 17th of August the last pieces of +the corona were set, and the forty-sixth and last course of masonry laid, +bringing the tower to its specified height of seventy feet. "The last +mason's work done was the cutting out of the words '_Laus Deo_' upon the +last stone set over the door of the lantern. Round the upper store-room +upon the course under the ceiling, had been cut, at an earlier period, +'Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.' The +iron-work of the balcony and the lantern were next erected, and, over all, +the gilt ball, the screws of which Smeaton fixed with his own hands, 'that +in case,' he says, 'any of them had not held quite tight and firm, the +circumstance might not have been slipped over without my knowledge.' +Moreover, this piece of work was dangerous as well as delicate, being +performed at a height of some hundred and twenty feet above the sea. +Smeaton fixed the screws while standing on four boards nailed together, +resting on the cupola; his assistant, Roger Cornthwaite, placing himself +on the opposite side, so as to balance his weight whilst he proceeded with +the operation. Smeaton worked with the men in fitting the lantern and +interior arrangements. The light was first exhibited on the night of the +16th of October, 1759. About three years after its completion, one of the +most terrible storms ever known raged for days along the south-west coast; +and though incalculable ruin was inflicted upon harbours and shipping by +the hurricane, all the damage done to the lighthouse was repaired by a +little gallipot of putty." + +Whatever may be the truth regarding the foundations of the Eddystone, the +old lighthouse has done good work for considerably over a century. +Sometimes when the sea rolls in with more than usual fury the lighthouse +is enveloped in spray, and when struck by a strong wave, the central +portion shoots up the perpendicular shaft and leaps quite over the +lantern, but soon its brilliant light shines forth again, a warning and a +guide to the mariner. When a wave hurls itself upon the lighthouse, the +report of the shock is like a cannon, and a tremor passes through the +building. At first the lighthouse-keepers were afraid for their lives. The +year after the completion of the tower, a terrible storm raged, the sea +dashing over the lighthouse so that those inside dare not open the lantern +door, nor any other, for even an instant. A man who visited the rock after +some similar storm wrote to Mr. Jessop, "The house did shake as if a man +had been up in a great tree. The old men were almost frightened out of +their lives, wishing they had never seen the place, and cursing those that +first persuaded them to go there. The fear seized them in the back, but +rubbing them with oil of turpentine gave them relief." The men, however, +soon became used to the life; and Smeaton mentions the case of one of them +who was even accustomed to give up to his companions his turn for going on +shore. + + [Illustration: PORTRAIT OF SMEATON.] + +"Many a heart," says Mr. Smiles, "has leapt with gladness at the cry of +'The Eddystone in sight!' sung out from the maintop. Homeward-bound ships, +from far-off ports, no longer avoid the dreaded rock, but eagerly run for +its light as the harbinger of safety. It might even seem as if Providence +had placed the reef so far out at sea as the foundation for a beacon such +as this, leaving it to man's skill and labour to finish His work. On +entering the English Channel from the west and the south, the cautious +navigator feels his way by early soundings on the great bank which extends +from the Channel into the Atlantic, and these are repeated at fixed +intervals until land is in sight. Every fathom nearer shore increases a +ship's risks, especially on dark nights. The men are on the look-out, +peering anxiously into the dark, straining the eye to catch the glimmer of +a light, and when it is known that 'the Eddystone is in sight!' a thrill +runs through the ship, which can only be appreciated by those who have +felt or witnessed it after long months of weary voyaging. + + [Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE LIGHT-CHAMBER OF THE EDDYSTONE.] + +"By means of similar lights, of different arrangements and of various +colours, fixed and revolving, erected upon rocks, islands, and headlands, +the British Channel is now lit up along its whole extent, and is as safe +to navigate in the darkest night as in the brightest sunshine. The chief +danger is from fogs which alike hide the lights by night and the land by +day. Some of the homeward-bound ships entering the Channel from North +American ports first make the St. Agnes Light, on the Scilly Isles, +revolving once a minute, at a height of 138 feet above high water. But +most Atlantic ships keep further south in consequence of the nature of the +soundings about the Scilly Isles; and hence they oftener make the Lizard +Lights first, which are visible about twenty miles off. + +"From this point the coast retires, and in the bend lie Falmouth (with a +revolving light on St. Anthony's Point), Fowey, the Looes, and Plymouth +Sound and Harbour; the coast line again trending southward until it juts +out into the sea, in the bold craggy bluffs of Bolt Head and Start Point, +on the last of which is another house with two lights--one, revolving, for +the Channel, and another, fixed, to direct vessels inshore clear of the +Skerries Shoal. But between the Lizard and Start Point, which form the two +extremities of this bend in the land of Cornwall and Devonshire, there +lies the Eddystone Rock and Lighthouse, standing fourteen miles out from +the shore, almost directly in front of Plymouth Sound and in the line of +coasting vessels steaming or beating up Channel. + +"On the south are seen the three Croquet Lights on the Jersey side; and on +the north the two fixed lights on Portland Bill. The west is St. +Catherine's, a brilliant fixed light on the extreme south point of the +Isle of Wight. Next are the lights exhibited on the Nab, and then the +single fixed light exhibited on the Ower vessel. Beachy Head, on the same +line, exhibits a powerful revolving light 285 feet above high water, its +interval of greatest brilliancy occurring every two minutes. Then comes +Dungeness, exhibiting a fixed red light of great power, situated at the +extremity of the low point of Dungeness beach. Next are seen Folkestone, +and then Dover Harbour Lights, whilst on the south are the flash light, +recently stationed on the Verne Bank; and further up Channel, on the +French coast, is seen the brilliant revolving light on Cape Grisnez. The +Channel is passed with the two South Foreland Lights, one higher than the +other, on the left; and the Downs are entered with the South Sandhead +floating light on the right; and when the Gull and the North Sandhead +floating lights have been passed on the one hand, and North Foreland on +the other, then the Tongue, the Prince's Channel, and the Girdler are +passed." The Nore Light passed, the navigation of the Thames commences. + + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + + THE LIGHTHOUSE (_continued_). + + + The Bell Rock--The good Abbot of Arberbrothok--Ralph the + Rover--Rennie's grand Lighthouse--Perils of the Work--Thirty-two Men + apparently doomed to Destruction--A New Form of Outward + Construction--Its successful Completion--The Skerryvore Lighthouse + and Alan Stevenson--Novel Barracks on the Rock--Swept Away in a + Storm--The Unshapely Seal and Unfortunate Cod--Half-starved + Workmen--Out of Tobacco--Difficulties of Landing the Stones--Visit of + M. de Quatrefages to Héhaux--Description of the Lighthouse + Exterior--How it Rocks--Practice _versus_ Theory--The Interior--A + Parisian Apartment at Sea. + + +Some eleven miles eastward from the mainland of Scotland, near the +entrances to the Firths of Forth and Tay, lies an extensive ledge of very +dangerous rocks, nearly two miles in length. This sunken reef was a source +of much peril to the unfortunate sailors driven too near its nearly hidden +dangers, and early in the fourteenth century the Abbot of Arbroath, or +Arberbrothok, caused a bell to be placed upon the principal rock, so that-- + + "When the Rock was hid by the surge's swell, + The mariners heard the warning bell; + And then they knew the perilous Rock, + And blessed the Abbot of Arberbrothok." + +Southey has, in his ballad of "The Inchcape Rock," immortalised the +tradition(56) that a notorious pirate cut the bell from the rock-- + + "Down sank the bell with a gurgling sound, + The bubbles arose and burst around; + Quoth Sir Ralph, 'The next who comes to the Rock, + Won't bless the Abbot of Arberbrothok.'" + +And so the rover sailed away, and grew rich with plundered store, till at +length he thought of Scotland once again, and turned his vessel's head for +home. He approached her coasts in haze and fog, and knew he could not be +far from the rocky shore. + + "They hear no sound, the swell is strong; + Though the wind hath fallen they drift along, + Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock,-- + 'Oh, Christ! it is the Inchcape Rock!' + + "Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair; + He curst himself in his despair; + The waves rush in on every side, + The ship is sinking beneath the tide." + +Nothing was done to replace the bell or set a beacon on the reef until the +beginning of the present century, when, after many plans had been +discussed, John Rennie was ordered by the Board of Commissioners to +examine the site and report on the subject generally. He recommended a +substantial stone lighthouse, similar to that on the Eddystone. Although +the Inchcape Rock was not so long uncovered by the tide as the former, +after a few courses had been laid, there would be no greater delay in +completing the building. The Commissioners obtained from Parliament the +requisite powers in 1806; Rennie was appointed engineer, with Robert +Stevenson as assistant engineer. + +The whole of the year 1807 was occupied in constructing the necessary +vessels for conveying the stones, and in erecting suitable machinery and +building shops at Arbroath, which was fixed upon as the most convenient +point on the coast for carrying on the land operations. Some progress was +made on the rock itself, where a smith's forge was erected and a temporary +beacon raised, while a floating light, fitted up on an old fishing-boat, +was anchored near the reef until the lighthouse could be completed. During +the short period in which the rocks were uncovered or unexposed to the +fury of the waves, some progress was made with the excavations for the +foundations. The dangerous nature of the employment may be illustrated by +the following brief account of an accident which happened to the workmen +on the 2nd of September, before the excavation for the first course of +stones had been completed. An additional number of masons had that morning +come off from Arbroath in the tender named the _Smeaton_, in honour of the +engineer of the Eddystone, and had landed them safely on the rock. The +vessel rode off at some distance. The wind rising, the men began to be +uneasy as to the security of the _Smeaton's_ cables, and a party went off +in a boat to examine whether she was secure, but before they could reach +the vessel's side they found she had already gone adrift, leaving the +greater part of the men upon the reef in the face of a rising tide. + +By the time the _Smeaton's_ crew had got her mainsail set, and made a tack +towards their companions, she had drifted about three miles to leeward, +with both wind and tide against her, and it was clear that she could not +possibly make the rock until long after it had been completely covered. +There were thirty-two men in all on the rock, provided with but two boats, +capable of carrying only twenty-four persons in fine weather. Mr. +Stevenson seems to have behaved with great coolness and presence of mind; +though he afterwards confessed that of the two feelings of hope and +despair the latter largely predominated. Fully persuaded of the perils of +the situation, he kept his fears to himself, and allowed the men to +continue their occupations of boring and excavating. + +"After working for about three hours, the water began to rise along the +lower parts of the foundations, and the men were compelled to desist. The +forge-fire became extinguished; the smith ceased from hammering at the +anvil, and the masons from hewing and boring; and when they took up their +tools to depart, and looked around, their vessel was not to be seen, and +the third of their boats had gone after the _Smeaton_, which was drifting +away in the distance! Not a word was uttered, but the danger of their +position was comprehended by all. They looked towards their master in +silence; but the anxiety which had been growing in his mind for some time +had now become so intense that he was speechless. When he attempted to +speak, he was so parched that his tongue refused utterance. Turning to one +of the pools on the rock, he lapped a little water, which gave him relief, +though it was salt; but what was his happiness when, on raising his head, +some one called out, 'A boat! a boat!' and sure enough a large boat was +seen through the surge making for them. She proved to be the Bell Rock +pilot-boat, which had come off from Arbroath with letters, and her timely +arrival doubtless saved the lives of the greater part of the workmen. They +were all taken off and landed in safety, though completely drenched and +exhausted." + +Rennie, accompanied by one of his sons, visited the rock on the 5th of +October, 1807, the day before the works were suspended for the winter. +They came off from Arbroath, and stayed on board the lighthouse-yacht all +night, where Stevenson met him, and has recorded the delightful +conversations held on general and professional matters. On the following +morning Rennie landed, amidst great _éclat_ and a display of all the +available colours, to inspect the progress made. The whole party, workmen +and all, returned to shore for the season that day. + +The preparation of the stone blocks occupied next winter, and by the +spring large numbers were ready and were floated off. In May, 1808, the +excavations on the rock were continued, and on the 10th of July the first +stone was laid with considerable ceremony. By the last week of November +three courses of masonry had been laid. By the end of 1809 the tower had +been built to a height of thirty feet, and was almost secure from the fury +of the waves. "In his report to the commissioners he stated that he found +that the form of slope which he had adopted for the base of the tower, as +well as the curve of the building, fully answered his expectations--that +they presented comparatively small obstructions to the roll of the waves, +which played round the column with ease." The curve of this tower at the +base is much greater than that of the Eddystone. The Bell Rock Lighthouse +was completed by the end of 1810, and the light was regularly exhibited +after the 1st of February, 1811. Counting to the top of the lantern, it is +127 feet high. It may here be remarked that in many works the credit of +designing and building this lighthouse has been given to Robert Stevenson, +the resident engineer. Rennie, however, has the only rightful claim to be +so considered; he acted throughout as chief engineer, furnished the design +down to the pettiest details, settled the kind of stone and other +materials to be used, down even to the mortar and mode of mixing it. + +Another work of great labour and difficulty was the erection of a +lighthouse on the Skerryvore Rocks, which lie twelve miles W.S.W. of the +Isle of Tyree in Argyllshire, and were formerly the scene of numerous +wrecks. The operations were commenced in 1838, the architect being Alan +Stevenson, son of the Robert Stevenson who was employed on the Bell Rock +Lighthouse. The engineer gave the world a succinct account(57) of the +difficulties, dangers, and successful issue of the undertaking. + + [Illustration: LIGHTHOUSE ON THE INCHCAPE ROCK.] + +The actual construction of the lighthouse had no very remarkable points of +difference with the works of Smeaton or Rennie. Stevenson built a rather +novel structure on the rock as a temporary barrack for the workmen. It +consisted of a wooden tower perched upon a triangular framework, under +which was an open gallery, the floor of which was removed at the end of +each season, so as to allow free space for the passage of the sea during +the storms of winter, but on which, during summer, they kept the stock of +coals, the tool-chest, the beef and beer casks, and other smaller +material, which they could not, even at that season of the year, leave on +the rock itself. Next came the kitchen and provision-store, a six-sided +apartment about twelve feet in diameter, and somewhat more than seven feet +high, in which small space--curtailed as it was by the seven beams which +passed through it--stood a caboose, capable of cooking for forty men, and +various cupboards and lockers lined with tin, for holding biscuits, meal +and flour, &c. The next storey held two apartments: one for Mr. Stevenson, +in which he had his hammock, desk, chair and table, books and instruments. +The top storey was surmounted by a pyramidal roof, and was lined with four +tiers of berths, capable of accommodating thirty people. The framework was +erected on a part of the rock as far removed as possible from the proposed +foundation of the lighthouse tower; but in a great gale which occurred on +the 3rd of November it was entirely destroyed and swept from the rock, +nothing remaining to point out its site but a few broken and twisted iron +stanchions, and attached to one of them a piece of a beam, so shaken and +rent by dashing against the rock as literally to resemble a bunch of +laths. Thus did one night obliterate the traces of a season's toil, and +blast the hopes which the workmen fondly cherished of a stable dwelling on +the rock, and of refuge from the miseries of sea-sickness, which the +experience of the season had taught many of them to dread more than death +itself. A more successful attempt was subsequently made, and the second +erection braved the storm for several years after the works were finished. +"Perched forty feet above the wave-beaten rock," says Stevenson, "in this +singular abode, the writer of this little volume(58) has spent many a +weary day and night at those times when the sea prevented any one going +down to the rock, anxiously looking for supplies from the shore, and +earnestly longing for a change of weather favourable to the +re-commencement of the works. For miles around nothing could be seen but +white foaming breakers, and nothing heard but howling winds and lashing +seas. At such seasons most of our time was spent in bed; for there alone +we had effectual shelter from the winds and the spray, which searched +every cranny in the walls of the barrack. Our slumbers, too, were at times +fearfully interrupted by the sudden pouring of the sea over the roof, the +rocking of the house on its pillars, and the spirting of water through the +seams of the doors and windows: symptoms which, to one suddenly aroused +from sound sleep, recalled the appalling fate of the former barrack, which +had been engulfed in the foam not twenty yards from our dwelling, and for +a moment seemed to summon us to a similar fate. On two occasions, in +particular, those sensations were so vivid as to cause almost every one to +spring out of bed; and some of the men flew from the barrack by a +temporary gangway to the more stable but less comfortable shelter afforded +by the bare wall of the lighthouse tower, then unfinished, where they +spent the remainder of the night in the darkness and the cold." + +Yet life on the Skerryvore was by no means destitute of its peculiar +pleasures. The grandeur of the ocean's rage, the deep murmur of the waves, +the hoarse cry of the sea-birds, were varied by peaceful hours, when the +sea was glassy and the deep blue vault of heaven was studded with a +thousand stars. "Among the many wonders of the 'great deep,'" says +Stevenson, "which we witnessed at the Skerryvore, not the least is the +agility and power displayed by the unshapely seal. I have often seen half +a dozen of these animals round the rock, playing on the surface or riding +on the crests of curling waves, come so close as to permit us to see their +eyes and head, and lead us to expect that they would be thrown _high and +dry_ at the foot of the tower; when suddenly they performed a somersault +within a few feet of the rock, and diving into the flaky and wreathing +foam, disappeared, and as suddenly re-appeared a hundred yards off, +uttering a strange low cry." + +On one occasion the tender could not come off to the poor people on the +rock for seven weeks. The seamen passed a most dreary time. Their +provisions and fuel were short; their clothes were worn to rags; and, what +was to them of more importance still, they _were out of tobacco_! + +One of the great difficulties experienced was landing the stones on the +rock from the lighters, which, towed out by a steamer, were cast off as +near the landing-place as possible and then towed in by boats. The landing +service throughout the whole progress of the works was one of danger and +anxiety, and many narrow escapes were made. On many occasions the men who +steered the lighters ran great risks, and it was often found necessary to +lash them to the rails, to prevent them being thrown overboard by the +sudden bounds of the vessels, or being carried away by the weight of water +which swept their decks as they were towed through a heavy sea. Sometimes +they were forced, owing to the heavy seas which threatened to throw the +vessels on the top of the rock, to draw out the lighters from the wharf +without landing a single stone, after they had been towed through a stormy +passage of thirteen miles. One day, during the very best part of the +season, so sudden were the jerks of the vessel before the sea, that eight +large warps, or cables, were snapped like threads, and the lighter was +carried violently before a crested wave which rolled unexpectedly upon +her. Those who stood on deck were thrown flat on their faces, and imagined +that the vessel had been laid high and dry on the top of the rock. Yet, in +spite of the short season and great difficulties of the work, no less than +120 lighters were towed out and discharged in the summer and autumn of +1841. During the progress of building the lighthouse, cranes and other +materials were swept away by the waves, and daily risks were run in +blasting the splintery gneiss, or by the falling of heavy bodies from the +tower on the narrow space below, to which so many persons were necessarily +confined. Yet no loss of life or limb occurred; and "our remarkable +preservation was viewed," says Stevenson, "as in a peculiar manner the +gracious work of Him by whom 'the very hairs of our head are all +numbered.'" + +The light was first exhibited on the 1st of February, 1844. It is a +revolving apparatus, and the light appears at its brightest state once in +every minute. The lantern is no less than 150 feet above the sea, and its +flashes may be seen from the deck of a vessel eighteen miles off. It is +frequently seen from the high land of Barra, distant thirty-eight miles. +The mass of stonework is double that of the Bell Rock Lighthouse, and five +times that of the Eddystone; it measures 58,580 cubic feet. The Skerryvore +Light-tower was erected at a cost of £86,977 17s. 7d. + + [Illustration: THE SKERRYVORE LIGHTHOUSE.] + +The eminent French naturalist, M. de Quatrefages, has given us an +admirable description(59) of a visit paid by him to the lighthouse of +Héhaux, on a rock near the Isles of Bréhat, off the coast of Brittany. He +says, after some very beautiful remarks on the contemplation of nature, +and its alleviation of the worst heart-sorrows: "Twilight often surprised +me in the midst of my reveries, and often, too, the shades of night fell +around me while I lay stretched beneath the star-bespangled deep azure +canopy of heaven. I could then see another star shining in the far +distance, which had been lighted by the hand of man. From the position I +had chosen I could recognise the beacon-towers of Héhaux, of which the +seamen of the islands had spoken to me with the liveliest expressions of +enthusiasm, and which I had frequently watched by day as it stood out like +a black line drawn along the whitish background of the sky. I would not +leave Bréhat without visiting it. A few slight services had secured me the +good-will of the officers of customs, who willingly consented to take me +to Héhaux. Accordingly, one splendid day in October we left the harbour of +La Corderie in a pinnace, manned by six sturdy seamen. The weather was +splendid; not a cloud obscured the sky, which was reflected on the +mirror-like surface of the ocean, whose depths it seemed to double. +Impelled by the combined action of a light wind, which swelled out two +small square sails, and of the rapid current imparted to the waters of +Kerpont by the force of the tide, our pinnace shot across the waves as a +sledge glides over the snow. Sometimes, indeed, we passed through a +whirling eddy, which shook every part of our frail craft, and betrayed the +vicinity of some submarine rock; but we soon regained the unruffled sea, +and without having taken cognisance of the rapid rate at which we were +moving, we saw Bréhat sink below the distant horizon behind us, whilst +rock after rock and islet after islet seemed at every moment to emerge +from the waves towards which we were advancing.... The nearer we drew to +Héhaux the taller seemed the beacon-tower, which stood forth from the +tower, with its lofty granite column and glass lantern, protected by that +magical rod which is able to attract and safely conduct to earth the +destructive force of the thunderbolt. We landed, and at once began our +inspection of this colossal block, which has been upreared by the hand of +man on the Epées de Tréguier, which, once the dread of the seaman, have +become his protecting guides through the storms and darkness of night. + +"The Héhaux Lighthouse would be regarded as a most remarkable monument +even in our principal towns, but standing, as it does, alone in the midst +of the ocean, it acquires by its very isolation a character of severe +grandeur, which impresses the mind most powerfully. Figure to yourself a +wall of granite, where the current and the storm do not even permit the +hardiest ferns to take root, with here and there a twisted and deeply +wave-worn mass projecting beyond the rest of the rocky ledge. It is here +that the architect has laid the foundation of the tower. The base, which +is of a conical form, is surmounted by a circular gallery. The lower +portion curves gracefully outwards, spreading over the ground like the +root of some colossal marine plant springing up from the foundation +stones, which have been inserted far within the rock. On this base, which +measures about twenty yards across, rises a column twenty-six feet in +diameter, surmounted by a second gallery, whose supports and stone +balustrades call to mind the portcullis and battlements of some feudal +donjon. From the summit to the base this part of the edifice is composed +of large blocks of whitish granite, arranged in regular strata, and +carefully dove-tailed into one another. As far as a third of the height of +the building the rows of stones are bound together by granite joggles, +which at the same time penetrate into the two superposed stones. The +stones have been cut and arranged with such precision that there has been +hardly any reason for using cement, which has only been employed in +filling up a few imperceptible voids: and hence the lighthouse, from the +base to the summit, seems to form one solid block, which is more +homogeneous and probably more compact than the rocks which support it. The +platform which crowns this magnificent column, at an elevation of more +than 140 feet above high tide watermark, is surmounted by a stone cupola, +at once solid and graceful, supported by pillars which are separated by +large panes of glass. It is within this frame of glass that the beacon is +lighted, which may be distinctly seen from every direction at a distance +of twenty-seven miles. + +"At low tide the sea leaves a space of several hundred square yards +uncovered round the base of the edifice; at high tide it entirely +surrounds it. It is then that the tower of Héhaux rises in its solemn +isolation from the midst of the waves, as if it were a standard of +defiance upraised by the genius of man against the demon of the tempest. +At times one might almost fancy that the heavens and the sea, conscious of +the outrage offered to them, were leagued together against the enemy, +which seems to brave them by its imperturbability. The north-west wind +roars round the tower, darkening its thick glass windows with torrents of +rain and drifts of snow and hail. These impetuous blasts bear along with +them from the far-spread ocean colossal waves, whose crests not +unfrequently reach the first gallery, but these fluid masses slide away +from the round and polished surfaces of the granite, which leave them no +points of adhesion, and darting their long lines of foam above the cupola, +they break with thundering roar against the rocks of Stallio-Bras or the +boulders of Sillon. The tower supports these terrific assaults without +injury, although it bends, as if in homage, before the might of its foes. +I was assured by the keepers that during a violent storm the oil in the +lamps of the highest rooms presents a variation of level exceeding an +inch, which would lead us to assume that the summit of the tower describes +an arc of about a yard in extent. This very flexibility seems, however, in +itself a proof of durability. At all events, we meet with similar +conditions in several monuments, which for ages have braved the inclemency +of recurring seasons. The spire of Strasburg Cathedral, in particular, +bends its long ogives and slender pinnacles beneath the force of the +winds, while the cross on its summit oscillates at an elevation of more +than 450 feet above the ground. + +"To construct a monument on these rocks, which seemed the very focus of +all the storms which raged on that part of our coasts, was like building +an edifice in the open sea. Such a project must, indeed, have appeared at +first sight almost impracticable. After their third season of labour, the +workmen completed the foundations of the tower and fixed the key-stone of +the cupola. In vain did difficulties of every kind combine with the winds +and waves to oppose the work; human industry has come forth victorious +from the struggle, and although a thousand difficulties and dangers beset +the labourers, no serious accident to them or their work troubled the joy +of their triumph. Only on one occasion was science at fault. In order to +facilitate the arrival of the stones, which had to be brought from a +distance of several leagues, and cut at Bréhat, the skilful engineer who +had furnished all the plans and superintended their execution wished to +construct a wooden pier for the disembarkation of the stones at the spot +where they were required. Several of the older seamen objected to the plan +as impracticable, but M. Reynaud, who was not familiar with the sea, and +who, moreover, was proud of having stemmed the current of rapid rivers, +trusted to the stability of his massive piles, clamped together with iron +and bronze. But he was soon compelled to admit his mistake. The first +storm sufficed to scatter over the waters the whole of these ponderous and +solid materials like so many pieces of straw. So a crane was attached to +the summit of a rock, to which boats could be moored, and the materials +for building were then drawn up to a railway which had been thrown over +the precipice that separated this natural landing-place from the site of +the tower. + +"Now that we have admired the exterior of the lighthouse, follow me into +the interior by the help of these steps, which have been formed by the +insertion of bars of copper into the stone. Let us pause for a moment to +admire the ponderous bronze doors which hermetically seal the entrance, +before we plunge into those vaults which look as if they had been cut out +of the solid rock. We are in the first storey, surrounded by stores of +wood and ropes and workmen's tools. Above, we perceive cases of zinc, +which, we are told, contain oil to feed the lamps and water for the use of +the men employed in the building. In the third storey is the kitchen, with +its pantry and larder, on a level with the first gallery. We need not +enter the three apartments appropriated to the use of the men, for, beyond +being very simple and clean, there is nothing to record concerning them. +But we have now reached the seventh storey, and we must rest for a few +moments in the little octagonal saloon, set apart for the engineers, when +they come to inspect the condition of the lighthouse. Here, in the midst +of the ocean, more than a hundred feet above the level of the sea, you +will find the comfort and almost the elegance of a Parisian apartment. + +"Let us now return to the spiral staircase which has brought us thus far, +and which will carry us at once to the portion of the edifice which is +more particularly destined to fulfil the special purpose for which the +tower is designed. The eighth storey contains vessels of oil, glasses, +revolving lamps, some admirable instruments intended for meteorological +observations, a thermometer, barometer, and chronometer. Here the spiral +staircase terminates in a flattened arch, which supports a slender pillar, +cut into steps, which are the only means of communication with the +watch-tower above, in which the men take it by turns to keep guard every +night. You will be surprised on looking round to perceive that this +apartment is coated with different coloured marbles, which line the walls +and vaulted roof, and even cover the floor. But this luxury, which may +appear to you so much out of place, has been introduced from necessity. +The apparatus for lighting the building enters the room through a circular +aperture in the ceiling, and hence the most extreme cleanliness becomes +necessary, which could alone be obtained by the aid of perfectly polished +surfaces." + +The tenth and last flight of steps brings one beneath the cupola, and to +the machinery by which a light of the first order is maintained. + + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + + THE LIGHTHOUSE (_concluded_). + + + Lighthouses on Sand--Literally screwed down--The Light on Maplin + Sands--That of Port Fleetwood--Iron Lighthouses--The Lanterns + themselves--Eddystone long Illuminated with Tallow Candles--Coal + Fires--Revolution caused by the invention of the Argand + Burner--Improvements in Reflectors--The Electric Light at + Sea--Flashing and Revolving Lights--Coloured Lights--Their Advantages + and Disadvantages--Lanterns obscured by Moths, Bees, and Birds. + + +The difficulties involved in constructing a lighthouse on solid rock have +been shown, and it was at one time thought absolutely impossible to +erect--with any prospect of permanent duration--one upon storm-exposed +sands. _Nous avons changé tout cela._ It is no longer necessary to place +floating lights in places of great danger, although for other reasons they +are constantly used. One of the greatest modern triumphs of engineering is +Mitchell's screw-mooring apparatus. To describe it fully would necessitate +several pages of technical matter. Suffice it to say that enormous +cast-iron screws, having hollow cylindrical centres, through which +wrought-iron spindles pass, are literally screwed down into the sand, or +its substratum of other soil. One of the earliest experiments was made on +the verge of the Maplin Sand, at the mouth of the Thames. Nine of the +mooring-screws were inserted into the sand 21½ feet, one in the centre, +the rest forming an octagon 42 feet in circumference, having standards or +posts which stood 5 feet above the surface of the sand. A raft of timber +was floated over the spot, and a capstan in its centre drove the screws to +the required depth. This raft was afterwards sunk, by covering it with 200 +tons of rough stone. Two years were allowed to elapse, at the termination +of which time the whole mass was found firmly embedded, and then a +lighthouse, raised on a strong open framework, was erected over this +sub-structure. During these long preparations a very similar structure was +commenced and finished at Port Fleetwood, on the River Wyre, near +Lancaster. + +The preparatory steps were similar to those already described. The +foundation of the lighthouse was formed of seven screw-piles, six of them +occupying the angles of a hexagon 46 feet in diameter, the seventh being +in the centre. From each screw proceeds a pile 15 feet in length, having +at the upper end another screw for securing a wooden column. These columns +are of Baltic timber, the one in the centre being 56 feet, the others 46 +feet in length, firmly secured with iron hoops and coated with pitch. The +platform, upon which the house stands, is 27 feet in diameter, the house +itself being 20 feet in diameter and 9 feet high. From the summit of the +house rises a twelve-sided lantern, 10 feet in diameter and 8 feet high. +Altogether the light is elevated about 46 feet above low-water level, and +ranges over an horizon of eight miles. The light is of the dioptric +kind--bright, steady, and uniform, and when the weather is too foggy to +allow it to be seen, a bell is tolled by machinery, to give the needful +warning. + +At the period when screw-pile lighthouses were being thus successfully +erected, other and most valuable suggestions were being made for the +building of bronze and cast-iron lighthouses. The great advantage of iron +over stone and other materials in those portions of the building not +actually in contact with sea-water soon became apparent. Upon a given base +a much larger internal capacity could be obtained; plates could be cast in +large surfaces and with few joints, and a system of binding adopted which +should ensure the perfect combination of every part. The comparatively +small bulk and weight also of the component parts gave great facilities +for the transport and rapid construction of such structures. The initial +cast-iron lighthouse was designed by Mr. Gordon in 1840, and was cast and +put together within three months from the date of the contract. It was +then taken to pieces and shipped for Jamaica, on which island it now +lights up Morant Point, a point of great danger. The Commissioners of the +House of Assembly had applied to Mr. Gordon to supply a suitable +lighthouse at the smallest possible cost, and in furnishing them with the +structure of cast-iron he fulfilled their wishes admirably, the expense +not exceeding one-third of the cost of a similar building in stone. This +elegant lighthouse, the outline of which resembles that of the Celtic +towers of Ireland, was exhibited to visitors while it stood complete in +the contractor's premises. The diameter of the tower is 18 feet 6 inches +at the base, diminishing to 11 feet under the cap. The tower is formed of +nine tiers of iron plates, each tier being 10 feet high and about +three-quarters of an inch thick. At the base of the structure eleven +plates are required to form the circumference, at the top nine plates; +they are cast with a flange around their inner edges, and when put +together these flanges form the joints, which are fastened together with +nut-and-screw bolts and caulked with iron cement. The interior of the +tower, to the height of 27 feet, was to be filled up with masonry and +concrete of the weight of 300 tons; the remainder is divided into +store-rooms and berths for the attendants. The tower is finished by an +iron railing, within which rises the light-room, also of cast-iron, with +windows of plate-glass. A copper roof and a short lightning-rod complete +the whole. The Admiralty notice announced the exhibition of this light on +Morant Point November 1st, 1842, and stated that the elevation of the +light is 97 feet above the level of the sea, and that in clear weather it +is visible at a distance of twenty-one miles. The light is of the +revolving kind, consisting of fifteen Argand lamps and reflectors, five in +each side of an equilateral triangle, and so placed as to produce a +continuous light, but with periodical flashes. The tower is painted white, +and the lower portion is coated with coal-tar to preserve it from rust. It +rests on a granite base, and is also cased with granite near the +foundation, the more certainly to prevent the action of the sea-water on +the metal. + +While the engineer had attained some of his greatest triumphs in the +construction of lighthouses, the optician had not once directed his +attention to the invention of a brilliant light, worthy to be placed upon +the structure which proudly rose high above the fierce waves with the +strength and solidity of a rock. During a period of forty years after the +completion of the Eddystone tower by Smeaton, the lantern was illuminated +by tallow candles stuck in hoops, just as a stand or booth is lighted at a +country fair, and so lately as the year 1811 it was lighted with +twenty-four wax candles. In 1812 the Lizard Light was maintained with coal +fires; and in 1816, when the Isle of May Light, in the Firth of Forth, was +taken possession of by the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses, a +coal fire was exhibited in a _chauffer_--a description of light which had +been exhibited for 181 years. In 1801 the light at Harwich, in addition to +the coal fire, had a _flat_ plate of rough brass on the landward side, to +serve as a reflector. Such methods of lighting were of course very +deficient in power, and did not enable the mariner to distinguish one +light from another--a point which is often of as much importance as the +brilliancy of the light itself. Prior to the invention of the Argand lamp +(about 1784) the production of a strong and brilliant light from a single +source was scarcely possible, and even such a lamp, by its unassisted +powers, would not be of very great value in giving early notice to the +mariner of his approach to the coast, which ought to be the primary object +of a lighthouse. As the rays of a luminous body proceed in all directions +in straight lines, it is obvious that in the case of a single lamp the +mariner would derive benefit only from that small portion of light which +proceeded from the centre of the flame to his eye. The other rays would +proceed to other parts of the horizon, or escape upwards to the sky, or +downwards to the earth, and thus be of no value to him. By increasing the +number of burners a small portion of light from each burner would slightly +increase the effective action, but by far the greater portion of the light +produced would escape uselessly above and below the horizon and also at +the back of each flame. Next, these defects were remedied, and the +efficiency of the light greatly increased, by placing behind each lamp a +reflector of such a form as to collect the rays that would otherwise be +lost, and throw them forward to the horizon. The adoption of such a method +has led to what is called the catoptric system of lights. + + [Illustration: HOLOPHOTAL REVOLVING LIGHT. (FIRST ORDER) FLOATING LIGHT + LANTERN. HOLOPHOTAL REVOLVING LIGHT. (FOURTH ORDER.) + REVOLVING LIGHT APPARATUS. + (_From Drawings supplied by Messrs. W. Wilkins & Co._)] + +Alan Stevenson states that the earliest notice he has been able to find of +the application of paraboloidal mirrors to lighthouses is in a work on +"Practical Seamanship" (Liverpool, 1791), by Mr. William Hutchinson, who +notices the erection of the four lights at Bidstone and Hoylake for the +entrance of the Mersey, in 1763, and describes large paraboloidal moulds +of wood lined with mirror glass and smaller ones of polished tin-plate, as +in use in those lighthouses. In France M. Téulère, a Member of the Royal +Corps of Engineers of Bridges and Roads, is regarded as the inventor of +the catoptric system of lights. In a memoir dated 26th June, 1783, he is +said to have proposed for the Cordouan Lighthouse a combination of +paraboloidal reflectors with Argand lamps, arranged on a revolving frame, +a plan which was actually carried into execution, under the direction of +the Chevalier Borda.(60) The plan was so successful that it was soon +adopted in England by the Trinity House of London; and in Scotland the +first work of the Northern Lights Board, in 1787, was to light a lantern +on the Old Castle of Kinnaird Head, in Aberdeenshire, by means of +parabolic reflectors and lamps. These reflectors were formed of facets of +mirror-glass placed in hollow paraboloidal moulds of plaster. The more +complicated arrangement of lenses placed round a centre in concentric +circles is due to the great Fresnel, a practical man of science, whose +abilities are acknowledged as fully in England as in France. + +The oil used in the lighthouses of the United Kingdom has generally been +sperm. Colza, the expressed oil of the wild cabbage (_Brassica oleracea_), +was very generally used in France, and occasionally in Great Britain. Gas +is used in a few places, where its application is easy. There can hardly +be any doubt now, however, that the coming light will be the electric, +since its steady production is becoming a matter of scientific certainty. +As early as 1857 Professor Holmes submitted to the Trinity House a method +of employing this light, which was submitted to Faraday, and approved. The +Board then allowed a trial at the South Foreland Lighthouse. The light was +first displayed on the 8th of December, 1858. In June, 1862, it was +permanently fixed at Dungeness. In Faraday's Report to the Trinity House, +published in 1862, he says: "Arrangements were made on shore by which +observations could be made at sea, about five miles off, on the relative +light of the electric lamp and the metallic reflectors with their Argand +oil-lamps, for either could be shown alone, or both together. At the given +distance the eye could not separate the two lights, but by the telescope +they were distinguishable. The combined effect was a glorious light up to +five miles; then, if the electric light was extinguished, there was a +great falling off in the effect, though, after a few moments' rest to the +eye, it was seen that the oil-lamps and reflectors were in their good and +proper state. On the other hand, when the electric light was restored, the +glory rose to its first high condition.... During the day-time I compared +the intensity of the light with that of the sun, and both looked at +through dark glasses. Its light was as bright as that of the sun, but the +sun was not at its brightest." + +The number of lights on a well-frequented coast being considerable, it is +of the utmost importance to arrange them so as to enable the mariner +easily to distinguish them from each other. Catoptric lights admit of nine +separate distinctions:--1, fixed; 2, revolving white; 3, revolving red and +white; 4, revolving red with two whites; 5, revolving white with two reds; +6, flashing; 7, intermittent; 8, double fixed lights; 9, double revolving +white lights. Mr. Stevenson thus defines their distinctive features:--"The +first exhibits a steady and uniform appearance which is not subject to any +change, and the reflectors used for it are of smaller dimensions than +those employed in revolving lights. This is necessary in order to permit +them to be ranged round the circular frame, with their axes inclined at +such an angle as shall enable them to illuminate every point of the +horizon. The _revolving_ light is produced by the revolution of a frame +with three or four sides, having reflectors of a larger size grouped on +each side with their axes parallel, and as the revolution exhibits once in +two minutes or once in a minute, as may be required, a light gradually +increasing to full strength and in the same gradual manner decreasing to +total darkness, its appearance is extremely well marked. The succession of +red and white lights is produced by the revolution of a frame whose +different sides present red and white lights, and these afford three +separate distinctions, namely, alternate red and white, the succession of +two white lights after one red, and the succession of two red lights after +one white light. The flashing light is produced in the same manner as the +revolving light; but, owing to a different construction of the frame, the +reflectors on each of eight sides are arranged with their rims or faces in +one vertical plane, and their axes in a line inclined to the +perpendicular. A disposition of the mirrors, which, together with the +greater quickness of the revolutions, which shows a flash once in five +seconds of time, produces a very striking effect, totally different from +that of a revolving light, and presenting the appearance of the flash +alternately rising and sinking, the brightest and darkest periods being +but momentary; this light is further characterised by a rapid succession +of bright flashes, from which it gets its name. The intermittent light is +distinguished by bursting suddenly into view and continuing steady for a +short time, after which it is suddenly eclipsed for half a minute. Its +striking appearance is produced by the perpendicular motion of circular +shades in front of the reflectors, by which the light is alternately hid +and displayed. This distinction, as well as that called the flashing +light, is peculiar to the Scotch coast. The double lights (which are +seldom used except where there is a necessity for a _leading_ line, as a +guide for taking some channel or avoiding some danger) are generally +exhibited from two towers, one of which is higher than the other. At the +Gulf of Man a striking variety has been introduced into the character of +leading lights, by substituting for two fixed lights two lights which +revolve in the same periods and exhibit their flashes at the same instant; +and these lights are of course susceptible of the other variety enumerated +above, that of two revolving red and white lights, or flashing lights, +coming into view at equal intervals of time. The utility of all these +distinctions is to be valued with reference to their property of at once +striking the eye of an observer and being instantaneously obvious to +strangers. The introduction of colour as a source of distinction is +necessary in order to obtain a sufficient number of distinctions; but it +is in itself an evil of no small magnitude, as the effect is produced by +interposing coloured media between the burner and the observer's eye, and +much light is thus lost by the absorption of those rays which are held +back in order to cause the appearance which is desired. Trial has been +made of various colours, but red, blue, and green alone have been found +useful, and the two latter only at distances so short as to render them +altogether unfit for sea-lights. Owing to the depth of tint which is +required to produce a marked effect, the red shades generally used absorb +from four-sevenths to five-sixths of the whole light--an enormous loss, and +sufficient to discourage the adoption of that mode of distinction in every +situation where it can possibly be avoided. The red glass used in France +absorbs only four-sevenths of the light, but its colour produces, as might +be expected, a much less marked distinction to the seaman's eye. In the +lighthouses of Scotland a simple and convenient arrangement exists for +colouring the lights, which consists in using chimneys of red glass, +instead of placing large discs in front of the reflectors." + +The construction of the lantern is a point of importance; and one of the +first order will cost about £1,260. On the level of the top of the lower +glass a narrow gangway is usually built for the keeper to stand upon in +order to clean the panes, an operation which in snowy weather may have to +be frequently repeated during the night. At some of the lighthouses on the +Mediterranean the lantern is at certain seasons so completely covered with +moths as to obscure the light and to require the attendance of men with +brooms. Mr. Tomlinson was informed by the keepers at the Eddystone that +bees and other insects were much attracted by the light, and collected +round the lantern in great numbers. Larks and other birds flew against it, +and, becoming stunned with the blow, were picked up on the balcony and +were cooked by the men for breakfast. The lantern is very liable to injury +in high winds, or the glass may be broken by large sea-birds coming +against it on a stormy night, or by small stones violently driven against +it by the wind. Extra plates of glass are always kept to take the place of +broken panes. The number of light-keepers employed varies, ranging from +two to four, and in the latter case one is usually allowed to remain on +shore, the men taking the privilege in turns. When the situation admits, +it is usual to have the keeper's rooms in a building outside the +lighthouse to avoid dust, which is most injurious to the delicate +apparatus of the light-room. Great cleanliness is enforced in all that +belongs to a lighthouse, the reflectors and lenses being constantly +burnished, polished, and cleansed. + +And so we have traced the history and progress of lighthouses, and it is +hard to believe that any great change can be advantageously made in their +construction, though their mode of illumination will doubtless be greatly +improved. As we have seen, the electric light was used practically in a +lighthouse long before it was in the streets of the great metropolis, and +not in a merely experimental way, but with the most successful results. + + [Illustration: BREAKWATER AT VENICE.] + + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + + THE BREAKWATER. + + + Breakwaters, Ancient and Modern--Origin and History of that at + Cherbourg--Stones Sunk in Wooden Cones--Partial Failure of the + Plan--Millions of Tons dropped to the Bottom--The Breakwater + Temporarily Abandoned--Completed by Napoleon III.--A Port Bristling + with Guns--Rennie's Plymouth Breakwater--Ingenious Mode of + Depositing the Stones--Lessons of the Sea--The Waves the Best + Workmen--Completion of the Work--Grand Double Breakwater at + Portland--The English Cherbourg--A Magnificent Piece of + Engineering--Utilisation of Otherwise Worthless Stone--900 Convicts + at Work--The Great Fortifications--The Verne--Gibraltar at Home--A + Gigantic Fosse--Portland almost Impregnable--Breakwaters Elsewhere. + + +A breakwater, we are told on the highest authority, is an obstruction of +wood, stone, or other material, as a boom or raft of wood, sunken vessels, +&c., placed before the entrance of a port or harbour, or any projection +from the land into the sea, as a mole, pier, or jetty, so situated as to +break the force of the waves and prevent damage to shipping lying at +anchor within them. Thus the piers of the ancient Piræus and of Rhodes; +the moles of Venice, Naples, Genoa, and Castellamare; the piers of +Ramsgate, Margate, Folkestone, Howth, and the famous wooden dike thrown +across the port of Rochelle. The term, of late years, has been almost +exclusively applied to insulated dikes of stone. Of this description of +dike for creating an artificial harbour on a grand scale, Cherbourg, +Plymouth, and Portland present leading examples. The former, already +mentioned in this work, claims our attention. + +The French, happily our good friends to-day, were not always so, and there +was a period when the splendid natural harbours, bays, and roadsteads of +this country were a source of annoyance to them. While nature had been +more than kind to us, their coast presented a series of sandy shores, +intermingled with iron-bound coasts, bristling with rocks. De Vauban, the +great engineer, was employed by Louis, the _Grand Monarque_, to inspect +the Channel shores of France, and his natural sagacity and great knowledge +caused him at once to select Cherbourg as one of the best points for +forming an artificial harbour, protected by suitable fortifications. Other +engineers recommended the same port, and one, M. de la Bretonnière, +proposed that a number of old ships should be loaded with stones and sunk, +while a large quantity of stone should be also thrown around them to form +a grand breakwater, which should rise fifty feet from the bottom. This +idea was abandoned, as it appears, partly from the fact that France had +not old vessels enough to spare for the purpose, and that it would cost +too much to purchase them from foreign nations. + +In 1781 an eminent French engineer proposed that, instead of one +continuous breakwater, a number of large masses or congregations of +stones, separated from each other on the surfaces but touching at the +bases, should be built on the sea bottom, believing that they would break +the force of the waves almost equally well. As a part of his plan he +suggested that they should be sunk in large conical _caissons_ of wood, +150 feet in diameter at the base and sixty feet broad at the top. These +wooden cones were practically to bind and keep the stones together. They +were to be floated to the site with a number of empty casks attached as +floats, then detached, filled with stones, and sunk. An experiment at +Havre having been considered satisfactory, the Government accepted the +idea, and ordered that operations should be immediately commenced at +Cherbourg. A permanent council was appointed, as were officers and +engineers. In 1783 barracks and a navy-yard were built, and at Becquet, a +short distance from Cherbourg, an artificial harbour, capable of holding +eighty small vessels for the transport of the stone, was literally dug +out. + +On June 6th, 1784, the first cone was floated to its destination, and a +month later a second was similarly conveyed, in the presence of 10,000 +spectators. Before the latter could be filled with stones a storm, which +lasted five days, half demolished it. In the course of the summer and +autumn not less than 65,000 tons of stone were deposited in and around the +cones. In 1785 several more cones were completed and sunk; at the end of +the year the quantity of stone deposited amounted to a quarter of a +million tons, and at the end of 1787 a million tons. At the end of 1790, +when the works had been seven years in progress and the Government was +getting very tired of the whole matter, between five and six million tons +of stone had been dropped into the sea. M. de Cessart, the engineer, found +that, in order to sink five cones per annum, he had to employ 250 +carpenters, 30 blacksmiths, 200 stone-hewers, and 200 masons. + +One could hardly expect much permanency from a wooden covering sunk into +the sea, and it is not surprising that, one by one, they burst, few +lasting more than a year. The outbreak of the Revolution put an end, for +some time, to the operations at Cherbourg. + +When the construction of the Cherbourg breakwater was resumed, the wooden +cone system was abandoned, and the stone was simply sunk from vessels of +peculiar construction. The breakwater was completed under Napoleon III., +at a cost exceeding two and a half million pounds sterling. The actual +breakwater itself was finished in 1853,(61) but since that time most +important fortifications have been constructed on the upper works. This is +the greatest breakwater in the world, its length being nearly two and a +half miles; it is 300 feet wide at the base and 31 at the top. The +water-space shut in and protected is about 2,000 acres, much of this great +area being, however, too shallow for very large vessels. + +Taken in connection with the fortifications, this breakwater has a value +greater than any other in the world. At the apex of the angle formed by +the junction of the two branches of the breakwater there is a grand fort, +and it bristles generally with batteries and forts, as indeed does +Cherbourg generally. Dr. W. H. Russell wrote of it, in our leading journal +in 1860 that, "Wherever you look you fancy that on the spot you occupy are +specially pointed dozens of the dull black eyes from their rigid lids of +stone." With its twenty-four regular forts and redoubts, not including +those on the mole, floating harbours, building slips, navy-yards, +arsenals, and barracks, Cherbourg is a most formidable place. + + [Illustration: CHERBOURG, FROM THE SEA.] + +In England Rennie's great Plymouth breakwater is the most remarkable +specimen, among many others. Its dimensions are not as great as that of +Cherbourg, but it was, nevertheless, a vast undertaking. It consists of an +immense number of blocks of stone thrown into the Sound, and forms a +barrier nearly a mile in length above the surface of the water. This grand +work was commenced in 1812, and by the end of the second year about 800 +yards of the breakwater began to appear at low water, and the swell was so +much broken that ships of all sizes began to take shelter behind it; while +the fishermen within its shelter could not judge accurately of the weather +outside the Sound, so great was the change. Several limestone quarries +near the Catwater were purchased of the Duke of Bedford for £10,000, and +some fifteen vessels were constantly employed in removing the blocks, +which ranged in weight from one to ten tons. These vessels were of +ingenious construction; they had two railways laid along them parallel to +each other, with openings in the stern to admit the cars or trucks laden +with stones. These were wheeled from the quarry to the quay, and so on to +the vessels, till the lines of rails were filled with trucks. The vessels +then proceeded to the works, each bearing its load of stone-laden trucks. +On reaching the breakwater each truck was wheeled to the opening, and the +stones tipped into the sea. During the first five years the amount of +stone deposited gradually rose from 16,000 to 300,000 tons per annum. The +large masses were first lowered, and then smaller stones, quarry rubbish, +&c., to fill up the interstices. The structure was completed in 1841, with +the use of 3,670,444 tons of stone(62) and at a cost of something like a +million and a half of money. A distinguished French engineer, M. Dupin, +who visited the works during their progress, describes in glowing terms +the admirable arrangements, the order and regularity visible in all the +proceedings. "Those enormous masses of stone," he remarks, "which the +quarrymen strike with heavy strokes of their hammers; and those aerial +roads of flying bridges, which serve for the removal of the superstratum +of earth; those lines of cranes, all at work at the same moment; the +trucks, all in motion; the arrival, the loading, and the departure of the +vessels, all this forms one of the most imposing sights that can strike a +friend to the great works of art. At fixed hours the sound of a bell is +heard, in order to announce the blasting of the quarry. The operations +instantly cease on all sides; all becomes silence and solitude. This +universal silence renders still more imposing the noise of the explosion, +the splitting of the rocks, their ponderous fall, and the prolonged sound +of the echoes." + +"The waves," said Rennie, "were the best workmen" in the construction of a +breakwater of rough stones, and on the whole his belief was confirmed, for +the storms by which his great work was assailed rather helped than +hindered it, by showing the most desirable slope on the sea-side, while +comparatively little damage was done. The slope of the stone barrier was, +however, by their force changed very greatly. An inclination of three to +one was altered to about five to one, and Rennie had recommended that the +authorities should take a lesson from nature and finish the breakwater +according to her teachings. "It would appear," says Mr. Smiles,(63) "that +Mr. Whidbey, the resident engineer, contrived to finish most of the +exterior face at a slope of only three to one, as before; and that it +stood without any material interruption until several years after Mr. +Rennie's death. By that time nearly the whole of the intended rubble, +amounting to 2,381,321 tons, had been deposited, and the main arm, with +200 yards of the west arm, making 1,241 yards in length, had been raised +to the required level. The work had arrived at that stage when it had to +experience the full force of another terrific storm, which took place on +the 23rd of November, 1824. It blew at first from the south-south-east and +then veered round to the south-west, and the effect of this concurrence of +winds was to heap together the waters of the Channel between Bolt Head and +Lizard Point, and drive them, with terrific force, into the narrow inlet +of Plymouth Sound. This storm was not only greatly more violent, but of +much longer duration than that of 1817. When the breakwater could be +examined it was found that out of the 1,241 yards of the upper part, which +had been completed with a slope of three to one, 796 yards had been +altered as in the previous storm, and the immense blocks of stone which +formed the seaface of the work had, by the force of the waves, been rolled +over to the landward sides thus reducing the sea-slope, as before, to +about five to one. The accuracy of Mr. Rennie's view as to the proper +slope--which was indicated by the action of the sea itself--was thus a +second time confirmed;" and a board of eminent engineers reporting in +accordance, the work was so finished. When the action of the sea had +formed its own slope and had wedged together and settled the great mass of +materials which form the breakwater, and when no further movement was +apparent, but the whole appeared consolidated together, then the slope +towards the sea was cased with regular courses of masonry, dove-tailed and +cramped together, the diving-bell being brought into requisition for +placing the lower courses. A lighthouse has been erected on its western +extremity, and the work may be regarded as a magnificent success, worthy +of a great maritime nation. + +A third leading illustration of a magnificent breakwater is afforded at +Portland, and it is deserving of particular mention inasmuch as all +authorities agree that it was constructed with little or no waste of the +public money. "In the mind of the inquiring tax-payer," said our leading +journal,(64) "breakwaters are always associated with millions of money +thrown broadcast into the sea, in out-of-the-way bays and inlets, which +even without these obstacles to make them more dangerous, the most +distressed mariner would be particularly careful to avoid;" and the writer +goes on to mention several which either ought not to have been attempted, +or where extravagant expenditure has been incurred. "In such a woeful list +of hideous failure and costly mismanagement, it is a comfort to perceive +that the long lane begins to turn at last, and that from our now having +one good standard to go by, we may hope for better things for the future. +Portland breakwater is a really grand and magnificent work, and one of +which the nation may well be proud if it is inclined to let bygones be +bygones, and forget the many successive failures before it was able to +attain so much." Portland breakwater is the right construction in the +right place, and before its erection the Roads afforded doubtful shelter +to vessels in distress. One advantage it enjoys, that of possessing a +splendid anchorage of stiff blue clay, and being free from rock or shoal +from the island of Portland itself up to the very esplanade of Weymouth. +There, too, was the stone on the very spot; steep and rugged heights for +fortifications, a noble harbour for shipping, and rail communication with +all parts. But all these advantages might have been ignored but for the +formidable nature of the works constructed at Cherbourg. The port itself +is about five hours' steaming from the French Cronstadt it was designed, +_sub rosâ_, to keep an eye upon. So, in 1844, the commissioners +recommended that it should be made a grand fortified naval station. In +1847 an Act was passed authorising the construction of a breakwater, and +in 1849 the foundation-stone was laid by the Prince Consort. + + [Illustration: PORTLAND.] + +Nature has provided, in the mighty bank known as the Chesil Beach, +practically a great shingle embankment, protection to Portland Harbour on +the west and south-west, and the object of the breakwater was to secure, +by engineering art, a similar protection to the bay on the south-east +side. The Chesil Bank, though now and for long perfectly impregnable to +the tremendous rollers of the south-westerly gales, was not always so, and +as late as the reign of Henry VIII, great breaches had been temporarily +effected by the power of the sea. Still it affords a splendid protection, +as does now the mighty double breakwater designed by Rendel, and brought +to completion by Coode. The breakwater leaves the shore at the +north-eastern extremity of the island, and runs out due east to a distance +of 600 yards. "This inner limb alone," wrote an authority in +engineering,(65) "is a splendid achievement of human labour and skill. It +has been top-finished by a grand superstructure of hewn granite, and ends +in a circular head, which has been completed as a fort and mounts eight +guns. The foundations of this massive bastion have been most carefully +planned, with especial reference to the safe passage of the largest +vessels through the 400 feet gap which the fort flanks on one side. The +masonry is continued in a perpendicular line to a point 25 feet below the +lowest water-line of spring-tides. A ship of the line, as is well-known, +draws at the utmost 24 feet. An extra foot of perpendicular masonry, +therefore, having been allowed, the lower masses of the fort begin to +slant outwards, and continue to do so till they reach the firm clay +bottom. This lower portion consists of a well-consolidated mass of unhewn +stone. The outer, and by far the longer limb, of the breakwater begins to +bend away to a point very near due north shortly after leaving the gap, +the further side of which is also flanked by a circular head.... The whole +of this vast outer limb, with the exception of the circular head at its +inner extremity and a fort at the other end, consists of nothing more than +a stupendous bank of rough unhewn stones of all shapes and sizes, tumbled +out of the wagons on the timber staging above. Divers, constantly +employed, have effectually prevented the chance of any holes being left in +the rising mass, and have been able to indicate the precise spot over +which a given number of loads were required to be 'tipped.' The security +of the bank is further guaranteed by its enormous width at the base; and +although the waves have already rounded many a giant block below the +water-line and made it look as if its present place had been its abode +ever since the Creation, yet this polishing and grinding is the extent of +the effect which they will be able to produce upon a work probably +destined to hold its own as long as Portland itself." + +The rapidity with which the breakwater was constructed reflected great +credit on Mr. Coode. The actual routine of the construction followed, when +the line for the structure had been sounded and carefully marked out, was +to commence piling for the railway that was to carry the long trains of +wagons filled with the stone; and when a short piece of this was +completed, to go on "tipping in" the rubble and rough stone till they made +their appearance above water at last; then the piling was carried forward +a few yards more, and the process repeated, and so on by successive stages +to the completion of the work. All appears very simple on paper until we +learn that it had to be accomplished through eleven fathoms of rough +tumbling waves. One night's rough weather often swept away the timber-work +that cost many thousands of pounds, and many months of labour to construct +and fix in its position in the sea. The piling that had to resist the +action of a deep and heavy sea, and to carry also, at a height of 90 feet, +a railway for the heaviest traffic, required to be something more than a +common framework of timber. Every log used had to be first of all +saturated to its very centre with creosote, and this was done in a most +ingenious manner. A great boiler, 100 feet long and 7 feet in diameter, +was filled with the largest and finest logs procurable; the mouth being +closed with a solid air-tight cover, the air was pumped out, not only from +the tube, but from the very pores of the wood itself. When the vacuum was +as complete as possible, the creosote was admitted from tanks at the +bottom and forced into the timber by hydraulic power of about 300 lbs. to +the square inch. In this the logs remained for two or three days, by which +time the creosote was forced into the fibre of the wood. Several of the +logs thus prepared were bolted and bound together, till one huge spar 90 +feet long, and eight or nine tons in weight, was formed. Then an iron +"Mitchell" screw--as used in the lighthouses built on sands, already +described--was affixed at the lower end, and the whole sunk till it rested +on the bottom, when it was worked round by a capstan till it was firmly +screwed into the clay. Thus secured, they were tolerably safe, though +single heavy waves would uproot piles and moorings together, to obviate +which two or three piles were generally set at the same time, and well +bound together by powerful cross timbers. + +The stone quarried for the breakwater from the very top of Portland Island +was largely excavated and brought to the spot by convict labour. The stone +itself used was unfit for architectural purposes, but quite suitable for +the breakwater. The convict prison, also on the top of the island, was +virtually the barracks for 900 labourers, who were more profitably +employed than in walking a treadmill or picking oakum. The quarries were +some 400 or 500 feet above the level of the breakwater, and the stone was +conveyed to it by three inclines of broad double gauge rails. The trains +of trucks or wagons were worked up and down with a wire rope over a drum, +the weight of the loaded descending wagons winding the empty ones up again +to the quarries. A powerful locomotive pushed the loaded trains to the end +of the work, where the stone was tipped into the sea, as much as 3,000 +tons a day having been sunk at Portland. The total amount so committed to +the deep was about 5,360,000 tons, and the area protected by the +breakwater would accommodate sixty of the very largest men-of-war, and +almost any number of smaller vessels. + +"During the progress of the works," wrote Mr. Moule, "the engineer has +from time to time instituted some highly interesting investigations into +the structure of the Chesil Bank.... During a single night's gale, between +three and four _millions of tons_ weight of pebbles have been found to be +swept away into the gulfs of the Atlantic, being gradually thrown back +again in the three or four following days. The size of the pebbles had +long been observed to vary greatly at the two opposite ends of the beach. +At the western, or Abbotsbury end, they are exceedingly small, more +resembling gravel than shingle. At the Portland end it is not uncommon to +meet with them several inches in diameter, and several pounds in weight. +This phenomenon has been explained by the very probable assumption that +the pebbles are driven eastward by the wind-waves, and not moved by the +slow and (for purposes like this) powerless tidal current. The larger +pebbles, presenting a broad surface to the waves, are easily rolled +forward, while the smaller ones are passed by, offering a less surface, +and becoming more easily imbedded in the sand." It is said that a +practised smuggler on that coast could tell his whereabouts on the bank in +the darkest night or thickest fog, by feeling the size of the pebbles on +which he stood. And smugglers and "wreckers" were once very numerous among +the Portlanders. In these better days their courage and great personal +strength has saved many a life and ship endangered off the bank. + +An old and popular song says that-- + + "Britannia needs no bulwarks, + No towers along the steep," + +but recent legislators have evidently not been so thoroughly satisfied of +the fact, or they would not have authorised the construction of the great +fortifications at Portland, which make it almost the Gibraltar of the +Channel. The splendid breakwater there did not need protection. All the +battering it is ever likely to get could not injure it seriously, and +whatever ruins Macaulay's New Zealander may stand upon, they are not +likely to be those of a great breakwater, each year of the existence of +which renders it generally more compact. But it was for good reasons that +the extensive works of Portland were undertaken. "We," said the _Times_, +"of all people in the world, who so toiled and suffered, lavishing blood +and treasure under the walls of Sebastopol, should be the last to +underrate the importance of a good fortification as a check to an invading +army." The reader will hardly require any defence of such policy, for +naval arsenals contain the very germ of our power, as the iron safe of the +prudent man contains his valuables. + +The Bill of Portland greatly resembles the situation of Gibraltar. There +are the same bold, steep, rocky headlands; the breakwater stands in place +of the Mole, and Chesil Bank connects it with the mainland, as the neutral +ground does our great Mediterranean citadel with Spanish soil. "Its +height, its isolation, and the harbour it commands, all pointed it out as +a place for an impregnable--we had almost said an inaccessible--fortress. To +the late Prince Consort is due the credit of having seen its vast +importance in this respect, as it was also owing to his enlightened +judgment that the breakwater was begun at last, and he himself laid the +foundation-stone. Portland is rising, as we have said, into a first-class +fortress, of which the Verne is the great key or citadel." So spoke the +_Times_, in 1863; and now Portland is the best fortified port and naval +station in the kingdom. + +The Verne is a height which, like La Roche at Cherbourg, dominates over +all around it for miles, especially on the side which overlooks the +breakwater and the sea. On the north side it is protected by nearly +perpendicular cliffs; elsewhere it is fully protected by art. One of its +greatest defences is the dry ditch which completely encircles the whole +work, except on the north side just mentioned, where it is both +unnecessary and impossible. This ditch is one of the greatest ever +undertaken in ancient or modern days. Its depth is 80 feet, and its width +100, and in some places 200 feet; its length is nearly a mile, and its +floor is 368 feet up the hill-side. Nearly two million tons of stone had +to be blasted to form it; and it would never have been excavated on the +colossal scale indicated, but that all the said stone was utilised in +building the breakwater. With this tremendous artificial ravine to cross, +with fortifications and bastions fully prepared with heavy Armstrong +ordnance towering above, what enemy is ever likely to attack the citadel +of the Verne? Our leading journal spoke of it as more compact than +Cherbourg, Cronstadt, or Sebastopol, while it is more than three times +their elevation above the sea. + +Jutting out from the main fortress are two bastionettes, one of which has +eight faces, mounting guns on each so as to sweep with a murderous fire +two-thirds of the whole length of the fosse or ditch. The other is nearly +as formidable, and both are pierced with loop-holes in all directions for +the fire of riflemen. The great barracks in the enclosure of the Verne +can, at a pinch, accommodate 10,000 men, the peace garrison being about a +third of that number. The arrangements for water supply are perfect, great +reserve tanks having been cut from the solid rock, and covered with +shot-proof roofs. These are kept full, and, protected from air and light; +the water is always sweet. Portland bristles with batteries; but the Verne +commands everything in range of cannon, inside or outside the breakwater, +including all parts of the island, and can cross fire with other important +forts. It is probably the strongest fortified harbour in the world. + + [Illustration: HOLYHEAD BREAKWATER.] + +Other and important breakwaters, like that of Holyhead, which cost a +couple of million sterling, and which is generally cited as an example of +much money thrown into the sea; Alderney, which has swallowed up close on +three-fourths of the above sum; and Dover, which has a fine _vertical_ +sea-wall, might be mentioned. Enough has been said to show the general +importance of the subject to a maritime people, and that, on the whole, +England has been fully alive to the fact. Indeed, counting large and small +breakwaters and sea-walls, more has been expended in this country for +these works than in any two or three foreign countries possessing +sea-boards. + + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + + THE GREATEST STORM IN ENGLISH HISTORY. + + + The Dangers of the Seas--England's Interest in the Matter--The + Shipping and Docks of London and Liverpool--The Goodwin Sands and + their History--The "Hovellers"--The Great Gale of 1703--Defoe's + Graphic Account--Thirteen Vessels of the Royal Navy Lost--Accounts + of Eye-witnesses--The Storm Universal over England--Great Damage and + Loss of Life at Bristol--Plymouth--Portsmouth--Vessels Driven to + Holland--At the Spurn Light--Inhumanity of Deal Townsmen--A worthy + Mayor Saves 200 Lives--The Damage in the Thames--Vessels Drifting in + all Directions--800 Boats Lost--Loss of Life on the River--On + Shore--Remarkable Escapes and Casualties--London in a Condition of + Wreck--Great Damage to Churches--A Bishop and his Lady Killed--A + Remarkable Water-Spout--Total Losses Fearful. + + +"The dangers of the seas" are little enough to some countries, but to +England they mean much indeed. Think of the maritime interests of the port +of London, the docks of which cover considerably over 300 acres of +water-space, and to which 7,000 or more vessels enter annually. Over 100 +vessels, exclusive of small craft, enter the port daily; its exports form +nearly one-fourth of the total exports of the United Kingdom. Liverpool in +some maritime interests excels it. This, the second largest city in Great +Britain, had, as late as 1697, a population of only 5,000; 80 small +vessels then belonged to the port. In this year of grace, Liverpool, with +her virtual suburbs, Birkenhead and West Derby, has a population +considerably over 700,000. In 1872, Liverpool exported, in British and +Irish productions, a total value of £100,066,410, which meant little short +of forty per cent. of the total exports, of the same kind, from the United +Kingdom, while its imports of many staples exceeded those of London. +Liverpool has nearly sixty docks and basins, extending along the Mersey +for five miles. She possesses nineteen miles of quays, nearly the whole of +which have been built since 1812, and warehouses on a scale of +magnificence unknown elsewhere. + +But such a commerce means much more. Hundreds of thousands of hardy men +risk their lives that we may have bread and butter, sugar with our tea, +and all the necessaries and luxuries of modern civilised life. England has +not forgotten them, and for their use has built the lighthouse, the +breakwater, and the harbour of refuge. But there are sources of danger +which nearly defy human power. Take, among all dangerous shoals and sands, +the Goodwin Sands as a prominent example; they are replete with danger to +all sailing vessels at least, resorting to the Thames or to the North Sea, +while even steamships have been lost on their treacherous banks. + +These Sands, so well known to, and feared by, the mariner, are ten miles +in length, running in a north-east and south-west direction off the east +coast of Kent. They are divided into two portions by a narrow channel, and +parts are uncovered at low water. When the tide recedes, the sand is firm +and safe, but when the sea permeates it, the mass becomes pulpy, +treacherous, and constantly shifting. Three light-vessels (one seven miles +from Ramsgate) mark the most dangerous points, and these are themselves +exposed to a considerable amount of danger. The only advantage derived +from the existence of the Sands is that they form a kind of breakwater, +securing a safe anchorage in the roadsteads of the Downs. But if the wind +blows strongly off shore, let the mariner beware! + +The ancients thought that Britain was distinguished from all the world by +unpassable seas and northern winds. The shores of Albion were dreadful to +sailors, and our island was for a time regarded as the utmost bounds of +the northern known land, beyond which none had ever sailed. + +These dangerous Goodwin Sands, if we may believe the chronicles, and there +seems no reason why we should not, consisted at one time of about 4,000 +acres of low coast land, fenced from the sea by a wall. One tradition, not +usually credited, ascribes their present state to the erection of the +Tenterden Steeple, by which the funds which should have maintained the +sea-wall were diverted. An old authority, Lambard, says, "Whatsoever old +wives tell of Goodwyne, Earle of Kent, in tyme of Edward the Confessour, +and his sandes, it appeareth by Hector Boëtius, the Brittish chronicler, +that theise sandes weare mayne land, and some tyme of the possession of +Earl Goodwyne, and by a great inundation of the sea, they weare taken +therefroe, at which tyme also much harme was done in Scotland and +Flanders, by the same rage of the water." At the period of the Conquest, +these lands were taken from Earl Goodwin and bestowed on the abbey of St. +Augustine, Canterbury, and some accounts say that the Abbot allowed the +sea-wall to become dilapidated, and that in the year 1100 the waves rushed +in and overwhelmed the whole. The inroads of the sea in many parts of the +world would account for anything of the kind. + +In dangerous or foggy weather, bells are constantly sounded from the +light-ships. A considerable amount of difficulty is experienced in finding +proper anchorage for these vessels; and all efforts to establish a fixed +beacon have been hitherto unsuccessful. In 1846 a lighthouse on piles +_screwed_ into the sands(66) was erected, but it was carried away the +following year by the force of the waves. As soon as a vessel is known to +have been driven on the Goodwins, rockets are thrown up from the +light-ships, and as soon as recognised on shore a number of boatmen, known +as "hovellers," all over that portion of the coast, immediately launch +their boats, and make for the Sands, whatever may be the weather. The +"hovellers" look upon the wreck itself as in part their property, and make +a good deal of money at times, leading, as a rule, a thoroughly reckless +sailor's life ashore. But how many poor seamen have had cause to bless +their bravery and intrepidity! + +The great gale of 1703, one of the most terrible, if not absolutely _the_ +most terrible which has ever visited our coasts, occasioned the loss of +thirteen vessels of the Royal Navy, four on the Goodwin Sands, one in the +Yarmouth Roads, one at the Nore, and the rest at various points on the +coasts of England and Holland. The record, as preserved by the immortal +author of "Robinson Crusoe," is terribly concise in its details. Take a +part only of it. The italics are our own. + +"_Reserve_, fourth-rate; 54 guns; 258 men. John Anderson, com. Lost in +Yarmouth Roads. The captain, purser, master, chyrurgeon, clerk, and 16 men +were ashore; _the rest drowned_. + +"_Northumberland_, third-rate; 70 guns; 253 men. James Greenway, com. Lost +on Goodwin Sands. _All their men lost._ + +"_Restoration_, third-rate; 70 guns; 386 men. Fleetwood Emes, com. Lost on +Goodwin Sands. _All their men lost._ + +"_Sterling Castle_, third-rate; 70 guns; 349 men. John Johnson, com. Lost +on Goodwin Sands. Third lieutenant, chaplain, cook, chyrurgeon's mate, +four marine captains, and 62 men saved. + +"_Mary_, fourth-rate; 64 guns; 273 men. Rear-Admiral Beaumont, Edward +Hopson, com. Lost on Goodwin Sands. _Only one man saved_, by swimming from +wreck to wreck, and getting to the _Sterling Castle_; the captain ashore, +as also the purser." And so the sad story proceeds, Defoe adding that the +loss of small vessels hired into the service, and tending the fleet, is +not included, several such vessels, with soldiers on board, being driven +to sea, and never heard of more.(67) + + [Illustration: GREAT STORM IN THE DOWNS, 1703.] + +A master on board a vessel which was blown "out of the Downs to Norway," +describes the sights he saw on those fatal days, the 25th and 26th of +November, in homely but graphic language. He says: "By four o'clock we +miss'd the _Mary_ and the _Northumberland_, who rid not far from us, and +found they were driven from their anchors; but what became of them, God +knows. And soon after, a large man-of-war came driving down upon us, all +her masts gone, and in a dreadful condition. We were in the utmost despair +at this sight, for we saw no avoiding her coming thwart our haiser; she +drove at last so near us, that I was just gowing to order the mate to cut +away, when it pleas'd God the ship sheer'd contrary to our expectation to +windward, and the man-of-war, which we found to be the _Sterling Castle_, +drove clear of us, not two ships' lengths, to leeward. + +"It was a sight full of terrible particulars to see a ship of eighty guns +(_sic_) and about six hundred men(68) in that dismal case. She had cut +away all her masts; the men were all in the confusion of death and +despair; she had neither anchor, nor cable, nor boat to help her, the sea +breaking over her in a terrible manner, that sometimes she seem'd all +under water. And they knew, as well as we that saw her, that they drove by +the tempest directly for the Goodwin, where they could expect nothing but +destruction. The cries of the men, and the firing their guns, one by one, +every half minute for help, terrified us in such a manner, that I think we +were half dead with the horror of it." The same writer describes the +collision of two vessels, which he saw sink together, and several great +ships fast aground and beating to pieces. "One," says he, "we saw founder +before our eyes, and all the people perish'd." + +"We have," says Defoe, "an abundance of strange accounts from other parts, +and particularly the following letter from the Downs, and though every +circumstance in this letter is not literally true, as to the number of +ships or lives lost, and the style coarse and sailor-like, yet I have +inserted this letter, because it seems to describe the horror and +consternation the poor sailors were in at that time; and because this is +written from one who was as near an eye-witness as any could possibly be, +and be safe. + + + + + + +"'SIR,--These lines I hope in God will find you in good health. We are all +left here in a dismal condition, expecting every moment to be all drowned; +for here is a great storm, and is very likely to continue. We have here +the Rear-Admiral of the Blue in the ship called the _Mary_, a third-rate, +the very next ship to ours, sunk, with Admiral Beaumont, and above 500 men +drowned; the ship called the _Northumberland_, a third-rate, about 500 +men, all sunk and drowned; the ship called the _Sterling Castle_, a +third-rate, all sunk and drowned, above 500 souls; and the ship called the +_Restoration_, a third-rate, all sunk and drowned. These ships were all +close by us, which I saw. These ships fired their guns all night and day +long, poor souls, for help, but the storm being so fierce and raging, +could have none to save them. The ship called the _Shrewsbury_, that we +are in, broke two anchors, and did run mighty fierce backwards, within +sixty or eighty yards of the Sands, and as God Almighty would have it, we +flung our sheet-anchor down, which is the biggest, and so stopt; here we +all prayed God to forgive us our sins, and to save us, or else to receive +us into his heavenly Kingdom. If our sheet-anchor had given way, we had +been all drowned; but I humbly thank God, it was his gracious mercy that +saved us. There's one, Captain Fanel's ship, three hospital ships, all +split, some sunk, and most of the men drowned. + +"'There are above forty merchant ships cast away and sunk; to see Admiral +Beaumont, that was next us, and all the rest of his men, how they climbed +up the main-mast, hundreds at a time crying out for help, and thinking to +save their lives, and in the twinkling of an eye were drowned; I can give +you no account, but of these four men-of-war aforesaid, which I saw with +my own eyes, and those hospital ships, at present, by reason the storm +hath drove us far distant from one another; Captain Crow, of our ship, +believes we have lost several more ships of war, by reason we see so few; +we lie here in great danger, and waiting for a north-easterly wind to +bring us to Portsmouth, and it is our prayer to God for it; for we know +not how soon this storm may arise, and cut us all off, for it is a dismal +place to anchor in. I have not had my clothes off, nor a wink of sleep +these four nights, and have got my death with cold almost.--Yours to +command, + + "'MILES NORCLIFFE.'"(69) + + + + + + +The following is also a characteristic letter from Captain Soanes of +H.M.S. _Dolphin_, then at Milford Haven, showing also how far the storm +extended on our coasts:-- + + + + + + +"_Sir_,--Reading the advertisement in the _Gazette_ of your intending to +print the many sad accidents in the late dreadful storm, induced me to let +you know what this place felt, though a very good harbour. Her Majesty's +ships the _Cumberland_, _Coventry_, _Loo_, _Hastings_, and _Hector_, being +under my command, with the _Rye_, a cruiser on this station, and under our +convoy, about 130 merchant ships bound about land; the 26th of November, +at one in the afternoon, the wind came at S. by E. a hard gale, between +which and N.W. by W. it came to a dreadful storm; at three the next +morning was the violentest of the weather, when the _Cumberland_ broke her +sheet-anchor, the ship driving near this, and the _Rye_ both narrowly +escap'd carrying away; she drove very near the rocks, having but one +anchor left, but in a little time they slung a gun, with the broken anchor +fast to it, which they let go, and wonderfully preserved the ship from the +shore. Guns firing from one ship or other all the night for help, though +'twas impossible to assist each other, the sea was so high, and the +darkness of the night such, that we could not see where any one was, but +by the flashes of the guns; when daylight appeared, it was a dismal sight +to behold the ships driving up and down, one foul of another, without +masts, some sunk, and others upon the rocks, the wind blowing so hard, +with thunder, lightning, and rain, that on the deck a man could not stand +without holding. Some drove from Dale, where they were sheltered under the +land, and split in pieces, the men all drowned; two others drove out of a +creek, one on the shore so high up was saved; the other on the rocks in +another creek, and bulged; an Irish ship that lay with a rock through her, +was lifted by the sea clear away to the other side of the creek on a safe +place; one ship forced ten miles up the river before she could be stopped, +and several strangely blown into holes, and on banks; a ketch, of +Pembroke, was drove on the rocks, the two men and a boy in her had no boat +to save their lives, but in this great distress a boat which broke from +another ship drove by them, without any in her, the two men leaped into +her and were saved, but the boy was drowned. A prize at Pembroke was +lifted on the bridge, whereon is a mill, which the water blew up, but the +vessel got off again; another vessel carried almost into the gateway which +leads to the bridge, and is a road, the tide flowing several feet above +the common course. The storm continued till the 27th, about three in the +afternoon; that by computation nigh thirty merchant ships and vessels +without masts are lost, and what men are lost is not known; three ships +are missing, that we suppose men and all lost. None of her Majesty's ships +came to any harm; but the _Cumberland_ breaking her anchor in a storm +which happen'd the 18th at night, lost another, which renders her +incapable of proceeding with us till supplied. I saw several trees and +houses which are blown down.--Your humble servant, + + "JOS. SOANES." + + + + + + +The disasters caused by this terrible gale extended over the English +coasts. At Bristol the tide filled the merchants' cellars, spoiling 1,000 +hogsheads of sugar, 1,500 hogsheads of tobacco, and any quantity of other +produce, the damage being estimated at £100,000. Eighty people were +drowned in the marshes and river. Among the shipping casualties, the +_Canterbury_ store-ship went ashore, and twenty-five men were drowned from +her. The Severn overflowed the country, doing great damage at Gloucester; +and 15,000 sheep were drowned on the levels and marshes. Four merchant +ships were lost in Plymouth Roads, and most of the men were drowned. At +Portsmouth a number of vessels were blown to sea, and some of them never +heard of more. About a dozen ships were driven from our coasts to Holland, +the crews, for the most part, being saved. At Dunkirk, twenty-three or +more vessels were dashed to pieces against the pier-head. + +Mr. Peter Walls, master or chief lighthouse-keeper of the Spurn Light at +the mouth of the Humber, was present on the 26th of November, the fatal +night of the storm. He thought that his lighthouse must have been blown +down, and the tempest made the fire in it burn so fiercely that "it melted +down the iron bars, on which it laid, like lead," so that they were +obliged when the fire was nearly extinguished to put in fresh bars, and +re-kindle the fire, keeping it up till the morning dawn, when they found +that some six or seven-and-twenty sail of ships were driving helplessly +about the Spurn Head, some having cut, and others broken their cables. +These were a part of two fleets then lying in the Humber, having put in +there by stress of weather a day or two before. Three ships were driven on +an island called the Don. The first no sooner touched bottom than she +completely capsized, turning keel up; strange to say, out of six men on +board, only one was drowned, the other five being rescued by the boat of +the second ship. They landed at the Spurn Lighthouse, where Mr. Walls got +them good fires and all the comforts they needed. The second ship, having +nobody on board, was driven to sea and never seen or heard of more. The +third broke up, and next morning some coals that had been in her were all +that was to be seen. Of the whole number of vessels in the Humber, few, if +any, were saved. + +Defoe estimates that 150 sea-going vessels of all sorts were lost in this +terrific gale; but this is, in all probability, a very low estimate. And +it is as nothing to the fearful loss of life, which amounted to 8,000 +souls. + +The townspeople of Deal, in particular, were blamed for their inhumanity +in leaving many to their fate who could have been rescued. Boatmen went +off to the sands for booty, some of whom would not listen to poor wretches +who might have been saved. Many unfortunate shipwrecked persons could be +seen, by the aid of glasses, walking on the Goodwin Sands in despairing +postures, knowing that they would, as Defoe puts it, "be washed into +another world" at the reflux of the tide. The Mayor of Deal, Mr. Thomas +Powell, asked the Custom House officers to take out their boats and +endeavour to save the lives of some of these unfortunates, but they +utterly refused. The mayor then offered, from his own pocket, five +shillings a head for all saved, and a number of fishermen and others +volunteered, and succeeded in bringing 200 persons on shore, who would +have been lost in half an hour afterwards. The Queen's agent for sick and +wounded seamen would not furnish a penny for their lodging or food, and +the good mayor supplied all of them with what they required. Several died, +and he was compelled to bury them at his own expense; he furnished a large +number with money to pay their way to London. He received no thanks from +the Government of the day, but some long time after was re-imbursed the +large sums he had expended. + + [Illustration: THE STORM IN THE THAMES AT WAPPING.] + +"Nor," says Defoe, "can the damage suffered in the river of Thames be +forgot. It was a strange sight to see all the ships in the river blown +away, the Pool was so clear, that, as I remember, not above four ships +were left between the upper part of Wapping and Ratcliffe Cross, for the +tide being up at the time when the storm blew with the greatest violence, +no anchors or landfast, no cables or moorings, would hold them, the chains +which lay across the river for the mooring of ships, all gave way. + +"The ships breaking loose thus, it must be a strange sight to see the +hurry and confusion of it; and, as some ships had nobody at all on board, +and a great many had none but a man or boy just to look after the vessel, +there was nothing to be done but to let every vessel drive whither and how +she would. + +"Those who know the reaches of the river, and how they lie, know well +enough that the wind being at south-west-westerly, the vessels would +naturally drive into the bite or bay from Ratcliffe Cross to Limehouse +Hole, for that the river winding about again from thence towards the new +dock at Deptford runs almost due south-west, so that the wind blew down +one reach and up another, and the ships must of necessity drive into the +bottom of the angle between both. + +"This was the case, and as the place is not large, and the number of ships +very great, the force of the wind had driven them so into one another, and +laid them so upon one another, as it were in heaps, that I think a man may +safely defy all the world to do the like. + +"The author of this collection had the curiosity the next day to view the +place, and to observe the posture they lay in, which nevertheless it is +impossible to describe; there lay, by the best account he could take, few +less than seven hundred sail of ships, some very great ones, between +Shadwell and Limehouse inclusive; the posture is not to be imagined but by +them that saw it; some vessels lay heeling off with the bow of another +ship over her waist, and the stern of another upon her forecastle; the +boltsprits of some drove into the cabin-windows of others; some lay with +their sterns tossed up so high that the tide flowed into their forecastles +before they could come to rights; some lay so leaning upon others that the +undermost vessels would sink before the other could float; the numbers of +masts, boltsprits and yards split and broke, the staving the heads and +sterns, and carved work, the tearing and destruction of rigging, and the +squeezing of boats to pieces between the ships, is not to be reckoned; but +there was hardly a vessel to be seen that had not suffered some damage or +other in one or all of these articles. + +"There were several vessels sunk in this hurricane, but as they were +generally light ships the damage was chiefly to the vessels; but there +were two ships sunk with great quantity of goods on board: the _Russell_ +galley was sunk at Limehouse, being a great part laden with bale goods for +the Straits; and the _Sarah_ galley, laden for Leghorn, sunk at an anchor +at Blackwall, and though she was afterwards weighed and brought on shore, +yet her back was broken, or so otherwise disabled that she was never fit +for the sea. There were several men drowned in these last two vessels, but +we could never come to have the particular number. + + [Illustration: THE WEST-INDIAMEN DRIVEN ASHORE AT TILBURY FORT.] + +"Near Gravesend several ships drove on shore below Tilbury Fort, and among +them five bound for the West Indies; but as the shore is oozy and soft, +the vessels sat upright and easy." The loss of small craft in the river +was enormous; not less than 300 ships' boats and 500 wherries were sunk or +dashed to pieces. Barges and lighters were sunk and broke loose by the +score, and twenty-two watermen and others working on the river were +drowned. + +The effect of this tempest was felt very severely on shore, not less than +123 persons being killed by falling buildings, &c. It is said that not +less than 800 dwellings were blown down, while barns, stacks of chimneys, +pinnacles, steeples, and trees, were strewed all over the country. + +Dozens of remarkable cases might be given of wonderful preservations at +sea during this storm, and one or two have been cited. A small vessel ran +on the rocks in Milford Haven and was fast breaking up, when an empty +boat, which had got loose, drifted past so near the wreck that two men +jumped into it and saved their lives. A poor boy on board could not jump +so far, and was drowned. A poor sailor of Brighthelmston was taken off a +wreck after he had hung by his hands and feet on the top of a mast for +eight-and-forty hours, the sea raging so high that no boat durst approach +him. A waterman in the river Thames, lying asleep in the cabin of a barge +near Blackfriars, was driven below London Bridge, "and the barge went of +herself into the Tower Dock, and lay safe on shore. The man never waked +nor heard the storm till it was day; and, to his great astonishment, he +found himself safe, as above." Two boys, lodging in the Poultry, and +living in a top garret, were, by the fall of chimneys, which broke through +the floors, carried quite to the bottom of the cellar, and received no +hurt at all. + +It has been shown how universal was the storm on the English coasts, and +it extended to all parts of the interior.(70) In Norfolk, a small town +experienced the horrors of fire simultaneously with the gale. The +inhabitants were powerless to extinguish it; and the wind blew the ruins, +almost as much as the fire, in all directions. If the people came to +windward they were in danger of being blown into the flames, and to +leeward they dared not approach the fire, which would have scorched them +up. Those who escaped the conflagration ran the imminent risk of being +knocked on the head by bricks and tiles, which flew about as though they +were tinder. The storm, although most severe on the Friday +before-mentioned, lasted almost continuously for a week. + +The city of London was a strange spectacle at this time. "The houses +looked like skeletons," says Defoe, "and an universal air of horror seemed +to sit on the countenances of the people. All business seemed to be laid +aside for the time, and people were generally intent upon getting help to +repair their habitations." The streets lay covered with tiles and slates, +bricks and chimney-pots. Common tiles rose from 21s. per thousand to £6. +Above 2,000 great stacks of chimneys were blown down in and about London, +besides gable-ends and roofs by the score, and about twenty whole houses +in the suburbs. In addition to those killed by the fall of various parts +of buildings, above 200 were reported as wounded and maimed. And it must +be remembered that these were not the days of morning and evening and +special editions, and copious and generally correct reports. Had +telegraphs and railways and steamships brought in the news collected by +innumerable correspondents, as they would to-day, Defoe's book would never +have been compiled. And it may be here observed, in honour of the memory +of that immortal author, that he never cites a case, or speaks of it as a +positive fact, without giving his authority or authorities. He says in one +place, "Some of our printed accounts give us larger and plainer accounts +of the loss of lives than I will venture to affirm for truth: as of +several houses near Moorfields levelled with the ground; fourteen people +drowned in a wherry going to Gravesend and five in a wherry from Chelsea. +Not that it is not very probable to be true, but, as I resolve not to hand +anything to posterity but what comes very well attested, I omit such +relations as I have not extraordinary assurance as to the fact." This is +hardly the way with all book-makers! + +Most of those killed were buried or crushed by the broken fragments and +rubbish of falling stacks of chimneys or walls. The fall of brick walls +made a serious item in the losses. At Greenwich Park several pieces of the +wall were down for a hundred rods at a place; the palace of St. James's +was greatly damaged; the roof of the guard-house at Whitehall blown off, +seriously hurting nine soldiers; the lead stripped off and rolled up like +parchment from scores of churches and public buildings, including +Westminster Abbey and Christ Church Hospital. "It was very remarkable," +Defoe notes, "that the bridge over the Thames [_i.e._, Old London Bridge] +received so little damage, the buildings standing high and not sheltered +by other erections, as they would be in the streets. Above a hundred elms, +some of them said to have been planted by Wolsey, were blown down in St. +James's Park. Very fortunately the storm was succeeded by fine weather: +for had rain or snow followed, the misery and damage to hundreds and +hundreds of tenants would have been fearfully increased." + +At Stowmarket, in Suffolk, one of the largest spires--100 feet high above +the steeple--was completely carried away, with all its heavy timbers and an +immense quantity of lead. So in Brenchly and Great Peckham, Kent, the +former doing damage to the church and porch as it fell, and entailing a +total loss of £800 to £1,000, which would represent much more in these +days. "The cathedral church of Ely," said one of Defoe's correspondents, +"by the providence of God, did, contrary to all men's expectations, stand +out the shock, but suffered very much in every part of it, especially that +which is called the body of it, the lead being torn and rent up a +considerable way together; about 40 lights of glass blown down and +shattered to pieces; one ornamental pinnacle, belonging to the north +aisle, demolished; and the lead in divers other parts of it blown up into +great heaps. Five chimneys falling down in a place called the Colledge, +the place where the prebendaries' lodgings are, did no other damage +(prais'd be God!) than beat down some part of the houses along with them. +The loss which the church and college of Ely sustained being, by +computation, near £2,000." Accounts of nearly irretrievable damage done to +valuable painted church windows, for one of which--at Fairford, +Gloucester--£1,500 had been offered, came from many points. In some cases +the lead blown from roofs, amounting to tons in weight, was so tightly +rolled up that it took a number of men to unroll it without cutting or +other damage. + +The Bishop of Bath and Wells was killed under rather remarkable +circumstances. The palace was the relic of a very old castle, only one +corner of it being modernised for his lordship's use. Had the bishop slept +in the new portion his life would have been spared; but he remained in one +of the older apartments. Two chimney-stacks fell and crushed in the roof, +driving it upon the bishop's bed, forcing it quite through the next floor +into the hall, and burying both himself and lady in the rubbish. The +former appears to have risen, perhaps perceiving the approaching danger, +and was found, with his brains dashed out, near a doorway. + +One of the most remarkable cases of the power of the wind ashore was the +removal of a stone of four hundredweight, which lay sheltered under a +bank, to a distance of seven yards. On the Kingscote estate, in +Gloucester, 600 trees, all about eighty feet in height, were thrown down +within a compass of five acres. The storm was accompanied by thunder and +lightning and waterspouts. A clergyman, writing from Besselsleigh, +says:--"On Friday, the 26th of November, in the afternoon, about four of +the clock, a country fellow came running to me, in a great fright, and +very earnestly entreated me to go and see a pillar, as he called it, in +the air in a field hard by. I went with the fellow, and when I came found +it to be a spout marching directly with the wind; and I can think of +nothing I can compare it to better than the trunk of an elephant, which it +resembled--only much bigger. It was extended to a great length, and swept +the ground as it went, leaving a mark behind. It crossed a field, and, +which was very strange (and which I should scarce have been induced to +believe had I not myself seen it, besides several countrymen, who were +astonished at it, meeting with an oak that stood towards the middle of the +field, snapped the body of it asunder. Afterwards, crossing a road, it +sucked up the water that was in the cart-ruts. Then, coming to an old +barn, it tumbled it down, and the thatch that was on the top was carried +about by the wind, which was then very high and in great confusion. After +this I followed it no farther, and therefore saw no more of it, but a +parishioner of mine, going from hence to Hincksey, in a field about a +quarter of a mile off of this place, was on the sudden knocked down and +lay upon the place till some people came by and brought him home; and he +is not yet quite recovered." An earthquake is also said to have followed +the great storm. + +Enough has now been written to show how universal were the effects of this +terrible gale. The details, as recorded by Defoe and others, would fill +several chapters like the present. The author of "Robinson Crusoe" puts, +as we have seen, the loss of life partly on land but principally by sea, +at 8,000, but a French authority places it at the enormous number of +30,000! It can well be believed that a large proportion of the casualties +were never reported or recorded. + + [Illustration: A LIFE-BOAT GOING OUT.] + + [Illustration: GREATHEAD'S LIFE-BOAT.] + + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + + "MAN THE LIFE-BOAT!" + + + The Englishman's direct interest in the Sea--The History of the + Life-boat and its Work--Its Origin--A Coach-builder the First + Inventor--Lionel Lukin's Boat--Royal Encouragement--Wreck of the + _Adventure_--The Poor Crew Drowned in Sight of Thousands--Good out + of Evil--The South Shields Committee and their Prize Boat--Wouldhave + and Greathead--The latter Rewarded by Government, &c.--Slow Progress + of the Life-boat Movement--The Old Boat at Redcar--Organisation of + the National Life-boat Institution--Sir William Hillary's Brave + Deeds--Terrible Losses at the Isle of Man--Loss of Three + Life-boats--Reorganisation of the Society--Immense Competition for a + Prize--Beeching's "Self-righting" Boats--Buoyancy and + Ballast--Dangers of the Service--A Year's Wrecks. + + +The history of the life-boat is one that concerns every Englishman. In +this isle of the sea, our own beloved Britain, our sympathies are +constantly excited on behalf of those who suffer from shipwreck. It would +not be too much to say that one-half the population of the United Kingdom +have some direct interest in this matter. Let us not be misunderstood. +Pecuniary interests in shipping are held here more largely than in any +other country, but we are not all shipowners or merchants. But how many of +us have some brother or friend a seafarer! Of the writer's own direct +relatives six have travelled and voyaged to very far distant lands, and +the friends of whom the same might be said would aggregate several score. +This is no uncommon case. + +The origin of the life-boat, as now understood, is of very modern date. +Those who would study the matter in its entirety cannot do better than +consult the work(71) from which the larger part of the material +incorporated in the present chapter is derived. One of the very earliest +inventors of a life-boat was Mr. Lionel Lukin, a coach-builder of Long +Acre, who turned his attention to the subject in 1784, from purely +benevolent motives. The then Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV.), who +knew Lukin personally, not only encouraged him to test his inventions, but +offered to pay the expenses. Lukin purchased a Norway yawl, to the outer +frame of which he added a projecting gunwale of cork, tapering from nine +inches amidships to very little at the bows and stern. Hollow water-tight +enclosures gave it great buoyancy, while ballast sufficient for stability +was afforded by a heavy false keel of iron. On this principle several +boats were constructed, and found to be, as the inventor describes them, +"unimmergible." The Rev. Dr. Shairp, of Bamborough, hearing of the +invention, and having charge of a charity for saving life at sea, sent a +boat to Lukin to be made "unimmergible." This was done, and satisfactory +accounts were afterwards received of the altered boat, which was reported +to have saved several lives in the first year of its use. The Admiralty +and Trinity House would have nothing to do with it, in spite of the Prince +of Wales' interest in the matter. It has been said that a committee is a +body without a conscience; it was true in those good old days. Lukin +retired from business in 1824, and went to live at Hythe in Kent, where, +ten years after, he died; the inscription on his tomb in Hythe churchyard +says that he was the first to build a life-boat. + +Notwithstanding Lukin's increasing efforts to bring his life-boats into +general use, hardly any progress had been made in their general adoption +till 1789, when the _Adventure_, of Newcastle, was wrecked at the mouth of +the Tyne. While this vessel lay stranded on a dangerous sand at the +entrance of the river, in the midst of tremendous breakers, her crew +"dropped off one by one from the rigging," only three hundred yards from +the shore, and in the presence of thousands of spectators. This horrible +disaster led to good results, for a committee was immediately appointed at +a meeting of the inhabitants of South Shields, and premiums offered for +the best model of a life-boat "calculated to brave the dangers of the sea, +particularly of broken water." From many plans submitted two were +selected, those of Mr. William Wouldhave and Mr. Henry Greathead. The idea +of the first is said to have been suggested by the following circumstance. +Wouldhave had been asked to assist a woman in putting a "skeel" of water +on her head, when he noticed that she had a piece of a broken wooden dish +lying in the water, which floated with the points upwards, and turning it +over several times, he found that it always righted itself. Greathead's +model had a curved instead of a straight keel, and he, as the only +practical boatbuilder who had competed, was awarded the premium, some of +Wouldhave's ideas in regard to the use of cork being incorporated. This +first boat, thirty feet in length, had a cork lining twelve inches thick, +reaching from the deck to the thwarts, and a cork fender outside sixteen +inches deep, four inches wide, and twenty-one feet long, nearly 7 cwts. of +cork being fitted to the boat altogether. Greathead's curved keel was, +however, the main point, and he is regarded as the inventor of the first +practicable life-boat. From 1791 to 1797 his first boat was the means of +saving the whole or larger part of the crews of five ships. +Notwithstanding all this, no other life-boat was built till 1798, when the +then Duke of Northumberland ordered one to be built at his own expense, +which in two years saved the crews of three vessels. Others were soon +after constructed, and before the end of 1803 Greathead built no less than +thirty-one, eight of which were for foreign countries. In the beginning of +1802, when two hundred lives had been saved at the entrance of the Tyne +alone, Greathead applied to Parliament for a national reward. Possibly it +is more remarkable that he obtained it. £1,200 was voted to him, to which +the Trinity House, Lloyd's, and the Society of Arts added substantial +presents. The Emperor of Russia sent a diamond ring to the inventor. + +After this, one might have reasonably thought that life-boats had become a +recognised institution and a national necessity. Not so. For years +afterwards there was hardly an advance made, and there was no organised +society to work them. The Government was apathetic. In 1810, one of +Greathead's life-boats, carried overland to Hartley on the coast of +Northumberland, rescued the crews of several fishing-boats. On returning +toward the shore, the boat got too near a fatal rock-reef, and was split +in halves; thirty-four poor fellows--a moment before the savers and the +saved--were drowned. The authority before cited says that even now several +of Greathead's boats--exclusively rowing boats--are to be found on the +coast; the oldest one is that in the possession of the boatmen at Redcar, +it having been built in 1802. On seeing this fine old life-boat, which had +saved some scores of lives, Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe composed some +years ago the following verses, which were set to music:-- + + "The Life-boat! Oh, the Life-boat! + We all have known so long, + A refuge for the feeble, + The glory of the strong. + Twice thirty years have vanished, + Since first upon the wave + She housed the drowning mariner, + And snatched him from the grave. + * * * * + The voices of the rescued, + Their numbers may be read, + The tears of speechless feeling + Our wives and children shed; + The memories of mercy + In man's extremest need, + All for the dear old Life-boat + Uniting seem to plead." + +As already stated, the important movement for saving life from shipwreck +languished for some time. To Sir William Hillary and Thomas Wilson, then +one of the Members of Parliament for London, is due the organisation of +that most excellent society which has done more in the cause of humanity +than, perhaps, any other whatever, and has done it on means which even +to-day are too limited. Sir William Hillary was not a talker or subscriber +merely, but had been personally active in saving life. When a Government +cutter, the _Vigilant_, was wrecked in Douglas Bay, Isle of Man, where he +was then residing, he was one of the foremost in rescuing a part of the +crew. Listen to our authority: "Between the years 1821 and 1846, no fewer +than 144 wrecks had taken place on the island, and 172 lives were lost; +while the destruction of property was estimated at a quarter of a million. +In 1825, when the _City of Glasgow_ steamer was stranded in Douglas Bay, +Sir William Hillary assisted in saving the lives of sixty-two persons; and +in the same year eleven men from the brig Leopard, and nine from the sloop +_Fancy_, which became a total wreck. In 1827-32, Sir William, accompanied +by his son, saved many other lives; but his greatest success was on the +20th of November, 1830, when he saved in the life-boat twenty-two men, the +whole of the crew of the mail steamer _St. George_, which became a total +wreck on St. Mary's Rock. On this occasion he was washed overboard among +the wreck, with other three persons, and was saved with great difficulty, +having had six of his ribs fractured." No wonder that a genuine hero of +this character should have succeeded in obtaining the assistance and +encouragement of His Majesty King George IV., and any number of royal +highnesses, archbishops, bishops, noblemen, and other distinguished +people,(72) when the formation of a "Royal National Institution for the +Preservation of Life from Shipwreck" was mooted. The Society was +immediately organised, and the receipts for the first year of its +existence were £9,800 odd. The Committee, in their first report, were able +to state that they had built and stationed twelve life-boats, while, +doubtless, from their good example, thirty-nine life-boats had been +stationed on our shores by benevolent individuals and associations not +connected with the Institution. In its early days, the Society assisted +local bodies to place life-boats on the coast, such being independent of +its control. The good work done by the Association in its early days is +indicated in the following statement. In the second annual report the +Committee showed that up to that period the Society had contributed to the +saving of 342 lives from shipwreck, either by its own life-saving +apparatus or by other means, for which it had granted rewards. And its +total revenue for the second year was only £3,392 7s. 5d.!(73) For fifteen +years afterwards the annual receipts were still smaller. + + [Illustration: LIFE-BOAT SAVING THE CREW OF THE "ST. GEORGE."] + +Between 1841 and 1850 the Institution lost three life-boats, and this was +the smallest part of the loss. In October, 1841, one of the boats at +Blyth, Northumberland, while being pulled against a strong wind, was +struck by a heavy sea, causing her to run stern under, and to half fill +with water. A second sea struck her, and she capsized. Ten men were +drowned. The second case occurred at Robin Hood's Bay, on the coast of +Yorkshire, in February, 1843. The life-boat went off to the assistance of +a stranded vessel, the _Ann_, of London, during a fresh northerly gale. +The life-boat had got alongside the wreck, and was taking the crew off, +when, as far as can be understood, several men jumped into her at the +moment when a great wave struck her, and she capsized. Many of the crew +got on her bottom, while three remained underneath her, and in this state +she drifted towards the shore on the opposite side of the bay. On seeing +the accident from the shore, five gallant fellows launched a boat and +tried to pull off to the rescue, but had hardly encountered two seas, when +she was turned _end over end_, two of her crew being drowned. An officer +of the Coastguard service and eleven men lost their lives on this +occasion; a few were saved, coming to shore safely on the bottom of the +life-boat, and even under it, in its reversed condition. + + [Illustration: LOSS OF A LIFE-BOAT AT THE SHIPWRECK OF THE "ANN."] + +A still worse accident occurred, in December, 1849, to the South Shields +life-boat, which had gone out with twenty-four experienced pilots to the +aid of the _Betsy_ of Littlehampton, stranded on the Herd Sand. She had +reached the wreck, and was lying alongside, though badly secured. The +shipwrecked men were about to descend into the boat, when a heavy sea, +recoiling from the bows of the vessel, lifted her on end, and a second sea +completed the work of destruction by throwing her completely over. She +ultimately drifted ashore. Twenty out of twenty-four on board were +drowned. On seeing the accident, two other life-boats immediately dashed +off, and saved four of the pilots and the crew of the _Betsy_. + +The year 1850 marked an epoch in the history of life-boats, for then the +Institution was thoroughly re-organised. It was arranged that the boats +should be periodically inspected by qualified officers, and that a fixed +scale of payment, both for actual service or quarterly exercise, should be +made to the coxswains and crews.(74) His Grace the late Duke of +Northumberland offered a prize of one hundred guineas for the best model +of a life-boat, and a like sum towards constructing a boat on that model. +No less than 280 plans and models were sent in, not merely from all parts +of the United Kingdom, but from France, Holland, Germany, and the United +States. After some six months' detailed examination on the part of the +committee, Mr. James Beeching, of Great Yarmouth, was awarded the prize. +That gentleman constructed several boats shortly afterwards, embodying +most or all of the leading improvements, and was the first to build a +"self-righting" life-boat. All of the Institution's modern boats are on +this principle. + +"The chief peculiarity of a life-boat," says our authority, "which +distinguishes it from all ordinary boats, is its being rendered +unsubmergible, by attaching to it, chiefly within boards, water-tight +air-cases, or fixed water-tight compartments under a deck.... Especially +it is essential that the spare space along the sides of a life-boat, +within boards, should be entirely occupied by buoyant cases or +compartments; as when such is the case, on her shipping a sea, the water, +until got rid off, is confined to the midships part of the boat, where, to +a great extent, it serves as ballast, instead of falling over to the +lee-side, and destroying her equilibrium, as is the case in an ordinary +open boat." The Institution's self-righting boats are ballasted with +_heavy_ iron keels (up to 21 cwts.), and _light_ air-tight cases, cork, +&c. The advantage of employing a ballast of less specific gravity than +water is, that in the event of the boat being stove in, the buoyancy of +the material itself then comes into play. + +"Self-righting" is, of course, a most important principle in life-boats, +and out of some 250 boats of the Institution there are scarcely more than +twenty which do not possess it. Up to twenty years or so ago it was +derided by many otherwise practical men. Yet as early as 1792 we find the +Rev. James Bremner, of Walls, Orkney, proposing to make all ordinary boats +capable of righting themselves in the water by placing two water-tight +casks, parallel to each other, in the head and stern sheets, and by +affixing a heavy iron keel. The self-righting power of to-day is obtained +by the following means. The boat is built with considerably higher +gunwales at the bows and stern than in the centre, while four to six feet +of the space at either end are water-tight air-chambers. A heavy iron keel +is attached, and a nearly equal weight of light air-cases, and cork +ballast cases are stowed betwixt the boat's floor and the deck. "No other +measures are necessary to be taken in order to effect the self-righting +power. When the boat is forcibly placed in the water with her keel +upwards, she is floated unsteadily on the two air chambers at bow and +stern, while the heavy iron keel and other ballast then being carried +above the centre of gravity, an unstable equilibrium is at once effected, +in which dilemma the boat cannot remain, the raised weight falls on one +side or the other of the centre of gravity, and drags the boat round to +her ordinary position, when the water shipped during the evolution quickly +escapes through the relieving tubes, and she is again ready for any +service that may be required of her." + +Nearly all life-boat stations are provided with a transporting carriage, +built especially for the particular boat. The use of this, in many cases, +is to convey the boat by land to the point nearest the wreck. On some +coasts the distance may be several miles. In addition to this, a +boat-carriage is of immense service in launching a boat from a beach +without her keel touching the ground; so much so, indeed, that one can be +readily launched from a carriage through a high surf, when without one she +could not be got off the beach. The carriage is often backed sufficiently +far into the water to enable the boat to float when she is run off. + + [Illustration: A life-boat and carriage--latest form.] + +The foregoing will give a sufficient idea of the boat itself, and now to +its work. Courage and ability are required to put it into action, and the +dangers to which the crew of a life-boat are exposed entitle those who +encounter them to the greatest honour. "It is impossible to exaggerate the +awful circumstances attending a shipwreck. Let us picture the time, when, +after a peaceful sunset and the toils of the day are over, the hero of the +life-boat has retired to rest, and the silence of the night is unbroken +except by the murmur of the winds and the noise of the sea breaking on the +shore. With the approach of the storm, however, the winds and waves rise +in fury upon the deep, and with their mingled vengeance lash the cliffs +and the beach. A signal of distress arouses the coxswain and his men; +crowds rush in curiosity to the cliffs, or line the shore, heedless of the +driving rain or the blinding sleet. Barrels of tar are lighted on the +coast, and the signal gun and the fiery rocket make a fresh appeal to the +brave. The boat-house is unlocked, and the life-boat with her crew is +dragged hurriedly to the shore. The storm rages wildly, and the mountains +of surf and sea appal the stoutest heart. The gallant men look dubiously +at the work before them, and fathers and mothers and wives and children +implore them to desist from a hopeless enterprise. The voice of the +coxswain, however, prevails. The life-boat is launched among the breakers, +cutting bravely through the foaming mass--now buried under the swelling +billows, or rising on their summit--now dashed against the hapless wreck +still instinct with life--now driven from it by a mountain wave--now +embarking its living freight, and carrying them, through storm and danger +and darkness, to a blessed shore. Would that this was the invariable issue +of a life-boat service! The boat that adventures to a wreck meets with +disaster itself occasionally; and in the war of the elements some of its +gallant crew have sometimes been the first of its victims." And when we +consider that the number of wrecks on the coasts of the United Kingdom +alone, averaged 1,446 per annum for the twenty years between 1852 and +1871, we can form an idea of the importance of life-boat work on these +shores. In the succeeding chapter some special instances of perilous and +successful rescues will be presented. + + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + + "MAN THE LIFE-BOAT!" (_continued_). + + + A "Dirty" Night on the Sands--Wreck of the _Samaritano_--The Vessel + boarded by Margate and Whitstable Men--A Gale in its Fury--The + Vessel breaking up--Nineteen Men in the Fore-rigging--Two Margate + Life-boats Wrecked--Fate of a Lugger--The Scene at Ramsgate--"Man the + Life-boat!"--The good Steamer _Aid_--The Life-boat Towed out--A + Terrible Trip--A Grand Struggle with the Elements--The Flag of + Distress made out--How to reach it--The Life-boat cast off--On + through the Breakers--The Wreck reached at last--Difficulties of + Rescuing the Men--The poor little Cabin Boy--The Life-boat Crowded--A + Moment of great Peril--The Steamer reached at last--Back to + Ramsgate--The Reward of Merit--Loss of a Passenger Steamer--The Three + Lost Corpses--The Emigrant Ship on the Sands--A Splendid Night's + Work. + + +The waves are tearing over the fatal Goodwin Sands, but the life-boats of +Ramsgate, Margate, Deal, and Kingsdown are ready for their work. At +Ramsgate, in particular, the life-boat is ready at her moorings in the +harbour, while a powerful steam-tug--the _Aid_, whose interesting history +would form many a chapter--is lying with steam partially up, prepared to +tow out the boat as near the Goodwin Sands as may be with safety. The +"storm warriors," as the Rev. Mr. Gilmore calls them with so much +appropriateness, in his fascinating and powerfully-written work,(75) "are +on the watch, hour after hour, through the stormy night walking the pier, +and giving keen glances to where the Goodwin Sands are white with the +churning, seething waves that leap high, and plunge and foam amid the +treacherous shoals and banks. Look! a flash is seen; listen, in a few +seconds, yes, there is the throb and boom of a distant gun, a rocket +cleaves the darkness; and now the cry--'Man the life-boat! Man the +life-boat! Seaward ho! Seaward ho!' Storm warriors to the rescue!" + +One Sunday night in the month of February, a few years ago, the weather +was what sailors call "dirty," and accompanied by sudden gusts of wind and +snow-squalls. Before the light broke on Monday morning, the Margate +lugger, _Eclipse_, put out to sea to cruise round the shoals and sands in +the neighbourhood of Margate, on the look-out for the victims of any +disasters that might have occurred during the night, and the crew soon +discovered that a vessel was ashore on the Margate sands. She proved to be +the Spanish brig _Samaritano_, bound from Antwerp to Santander, and laden +with a valuable cargo; she had a crew of eleven men under the command of +the captain, Modesto Crispo. Hoping to save the vessel, the lugger, as she +was running for the brig, spoke a Whitstable fishing-smack, and borrowed +two of her men and her boat. They boarded the brig as the tide went down, +and hoped to be able to get her off the sands at the next high water. For +this purpose, six Margate boatmen and the two Whitstable men were left on +board. + +With the rising tide the gale came on again with renewed fury, and it soon +became a question not of saving the vessel, but of saving their own lives. +The sea dashed furiously over the wreck, lifting her, and then letting her +fall with terrific violence on the sands. Her timbers quivered and shook, +and a hole was quickly knocked in her side. She filled with water, and +settled on one side. "The waves began now to break with great force over +the deck; the lugger's boat was speedily knocked to pieces and swept +overboard; the hatches were forced up; and some of the cargo which floated +on the deck was at once washed away. The brig began to roll and labour +fearfully, as wave after wave broke against her, with a force that shook +her from stem to stern, and threatened to throw her bodily upon her +broadside; the men, fearing this, cut the weather rigging of the mainmast, +and the mast soon broke off short with a great crash, and went over the +side." All hands now had to take to the fore-rigging; nineteen souls with +nothing between them and death but the few shrouds of a shaking mast! The +waves threw up columns of foam, and the spray froze upon them as it fell. +The Margate and Whitstable men were caught in a trap, for neither lugger +nor smack would have lived five minutes in the sea that surrounded the +vessel. Would the life-boat come? + +As soon as the news of the wreck reached Margate, the smaller of the two +life-boats was manned and launched. By an oversight in the hurry of +preparation, the valves of the air-tight boxes had been left open, and she +was fast filling. Although she succeeded in getting within a quarter of a +mile of the brig, she had to be speedily turned towards shore, or she +would have been wrecked herself. After battling for four hours with the +sea and gale, she was run ashore in Westgate Bay. There the coastguardmen +did their best for them. Meantime, when it was learned in Margate that the +first boat was disabled, the larger one was launched. Away they started, +the brave crew doing all they could to battle with the gale, but all in +vain; their tiller gave way, and they had to give up the attempt. They +were driven ashore about one mile from the town. Next, two luggers +attempted to get out to the wreck. The fate of the first was soon settled: +a fearful squall of wind struck her before she had got many hundred yards +clear of the pier, and swept her foremast clean out of her. The second +lugger was a little more fortunate; she beat out to the Sands, but only to +find the surf so heavy, that it was impossible to cross them, or to get +near the wreck. "The Margate people became full of despair; and many a +bitter tear was shed for sympathy and for personal loss as they watched +the wreck, and thought of the poor fellows perishing slowly before their +eyes, apparently without any possibility of being saved." And now let us +change the scene to Ramsgate. + +About nine o'clock the news came to Ramsgate that there was a brig ashore +on the Woolpack Sands, off Margate, but it was naturally concluded that +the life-boats of the latter place would go to the rescue, and no one +supposed that the services of the Ramsgate boat would be required. "But +shortly after twelve, a coastguard-man from Margate hastened breathless to +the pier and to the harbour-master's office, saying, in answer to eager +inquiries, as he hurried on, that the two Margate life-boats had been +wrecked. The order was, of course, at once given, 'Man the life-boat!' and +the boatmen rushed for it. First come, first in; not a moment's +hesitation, not a thought of further clothing: they will go in as they +are, rather than not go at all. The news rapidly spreads; each boatman as +he heard it, hastily snatched up his bag of waterproof overalls and +south-wester cap, and rushed down to the boat; and for some time, boatman +after boatman was to be seen racing down the pier, hoping to find a place +still vacant; if the race had been to save their lives, rather than to +risk them, it would hardly have been more hotly contested. + +"Some of those who had won the race and were in the boat were ill-prepared +with clothing for the hardships they would have to endure, for if they had +not their waterproofs at hand, they did not delay to get them, fearing +that the crew might be made up before they got to the boat. But these men +were supplied by the generosity of their disappointed friends, who had +come down better prepared, but too late for the enterprise; the famous +cork jackets were thrown into the boat and at once put on by the men. + +"The powerful steam-tug, well-named the _Aid_, that belongs to the +harbour, and has her steam up night and day ready for any emergency that +may arise, speedily got her steam to full power, and with her brave and +skilful master, Daniel Reading, in command, took the boat in tow, and +together they made their way out of the harbour. James Hogben, who with +Reading has been in many a wild scene of danger, was coxswain, and steered +and commanded the life-boat. + +"It was nearly low water at the time, but the force of the gale was such +as to send a good deal of spray dashing over the pier; the snow fell in +blinding squalls, and drifted and eddied in every protected nook and +corner. It was hard work for the excited crowd of people who had assembled +to see the life-boat start, to battle their way through the drifts and +against the wind, snow, and foam, to the head of the pier; but there at +last they gathered, and many a one felt his heart fail as the steamer and +boat cleared the protection of the pier, and encountered the first rush of +the wind and sea outside. 'She seemed to go out under water,' said one old +fellow; 'I would not have gone out in her for the universe.' And those who +did not know the heroism and determination that such scenes call forth in +the breasts of the boatmen, could not help wondering much at the eagerness +which had been displayed to get a place in the boat--and this although the +hardy fellows knew that the two Margate life-boats had been wrecked in the +attempt to get the short distance which separated the wreck from Margate, +while they would have to battle their way through the gale for ten or +twelve miles before they could get even in sight of the vessel." And so +the steamer with its engines working full power plunged heavily along, the +life-boat towed astern with fifty fathoms (300 feet) of five-inch hawser +out, an enormously strong rope about the thickness of a man's wrist. The +water flowed into and over the boat, and still, like any other good +life-boat, she floated, and rose in its buoyancy, almost defying the great +waves, while her crew were knee-deep in water. + + [Illustration: RAMSGATE--THE "AID" GOING OUT.] + +They, making their way through the Cud channel, had passed between the +black and white buoys, so well-known to Ramsgate visitors, when a fearful +sea came heading towards them. It met and broke over the steamer, buried +her in foam and then passed on. The life-boat rose to it, and for a moment +hung with her bows high in air, then plunged bodily almost under water. +The men were nearly washed out of her, for at that moment the tow rope +broke, and the boat fell across the sea, which swept in rapid succession +over her. "Oars out! oars out!" was the cry, but they could do nothing +with them. The steamer was, however, cleverly brought within a few yards +to windward of the boat, and a hauling line, to which was attached a new +hawser, was successfully passed to the boat, and they again proceeded in +the teeth of the blinding snow and sleet and spray which swept over the +boat, till the men looked, as one said at the time, "like a body of ice." + +Still they struggled on, till they reached the North Foreland, where the +sea was running mountains high, and although early in the afternoon, the +air was so darkened by the storm that the captain of the boat could not +see the steamer only a hundred yards ahead, and still less able were the +men on board the steamer to see the life-boat. Now they sighted Margate, +and could plainly see the two disabled life-boats ashore. But where was +the wreck? A providential break in the drift of snow suddenly gave them a +glimpse of it, and the master of the steamer made out the flag of distress +flying in the rigging of the fated vessel. But she was on the other side +of the sand, and to tow the boat round would take a long time in the face +of such a gale; while for the boat to make across the sand seemed almost +impossible. But although it seemed a forlorn hope, it was resolved to +force her through the surf and sea under sail, and the hawser was cast +off. Now a new complication arose. The tide was found to be running so +furiously that they must be towed at least three miles to the eastward +before they would be sufficiently far to windward to make certain of +fetching the wreck. The tow rope had to be got on board again, and it was +a bitter disappointment to all, that an hour or more of their precious +time must be consumed before they could possibly get to the rescue of +their endangered brother seamen. The snow-squalls increased, and they lost +sight of the wreck again and again. "The gale, which had been increasing +since the morning, came on heavier than ever, and roared like thunder +overhead, the sea was running so furiously and meeting the life-boat with +such tremendous force that the men had to cling on their hardest not to be +washed out of her, and at last the new tow rope could no longer resist the +increasing strain, and suddenly parted with a tremendous jerk; there was +no thought of picking up the cable again--they could stand no further +delay, and one and all of her crew rejoiced to hear the captain of the +life-boat give orders to set sail." + + [Illustration: "CURLY" WEATHER.] + +Straight for the breakers they made in the increasing gloom; no faltering +or hesitation, brows knit, teeth clenched, hands ready, and hearts firm. +The boat, carrying the smallest amount of sail possible, was driven on by +the hurricane force of the wind, till she plunged through the outer range +of the breakers into the battling, seething, boiling sea, that marked the +treacherous shallows. "When they saw some huge breaker heading towards +them like an advancing wall, then the men threw themselves breast down on +the thwart, curled their legs under it, clasped it with all their force +with both arms, held their breath hard, and clung on for very life against +the tear and wrestle of the waves, while the rush of water poured over +their backs and heads, and buried them in its flood. Down, down, beneath +the weight of the water, the men and boat sank; but only for a moment; the +splendid boat rose in her buoyancy, and freed herself of the seas, which +for a moment had overcome her and buried her, and her crew breathed again; +and a struggling cry of triumph rises from them, 'Well done, old boat! +well done.'" + +A sudden break in the storm, and the wreck is revealed to them half a mile +to leeward. Her appearance made even these hardy men shudder. She had +settled down by the stern, her uplifted bow being the only part of the +hull that was to be seen, and the sea was making a clean breach over her. +"The mainmast was gone, her foresail and foretopsail were blown adrift, +and great columns of foam were mounting up, flying over her foremast and +bow. They saw a Margate lugger lying at anchor just clear of the Sands, +and made close to her. As they shot by they could just make out, amid the +roar of the storm, a loud hail, 'Eight of our men on board!' and on they +flew, and in a few minutes were in a sea that would instantly have swamped +the lugger, noble and powerful boat though she was. + +"Approaching the wreck, it was with terrible anxiety they strained their +sight, trying to discover if there were still any men left in the tangled +mass of rigging, over which the sea was breaking so furiously. By degrees +they made them out. 'I see a man's head. Look! one is waving his arm.'--'I +make out two! three! why, the rigging is full of the poor fellows;' and +with a cheer of triumph, as being yet in time, the life-boat crew settled +to their work." Four hours they had been battling the elements, while the +shipwrecked crew had waited eight hours despairingly, within a few miles +of shore, shivering in the rigging. The sails were lowered, and anchor +cast overboard. "No cheering! no shouting in the boat now, no whisper +beyond the necessary orders; the risk and suspense are too terrible! Yard +by yard the cable is cautiously paid out, and the great rolling seas are +allowed to carry the boat, little by little, nearer to the vessel. The +waves break over the boat, for the moment bury it, and then as the sea +rushes on, and breaks upon the wreck, the spray, flying up, hides the men +lashed to the rigging from the boatmen's sight. They hoist up a corner of +the sail to let the boat sheer in; all are ready; a huge wave lifts them. +'Pay out the cable! sharp, men! sharp!' the coxswain shouts; 'belay all!' +The cable was let go a few yards by the run, and the boat is alongside the +wreck. With a cry, three men jump into the boat and are saved! 'All hands +to the cable! haul in hand over hand, for your lives, men, quick!' the +coxswain cries; for he sees a tremendous wave rushing in swiftly upon +them. They haul in the cable, draw the boat a little from the wreck, the +wave passes and breaks over the vessel; if the life-boat had been +alongside she would have been dashed against the wreck, and perhaps +capsized, or washed over, and utterly destroyed. Again the men watch the +waves, and as they see a few smaller ones approaching, let the cable run +again, and get alongside; this time they are able to remain a little +longer by the vessel; and, one after another, thirteen of the shipwrecked +men unlash themselves from the rigging and jump into the boat, when again +they draw away from the vessel in all haste, and avoid threatened +destruction." At last three Spaniards are left in the rigging; they seem +nearly dead, and scarcely able to unlash themselves, and crawl down the +shrouds. The boat must be placed dangerously near the vessel, and two of +the life-boatmen must get on to the wreck and lift the men on board. They +do it quietly, coolly, determinedly. The last one left is a poor little +cabin-boy; he seems entangled in the rigging, and yet he holds fast to a +canvas bag of trinkets and things he was taking as presents to the loved +ones at home. "God only knows," says Gilmore, "whether the loved ones at +home were thinking of and praying for him, and whether it was in answer to +their prayers and those of many others that the life-boat then rode +alongside that wreck, an ark of safety amid the raging seas. + +"They shout, the boy lingers still, his half-dead hands cannot free the +bag from the entangled rigging. A moment and all are lost; a boatman makes +a spring, seizes the lad with a strong grasp, and tears him down the +rigging into the boat--too late, too late; they cannot get away from the +vessel; a tremendous wave rushes on: hold hard all, hold anchor! hold +cable! give but a yard and all are lost. The boat lifts, is washed into +the fore-rigging, the sea passes, and she settles down again upon an even +keel. Thank God! If one stray rope of all the torn and tangled rigging of +the vessel had caught the boat's rigging, or one of her spars--if the +boat's keel or cork fenders had caught in the shattered gunwale, she would +have turned over, and every man in her been shaken into the sea to speedy +and certain death. Thank God! it is not so, and once more they are safe." +Look at the boat now; thirteen of its own crew, eight of the Margate and +Whitstable men, the captain, mate, eight seamen, and the boy, thirty-two +souls in all. Will she be able to bring all this human freight safely to +land? Their dangers are not yet over; in fact, to the poor Spaniards, the +terrors of death have not yet passed away; for they know little of the +grand properties of a first-class English life-boat. + +Now come the difficulties of clearing the wreck. The anchor holds, and +there is no thought of getting her up in such a gale and sea. The hatchet +is passed forward; there is a moment's delay, a delay by which indeed all +their lives are saved. Already one strand out of the three of which the +strong rope is composed is severed, when a fearful gust of wind sweeps by, +the boat heels over almost on her side--a crash is heard, and the mast and +sail are blown clean out of the boat! she is carried straight for the +wreck; the cable is slack, they haul it in as fast as they can, but on +they are carried swiftly, as it would seem to certain destruction. "Let +them hit the wreck full, and the next wave must throw the boat bodily upon +it, and all her crew will be swept at once into the sea; let them but +touch the wreck, and the risk is fearful; on they are carried, the stem of +the boat just grazes the bow of the vessel, they must be capsized by the +bowsprit and entangled in the wreckage; some of the crew are ready for a +spring into the bowsprit to prolong their lives a few minutes, the others +are all steadily, eagerly, quietly, hauling in upon the cable might and +main, as the only chance of safety to the boat and crew; one moment more +and all are gone, one more haul upon the cable, a fathom or so comes in by +the run, and at that moment mercifully taughtens and holds, all may yet be +safe! another yard or two and the boat would have been dashed to pieces." +This danger over, they have to think of the mast and sail dragging over +the side of the boat; it is with great difficulty that they get them on +board, and rig them up once more. At last they sail away from the Sands, +the breakers and the wreck. + +And now for the steamer, which at length they reach, passing on the way +the lugger _Eclipse_ and the Whitstable smack, to the crews of which they +were able to impart the good tidings. When they reached the steamer the +sea was raging, and the gale blowing as much as ever, and it was no easy +task to get the poor shipwrecked fellows on board, as they were too +exhausted to spring up her sides as the opportunity occurred; and one poor +fellow was literally hauled on board with a rope. The return voyage was +little less dangerous than the voyage out, but at last the Ramsgate +pier-head light shone out with its bright welcome, and cheers broke out +from the anxious crowd, as it was known that nineteen men had been saved +from a terrible and certain death. The Spanish sailors were well cared +for, and their captain, in speaking of the rescue, was almost overcome by +his feelings of gratitude and wonder, for he had made up his mind for +death. He had a picture made of the rescue to take home with him to show +the Spanish authorities. It is gratifying to know that so much bravery did +not go unrewarded. The English Board of Control presented each of the men +with £2 and a medal, while the Spanish Government gratefully acknowledged +the heroic exertions put forth, by granting each a medal and £3. And all +the above is but one example of the work of our "Storm Warriors," whose +glorious mission is to save. + +One stormy night some years ago the _Aid_ and the life-boat started from +Ramsgate in answer to rockets fired from one of the Goodwin light-vessels. +They knew well what it meant, but on reaching the edge of the Sands could +not, after cruising about some distance, find any traces of a vessel in +distress. They waited till daylight, and then were just able to +distinguish the lower mast of a steamer standing out of the water. They +made towards it, but found no trace of life, no signs of any floating +wreck to which a human being could cling. They were forced to the +conclusion that almost immediately upon striking, the vessel must have +broken up and sunk in the quicksand. Poor crew! poor passengers, maybe! a +sharp, sudden death! Would that the vessel could have held together a +little longer! + +They had not proceeded much farther ahead in the hopes of assisting +another vessel ashore not far from Kingsgate, when the captain of the +_Aid_ saw a large life-buoy floating by. "Ease her!" he cries, and the way +of the steamer slackens; "God knows but what that life-buoy may be of some +use to us." The helmsman steers for it; a sailor makes a hasty dart at it +with a boat-hook, misses it, and starts back appalled from a vision of +staring eyes, and pale and agonised faces, matted hair, and arms +outstretched for help. The life-boat crew steer for the buoy; the bowman +grasps at it, but cannot lift it; his cry of horror startles the whole +crew. Some of them hasten to help him. To that buoy three dead bodies were +found lashed with ropes round their waists. Slowly and reverently, one by +one, the crew lifted them on board, and laid them out under the sail. +Those three pale corpses were all that were ever found of the crew and +passengers--to what number is not known precisely to-day--of the steamer +_Violet_, which had left Ostend late the previous evening. At two o'clock +she struck the Sands; a little after three there was no one left on board +to answer the signals of a steamboat that had come to their rescue, and +show their position; a little later and the _Violet_ was lying a worthless +wreck below the breakers and quicksands. + +Happily the efforts of the life-boat and steamer's men are almost +invariably crowned with success, where such is anything like possible. A +grand success was scored some years ago when the passengers and crew of a +large emigrant ship, and the crew of another vessel, one hundred and +twenty in all, were rescued and brought into Ramsgate as the result of one +long night's work. The first ship, the _Fusilier_, was found hard and fast +on the Sands, in a perfect boil of waters, and the life-boat alone dare +approach her, the _Aid_ being obliged to lay off at some distance. The +terrified passengers looked down upon the life-boat from the high ship's +deck, which quivered with every thump on the sands, wondering how many she +could possibly save, and despairingly crowding round the two life-boat's +men who had sprung to the man-ropes when the boat had been lifted by a sea +close to the wreck. The lights from the ship's lamps and the faint +moonlight revealed a trembling, pale, and horror-stricken crowd, +nine-tenths of whom had known nothing before of the terrors of the sea, +and who still despaired of ever seeing land again. But every one of them, +and the list included more than sixty women and children, were saved. The +women and children were taken off first, helped down by sailors slung in +bowlines over the vessel's side, to the plunging, restless boat, the +dangers being greatly enhanced by the helplessness and frantic terror of +the poor creatures. Yet not even a baby was lost, although many were +thrown from the vessel to the outstretched arms of the life-boat men. +About thirty persons were conveyed at a time to the steamer, where the +difficulties of transference were nearly as great as from the wreck, but +at last all were safe on board. Then, as the heavily-freighted steamer +turned her head for Ramsgate, the emigrants mentioned how, during the +previous night, they had seen a large ship drifting fast for the Sands, +and how in the darkness they had lost sight of her. A sharp look-out was +therefore kept, and as they proceeded down Prince's Channel, and neared +the lightship, their search was rewarded. They noted the remnants of a +wreck well over on the north-east side of the Girdler Sands, and +immediately put back for the lifeboat, which had been left alongside the +emigrant ship, where the captain remained in the faint hope of saving her +eventually. Both put back to the second wreck, the hull of which was +almost torn to pieces, the timbers started, rent, and twisted--a mere +skeleton of a ship. To the foremast--hardly held in position by a remnant +of shattered deck--clung sixteen of an exhausted crew, including a pilot +and a boy of eleven. But a rope was successfully thrown round the +fore-rigging, and slowly, one by one, the poor fellows dropped from the +mast to the boat. Then "oars out," lest a hole should be knocked through +the boat's bottom by some part of the wreckage, and every rower strained +his utmost to get clear of her. This done, and the sail hoisted, the +steamer was soon reached, and a grand night's work consummated. One can +imagine the keen interest of the emigrants watching from the steamer the +rescue of men from dangers similar to, but even greater than, those +through which they had themselves just passed, and the enthusiasm ashore, +at an almost unparalleled example of successful life-boat work. + + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + + "MAN THE LIFE-BOAT!" (_continued_). + + + A Portuguese Brig on the Sands--Futile Attempts to get her + off--Sudden Break-up--Great Danger to the Life-boat--Great + Probability of being Crushed--An Old Boatman's Feelings--The + Life-boat herself on the Goodwin--Safe at Last--Gratitude of the + Portuguese Crew--A Blaze of Light seen from Deal--Fatal + Delay--Twenty-eight Lives Lost--A Dark December Night--The + almost-deserted Wreck of the _Providentia_--A Plucky Captain--An + Awful Episode--The Mate beaten to Death--Hardly saved--The poor + little Cabin-boy's Rescue--Another Wreck on the Sands--Many Attempts + to rescue the Crew--Determination of the Boatmen--Victory or + Death!--The _Aid_ Steamer nearly wrecked--A novel and successful + Experiment--Anchoring on Board--The Crew Saved. + + +The emigrant ship mentioned in the preceding chapter was eventually got +off the Sands; but although similar efforts are often made, they are by no +means usually attended by similar results. The danger of waiting by the +ship is very considerable. Gilmore gives us a good example of this in his +account of a Portuguese brig on the Sands, of which there were, at first, +strong hopes of saving. Her masts and rigging, as at first seen by the +Ramsgate men, were all right, and her clean new copper was intact. "A +grand thing for all hands--for owners, underwriters, crew, and boatmen--the +men think, if they can only get her safely off when the tide rises, and +bring her into harbour; a fine vessel and perhaps valuable cargo saved, +and a pretty piece of salvage, which will be well earned, and nobody +should grudge, for the boatmen have to live, as well as to save life." The +captain had at first refused to employ the services offered by the crews +of two Broadstairs luggers, but at last was glad to avail himself of their +assistance, coupled with that of the life-boat men and the steam-tug +_Aid_. The boatmen got an anchor out astern as quickly as possible, the +vessel being head on to the Sands, and used other means to assist the +steamer's work. They hoped that the _Aid_ would be able to back close +enough to them, to get a rope on board fastened to the flukes of the +brig's anchor, and to drag the anchor out, and drop it about one hundred +fathoms astern of the vessel. All hands would then have gone to the +windlass, keeping a strain upon the cable, and, each time the vessel +lifted, heaved with a will--the steamer, with a hundred and twenty fathoms +of nine-inch cable out, towing hard all the time. By these means they +expected to be able gradually to work the vessel off the Sands. But they +soon lost hope of doing this. The gale freshened about one o'clock in the +morning; the heavy waves rolled in over the sands, and she lifted and fell +with shocks that made the masts tremble and the decks gape open. The +life-boat remained alongside, afloat in the basin that the brig had worked +in the sands, and it took all the efforts of the men on board to prevent +her getting under the side of the vessel, and being crushed. The +Portuguese captain still refused to desert his vessel, while the boatmen, +who knew the danger, were almost ready to force the crew to leave the +ship. + +Suddenly a loud sharp crack, like a crash of thunder, pealed through the +ship. One of her large timbers had snapped like a pipe-stem, and now the +Portuguese sailors were only too anxious to leave. Even then, however, +they made a rush to get their things, and soon eight sea-chests hampered +the life-boat. The captain did not like to refuse the poor fellows, +although every moment was of consequence. The surf flew over the brig, and +boiled up all around her; the life-boat, deluged with spray, had all her +lights washed out. The snapping and rending of the brig's timbers was +heard over the fury of the storm; she was breaking up fast. The boy was +handed to the boat, the sailors following, and the brig was abandoned. But +the danger was far from over. + +The steamer and the luggers, exposed to the full fury of the increasing +gale, were outside, the former head to wind, steaming half-power. The +steamer endeavoured to keep in the neighbourhood of the wreck and of the +life-boat. One of the luggers had to cut her cable, without attempting to +save her anchor, and make with all speed for Ramsgate; the second sprung +her mast, which was fished with great difficulty, and she too made the +best of her way for the harbour. The crew of the steamer could see nothing +of the boat--Was she swamped or stove, and all lost? They made signals, but +to no purpose; and the _Aid_ cruised up and down the edge of the dangerous +sands as near as might be, hoping against hope. The night was pitchy dark, +and the storm remained at its worst. Through the thick darkness the bright +light of the Goodwin light-vessel shone out like a star. With a faint +hope, the crew of the steamer wrestled their way through the storm, and +spoke the light-ship. Nothing had been seen of the life-boat. They +hastened to their old cruising-ground. How they longed for the light! All +hands were still on watch, and as the faint grey light of dawning came, +they sought with straining eyeballs to penetrate the twilight, and find +some sign of their lost comrades. It was almost broad daylight before they +could find the place where the wreck was lying, and when they discovered +it, lost all hope, for the brig was found completely broken up, actually +torn to pieces. They could see great masses of splintered timber and +tangled rigging, but not a sign of life. Sadly they turned from the fatal +Goodwin, and made for the harbour. + +To return to the life-boat, afloat within the circle of the bed worked by +the brig in her wild careering. She could not by any possibility leave, +though the wreck threatened to roll over her every moment, for outside +were the shallow sands, and she was grounding every few moments. "Crash! +the brig heaves, and crushes down upon her bilge; again and again," says +the narrator, "she half lifts upon an even keel, and rolls and lurches +from side to side; each time that she falls to leeward she comes more and +more over, and nearer to the boat. + +"This is the danger that may well make the stoutest heart quail. The boat +is aground--helplessly aground; her crew can see through the darkness of +the night the yards and masts of the brig swaying over their heads, now +tossing high in the air as the brig rights, and now falling nearer and +nearer to them, sweeping down over their heads, swaying and rending in the +air, the blocks, and ropes, and torn fragments of sails flying wildly in +all directions. Let but one of the swaying yards hit the boat, she must be +crushed, and all lost. The men crouch down closer and closer, clinging to +the thwarts as the brig falls to them, casting dread glances at the +approaching yards; all right once more; another pull at the cable--hard, +men, hard; over again comes the brig; stick to it, stick to it, my men; +crushed or drowned, it will be soon over if we cannot move the boat; +another pull, all together; again and again they make desperate efforts to +stir the boat, but she will not move one inch; they must wait, and, if +needs be, wait their doom." And so through hours of fearful suspense, half +dead with cold and the ceaseless rush of surf over them, watching in the +shadowy darkness the swaying masts and flying blocks, expecting each +moment to be their last. + +But at length a dawn of hope arrived; the boat lifted on the swell of the +tide that was beginning to reach her, and though she immediately grounded +again, the men knew that all was not lost. After desperate hauling on the +cable they at last were able to ride to their anchor a few yards clear of +the brig. But to get away from the sand in the face of the fierce gale and +tide was impossible, and so there was no alternative, they must beat right +across the sands, and this in the wild fearful gale, and terrible sea, and +pitch-dark night. Breaker after breaker rushed furiously towards and over +them; the men were nearly washed out of the boat; and, worse, the anchor +began to drag, and every moment they drifted nearer to the wreck again. +There might now be water enough to take them clear; at all events, they +must risk it. The foresail was hoisted and the cable cut, and she leaped +forward, but only for a few yards, when she grounded upon the sands again +with a terrible shock, and again within reach of the brig. Huge breakers +came tearing along, and, at last, after many such experiences, they were +once more clear of the wreck. Then another danger arose. A small life-boat +belonging to the Broadstairs men had been in tow all this time, and when +the Ramsgate boat grounded she came crashing along into her. The Ramsgate +men had, in the midst of the boiling sea, to fend her off with their feet, +and at last cut her adrift. The sea-chests of the Portuguese sailors--or at +least those not already washed away--were thrown overboard. Again and again +she grounded on the sand ridges washed up by the surf--ridges giant +editions of the little sand-ripples on the sea-shore so well remembered by +all visitors to our coasts, but two and three feet high, instead of as +many inches. + +"One old boatman," says Gilmore, "afterwards thus described his +feelings:--'Well, sir, perhaps my friends were right when they said I +hadn't ought to have gone out--that I was too old for that sort of work' +(he was then about sixty years of age), 'but, you see, when there is life +to be saved, it makes one feel young again; and I've always felt I had a +call to save life when I could, and I wasn't going to hang back then. And +I stood it better than some of them, after all. I did my work on board the +brig, and when she was so near falling over us, and when the _Dreadnought_ +life-boat seemed knocking our bottom out, I got on as well as any of them; +but when we got to beating and grubbing over the sands, swinging round and +round, and grounding every few yards with a jerk that bruised us sadly, +and almost tore our arms out from the sockets; no sooner washed off one +ridge, and beginning to hope that the boat was clear, than she thumped +upon another harder than ever, and all the time the wash of the surf +nearly carrying us out of the boat--it was truly almost too much for any +man to stand. There was a young fellow holding on next to me; I saw his +head begin to drop, and that he was getting faint, and going to give over; +and when the boat filled with water, and the waves went over his head, he +scarcely cared to struggle free. I tried to cheer him a bit, and keep his +spirits up. He just clung to the thwart like a drowning man. Poor fellow! +he never did a day's work after that night, and died in a few months.' And +then the old man described how he took his life-belt off, that he might +have it over all the quicker; how the captain cheered them up by crying +out, 'We'll see Ramsgate yet again, my men, if we steer clear of old +wrecks;' and how he was going off into a kind of stupor when the clouds +broke a little, and one bright star shone out, a star of life and hope to +him. For seven whole days after the poor old man reached shore he lost his +speech, and lay like a log on his bed, while all the men were considerably +shaken. 'I cannot describe it,' said he, 'and you cannot, neither can any +one else; but when you say you've beat and thumped over those sands, +almost yard by yard, in a fearful storm on a winter's night, and live to +tell the tale, why it seems to me about the next thing to saying that +you've been dead, and brought to life again.'" + +But suddenly the swinging and beating of the boat ceased: she was in a +heavy sea, but in deep water, and she answered her helm. The crew soon got +more sail on her, and she made good way before the gale. Even the +Portuguese sailors lifted their heads. They had been clinging together and +to the boat, crouching down under the lee of the foresail, utterly +despairing of life; now their joy knew no bounds. They were noticed +earnestly consulting together. They had lost their kits, and only +possessed the clothes they stood in and a few pounds in money (about £17) +between them, but the latter they determined to present to the crew. "I, +for one, won't touch any of it," said the coxswain of the boat. "Nor I!" +"Nor I!" all added; "put your money up." And so to the harbour, where +their consul took care of them. When the steamer arrived later on, what +was not the surprise and delight of the captain and all hands to find the +life-boat at her old moorings, and their comrades in so many dangers all +safe in port! + +For by far the larger proportion if not indeed nearly the whole of these +life-savers work _con amore_, and a mishap or positive disaster is often +to them an agonising disappointment. One stormy New Year's Eve some years +ago "a ship was seen off Deal beach in almost a blaze of light, burning +tar-barrels and firing rockets, to tell of her distress; an intervening +fog seemed to prevent the look-out on board the light-vessel seeing her, +and some boatmen on Deal beach, who could not possibly get their boats off +the sands in the face of the strong gale blowing straight on shore, put +their halfpence together to pay for a telegraph message--the messages were +dearer then than they are now--and sent their swiftest runner to telegraph +to Ramsgate; and, after all, there was some unfortunate mistake, and fatal +delay, and a telegram at last sent for further particulars, which was +answered with a demand for urgent speed, and away then flew steamer and +life-boat, and they neared the wreck, and rounded to, to send the +life-boat in, when some of the boatmen thought they heard an agonising +shriek, and others thought it was only the wail of the storm; but they +looked, and the great green seas swept over the wreck, turned her right +over, and she was seen no more, and twenty-eight lives went to their +account. A piteous New Year's tale it was that was told next morning. A +boat's crew got away from the ship soon after she struck, and, battling +through the broken seas, made way before the wind to Dover, and they told +the story that the lost vessel had picked up a shipwrecked crew, who were +thus a second time wrecked, and at the second time lost; and that more of +the crew would have come away in the boat, and in other boats, but it was +a great risk; and there was a Deal pilot on board, who pointed out the +danger, and said that the Ramsgate life-boat was sure to be out to their +rescue, they might be sure of her; and so they stayed and lighted +tar-barrel after tar-barrel, and fired rocket after rocket; and when the +sea washed their signal-fires out and swept the decks, they took to the +rigging, and waited for the life-boat; and as they waited, the poor Deal +pilot could watch the light on the beach, by the house where slept his +wife and eight children, who were to call him husband--father--no more." The +life-boat men hardly like to speak of such a cruel disaster--blameless +though they be in the matter. In this particular case a Board of Trade +inquiry acquitted them and all else concerned of any blame whatever. + + [Illustration: A GROUP OF LIFE-BOAT MEN.] + +A dark December night, and a large ship reported ashore on the Goodwins. +The harbour-master hurries to Ramsgate pier-head; he and all with him can +see nothing; they cross-question the man who asserts that he observed +during a lift in the fog a vessel on the sands. Although there is no +signal from the light-vessels, the harbour-master decides to send out +steamer and life-boat. The crews of both soon discover the vessel looming +through the mist, a complete wreck, her bow to the sea, her mizen-mast +down to the deck, and the wild seas running over her. There are no sailors +to be seen lashed in her rigging. Have all on board perished? + +Thank God! not so. After infinite difficulty, and after nearly getting +entangled with some of the wreckage, the life-boat crew get near the +vessel, and find that three men and a boy are crouching under the shelter +of the deck-house; they must be a small proportion of the original crew, +for she is a large ship, and must have had some fifteen or sixteen hands +aboard. The men have been crouching there for hours, and their confidence +in the advent of the life-boat had been so strong that they had prepared +for her coming by preparing a life-buoy, with a long line fastened to it, +ready to throw overboard. + +As the long hours passed, fervent hope had been dashed by wild despair. +Suddenly the life-boat appears, coming up to her cable just astern of the +vessel; it is to them as a reprieve from death, and they wake to life and +action. They throw the life-buoy and line to the life-boat men, and after +much trouble the latter get it on board. All hands lay hold on the rope, +and do their utmost to haul the life-boat nearer to the wreck, but the +heavy gale, terrific sea, and strong tide, render it impossible. A +tremendous sea comes rushing over the vessel, and for the moment swamps +the boat, knocking down five or six of the men, hurting some of them +severely, but she lifts again, and no one is lost. But what of the poor +crew? The life-boat men feel that it is impossible to haul their boat +nearer the ship. + +"To their great surprise, they see the captain spring up from the lee of +the deck-house, hurriedly take off his oilskin coat, throw it into the +water, and then, jumping on the gunwale, grasp the hawser that holds the +boat, and slide down into the boiling sea. A huge wave breaks over him and +washes him away from the rope; he now tries to swim to the boat, but the +life-boat is not directly astern--the sheer she has to her cable that is +fastened to the anchor, which was thrown over some distance to the side of +the vessel, prevents her dropping right astern; and although the captain +has but to swim a few yards out of the direction of the sweep of sea and +tide, it is impossible for him to manage it. He is perfectly overwhelmed +by the boil of sea, tossed wildly up and down, wave after wave beating +over him: it is all that he can do to keep his head above water, and +cannot guide his course in the least; the boatmen try all they can to make +the boat sheer towards him, so as to reach him or throw him a rope, but it +is impossible: they cannot get sufficiently near, and in a few seconds +they see him swept rapidly by in the swift tide. Jarman, the coxswain of +the boat, seizes a life-buoy, and throws it with all his force towards +him; the wind catches it, and helps the throw; it falls near him; he makes +a spring forward and reaches it; the men gladly see that he has got it; +they see him put his two hands upon one side, as if to get upon it; as he +leans forward it falls over his head like a hoop; he gets his arms through +it, and shouting to the boatmen, 'All right!' he waves his hand as if to +beckon them to follow him, and goes floating down in the strong tide and +among the raging, leaping seas, in a strange wild dance, that threatens +indeed to be a dance of death." With terror and dismay they watch him in +his fearful struggle, till he is lost to their view, quite out of sight +among the waves; they could not follow him, however much they might have +wished it, for it might be hours before they could get back to the ship, +and the two men and boy still aboard. + +And had they thought of so doing the next episode would have obliged them +to desist. A tremendous crash startles them all; the mainmast has fallen +over the port side of the vessel. The men on board give a loud cry; the +chief mate springs wildly to the starboard quarter, and, making the end of +the mainbrace hanging there fast round his waist, drops into the sea. He +is a powerful swimmer; but what can he do in a tide and sea so tremendous +that twelve strong men cannot haul the boat one foot against them? And so +a fearful tragedy is worked out before their very eyes. Now he is buried +in a sea; now he is thrown high in the air on the crest of a wave, but he +never nears the boat, nor can it near him. He strikes out wildly, as if to +make a last effort, and cries aloud in his agony and despair. They try +again and again to throw the lead-line over the rope which holds the poor +fellow, but the boat is pitching and tossing so much that their efforts +are all in vain. "'Now he rises on a wave; now try; heave with a will, +well clear of his head. Ah! missed again; look out; hold on all!' A wave +rushes over them, boat and all; another half minute, and they make another +attempt. No! all in vain, each time it falls short. The struggle cannot +last long; strong and young as the man is, his strength cannot possibly +endure long in such a conflict; his cries grow more feeble, and soon +cease; they see him try and get back to the ship, climbing up the rope, +but his strength fails, and he falls back; his arms and legs are still +tossed wildly about, but it is by the action of the waves; his head drops +and sinks; yes! it is all over!--all over with him!" Think of the second +mate and cabin-boy on the wreck, watching in helpless horror the death +they could not avert, and which may be theirs in a few moments! + +The deck-house under which they have been crouching is beginning to break +up, and the remaining man, throwing himself on the rope by which the +life-boat is made fast to the ship, attempts to reach the boat. The +breakers rush over him as he painfully struggles on, and he is again and +again buried in the waves. At last he reaches the high bow of the +life-boat, which is leaping and falling and jerking, tearing the hawser up +and down in the seas, as if trying to throw him from his hold. His hands +convulsively clutch the rope; pale, and with jaw dropping, he seems about +to swoon, and in another moment he will be gone. "The man in the bow of +the boat has been watching his every movement, has shuddered with dismay +as he saw the seas wash over him, expecting him to be carried away in the +strong tide. No; he still grasps the rope, and at last is within reach! In +one spring, and with a cry to his mates, 'Hold me! hold me!' the boatman +throws himself upon the raised fore-deck of the life-boat, and, with his +body half-stretched over the stern, he grasps the collar of the sailor. +The drowning man throws his arm around the boatman's neck, and clings to +him convulsively, by his weight dragging the man's head down and burying +it in the water; but the brave fellow clings as hard to the half-dead +sailor as the sailor does to him; the seas wash bodily over them and over +the bow of the boat; up and down the boat plunges them both, but he still +holds on; three or four of the boatmen have hold of his legs, and are +doing their utmost to pull him back into the boat, but they cannot do so; +and so the struggle goes on: it is only as the boat rises on a wave and +throws her bow up in the air that the men can breathe." And now a new +horror, for right down upon them comes the wreck of one of the ship's +largest boats, which has just got free of the wreckage. Thank God! it just +passes clear of them. The boatmen cannot get the men in over the high bow +of the boat, and the two poor fellows are drowning fast, and so they drag +them along the side of the boat, still clinging together, to the waist of +the boat, where the gunwale is very low, and with more assistance succeed +in getting them aboard. + + [Illustration: ON THE COAST AT DEAL.] + +And now for the poor boy, still clinging to the gunwale, and crying out in +piteous tones. Each moment, as the waves dash over the vessel, the boatmen +expect to see him washed overboard like a cork. What can be done? No one +can mount the rope in the face of the seas and tide which had really +helped the poor fellow now safely on the boat. There seems no hope of +taking him off by any means whatever, but the coxswain determines to haul +the boat up to the ship sharply, and attempt it. Scarcely are the orders +given, when some of the men give a cry, "'What's that? look out!' Yes, he +is overboard, washed over by that big sea. 'Where is he? where is he? +There he is! No; only his cap! there he lifts on that sea--he is coming +straight for the boat!' From the change and eddy of the tide, the rush of +the sea past the boat is not nearly so rapid as it was, and the poor boy +comes floating slowly from the ship; once or twice he has been rolled +under by the waves, now he is on the surface again, and near the boat. +'Here he comes! look! on that wave! Lost! No, he floats again! Slacken +hawsers! Now he is within reach! Carefully, quick! Now you have got him! +He is making no effort, and floating with his head under water!' A boatman +manages to hook his jacket with a long boat-hook, and pulls him towards +the boat; gently the men lift him in, sorrowfully, and tears are in the +eyes of more than one as they look upon the small face. 'Poor little chap! +Too late! too late! he's gone!'" Their efforts are now all needed to get +clear of the wreck, cut the cable, and raise the sail, all which being +done successfully, they go off smartly before the wind, and have time to +look to the poor boy again. Kind hands chafe his hands and rub his back +and limbs, and put a little rum to his lips, and after about half an hour +they have the joy of seeing him show signs of life, and their efforts are +redoubled. Some of the men take the dryest of their jackets and wrap him +up tenderly, lying him under the mizen-sail. He eventually recovers. + +But, strangest part of all this eventful story, the captain, who had been +two hours in the seething waters, is picked up alive, although, it may +well be believed, in a terrible state of exhaustion. At first he seems to +be dying, but at length, after the men have done their best in chafing and +rubbing, he gets a little better, and is able to tell them that his +vessel, the _Providentia_, was a full-rigged ship from Finland, and that +he himself is a Russian Fin, which accounts for his miraculous +preservation in the water, as the Fins are the hardiest of sailors. Eleven +of his men had left the ship in their best boat, and were, it was +eventually found, blown over to Boulogne. + +The waves are rolling along in all their fury, and beat down upon the +sands with tremendous force, and among them, and settled down somewhat, is +a large barque. The life-boat men look at the awful rage of sea, and say +to each other, "We have indeed our work cut out for us." There are no +signs of life on board the wreck, but the flag of distress is still +flying, and the steamer tows the boat nearer to her. Then the crew is +discovered crouching in the shelter of the deck-house, while the huge +waves make a complete breach over the vessel, threatening to wash away +both house and crew. The steamer takes the boat to windward and lets her +go. The boat's sail is hoisted, and she makes for the wreck. A minute more +and they are in the broken water, the seas falling in tangled volumes over +the boat, and she is tossed in all directions by the wild broken waves. +She fills again and again, and the men have to cling with all their +strength to the thwarts; but still the wind drives the boat on, and they +get within about sixty yards of the wreck, when the anchor is thrown out +and the cable paid out swiftly. The men shout out, to encourage the poor +trembling wretches on board, and, just as they expect to make a first +successful rescue of a part of them, are nearly swamped by a fearful wave, +which carries them a hundred yards away. They prepare for another attempt, +hoist the sail, and try to sheer her to the vessel, but all their efforts +are in vain. Wave after wave breaks over them, and the boat is tossed in +all directions by the broken seas. Sometimes the coxswain feels as if he +would be thrown bodily forward on the men, as the waves almost lift the +boat end on end. They must give it up for this time; the very oars are +blown from the row-locks and out of the men's hands. Again and again they +are baulked in their efforts to reach the ill-starred vessel. Yet again +and again they cheer, to keep up the spirits of its half-drowned and +frozen crew. + +The ship's hull has now been under water for some time, and is breaking up +fast. On board the _Aid_ the mortar apparatus is got ready, in the hope of +getting near enough to the vessel to fire a line into her rigging. +"Cautiously the steamer approaches; the tide has been for some time rising +fast; the steamer does not draw much water; they are almost within firing +distance; the waves come rushing along and nearly overrun the steamer; at +last a breaker, larger than the rest, catches her, lifts her high upon its +crest, and letting her fall down into its trough as down the side of a +well, she strikes the sands heavily; the engines are instantly reversed; +she lifts with the next wave, and being a very quick and handy boat, at +once moves astern before she can thump again, and they are saved from +shipwreck; and thus the fifth effort to save the shipwrecked crew fails." +No time is lost; at once the steamer heads for the life-boat, and makes +ready to again tow her into position for a fresh attempt. The masts of the +wreck are quivering, and it is evident that she is breaking up fast. + +The life-boat men consult together as to the plan of their next effort. At +last one of the men proposes a mode, most assuredly novel, and which must, +indeed, either prove rescue to the shipwrecked or death to all. "I'll tell +you what, my men, if we are going to save those poor fellows, there is +only one way of doing it: it must be a case of save all or lose all, that +is just it! We must go in upon the vessel straight, hit her between the +masts, and throw our anchor over right upon her decks." This is, almost +naturally, derided by some as a hair-brained trick. Let us see the result. + +"Once more the boat heads for the wreck--this time to do or to die; each +man knows it, each man feels it. They are crossing the stern of the +vessel. 'Look at that breaker! Look at that breaker! Hold on! hold on! It +will be all over with us if it catches us; we shall be thrown high into +the masts of the vessel, and shaken out into the sea in a moment! Hold on +all, hold on! Now it comes! No, thank God! it breaks ahead of us, and we +have escaped. Now, men, be ready, be ready!' Thus shouts the coxswain. +Every man is at his station; some with the ropes in hand ready to lower +the sails, others by the anchor, prepared to throw it overboard at the +right moment; round, past the stern of the vessel, the boat flies, round +in the blast of the gale and the swell of the sea; down helm; round she +comes; down foresail; the ship's lee gunwale is under water; the boat +shoots forward straight for the wreck, and hits the lee rail with a shock +that almost throws all the men from their posts, and then, still forward, +she literally leaps on board the wreck. Over! over with the anchor. It +falls on the vessel's deck. All the crew of the vessel are in the mizen +shrouds, but they cannot get to the boat: a fearful rush of sea is chasing +over the vessel, and between them and it. Again and again the boat thumps +on the wreck as on a rock, with a shock that almost shakes the men from +their hold." The waves carry her off, but the anchor holds, and they +manage to haul on board another line. Again and again the boat washes +away, but comes up to the vessel again; and, one by one, ten poor Danes +are got on board. One sailor jumps from the rigging; the boat sinks in the +trough of the sea, and he falls between her and the wreck; a second, and +he would be crushed; two boatmen seize him, and are themselves seized by +their companions, or they would go overboard. + + [Illustration: RESCUE OF THE DANISH VESSEL.] + +The long battle was over; was it not one worth fighting? So thought the +King of Denmark, who sent two hundred rix-dollars to be divided among the +men, who were also rewarded by the Board of Trade. The boatmen are poor +men, and such presents come in very acceptably; but their greatest +satisfaction must ever come from the memory of their own brave deeds. + + [Illustration: SURVIVORS RESCUED FROM THE RIGGING OF A WRECK.] + + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + + "WRECKING" AS A PROFESSION. + + + Probable Fate of a rich Vessel in the Middle Ages--Maritime Laws of + the Period--The King's Privileges--Coeur de Lion and his + Enactments--The Rôles d'Oleron--False Pilots and Wicked + Lords--Stringent Laws of George II.--The Homeward-bound + Vessel--Plotting Wreckers--Lured Ashore--"Dead Men Tell no Tales"--A + Series of Facts--Brutality to a Captain and his Wife--Fate of a + Plunderer--Defence of a Ship against Hundreds of Wreckers--Another + Example--Ship Boarded by Peasantry--Police Attacked by + Thousands--Cavalry Charge the Wreckers--Hundreds of Drunken + Plunderers--A Curious Tract of the Last Century--A Professional + Wrecker's Arguments--A Candid Bahama Pilot. + + +The great historian, Hallam, says: "In the thirteenth and fourteenth +centuries a rich vessel was never secure from attack, and neither +restitution nor punishment of the criminals was to be obtained from +Government, who sometimes feared the plunderer, and sometimes connived at +the offence." As we have seen before, some of the greatest names of the +Elizabethan and later days were often not much better than legalised +pirates. But the poor sailors and owners were not merely the prey of these +sea wolves; there were then and for centuries afterwards, nearly to our +own days, "land-rats" ashore, who were to the pirates what sneak-thieves +were to the highwaymen of romance. Those "good old days," when "wrecking" +was considered a legitimate pursuit! + +In preceding chapters the maritime laws and customs of successive ages +have been briefly traced. Piracy was almost openly recognised in the +thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and a foreign ship with a rich cargo +was too often regarded as rightful prey. There was a constant petty +warfare between maritime nations, and frequently even between towns of the +same nation. Thus, in the year 1254 some Winchelsea mariners attacked a +Yarmouth vessel, and killed some of her crew. + +Prior to the reign of Henry I. _all_ wrecked property belonged to the +king. Whether it was found necessary to make the king the owner of +wreckage, in order to lessen the temptation to wreck vessels and murder +the crews--no unfrequent occurrence, even in the last century--or "however +it was," says Gilmore, "the law existed, and the shipwrecked merchant +might come struggling ashore upon a broken spar, and find the coast strewn +with scattered but still valuable goods so lately his, but now by law his +no longer any more than they belonged to the half-dozen rude fishermen who +stood watching the torn wreck and dispersed cargo being wave-lifted high +upon the beach." Henry I. decreed that neither wreck nor cargo should +become the property of the Crown if any man of the crew escaped with life +to shore. It is to be feared that this well-meant law led to many a +heartless murder. His successor expanded the law to the extent that if +even a beast came ashore alive, the wreck and goods should belong to the +original owners. Even the proverbial cat with nine lives might thus save a +vessel. + +Richard Coeur de Lion, always truly chivalrous, would have nought to do +with plundering the plundered, and he decreed "that all persons escaping +alive from a wreck should retain their goods; that wreck or wreckage +should only be considered the property of the king when neither an owner +nor the heir of a late owner could be found for it." Some authorities will +not couple the name of Richard with the "Rôles d'Oleron," but it is +certain that they were first promulgated in or about his time. They afford +us some idea of the terrible system of wrecking then prevalent; such laws +would not have been promulgated without good reason. Note their +stringency. + +"An accursed custom prevailing in some parts; inasmuch as a third or +fourth part of the wrecks that come ashore belong to the lord of the manor +where the wrecks take place, and that pilots, for profit from these lords +and from the wrecks, like faithless and treacherous villains, do purposely +run the ships under their care upon the rocks," the law declares "that all +false pilots shall suffer a most rigorous and merciless death, and be hung +on high gibbets;" while "the wicked lords are to be tied to a post in the +middle of their own houses, which shall be set on fire at all four +corners, and burnt, with all that shall be therein, the goods being first +confiscated for the benefit of the persons injured, and the site of the +houses shall be converted into places for the sale of hogs and swine." And +again, "If people, more barbarous, cruel, and inhuman than mad dogs, +murdered shipwrecked folk, they were to be plunged into the sea until half +dead, and then drawn out and stoned to death." The pilot who negligently +caused shipwreck was to make good the losses or lose his head; but the +master and sailors were, as a saving clause (principally for the owners!), +to be persuaded that he had not the means to make good the loss _before +they cut off his head_. + +And so, without much change, the laws stood till the reign of George II.; +and, alas! it does not seem that human nature, on our coasts at least, had +greatly improved, for otherwise there would hardly have been necessity for +a new Act, bristling with threats. The preamble states:--"That +notwithstanding the good and salutary laws now in being against plundering +and destroying vessels in distress, and against taking away shipwrecked, +lost, and stranded goods, that still many wicked enormities had been +committed, to the disgrace of the nation;" and it was therefore enacted +that death should be the punishment for hanging out false lights to lure +vessels to their destruction; death for those who killed shipwrecked +persons; and death for stealing cargo or wreckage, whether any one on +board remained alive or not. + +Every now and again some fearful tragedy, reported in our ever-vigilant +press, opens our eyes to the possibilities of human degradation and +depravity; but, in spite of all, thank God! these examples are few and far +between. Does this not tend, at least, to show that the world now-a-days +_is_ better and kinder, and, in a word, more Christian-like, than in +former days? Let the reader think--aye, and ponder, and think again--over +the preceding paragraph. Could men--aye, and women too--assist not merely in +robbery and plunder, but in first causing the wreck, and then, to cover up +all, in murdering the few poor survivors? A writer from whom we have +already quoted says:-- + +"Imagine a homeward-bound vessel, some two hundred and fifty years ago, +clumsy in build, awkward in rig, little fitted for battling with the gales +of our stormy coast, but yet manned with strong, stout-hearted men, who +made their sturdy courage compensate for deficiency of other means; think +of many perils overcome, a long weary voyage nearly ended, the crew +rejoicing in thoughts of home, of home-love and home-rest, the headlands +of dear Old England--loved by her sons no less then than now--lying a dark +line upon the horizon, the night growing apace, the breeze freshening, +ever freshening, adding each moment a hoarser swell to the deep murmurs of +its swift-following blasts, the ship scudding on, breasting the seas with +her bluff bows, rising and pitching with the running waves, which cover +her with foam! + +"Look on land! Keen eyes have watched the signs of the coming storm; men, +more greedy than the foulest vulture, 'more inhuman than mad dogs,' have +cast most cruel and wistful glances seaward! Yes, their eyes light up with +the very light of hell as they see in the dim distance the white sail of a +struggling ship making towards the land! + +"And now try to imagine the scene as the night falls and the storm +gathers. Two or three ill-looking fellows drop in, say, to a low tavern +standing in a bye-lane that leads from the cliff to the beach in some +village on our south-western coast. Soon muttered hints take form, and in +low whispers the men talk over the chances of a wreck this wild night. +They remember former gains; they talk over disappointments, when, on +similar nights of darkness, wildness, and storm, vessels discovered their +danger too soon for them, and managed to weather the headlands of the bay. + +"The plot takes form; with many a deep and muttered curse the murderous +decision is taken that if a vessel can be trapped to destruction it shall +be. + +"There is an old man of the party whose brow is furrowed with dread lines; +he does not say much, but every now and then his eyes glare, and his +features work as if convulsed. His comrades look at him--twice--and, as a +terrific squall shakes the house, a third time. Silently he rises, and +leaves the inn.... Now in the pitch darkness of the night, with bowed +head, and faltering steps battling against the storm, the old man leads a +white horse along the edge of the cliff. To the top of the horse's tail a +lantern is tied, and the light sways with the movement of the horse, and +in its movements seems not unlike the masthead light of a vessel rocked by +the motion of the sea. A whisper has gone through the village of a chance +of something happening during the night, and most of the men and many of +the women are on the alert, lurking in the caves beneath the cliff, or +sheltered behind jutting pieces of rock. + +"The vessel makes in steadily for the land; the captain grows uneasy, and +fears running into danger; he will put the vessel round, and try and +battle his way out to sea. + +"The look-out man reports a dim light ahead. What kind? and Whither away? +He can make out that it is a ship's light, for it is in motion. Yes, she +must be a vessel standing on in the same course as that which they are on. +It is all safe, then; the captain will stand in a little longer; when +suddenly, in the lull of the storm, a hoarse murmur is heard--surely the +sound of the sea beating upon rocks! Yes! look! a white gleam upon the +water! Breakers ahead! breakers ahead! Oh, a very knell of doom! The cry +rings through the ship, 'Down, down with helm--round her to!' Too late, too +late! A crash, a shudder from stem to stern of the stout ship, the shriek +of many voices in their agony, green seas sweeping over the vessel, and +soon broken timbers, bales of cargo, and lifeless bodies scattered along +the beach, while the shattered remnant of the hull is torn still further +to pieces with each insweep of the mighty seas as they roll it to and fro +among the rocks. Fearful and crafty the smile that darkened the dark face +of the willing murderer who was leading the horse with the false light as +he heard the crash of the vessel and the shrieks of the drowning crew! +Fearful the smile that darkened the faces of the men and women waiting on +the beach as they came out from their places, ready to struggle and fight +among themselves for any spoil that might come ashore! A homeward-bound +ship from the Indies! Great good fortune--rich spoil! Bale after bale is +seized upon by the wreckers, and dragged high upon the beach out of the +way of the surf. But, see! a sailor clinging to a bit of broken mast! With +his last conscious effort he gains a footing on the shore, staggers +forward, and falls. Is he alive? Not now! Why did that fearful old woman +kneel upon his chest and cover his mouth with her cloak? Dead men tell no +tales--claim no property!" + +Alas! the above is no imaginary or exaggerated statement of facts. + +A few examples, which have occurred for the most part within the last +hundred years or so, are appended. They have been culled from that most +rigidly correct chronicler, the _Annual Register_:-- + +_Lent Circuit, 1774._--At Shrewsbury Assizes, bills of indictment were +preferred by Captain Chilcot, late of the _Charming Jenny_, against three +opulent inhabitants of the Isle of Anglesea, one of whom is said to be +possessed of a considerable estate, and to have offered five thousand +pounds bail in order to their being tried at the next assizes on a charge +of piracy, when the bills were found. It appeared that on the 11th +September, 1773, in very bad weather, in consequence of false lights being +discovered, the captain bore for shore, when his vessel, whose cargo was +valued at £19,000, went to pieces, and all the crew, except the captain +and his wife, perished, the latter being brought on shore on a portion of +the wreck. Nearly exhausted, they lay for some time, till the savages of +the adjacent places rushed down upon them. The lady was just able to lift +a handkerchief up to her head when her husband was torn from her side. +They cut the buckles from his shoes, and deprived him of every covering. +Happy to escape with his life, he hasted to the beach in search of his +wife, when, horrible to relate, her half-naked and plundered corpse +presented itself to his view. What to do Captain Chilcot was at a loss. +Providence, however, conducted him to the roof of a venerable pair, who +bestowed upon him every assistance. The captain's wife, it seems, at the +time the ship went to pieces, had two bank bills of a considerable value +and seventy guineas in her pocket. At the Summer Assizes at Salop, Roberts +and Parry, two of the above-named, were found guilty of plundering the +_Charming Jenny_, but their counsel pleading an arrest of judgment, +sentence was suspended. Eventually one was executed, and one had his +sentence commuted. + +On the 7th September, 1782, one John Webb was executed at Hereford for +having plundered a Venetian vessel drawn on shore on the coast of +Glamorganshire by stress of weather. No mention is made of hurting or +molesting the crew, and it is evident that the laws were, about this time, +stringently carried out. "This," said the _Annual Register_, "it is hoped, +will put a final stop to that inhuman practice of plundering ships wrecked +upon the coast." + +Next follows an example in the present century:--"_Jany. 8, 1811._--Another +daring attempt (says the _Register_) was made by a party of country-people +at Clonderalaw Bay to take possession of the American ship _Romulus_ on +this day. They assembled at about ten in the evening, to the amount of +about two or three hundred, and commenced a firing of musketry, which they +kept up at intervals for three hours; when, finding a steady resistance +from the crew, and guard of yeomanry which had been put on the vessel on +her first going on shore, they retired. The shot they fired appeared to be +cut from square bars of lead, about half an inch in diameter. One of these +miscreants dropped, and was carried away by his companions." + +The following is an extract from a letter:--"On Friday, the 27th of +October, 1811, the galliot _Anna Hulk Klas Boyr_, Meinerty master, from +Christian Sound, laden with deals, for Killalu, was driven on shore at a +place called Porturlin, between Killalu and Broadhaven. The captain and +crew providentially saved their lives by jumping on shore on a small +island or rock. At this time the stern and quarter were stove in. The crew +remained two hours on the rock, when they were taken off by a boat and +brought to the mainland. Shortly after, the captain's trunk, with all the +sailors' clothes in general, came on shore, when the country-people +immediately began to plunder, leaving the unfortunate sufferers nothing +but what they had on their backs. The plunderers repaired to the wreck, +and cut away everything they could come at of the sails, rigging, &c., +while hundreds were taking away the deals to all parts of the country. +Though the captain spoke good English, and most pitifully inquired to whom +he might apply for assistance, yet he could not hear of any for fourteen +hours, when he was told that Major Denis Bingham was the nearest and only +person he could apply to. With much difficulty he procured a guide, and +proceeded to Mr. Bingham's, a distance of twenty miles through the +mountains. In the meantime, after thirty-six hours' concealment of this +very melancholy circumstance, Captain Morris, of the _Townshend_ cruiser, +who lay at Broadhaven, a distance of about ten miles from the wreck, heard +of it, and, approaching it, landed with twenty men, well armed. In coming +near the wreck he first fired in the air, in order to disperse the +peasantry, which had no effect; he therefore ordered his men to fire +close, which had the desired effect, when he immediately pursued them into +the interior, from three to five miles distance, dividing his party in +different directions, when, by great exertion and fatigue, they saved +about 1,800 deals and a remnant of the wreck. Captain Morris had some of +the robbers taken, but his party being so scattered, they were rescued by +a large mob of the country. The unfortunate captain and crew were taken by +Captain Morris on board his cutter, where they got a change of clothing, +and were taken every possible care of." + + [Illustration: WRECKERS WAITING FOR A WRECK.] + +The following particulars of the wreck and plunder of the _Inverness_, in +the river Shannon, loaded at Limerick with a cargo of provisions, under +contract for the Victualling Board, and bound to London, will be found +interesting:-- + + + + + + + "From Captain Miller to Mr. Spaight, Merchant, Limerick. + "Kilrush, Feb. 24, 1817. + +"DEAR SPAIGHT,--As I am now in possession of most of the particulars of the +wreck of the _Inverness_, I shall detail them to you as follows:-- + +"She went on shore on Wednesday night, the 19th instant, mistaking +Rinevaha for Carrigaholt, and would have got off by the next spring-tide +had the peasantry not boarded her, and rendered her not seaworthy by +scuttling her and tearing away all her rigging; they then robbed the crew +of all their clothes, tore their shirts, which they made bags of to carry +away the plunder, and then broached the tierces of pork, and distributed +the contents to people on shore, who assisted to convey them up the +country. The alarm having reached this on Thursday, a sergeant and twelve +of the police were sent down, with the chief constable at their head, and +they succeeded in re-taking some of the provisions and securing them, +driving the mob from the wreck. The police kept possession of what they +had got during the night; but very early on Friday morning the people +collected in some thousands, and went down to the beach, where they formed +into three bodies, and cheered each other with hats off, advancing with +threats, declaring that they defied the police, and would possess +themselves again of what had been taken from them, and of the arms of the +police. The police formed into one body, and, showing three fronts, +endeavoured to keep them at bay, but in vain; they assailed them with +stones, sticks, scythes, and axes, and gave some of our men some severe +blows, which exasperated them so much that they were under the necessity +of firing in self-defence, and four of the assailants fell victims, two of +whom were buried yesterday. During their skirmishing, which began about +seven o'clock, one of the men, mounted, was despatched to this town for a +reinforcement, when Major Warburton, in half an hour, with twenty cavalry, +and a few infantry mounted behind them, left this, and in one hour and a +half were on board the wreck, and took twelve men in the act of cutting up +the wreck. One of them made a blow of a hatchet at Major Warburton, which +he warded off, and snapped a pistol at him; the fellow immediately threw +himself overboard, when ---- Troy charged him on horseback, up to the +horse's knees in water, and cut him down. The fellows then flew in every +direction, pursued by our men, who took many of them, and wounded several. +Nine tierces of pork had been saved. Her bowsprit, gaff, and spars are all +gone, with every stitch of canvas and all the running rigging. The shrouds +are still left; two anchors and their cables are gone, and even the ship's +pump. A more complete plunder has seldom been witnessed. Yesterday the +revenue wherry went down to Rinevaha, and returned in the evening with the +Major and a small party, with thirty-five prisoners, who now are all +lodged in Bridewell. The women in multitudes assembled to supply the men +with whisky to encourage them. Nothing could exceed the coolness of ---- +Balfice and his party, who certainly made a masterly retreat to the slated +store at Carrigaholt, where I found them. He and Fitzgerald were wounded, +but not severely. Fitzgerald had a miraculous escape, and would have been +murdered, but was preserved by a man he knew from Kerry, who put him under +his bed. + + "J. MILLER." + + + + + + + [Illustration: MAJOR WARBURTON AT THE WRECK OF THE "INVERNESS."] + +A late case of plundering on a large scale occurred the 26th September, +1817. The Norwegian brig _Bergetta_, Captain Peterson, was wrecked on the +Cefu-Sidau sands, in Carmarthen Bay. She was bound from Barcelona for +Stettin, with a cargo of wine, spirits, &c., when the master, losing his +reckoning, owing to a thick fog, fell into the fatal error of taking the +coast of Devon for that of France, and acted under that persuasion. So +circumstanced, a violent gale, together with the tide, drove the vessel +into the Bristol Channel, and she struck upon the above sands, and in the +space of two or three hours went to pieces. The master and crew, with +great difficulty, got into the boat, and were all happily saved. +Notwithstanding the greatest exertions on the part of the officers of the +Customs, supported by several gentlemen and others, acts of plunder were +committed to a considerable extent. Of 266 pipes and casks of wine, &c., +not above 100 were saved. Hundreds of men and women were reduced to nearly +a state of insensibility through intoxication. + + [Illustration: A WRECK ASHORE.] + +A scarce and curious tract, published in 1796, exists in the library of +the British Museum, and a few extracts from it will show the arguments by +which the wreckers of the last century salved their consciences. It is +supposed to be a dialogue between one Richard Sparkes, a chandler by +trade, but a professional wrecker also, and John Trueman, "an honest +taylor." + +"'Good news! good news, neighbour!' said Richard Sparkes, the chandler, as +he entered a shop where John Trueman, an honest taylor, was at work. 'The +vessel which has been these three hours fighting with the surge and winds +for the harbour has at last bulged. It is a trader from Amsterdam, they +say, and faith! two thumping casks were floating before I left the beach. +Rare sport, Master Trueman, rare sport, let me tell you! A good blustering +wind and a high surf is no bad thing for a seaport.' + +"Honest Trueman, who had not been long an inhabitant of the place, and was +quite unacquainted with this language--which, to the disgrace of humanity, +is too often used by the unfeeling on such occasions in seaport +towns--suspended his work, and listened to this harangue with too much +surprise to interrupt it. At length, said he, 'Do you call this rare +sport? Do you call this good news?' + +"SPARKES. 'To be sure I do. I mean to be out all night; the tide will +return in about three hours, and I warrant it will bring us something +worth looking after. But mayhap, as you are a new-comer, Master Trueman, +you do not know the go at these seasons, so I will tell you. You must know +that when a vessel strikes it is catch as catch can for her lading: one +has as good a right as another, and he is the luckiest who can get most. +We call it _going a wrecking_; and let me tell you it is no bad business. +There is my neighbour Perkins, the pilot, got the Lord knows what by the +smuggling cutter that was wrecked about three leagues from hence two +months ago. Ay, cask upon cask of the best French brandy, and tea, and I +cannot tell you what he got; but he has held his head pretty high ever +since, for, as good luck would have it, she struck upon a shoal of rock +where the Custom-house officers would not venture, so Perkins and a few +more knowing ones had it all to themselves. As I told you before, Master +Trueman, this _going a wrecking_ is no bad business, so look about you.'" + +Trueman upbraids the first speaker with dishonesty and want of humanity. + +"'Humanity,' says Sparkes, 'odds my life! neighbour, there's not a more +tenderhearted fellow alive. Many is the life my boat, when I was in the +fishing trade, has saved from pure good-will; but as to the matter of the +_wrecking_, every man must take care of his own interest. Charity, you +know, Master Trueman, should begin at home.'" And he goes on to say that +it was no fault of his that the vessel bulged, or that the master or +cabin-boy were drowned; that it is all the chance of war, and that one +vessel was the same to him as another, provided it were well laden. He +added that he did not pretend to be better than his grandfather, and that +wrecking was in fashion in his days and in those of his good old father +before him. + +Mr. D. Mackinnen, who made a tour through the West Indies early in the +present century, particularly mentions the Bahamas as the home of +wreckers. He says that the immense variety of banks, shallows, and unknown +passages between the hundreds of islands which form the group render the +chances of shipwreck frequent. In order to save the crews and property so +constantly exposed to danger, the Governor of the Bahamas, about the +commencement of this century, licensed a number of daring adventurers to +ply up and down and assist ships in peril, and there could not have been +collected a more skilful and hardy set of men. But, unfortunately, the +governor's good intentions were baulked by the larger part of them +becoming wreckers. Mr. Mackinnen asking one of these men what success he +had lately had, was told that there had been about forty sail of pilots +along the Florida coast for four months. He remarked that they must have +rendered great service to the crews wrecked in that dangerous passage. The +pilot said, "No; they generally _went on_ in the night." "But could not +you light up beacons on shore?" "No, no," said the man, laughing, "we +always put them out for a better chance by night." "But it would have been +more humane----" "I did not go there for humanity; I went _racking_!" + + + + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + + "HOVELLING" _v._ WRECKING. + + + The Contrast--The "Hovellers" defended--Their Services--The Case of + the _Albion_--Anchors and Cables wanted by a disabled Vessel--Lugger + wrecked on the Beach--Dangers of the Hoveller's Life--Nearly swamped + by the heavy Seas--Loss of a baling Bowl, and what it means--Saved + on an American Ship--The Lost Found--A brilliant example of + Life-saving at Bideford--The Small Rewards of the Hoveller's + Life--The case of _La Marguerite_--Nearly wrecked in Port--Hovellers + _v._ Wreckers--"Let's all start fair!"--Praying for Wrecks. + + +The wrecker was a land-ghoul, a monster in human form, who preyed on human +life and property. The "hovellers," a distinctive term on many parts of +the coasts of this sea-girt isle, is applied to the hardy men who, in all +weathers and at all risks, go to the assistance of ships in distress, and +occasionally benefit by a wreck, but they are not wreckers. The Rev. Mr. +Gilmore, who has so well described the dangers, perils, and triumphs of +the life-boat service, very properly includes among the storm warriors the +honest men who perform these practical deeds of naval daring. Visitors to +Ramsgate and other seaside resorts of the southern coast will remember the +luggers in which holiday excursions are made; many of these same boats +are, in winter more especially, engaged in very serious work. "The more +threatening and heavy the weather," says our authority, "the greater the +probability of disaster occurring or having occurred, then the more ready +are the crew to work their way out to the Goodwin Sands, and to cruise +round them on the look-out for vessels in distress; they dare not take the +lugger into the broken water--there a life-boat alone can live: but still, +she is a grand sea-boat, one that will stagger on, with a ship's heavy +anchor and chain on board, through weather bad enough for anything--a boat +that is well suited for the hard and dangerous service which employs her +during the winter months." The hovelling lugger has generally a crew of +ten men, and these receive no regular pay. Any salvage or reward the +vessel earns is commonly divided into fourteen shares; the boat takes +three and a half for the owners, half a share goes for the provisions, and +each man of the crew receives one share. Mr. Gilmore says that "complaints +are sometimes made of the amounts charged by these men for services +rendered; but the cases of a good hovel are few and far between; and often +the luggers put out to sea night after night throughout a stormy winter, +hanging about the sands, in wind and rain, and snow and mists, the men +half-frozen with the cold and half-smothered with the flying surf and +spray, and often week after week they thus suffer and endure, and do not +make a penny-piece each man; then at last, perhaps, comes a chance: a big +ship is on the tail of a sandbank; they render assistance and get her off; +they have saved thousands of pounds worth of property; and the captain, +and the owners, and the underwriters all look aghast, and cry out with +indignation when they ask perhaps a sum that will give them ten or fifteen +pounds a man." + +Not uncommonly the lugger speaks a vessel, and finds that an anchor or +anchors, cables, &c., have been lost, and must be replaced. They must make +in all haste for shore, and obtain what is needed, and put out again to +the distressed vessel. What all this may mean on occasions to the owners +and men of the hovelling vessels is shown in the following example--the +case of the _Albion_ lugger. + +The _Albion_ meets a vessel driving before the gale, having lost both her +anchors and cables; receives orders to supply her from shore; and the +hardy crew, putting the vessel round, beat through the heavy seas, and +make for Deal. "They have to force the boat against wind and tide, and +much skill is required to prevent her being filled by the rising seas +which sweep around her; now she rushes upon the beach, the surf breaks +over her and half fills her with water; with a tremendous thump and shake +she strikes the shore with her iron keel. + +"As the wave which bore the lugger in upon the beach recedes, a man +springs overboard from the bow with a rope in his hand; many catch hold of +the rope, and haul their hardest to keep the boat straight, head on to the +beach; there is a stem strap--a chain running through a hole in the front +part of the keel; a boatman watches his opportunity, and, as a wave sweeps +back, rushes down and passes a rope through the loop of the strap; the +other end of this rope is fastened to a powerful capstan, which is placed +high up on the beach. 'Man the capstan! Heave with a will!' and the strong +men strain at the capstan bars until the capstan creaks again. There is no +starting the lugger: she is so full of water from the surf breaking on the +beach that she is too heavy for the men at one capstan to move her; ropes +are led down from two other capstans, and rove through a snatch-block +fastened to a boat on the beach; all put out their strength, round they +tramp, with a 'Ho! heave ho!' and slowly the lugger travels up the beach, +and is safe from the roll of the breakers. The men get the water out of +her, haul her higher up on to a swivel platform, turn her round head to +the sea, and the leading hands hurry away to inquire about an anchor and +cable. The agent supplies them with such as seem suitable for the size of +the vessel, and which will perhaps weigh together about seven tons." Then +follows the labour of getting them on board, but in a short time all are +ready for sea. + +"The gale has rapidly increased in force, and a frightful surf is running +on the beach; the roar of the breakers on the shingle, the howling of the +storm, the gleam of white foam shining out of the mist and gloom, all +picture the wildness of the storm; but the undaunted boatmen do not +hesitate. All is ready; the signal given; the boat rushes down the steep +ways, and is launched into the sea. A breaking wave rolls in swiftly, it +meets the bow of the lugger in its rush, fills her; for a moment the big +boat runs under water, and then is lifted and twisted like a toy in the +grasp of the sea, and is thrown, in the heave of the wave, broadside on to +the beach; a cry of horror from all on shore, and a rush down to aid the +crew, who are all--there are fifteen of them--struggling in the surf: now +the men are washed up by the wave, and feel the ground and stagger +forward; now they are caught again by a breaker and rolled over; it is for +each of them a terrible battle with the fierce seas; here one gets on his +feet and stumbles forward, he is caught by the men on shore and dragged up +the beach; there a man is lying struggling on the shingle, trying in vain +to rise, exhausted and confused, two men seize his collar, and pull him +forward a yard or two, then get him to his feet, and he escapes the next +wave, which would have washed him out to sea again. Now all the men seem +to be saved; names are shouted--do all answer? No; there is one missing! +All rush to the water's edge and gaze into the darkness, eagerly watching +each shadow mid the surf. 'There he is! No! Yes it is! there--lifting on +the surf! there, rolling-over!' 'Quick! quick! form a line!' And the brave +boatmen grasp each other's hands with iron strength, and form a chain, the +lowest of the four or five men at the sea end of the chain being in the +water. The waves battle with them, but sturdily they persevere. At last +the body is within reach of the seaward man; he grasps it; the men are +dragged up the beach, and the poor insensible man is carried ashore. Alive +or dead? They cannot say; and with a great fear in their hearts they carry +him hurriedly up the beach, and soon, to the great joy of all, he gives +signs of life, and gradually recovers. + +"In the meanwhile, the poor boatmen on the beach have nothing that they +can do but watch their fine boat, which was worth five hundred pounds, +being torn and hammered to pieces in the surf. Plank after plank is +wrenched from her. Now, with a loud crash, she is broken in half; the two +halves part; the anchor and cable fall through her. They can see part of +the forepeak, with one side torn away, floating in the breakers; soon that +also is rent to pieces, and nothing but fragments of the boat float in the +surf or are strewn about the beach; and the boatmen, heavy-hearted, but +thankful that they have escaped with their lives, go slowly to their homes +to rest for a few hours and recruit their strength, and then be ready to +form part of the crew of any other boat, and at the first summons to rush +out again to the encounter with the stormiest seas." And that what the men +of Deal are _par excellence_--hardy, brave, and skilful--the men of our +coasts are very generally. + + [Illustration: LOSS OF THE "ALBION" LUGGER.] + +Sometimes the hovellers are distinctly associated with the life-boat men +in their efforts to save life. Gilmore cites a case where a lugger's boat +had succeeded in taking a number of men off a wreck, when they themselves +were caught in a squall, and were only too glad to make for the life-boat, +to which the larger part were transferred. Then came a chapter of +difficulties, for neither steamer nor lugger could be discovered through +the fog, which obscured everything within a few yards of them. When they +at length reached the _Champion_ lugger, the shipwrecked crew refused to +leave the life-boat. They had been as nearly as possible wrecked a second +time in the lugger's boat. What a story had these poor men to relate! + +Their vessel, the _Effort_, had been beaten about for days in the North +Sea previous to grounding on the fatal Goodwins. They hoisted lamps, and +were preparing to set a tar-barrel on fire, when their ship, which was +very light, rolled from side to side, almost yard-arms under, and then +suddenly capsized altogether. "At once," said one of the narrators, "and +with difficulty, we made for the weather rigging, and were glad to find +that not any of the crew were lost as she fell over. We lashed ourselves +to the rigging. We knew, to our great joy, that the tide was falling; had +it been rising, we must have very soon been overrun by it, the vessel +broken up, and every man of us lost. We were in danger enough as it was, +for the brig, soon after she capsized, was caught by the tide, and worked +round, with her deck towards the seas; and as the heavy seas broke over +and came rushing up the deck, they fell on us with terrible weight, and +beat us and crushed us against the ship's rail, so that we were forced to +unlash ourselves from the rigging; and what to do we did not know, till +one of us said, 'Our only chance is to lash the end of the ropes round our +waists, and let go the rigging as the waves come.' And so we did; and +terrible work it was. As the waves came we slackened the ropes and went +away a little with them; and as they passed, half smothered as we were, +hauled ourselves back to the rigging and held on a bit; and then, when the +next wave came, we let go, and were all adrift in the wash again; our +hands were almost torn to pieces with the strain on the ropes and grasping +at the side of the vessel.... You see, too, how our clothes were nearly +dragged off us: it was indeed an awful time!" One man grew terribly +excited as they told the dismal story. His limbs and features worked, and +as the waves dashed over the life-boat he fancied himself being washed off +the wreck, and his reason quite gave way for the time. He shouted out, +"Let me drown myself! Let me drown myself! I can stand it no longer!" and +was with the greatest difficulty held back by three men, who would not +relinquish their hold till they got safe into harbour. + +The hoveller's life is necessarily full of danger, for his services are +usually only required in the very worst weather; and if he can save +anything from a wreck, it will generally be done under circumstances of +great difficulty. Gilmore cites an example where some of these men were +endeavouring to save the rigging of a wrecked vessel, when a squall came +on, with driving snow and hail. The men in the rigging were somewhat +interested in their work, and were at first inclined to risk the weather, +but the gale increased so rapidly that it became evident that they must +leave in their boat at once. Away for their lives the men pull, the little +boat seethes through the troubled waters, and they soon near the edge of +the sand, and are making for deep water, when they suddenly hear the noise +of the surf beating on the shallows immediately ahead of them. They pull +ahead a little, and can see the huge waves rolling in out of the deep +water, mounting up, curling over, and breaking, meeting other breakers, +foaming up against them--in fact, a sea of raging waters surrounding the +sands in which their little boat would be swamped at once. As they mount +on a wave they can see the lugger riding safely just outside the surf, +only a quarter of a mile off, but that quarter of a mile it is impossible +for them to pass, and equally impossible for the lugger to get any nearer +to them. The seas break over them constantly, and for a while they return +to the dangerous shelter of the wreck. + + [Illustration: MAP SHOWING COAST OF RAMSGATE AND THE GOODWIN SANDS.] + +"The Goodwin Sands are about nine miles long; in the middle of them there +is, at low water, a large lake, which is called on the chart 'Trinity +Bay,' but which is known to the boatmen as the 'In-Sand.' The men row in +the direction of the lake, and row over the sandbanks which surround it, +as soon as the tide has flowed sufficiently to enable them to do so. Now +they find themselves in completely smooth water, and are safe; but for how +long? a short hour or so, for the hungry waves are following them up fast. +Still higher and higher comes the tide, and a furious surf begins to rage +over the banks that for a time protect the lake." Well do the men know how +short must be their period of rest. + +Soon the heavy rollers come in and threaten to swamp them; the boat is +nearly full of water. At this juncture the steersman, who has been +steering and baling the boat for about four hours, suddenly lets the bowl +with which he is baling fly from his hand; he gives a cry of horror, and +the men cannot help repeating it, for may not this apparently small +accident be fatal to them? To keep the boat afloat without baling is +impossible; the surf breaks into her continually, and that bowl is +indispensable to their safety, for the men cannot use their sou'westers +for the purpose when both hands are so busily employed in freeing their +oars from the seas and keeping the blades from being blown up into the air +by the force of the gale. Most happily, the bowl is a wooden one, and it +floats a few yards from them. The men watch it anxiously as they are +tossed up and down by the quick waves. Back the boat down upon the bowl +they cannot, and it is drifting away faster than they are floating. It +would seem a simple matter to pick up a bowl floating within a distance so +small, but the waves long render it impossible. Suddenly the coxswain +cries, "Here is a lull; round with her sharp!" The men on the starboard +side give a mighty pull, and the others back their hardest; then a pull +altogether; the bowl is within reach; the coxswain grasps it with a hasty +snatch. "Round! round with her quick!" and the boat is got head straight +to the seas again before the waves can catch her broadside and roll her +over. All breathe again: they have another chance of life. + +They get clear of the Sands, but a fierce gale is still raging. "As they +get into the Gull stream, they see vessel after vessel running with +close-reefed topsails before the gale; the boatmen hail them, but they get +no answer. One little sloop affords them slight hope, for she is evidently +altering her course, but after a moment's apparent hesitation, away she +goes again before the gale, and abandons them to their fate. The captain +of the little vessel related afterwards how, in the height of the storm, +he saw some poor fellows in a small boat, and had a great wish to try and +save them, but the sea was running so high that he felt it was impossible +to heave his vessel to, and so had to leave them, and that they must have +been driven on the Sands and lost. This sloop was about a quarter of a +mile from the boat, and the men do not again get as near to any other +ship; and as vessel after vessel passes, and the night begins to grow +dark, the position of the men becomes more and more hopeless, and they all +feel that if no vessel picks them up they must soon be blown in again upon +the sands, and there perish." The men work on, but solemnly, very +solemnly. + +But one vessel, a large American ship, remains at anchor in the Downs; +vessel after vessel had slipped their cables and run before the gale. It +is their last hope. "As they drop slowly towards her, they shout time +after time, but cannot make themselves heard, and it is getting too dusk +for them to be seen at any distance; the seas are running alongside the +ship almost gunwale high, and it is impossible to get nearer to her than +within fifty yards. Hail after hail the men give; still they get no +answer. They can see a man on the poop, but he evidently neither sees nor +hears them, and their last chance seems slipping away, for they are fast +drifting past the vessel. 'Get on the thwart, Dick, and shout with all +your might!' the coxswain says to the man pulling stroke oar. 'I'll hold +you!' hauling in his oar and catching it under the seat. The man springs +upon the thwart, and balancing himself for a second, hails with all his +force." + +"The man is moving; he hears us, hurrah!" is the glad cry in the boat; and +they can soon see several astonished faces peering over them. The boat +drifts by the ship; they give a pull or two, to get her under the stern of +the vessel; a coil of rope with a life-buoy is thrown to them, and they +manage to get it on board. The captain is now on deck; he orders other +ropes to be sent down, and soon another life-buoy, with cord attached, +comes floating by. Still the boat is in great danger; their safety +hitherto has been in floating with the waves, yielding to them as they +rolled on, but now the little boat has to breast the waves, and is tossed +high in the air, and again plunged far down, running great risk of being +overturned. "The difficulty now is how to get the men out of the boat, for +they dare not haul her up closer to the vessel, as she will not ride with +a shorter scope of rope. They send another rope down to the boat, with a +bowline knot made in it, for the men to sit in, and then shout to the men, +'We will haul you on board one at a time!'" A moment's question as to the +order in which the men shall go is quickly decided, for each feels that at +any moment the boat may sink or upset. They leave in the order in which +they sit, and one after another they plunge into the waves, and are hauled +on board, dripping, but saved! Very soon the boat fills and turns over, +and hangs by the ropes till morning. + +The captain will hardly credit their story at first. "Impossible! +impossible!" says he. "No boat could live in such a sea, and over the +Sands. Impossible!" But he becomes convinced at last, and all on board +show every attention and kindness. A little brandy and some dry clothes at +once, a beefsteak supper and a glass of grog later on, followed by warm +beds made up on the captain's cabin floor, and their adventures in an open +boat were but the memory of a horrid dream. The coxswain, however, fell +very ill soon after, and was nigh death's door; he did not recover his +strength for a twelvemonth, so greatly had the anxiety of that night's +work told upon him. + +Meantime, the lugger, after cruising backwards and forwards, the crew +keeping an anxious and fruitless look-out for their comrades in the boat, +is obliged to put in for Dover, from whence they telegraph the sad news +that six of their men are to all appearance lost. Next morning they make +one more effort to find some traces of their lost companions, and then +steer, sad and disheartened, for Ramsgate. There the arrival of the lugger +is most anxiously awaited. Alas! it is as they feared, and many a +household is plunged in grief. While this is going on, the boatmen leave +the American ship and row steadily for Ramsgate, near which they fall in +with another lugger, on which they are taken. The lugger's flag is +hoisted, in token that they are the bearers of good news, and great is the +curiosity of the men about the harbour. A crowd hurries down the pier to +watch her arrival, and as soon as the men missing from the _Princess +Alice_ are recognised, the cheers and excitement are wild in the extreme. +Men rush off to bear the good news. "One poor woman, in the midst of her +agony and mourning for her husband, and surrounded by her weeping friends, +is surprised by her door being burst violently open, and at seeing a +boatman, almost dropping with breathlessness, gasping and gesticulating +and nodding, but trying in vain to speak; and it is some seconds before he +can stammer out, 'All right! all right! Your husband is safe--coming now!'" + + [Illustration: THE LUGGER REACHING RAMSGATE HARBOUR.] + +The danger incurred by the hovellers is well illustrated by the following +example, recorded by our leading journal(76) some years since. Nine of +these men endeavoured to save a sloop, the _Wool-packet_, of Dartmouth, +stranded on Bideford Bar, and the crew must have lost their lives but for +the noble service performed, under great risks, by Captain Thomas Jones, +master of the steam-tug _Ely_, of Cardiff. A shipowner of Bideford, who +was an eye-witness of the brave deed, stated that the crew of the vessel +had abandoned her, and the two boats' crews, consisting of nine men, +afterwards boarded the wreck, with the view of trying to get her off the +bar; but when the tide rose the sea broke heavily over the vessel, and the +men hoisted a flag of distress. The steam-tug _Ely_ now hastened to the +rescue, against a strong tide and wind. Before, however, she could get +near the wreck, the nine men were driven to seek refuge in the rigging. +The sea was breaking fearfully in all directions and the vessel rolling +from side to side, but Captain Jones and his crew bravely proceeded +through the broken water, at the risk of their lives and vessel, and +succeeded, at the first attempt, in saving three of the men. This was all +that they could then accomplish, for the sea was now breaking so furiously +over the wreck that the steamer was driven away; and the same want of +success attended a second and third attempt to approach the wreck. The +captain then backed astern, and, with consummate skill and boldness, +actually placed the steamer alongside the vessel's rigging, with her bow +over the deck of the wreck, thus saving the six men in the rigging; and +within the short space of two minutes the wreck had actually disappeared, +and was not seen afterwards. But for this bold and successful service, +nine widows (for the nine rescued men were all married) and forty +fatherless children would to-day be lamenting the loss of husbands and +fathers. The National Life-boat Institution presented a medal, &c., to the +captain, and £1 each to the eight men forming the crew. + + [Illustration: WRECK OF THE "WOOL-PACKET" ON BIDEFORD BAR.] + +The greatness of the risk to the hoveller, and the comparative smallness +of his reward, are illustrated in the case of _La Marguerite_, a small +French brig, rescued from the Goodwin Sands and brought safely into +Ramsgate Harbour. She was owned by her captain, and represented to him the +labours of a hardworking life. She was bound from Christiania to Dieppe, +with a cargo of deals, and was considerably hampered on deck, the timber +being piled up almost to her gunwale. She lost her course in the night, +and grounded on the Sands. "Where are they? Where can they be? What +horrible mistake have they made?" writes Mr. Gilmore in his forcible +manner. "They think they must have run somewhere on the mainland on the +Kent coast; one man proposes to swim ashore with a rope, but the seas come +sweeping over them with a degree of violence that quite does away with any +thought of making such an attempt. They hurry to the long-boat, to try and +get it out, but it and the only other boat which is in the brig are +speedily swept overboard by the seas. The vessel is on the edge of the +Sands, and feels all the force of the waves as they roll in and leap and +break upon the bark. With every inrush of the seas she lifts high, and +pitches, crushing her bow down upon the Sands, each time with a thump that +makes her timbers groan, and almost sends the men flying from the deck." +For some twenty minutes she keeps thrashing on the Sands, when they glide +off into deep water, and after much delay get their anchor overboard. The +gale continues, and, after much entreaty--for the captain is a poor man--the +crew succeed in inducing him to cut the foremast away, and the brig rides +more easily when this is accomplished. They wait for daylight. They are +then seen from Margate, and two fine luggers have a race to see which can +get first to the vessel. The life-boat also puts off. One of the luggers +gets alongside in fine shape, and the men at once recommend the captain to +cut away the remaining mast, but he will not be persuaded. They raise the +anchor, and passing a hawser on board, attempt to tow the brig from the +Sands, but make little progress. To their satisfaction, they see the +Ramsgate steam-boat and life-boat making their way round the North +Foreland. + +"The coastguard officer at Margate, when he saw that the Margate life-boat +could not reach the brig, and knowing that if any sea got up where the +vessel was that the luggers could be of no use, telegraphed to Ramsgate +that the vessel was on the Knock Sands. The steamer and life-boat get +under weigh at once, and proceed as fast as possible to the rescue. There +is a nasty sea running off Ramsgate, but it is not until they get to the +North Foreland that they feel the full force of the gale. Here the sea is +tremendous, and as the steamer pitches to it the waves that break upon her +bows fly right over her funnel--indeed, she buries herself so much in the +seas that they have to ease her speed considerably to prevent her being +completely overrun with them." The boatmen at last get on board the brig; +a glance shows that no time must be lost, and as rapidly as possible the +steamer is enabled to take the water-logged vessel in tow. The French crew +are utterly exhausted with fatigue and excitement, and are quite ready to +leave their vessel in English hands. Away the brig goes, plunging and +rolling, with the seas washing over her decks, which are scarcely out of +the water, while the two boats are tossing astern, all being towed by the +gallant little steamer. They have nearly reached the harbour. + +In spite of the rough cold night, the interest in life-boat work is too +great for all sympathisers to be driven away from the pier-head; and there +is a crowd there ready to watch the boats return and to welcome the men +with a cheer. The steamer approaches cautiously, and the brig seems well +under command. A couple of minutes more and all will be safe, when +suddenly the rush of tide catches the wreck on the bow; she overpowers the +lugger, which is towing astern; round her head flies; she lurches heavily +forward, and strikes the east pier-head. Crash goes her jib-boom first, +and the steamer, towing with all its might, cannot prevent her again and +again crushing against the pier. Her bowsprit and figure-head are broken +and torn off, her stern smashed in. Ropes and buoys are thrown from the +pier. "The poor Frenchmen are almost paralysed by the scene and by +excitement--they cannot make it out; the harbour-master, Captain Braine, +has enough to do: he sees the danger of the men on board the brig, but he +sees more than this--he sees the danger of the crowd at the pier-head, for +the brig's mainmast is swaying backwards and forwards, coming right over +the pier as the vessel rolls, and threatens to break and come down upon +the people as the brig strikes the pier; and if it does it will certainly +kill some, perhaps many." Women shriek and men shout, and it looks as +though the _Marguerite_ would be wrecked in sight of all. Meantime the +crew of the hovelling lugger are in equal, if not greater, danger. + +"As soon as the men on board the lugger saw the brig sweep and crash +against the pier, they cast off their tow-rope, but before they could +hoist any sail, the way they had on the boat and the rush of the tide +carried the lugger almost between the vessel, as she swung round, and the +pier. The men, however, escaped that danger, and indeed death, but the +boat was swept to the back of the pier, and in the eddy of the tide was +carried into the broken waters; then she rolls in the trough of the sea; +wave after wave catches and sweeps her up towards the pier, as if to crush +her against it, but each time the rebound of the water from the pier acts +as a fender and saves her from destruction; but she is an open boat, and +if one big wave leaps on board it will fill her, and she must sink at +once; and the seas around her are very wild, the surf from their crests +breaks into her continually. The people on the pier see her extreme peril; +some run to the life-boat men, who are preparing to moor the boat, and +shout to them to hasten out--that the brig is breaking up, and that the +lugger will be swamped; before, however, the life-boat can get out the +brig is towed clear of the pier, and, the lugger having drifted to the end +of the pier, the men are able to get up a corner of the foresail; it cants +the lugger's head round; the men get the foresail well up: it fills; she +draws away from the pier and away from the broken water, and is clear." +But now the brig, the rudder of which had been wrenched out of her on the +Sands, has no boat to help her steer, and lurches about in all directions. +A heavy sea strikes her bow; the steamer's hawser tightens, strains, and +breaks! Excited people on the pier crowd round the harbour-master, and beg +him to order the life-boat men to take the crew and the boatmen off the +wreck at once. That official knows, however, the boatmen too well: _they_ +will not leave her while a stitch holds together. + +The captain of the steamer knows their peril, and backs his vessel down to +the wreck, now not over a hundred yards from the Dyke Sand. She is rolling +heavily, and the seas sweep over her; her crew can hardly keep the deck. +The steamer gets close to the brig, and soon another cable is out. Each +time the brig sheers heavily to one side or the other she is brought up +with a jerk that makes the steamer tremble from stem to stern, but that +plucky little boat is not to be beaten. Five brave fellows come off from +the pier in a small boat, bringing a line with them: with this they haul a +second hawser to the wreck; a crowd of people on the pier pull their +hardest, and succeed in moving the wreck. This cable breaks shortly +afterwards, but the steamer has by this time again got hold of the vessel, +and tows her safely into the harbour, a miserable wreck, with masts and +rudder gone, her bow and stern crushed, but with everybody safe on board. +The _Marguerite_ was ultimately repaired and sent to sea again, though she +could never be the vessel she once was. And the Margate and Ramsgate men +got a few pounds each for work that required each one to be a hero, and a +very practical and seamanlike hero too. The old wreckers made ten times +the money, with an infinitesimal proportion of the trouble. + +Yes, times _have_ changed for the better. Individuals may, of course, be +found capable of any amount of brutality for the sake of gain, but the +shipwrecked mariner of to-day is morally certain that his life and +remaining property are safe when he reaches the shore of any part of the +United Kingdom, and that for every ruffian there will be twenty kindly and +hospitable people ready to pity and to aid him. The same could not be said +of the early part of this very century. It seems almost incredible, too +horrible, to be possible, that in 1811 the remnant of a poor crew of a +frigate wrecked on the Scotch coast were, after buffeting the breakers and +struggling ashore for dear life, absolutely murdered on the beach for the +sake of their wretched clothes, or, at all events, stripped and left to +die. When morning dawned the beach was found strewn with naked corpses. +The inhabitants of many fishing villages and seaside hamlets were open to +similar imputations late in the last, and indeed early in the present, +century. Whole communities have in bygone times--let us trust gone for +ever--turned out at the tidings of a vessel in danger; solely with a view +to plunder. A tolerably well-known yarn, in which, probably, implicit +confidence should not be placed, tells us of a wreck which occurred near +the village of St. Anthony, Cornwall, one Sunday morning. This being the +case, and the parishioners assembling at the church, the clerk announced +that "Measter would gee them a holladay," for purposes on which that +excellent clergyman well knew they were intent. This is only one part of +the story, for it is stated that as the members of the congregation were +hurrying pell-mell from the church, they were stopped by the stentorian +voice of the parson, who cried out, "Here! here! let's all start fair!" +The fact is that the contents or material of a wreck scattered around a +coast were, and, no doubt, are still in many places, looked upon as +legitimate prey by fishermen and others who would scorn anything in the +form of treachery, in luring the good ship ashore, or in brutal treatment +to the survivors of her crew. "Within the past five-and-twenty years," +said a leader-writer a short time since, "it is said that a candidate for +Parliamentary honours, while canvassing in a district near the coast, +found that his opinion on the subject of wrecking was made a crucial +point. Wrecking, indeed--so far as the appropriation of shipwrecked +property is implied in the word--seems to have held very much the same +position in popular ethics as smuggling has done. 'Such was the feeling of +the wreckers,' writes one who was at one time Commissioner of the +Liverpool Police, 'that if a man saw a bale of goods or a barrel floating +in the water, he would run almost any risk of his life to touch that +article, as a sort of warrant for calling it his own. It is considered +such fair game, that if he could touch it he called out to those about +him, "That is mine!" and it would be marked as his, and the others would +consider he had a claim to it, and would render him assistance.'" We are +told that the natives of Sleswig-Holstein considered wrecking so +legitimate that prayers were offered up in their churches at one time that +"their coasts might be blessed." Pastor and flock looked upon wrecks as +much of blessings as they did a good fishing season. The parson, however, +it was explained, did not really pray for wrecks. Certainly not! What he +meant was that if there _must_ be wrecks, those wrecks might happen on +their coasts! + +The question of "salvage" is of a nature too technical for these columns. +In some minor matters it would seem that the authorities do not offer +proper encouragement to fishermen and others to be decently honest or +humane. At the period of the wreck of the _Schiller_, on the Scilly +Islands, a correspondent of our leading journal(77) tells us "that many +floating bodies of drowned passengers and seamen were picked up by the +fishing boats which abound in that part of Cornwall. Upon some of them +money or valuables were found, and these were given up to the Customs when +the body was sent ashore. In such cases the valuables were retained for +the friends of the drowned persons, and a uniform reward of five shillings +was paid to the finders. Now, for the sake of taking ashore such a body as +I have described, the fishermen--seven or eight in number--would have lost +their night's fishing, for it would not have been safe, even if the crew +were willing, to have done otherwise. The smallness of the reward given in +return for the services rendered would therefore operate as a strong +inducement to the more selfish among them to prefer their fishing to the +dictates of humanity. My informants even told a story of a fishing boat +which picked up a floating body, and, having collected all the papers and +valuables from it, restored the body itself to the deep, and went on its +way. The papers and valuables were given up in due course, and no charge +of dishonesty was preferred against the crew; but the want of humanity +caused (and not unnaturally) a strong feeling of indignation against the +perpetrators of this act. The fishermen, however, argued that if they +brought the bodies into port (as they were instructed to do), they would +get, at most, a sum of sevenpence per man for their night's work; and if +they brought merely the property to the proper authorities, they were +abused for their inhumanity; and that, therefore, their only alternative +was to pass the bodies by, and attend to their own work. Should the view +that I have here stated be found to be a general one, I think that it will +be allowed that it is an argument for either paying more highly for the +finding of bodies at sea, or allowing the finders the same salvage upon +the property found upon the bodies that they would have received had the +property been picked up in a chest." + +Pleasant it is to turn from what we may well believe is only an occasional +example of want of feeling to such a case as the following--one out of +thousands that might be cited. It is slightly abridged from a little +publication(78) which should be in the hands of all readers of "The Sea" +interested in benevolent efforts for the seaman's welfare. + + [Illustration: RONAYNE'S BRAVERY.] + +Some twelve miles westward from Tramore--a favourite watering-place and +summer resort for the citizens of Waterford, and nearly half a mile from +the coast--a farm is situated which has been long occupied by John Ronayne, +a hardy and typical Irish farmer. The farm-house has few of the +necessaries and none of the luxuries of civilised life, it is a true type +of the poor class of farm-houses in many parts of Ireland, consisting of +but two rooms--one the sleeping apartment, where Ronayne's family of twelve +children have been born, and the other the living-room, where it is to be +suspected sundry four-footed friends occasionally find their way, and bask +or grunt before the fire. Rather less than half a mile from the farm is +the rugged shore, approached by a rough "boreen," or narrow lane, emerging +on the cliff near the course of a stream, which is a roaring foaming +torrent in winter and spring-time. On winter days and nights, brown and +turbulent, this stream rushes foaming into the ocean over crags and rocks +and pebbly shore; but before it joins its fresh water with the salt sea +foam, it plunges into a crevice, narrow and deep and deadly. Every +coastman along the rock-bound shore knows this deep, treacherous hole, and +warns the traveller to beware of it--for, once in it, there is no return. +But this source of peril is little enough to that which is beyond. + +A hundred yards or so from the cove into which this impetuous torrent +pours frown two massive ridges of rock, offering to any venturesome ships +attempting to run between their threatening sides destruction on either +hand, while only some dozen yards of foaming breakers separate the one +from the other. Skilful must be the steersman, and bold the skipper, who +would dare the narrow channel, even though the only one by which they +might hope to beach their sinking ship. And yet, on one fearful night in +January, 1875, a large vessel, the _Gwenissa_, bound from Falmouth to +Glasgow, and new but a few weeks before, successfully accomplished the +dangerous passage. Not that any skill was shown, for none on the doomed +ship knew of their proximity to rocks or shore, but, driving blindly on +before the full fury of the gale, by chance were brought safely through. +But in another instant the ship struck the rocky shore, and in a moment +was shattered to pieces, timbers and tackle, cargo and living freight, +being thrown, scattered and helpless, into the angry surf. Escaping, as by +a miracle, the rocky dangers of Charybdis, the good ship _Gwenissa_ had +been hurled upon Scylla, and her doom sealed. + +The family at Killeton Farm little suspected, as they went to their humble +beds, the tragedy which was being enacted on the shore; and even when some +of the boys thought they heard cries of distress, little wonder--when the +wind was blowing in great fitful gusts, sweeping round the homely cottage, +shaking windows and doors, and moaning down the chimneys--that, after +listening a while and hearing nothing further, they thought no more of the +cries, and went to bed. Ronayne had, however, not been long in bed when a +loud knocking awoke him, and he jumped up, and on opening the door was +accosted by three men in sailor's garb. + +The first surprise over, the instincts of hospitality asserted themselves, +and he heaped up the turf fire, and, as they warmed themselves, learned +that they alone of the crew of the _Gwenissa_, nine in number, were +certainly saved. But there was a possibility that one or two might yet +survive; and though the wintry blast roared loud without, Ronayne lingered +not a moment. Hurrying on his clothes, and taking a large sod of flaming +turf by way of lantern, he rushed down the "boreen," and soon reached the +cove. Cautiously he made his way, and approached the edge of the stream, +whence he now heard the shouts of several men. He followed up the cries of +distress, and soon came upon a man in a most dangerous position. + +Ronayne blew the turf until it glowed brightly, and, holding it down, saw +a man waist-deep in the water, but so jammed between the crags that it was +impossible for him to move, far less climb the overhanging rocks. He was +bruised, stunned, and nearly insensible. Ronayne saw at a glance that the +only way to help him was himself to go down, extricate his bruised legs +from the rocks and wreck that held him like a vice, and then assist him to +climb from his perilous position. This, by means of much pulling and +hauling, he at length accomplished, and ultimately had the satisfaction of +leading the poor fellow to a place of safety, where, for a time, he left +him, sorely bruised, faint, and well-nigh frozen, for the others, who had +never ceased calling for assistance from the moment of his arrival. They +were four in number, and, as far as could be judged through the increasing +darkness, lay in the very gorge down which rushed the swollen stream; and +so it proved, for one was hanging to a spar which had become fixed in the +rocks, while another was grasping a projecting crag, by which he contrived +to keep afloat. The others, more fortunate, had been thrown on a ledge, +which left them in comparative safety, though they were waist-deep in +water. But though secure upon this ledge, they were quite as helpless as +their companions, for the beetling face of the rocks defied their utmost +efforts to scale them unaided. Here Ronayne's knowledge stood him in good +stead, and after much active assistance in the shape of climbing, +swimming, pulling, and scrambling, he succeeded in rescuing one after the +other, each assisting afterwards to make the task easier. Five men stood +beside him, cold and hurt, but saved by his perseverance and bravery from +a watery grave. + +"But," says the narrator--and here especially he should tell his own +tale--"not without great labour had this been effected, for one of the men +had his leg broken, and all were more or less bruised, and perishing of +cold and exposure. Three men were at his house and five here; but where +was the other? for nine men were on board the luckless vessel, and here +were but eight. Leaving the rescued men in the lane, Ronayne ran again to +the cove, and the dim spark expiring in the turf showed him where he had +left it. He scraped off the ash, and, the wind fanning it, again it burned +up brightly--too brightly, for now it burned down to his frozen fingers; +but he only grasped it the tighter, for did it not light him on his errand +of mercy? and if another life might be saved at the expense of a few +burns, would it not be great gain? So on sped he along the shore, +searching into every cranny and cleft and crevice lighted by the turf, +and, burning and shouting between his labours, at length was rewarded by a +faint cry as of a man in distress--more a moan than a cry, and at a +distance. Rapidly but carefully he had scanned the beach, and partially +searched every gully and cleft, and now and again receiving to his cries a +faint response, but always from far away. No doubt the man was out on the +rocks, to which he had been carried by a receding wave after the ship +struck, and Ronayne knew that some further help must be procured before he +could be reached. So he hastened back to the five men he had left in the +lane. They then all proceeded to the farm-house--a melancholy +_cortége_--carrying as best they could the helpless between them. He then +started off, wet and weary as he was, to the coastguard station at +Bonmahon, where he gave information of the wreck, and demanded assistance +for the poor fellow out on the rocks." The coastguard men lost no time in +turning out with the rocket apparatus; but just as they were fixing it in +position, Ronayne, who had been hunting about, came upon the very last and +ninth man of the crew, lying, half in the water and half out, upon the +beach among a quantity of wreck. His supposition had been correct in +regard to his position on the rocks, but while assistance was being +procured he had been washed ashore, with shattered limbs--bruised, +helpless, unconscious, but _alive_! The poor fellow, who remained +unconscious, was carried to the farm, where some old whisky-jars were +filled with hot water and placed to his feet. The little whisky in the +house was divided among the benumbed men, and more solid provision set +before them. + +And now Ronayne's house contained over twenty inmates, most of them +standing round the turf fire wringing the water from their clothes and +warming their frozen limbs; the few beds, too, had their occupants. For +Ronayne the work had but barely commenced. Saddling his young mare, he +started to lay information of the wreck before Lloyd's Deputy Receiver at +Tramore, some _twelve miles_ distant, for eight shillings were to be +earned, and for this trifling reward he was prepared to ride some +twenty-four miles on a cold winter night. + +On his road he passed the doctor's house, and sent him to attend the +injured men, arriving at Tramore a few minutes before the telegram from +the coastguard station. Two of the sailors were afterwards removed to the +hospital, and recovered, and they and the remainder cared for by the +Shipwrecked Mariners' Society's agents. Ronayne was indemnified for any +expense he had incurred by the same Society, and the Life-boat Institution +shortly after rewarded him. + + + + + + CHAPTER XX. + + + SHIPS THAT "PASS BY ON THE OTHER SIDE." + + + Captains and Owners--Reasons for apparent Inhumanity--A Case in + Point--The Wreck of the _Northfleet_--Run down by the _Murillo_--A + Noble Captain--The Vessel Lost, with a Hundred Ships near her--One + within Three Hundred Yards--Official Inquiry--Loss of the + _Schiller_--Two Hundred Drowned in one heavy Sea--Life-saving + Apparatus of little use--Lessons of the Disaster--Wreck of the + _Deutschland_--Harwich blamed unjustly--The good Tug-boat + _Liverpool_ and her Work--Necessity of proper Communication with + Light-houses and Light-ships--The new Signal Code and old + Semaphores. + + +From time to time there appear in the public journals accounts given by +sailors who have been saved from imminent peril from drowning by passing +ships. Many and many an honourable case could be cited; but there are, +alas! ships that "pass by on the other side." An article in the +journal(79) issued quarterly by that grand society the National Life-boat +Institution explains some of the reasons for this sad state of affairs. +The writer generally denies that the majority of the masters of ships who +would pass another vessel in distress are brutal or callous, and thinks +that were many of them brought face to face with an isolated case of +probable drowning, they would not hesitate to expose their own lives to +preserve the one endangered. There must be some strong causes operating on +the minds of the men who act in the inhuman manner indicated. Among them +are the following:-- + +"1st. That the loss of time which the most trifling service of this kind +causes would possibly represent a very considerable money loss to the +owners, by the delay in the arrival in port of the ship and cargo. + +"2nd. That the cost of maintenance of the persons saved is insufficiently +repaid by the Government. + +"3rd. That in all but the largest kind of ships the amount of food and +water habitually kept on board is rarely sufficient to meet the strain of, +say double, or, it may be quadruple, the number of men they were intended +for; and if a ship of the smaller class, towards the end of her voyage, +has to take on board the crew of a vessel greater in number than her own, +she is, from shortness of provisions and water, in nine cases out of ten, +compelled to make for the nearest port, which may be a cause of +incalculable loss, unless it chances to be the one she is bound for. + +"4th. Every captain knows that all owners are more or less inimical to +their ships rendering either salvage service or life-saving service. Not, +as we suppose, that any owner deliberately sets to himself the axiom that +no ship of his shall save life, but that they, not unnaturally, view with +suspicion salvage service, because they can receive nothing from it but +loss in time and money; and cases are not infrequent in which pretence of +saving life is made a source of real loss to the owners." + +One case among the many which could be presented is here given. It +appeared before the magistrates of Falmouth in 1873, in consequence of the +refusal of a crew to proceed to sea. The ship had come from a Chinese port +to _a port in Europe_: it being uncertain, from the fluctuating state of +the market, which it would be. The vessel fell in with a distressed ship, +from which she took seventeen persons. When in the entrance to the English +Channel, the captain found himself short of provisions and water, and put +into Falmouth, to land the shipwrecked crew and replenish his provisions. +His own crew thereupon claimed their discharge, as having arrived "_at a +port in Europe_." The Bench ruled the men's claim to be just, and it took +the captain a fortnight to obtain a fresh crew, to whom higher wages had +to be paid. "The actual and immediate loss to the owners, by this act of +humanity of their captain, was stated at £270. The only reimbursement was +the usual State grant for feeding so many men so many days, amounting +altogether to £16 and a few shillings." The delay in delivering cargo +entailed a heavy loss, and having put into a port not named, she had, it +was said, vitiated her policy. How might the owners feel towards that +captain in future? And again, how might he feel next time, when duty +called him one way and interest the other? In an indirect way, this and +foreign Governments recognise humane services of the kind indicated by +presents of telescopes or binocular glasses. Such recognition is +undoubtedly valued by the sort of men who would do their duty under any +adverse circumstances, and whether they were to be thanked or no; but it +is to be feared that captains who were as unfortunate as the one at +Falmouth might think twice before they performed that which their +consciences could only approve as right. + +The owner of the relieving vessel should have the right of being recouped +to the full extent of the loss incurred by delay and service--though many +would never accept it; and a ship's insurance should never be vitiated by +its calling at a port on a matter of any such necessity as landing a +shipwrecked crew or obtaining provisions. It is certain that we should do +all that is possible to reduce that annual list of ships whose only record +is "Not since heard of." + +A successful mail-steamer passage or quick run, the first clipper from +China with the season's tea, make not only a certain stir in a pretty wide +circle, but represent a considerable increase of actual wealth. The +despairing cry of those few poor seamen--who, in their sinking craft, or +who, perishing from hunger or thirst, see fading away on the distant +horizon the white royals of some lofty ship which they had watched with +such agonising alternation of hope and despair--is heard by God alone. + + [Illustration: THE "NORTHFLEET."] + +The wreck of the _Northfleet_, and loss of life to over 300 souls, on +January 22nd, 1873, will illustrate some of the above remarks.(80) The +_Northfleet_ was a fine old ship of 940 tons, built at Northfleet, near +Gravesend, and so named. After various vicissitudes in the service of +Dent's China and other lines, she had become the property of Messrs. John +Patton and Co., of Liverpool and London, and was at the time of which we +are about to speak chartered by the contractors of the Tasmanian Line +Railway to convey 350 labourers and a few women and children to Hobart +Town. The vessel left the East India Docks on Friday, the 17th December, +1872, with a living freight of about 400 persons. The cargo consisted +principally of railway material. At the very last moment of leaving the +docks, her commander for the previous five years, Captain Oates, was +subpoenaed by a Treasury warrant to attend the Tichborne trial, and the +command was given to his chief officer, Mr. Knowles. He was allowed to +take on board the lady to whom he had been married about a month. + +After leaving Gravesend the _Northfleet_ encountered very stormy weather, +and Captain Knowles felt it prudent to anchor under the North Foreland, +where the vessel remained until the following Tuesday, when, the weather +having moderated, she sailed down Channel, and was reported at Lloyd's as +having passed Deal, "All well" being the signal. On the Wednesday, at +sunset, she came to an anchor off Dungeness, about two miles from shore, +in eleven fathoms of water. She was then almost opposite the coastguard +station. About ten o'clock the ship was taut and comfortable for the +night; almost all the passengers had turned in, and none but the usual +officers and men of the watch were on deck. Just as the bells were +striking the half-hour past ten the watch observed a large steamer, +outward-bound, coming directly towards them. She appeared to be going at +full speed, and the shouts of the men on watch who called upon her to +alter her course roused Captain Knowles, who was on the after deck. But in +another moment the steamer came on to the _Northfleet_, striking her +broadside almost amidships, making a breach in her timbers beneath the +water-line, and crushing the massive timbers traversing the main deck. + + "'Midst the thick darkness, Death, + The dread, inexorable monarch, stalked; + And, lo! his icy breath + Encircled the devoted barque, where talked, + Or laughed, or watched, or slept, + The doomed three hundred of her living freight, + Unconscious that there crept + Through the still air the stealthy steps of Fate. + + * * * * * * * * * * * + + "Oh God, that fearful crash! + The stout ship reels, her planks disrupted wide; + Fast through the yawning gash + The green sea pours its dark, resistless tide. + What followed then, O heart, + Thou scarce may'st realise! 'Tis well for thee: + Ne'er would that sight depart + From gentle mind that had been there to see. + + "For maddening terror reigned; + Honour, and manhood, and calm reason fled, + And brutal instincts gained + The mastery; and even shame was dead. + Each one, to save his life + Would give to death the lives of all beside; + Nor cared in that fell strife + What awful end his fellows might betide.(81) + + "Yet 'mid that wild despair + Nobility of soul found room to stand, + And lustre bright and rare + Enfolds the memory of Knowles and Brand; + Who, face to face with death, + Save of dishonour, showed no coward dread, + Brave hearts to the last breath, + They joined the galaxy of Britain's dead." + +The shock was described by the survivors as like the concussion of a very +powerful cannon. The reader will here make his own reflections. +Immediately after the collision the steamer cleared the ship, and before +many of the terrified people below could reach the deck she was out of +sight. Most of the passengers were awakened by the shock, and a fearful +panic ensued. Captain Knowles acted with singular calmness, promptitude, +and decision. He caused rockets to be sent up, bells to be rung, and other +signals of distress; but the gun to be fired would not go off, the +touch-hole being clogged. Meantime he directed the boats to be launched, +giving orders that the safety of the women and children should be first +secured. There was a disposition to set these orders at defiance, and, on +some of the crew crowding to the davits, with a view of effecting their +own safety, Captain Knowles drew a revolver, and declared he would shoot +the first man who attempted to save himself in the boats before the women +were cared for. Most of the crew seemed to understand that the captain was +not to be trifled with; but one man, Thomas Biddle, refused to obey the +order, and the captain fired at him in a boat alongside the ship. The +bullet entered the man's leg just above the knee. + +Meantime the pumps were set to work, but with little or no effect, the +water pouring in through the opening in the ship's side. The scene on deck +was frightful. Many of the passengers were in their night-dresses; others +had only such scanty clothing as they could secure on quitting their +berths. Children were screaming for their parents, and parents searching +in vain for their children; husbands and wives were hopelessly separated. +The horror was increased by the darkness of night. The captain's wife was +placed with other women in the long-boat, under the charge of the +boatswain; but the tackle being too suddenly set adrift, the boat was +stove in. + + [Illustration: WRECK OF THE "NORTHFLEET."] + +By this time the _City of London_ steam-tug, having perceived the signals +of distress, reached the spot, and succeeded in rescuing nearly the whole +of the occupants of the boat, as well as several others of the passengers +and crew, to the number of thirty-four. She remained cruising about the +spot till early next morning, picking up such of the passengers as could +get clear of the wreck, and in the last hope, which proved vain, of +rendering assistance to those who might have floated on fragments of the +ship after she settled down. The Kingsdown lugger _Mary_ was likewise +attracted by the signals of distress, and succeeded in rescuing thirty +passengers. The London pilot-cutter No. 3, and the _Princess_, stationed +at Dover, also got to the spot, and succeeded in rescuing twenty-one, ten +of them from the rigging. The total number thus rescued was eighty-five +persons. + +The ship went down about three-quarters of an hour after she was struck, +the captain remaining at his post till she sank. One of the survivors +states that he was standing close to the captain when she went down. The +former managed to lay hold of some floating plank, and was borne to the +surface. The captain, however, was not again seen. The pilot and ten +others had taken to the mizen-mast, from which they were rescued. The +whole of the officers perished. + +It must seem remarkable that while the _Northfleet_ showed lights and +other signals of distress within two miles of shore during twenty minutes +or half an hour no notice was taken of them. When a ship is in +difficulties in the night, it is usual for her either to fire guns or to +exhibit a flare of light. But here, even the vessels close at hand thought +that the ship was only signalling for a pilot; and at the time there were +nearly a hundred vessels at anchor in the roadstead, with their lights +burning brilliantly. Those on board the three ships nearest the wreck +would have instantly sent help had they imagined there was a vessel in +distress, and they could have got to the ship in a few minutes, for, +though the night was dark and squally, it was clear at intervals, and any +boat could live, the sea not being rough. It appears that the _Corona_, an +Australian clipper, was lying at anchor within 300 yards of the +_Northfleet_ when the disaster occurred, but neither the terrible shock of +the collision, the subsequent cries for aid, nor the rockets continuously +fired from the deck of the sinking ship, could arouse the man who was the +only watch on deck to call up either his comrades or the officers of his +ship. Various reports were at first current as to the name of the vessel +which ran the _Northfleet_ down, and which passed straight on her way, +without taking any heed of the disaster she had caused, though it must +have been clearly known on board of her, if not--it is to be hoped--to the +full extent of the calamity. Suspicion attached to the _Murillo_, a +Spanish steamer, bound for Lisbon from Antwerp. The _Murillo_ arrived at +Cadiz on the evening of Thursday, the 30th, having stopped at Belem, the +entrance to the port of Lisbon, on the day before, and having then been +warned by a telegram to go on to Cadiz without landing her Lisbon cargo. +Upon her arrival at Cadiz an official inquiry was commenced, at the +instance of the British Consul. From the report of Mr. Macpherson, Lloyd's +agent at Cadiz, it appeared that her starboard bow had been newly painted +black and red to the water line, and her port bow showed marks of a slight +indentation near the anchor davit. It was stated, however, on behalf of +her owners, that the painting was done in London or Antwerp, before she +started on her present journey, and that the indentation had been made on +entering the port of Havre two years before. An inquiry was instituted in +the Spanish Courts, and the committee appointed for that purpose declared +that the _Murillo_ was not the vessel which ran down the _Northfleet_. The +_Murillo_ was therefore released. But some time afterwards justice was +avenged. + +The official report of the inquiry made--at the instigation of the English +Government--by Mr. Daniel Maude, stipendiary magistrate, assisted by +Captains Harris and Hight acting as assessors, stated that there was no +doubt that the ship which came into collision with the _Northfleet_ was +the Spanish iron screw-steamer _Murillo_, trading between London and +Cadiz, which left London on the 12th of January, proceeded to Antwerp, +and, after leaving that port, arrived off Dungeness on the night of +January 22nd. The _Northfleet_ was anchored in an apparently most safe +position, a mile and a half or more inside the usual fair course for +vessels outward-bound. The _Murillo_ came down inside the _Northfleet_, +and struck her nearly amidships. It would appear, both from observation on +board the _Northfleet_ and also from the evidence given by the chief +engineer of the _Murillo_, that the latter had slackened her speed some +little time before the collision, or probably both ships would have sunk. +There is no doubt the shock was a slight one; but the sharp stem of the +iron steamer having struck the weakest part of the wooden ship will +account for the mischief done. The master of the _Murillo_, in his log, +stated that the reason for not laying by to inquire as to the injury +sustained by the shock was that a boat had immediately left the ship and +examined the damage, and that the boat and crew having returned again, he +concluded nothing of moment had happened. The Court was satisfied that no +such incident had occurred, nor was it mentioned by the witnesses who had +previously been examined by the Court. The survivors of the collision were +unanimously of opinion that if the _Murillo_ had lain by, the whole of the +_Northfleet_ people could have been saved. They thoroughly believed that +the _Murillo_ steamed away, and left them to perish, in defiance of their +signals, rockets, blue lights, and the shouts and screams of the whole +ship's company, which must have been noticed. On the other hand, it +appears that Captain Knowles did not apprehend immediately the damage his +ship had suffered, and that no rockets were fired for a quarter of an hour +after the collision. During this time the _Murillo_ was steaming away at +half-speed, and was probably two miles off. Upon this evidence the Court +felt they ought not to impute to the captain of the _Murillo_ the full +apparent brutality of his offence in not staying by the injured ship. The +Court added a strong expression of opinion that no master of a ship should +be allowed to take his wife to sea with him. + +On Friday, the 7th of May, 1875, one of those sad events occurred which +show the imperfection of many of the most carefully-devised schemes for +life-saving at sea. Although it occurred in British waters, neither the +ship nor the larger part of the passengers were British subjects. The +_Schiller_ was a fine iron steamship of 3,600 tons, belonging to the Eagle +line of Hamburg; she was nearly a new vessel, having been built at Glasgow +in 1873. She left New York on the 27th of April, having on board at the +time 264 passengers, while the officers and crew numbered 120 souls. All +went well till the 7th of May, on which day she was due at Plymouth, when, +in the afternoon, a fog set in; nevertheless, the vessel was kept at full +speed until 8.30 p.m., when the density of the fog having greatly +increased, she was put at half-speed, and an hour after she struck on the +Retarrier Rocks, off the Scilly Islands, and within two-thirds of a mile +of the lighthouse on the Bishop's Rock. Although going at slow speed at +the time, and although the engines were immediately reversed, the +unyielding rocks had done their work: the ship was immovable, and +immediately filled. All was at once confusion, and a panic ensued, cries +of terror rising from every lip. Orders were given by the captain to lower +the boats, and until he was himself washed off the bridge, at about 4 +a.m., and drowned, he did his best to preserve some order, even +threatening the frantic crowd with his pistol. All the boats, however, +except two, were swept away by the sea before they could be lowered, many +perishing with them, and one was crushed by the funnel falling on it. The +ship held together for several hours, and had there been any means of +making their hopeless condition known at St. Mary's, the chief of the +Scilly Islands, a steamer, and a first-class lifeboat(82) belonging to the +National Lifeboat Institution, might have arrived in time to save a large +number of lives. Such, however, was not to be, and when the morning dawned +all that remained of the crew and passengers who, a few hours before, had +been looking forward to happy meetings in the Fatherland with fathers, +mothers, sisters, brothers, and friends at home, were those who had +succeeded in mounting the rigging of the fore and main masts, and a few +others in the half-swamped boat, the only one which had been safely +lowered. The women and children who had crowded the deck-houses and +saloon, and the male passengers and those of the crew who were on the +upper deck or the bridge, had perished. Alarm-guns were fired and signal +lights thrown up continually, until the seas breaking over the ship +prevented such efforts attracting attention; and some of the former were +heard on the islands, but as steamers from America had been in the habit +of firing guns to mark their arrival off the islands, they were not +supposed to be danger signals. It is said, however, that at St. Agnes, the +nearest island to the wreck, the guns were believed to be from a vessel in +distress, but the fog was so thick that boats were afraid to venture out. + + [Illustration: THE SCILLY ISLANDS.] + +The mainmast fell at about seven o'clock in the morning, and the foremast +an hour later, when most of those who remained in their rigging were lost. +Just before the foremast had fallen, four boats from the shore arrived, +and picked up several persons from the water, but finding the sea too +heavy to allow them to go alongside the ship, one of them went to St. +Mary's, to convey intelligence of the disaster and to procure the aid of +the steam-tug and lifeboat. As soon as possible the latter arrived in tow +of the steamer, but all, alas! was then over, and they only picked up +twenty-three bags of mail matter and a few bodies. Out of 384 souls only +53 were saved. + +It was about ten o'clock in the evening when the ship struck. A little +festive party had been given in honour of the birthday of one of the +officers, but there is no evidence to show that the working of the ship +was thereby neglected. The majority of the passengers were on deck, on the +look-out for land, which they knew was near. Nearly all the women and +children and a few men were in their berths; others were sitting about, +talking, smoking, playing cards or dominoes, and thinking little of the +fate which was so soon to befall them. There was not the slightest +premonition of the disaster, and the shock appears to have been so slight +that few were at first aware that the ship had struck on a rock. But in a +few minutes the sea which ran over her forced her on her broadside, where +she lay constantly washed over by the breakers. Let the reader imagine, if +he can, the sudden change from the gaiety and hopefulness on board, the +anticipations of soon reaching shore and home, to that scene of wild +terror and dismay! + + [Illustration: THE BISHOP ROCK LIGHTHOUSE.] + +About midnight the funnel fell overboard and smashed two of the starboard +boats. Soon after the fog cleared away, and a gleam of hope arose when the +bright clear light of the Bishop Rock Lighthouse shone out. But it was +only momentary, and dense darkness soon surrounded them. When the +deck-house was swept away by a sea so heavy that it ran up to the top of +the mainmast, a heartrending cry, mingled with shrieks and groans, rent +the air. Nearly two hundred perished by this one catastrophe. Then the +captain gathered for safety some people on the bridgeway, the highest +place, in the vain hope of saving them. Every one, including the captain, +engineers, and doctor, were swept off. The riggings of both masts were now +crowded with people. With every lurch the steamer careened over to the +starboard side until the yards touched the water, and the cargo began to +float about on all sides. Bales of wool and cotton, feathers, trunks, +boxes, and woodwork of all kinds, strewed the waves. + +A survivor--one of seven who left the ship in a boat and was afterwards +instrumental in picking up others--said that they cruised about the greater +part of the night near the vessel, and that the screaming all the time was +heartrending, and lasted almost from the commencement of the disaster to +four o'clock in the morning, when it ceased. Alas! by that time nearly all +had gone to their long account. The last screams he heard, and which he +could never forget, were from a little child. Mingled with all was the +cracking of the ship's timbers as wave after wave broke over her. One by +one the lights disappeared, till, at three o'clock, not one was left but +the masthead light. + +A proportion of the bodies only were recovered, among them those of +several ladies wearing valuable jewellery; one had £200 in money upon her, +which she had endeavoured to save. That with 1,200 life-belts on board so +few should have escaped seems nearly incredible; but the panic and other +circumstances help to account for the sad fact. The second mate stated +that he had much trouble in getting the passengers to understand the +importance of wearing them well under the armpits, and that if the belt +got below the waist it would at once force the head under water. From the +position of some of the corpses recovered, it is evident that many must +have perished in this manner. In a number of cases the lower strings of +the life-belts had broken. The larger part of the dead were buried on the +various islands of the Scilly group.(83) + +The main features of this disaster teach some important lessons. "We +find," says a writer in _The Lifeboat_, "in this instance, a noble ship, +under full control of steam and sail; the captain(84) an able, +experienced, and careful officer, whose devotion to his duty and sense of +the responsibility thrown on him were shown by the fact of his not having +had his clothes off for five nights previous to the loss of his ship; and +the weather fine, with the exception of the prevalence of a dense fog. + +"If we further inquire whether the owners of the ship had done their duty +in providing their passengers with all available means of safety, we find +that she had an ample and competent crew, had eight boats, six of them +being life-boats, and that life-belts more than sufficient for every one +on board were provided, and were to a large extent used, since all, or +nearly all, the bodies that were picked up had life-belts on them. The +latter may, however, have been of inferior quality--indeed, are said to +have been so. With so many elements of safety, what then caused them to be +of no avail? + +"The immediate causes of the loss of the ship were apparently the dense +fog and an insufficient allowance for the set of the well-known current +which sets out of the Bay of Biscay to the northward, across the entrance +of the British Channel, which has sometimes considerable strength. + +"A secondary cause was the old offence, so general in the merchant +service, despite all the warnings of experience--neglect of sounding, the +lead not having been used during the day or night, nor on the two previous +days. + +"Lastly, the chief cause of so few lives being saved, there can be little +doubt, was the same as that which led to such fearful results in the case +of the _Northfleet_, viz., the custom of making use of night signals of +distress for other objects, such as to call for pilots, to signify +arrival, &c., a folly admonished in advance in the old fable of the boy +raising the alarm of 'Wolf, wolf!' when there was no wolf, and then +receiving no succour from his neighbours when the wolf came. + +"It appears to be customary for the German steamers to make the Scilly +Islands to enable their agents there to telegraph to Plymouth the approach +of their steamers, in order that the necessary preparations should be made +for a prompt disembarkation of their passengers for England on their +arrival at that port. + +"The saving of time, which, looking to the great daily expense of such +vessels, with their hundreds of mouths to be fed, and their immense +consumption of coal, is the saving of money to the shareholders, and is, +of course, the motive for communicating by signal with Scilly, just as the +maintenance of high speed in all weathers, and by night as by day at all +hazards, is so, and which leads to so many disasters. + +"All that we would suggest, in the interest of humanity, is that such +communication should be left discretionary with the captain of every ship +in the case of fogs, when it should be optional for him to proceed +directly for Plymouth, or to heave to, or to feel his way at greatly +diminished speed by frequent sounding, which would be a certain guide to +him for a distance of many miles round the islands." The writer suggests +that, in view of the too common neglect of sounding, such neglect, when +discovered, should be punishable by heavy penalties. It was proved in +evidence that the Eagle line of steamers were expressly prohibited from +firing guns, or exhibiting other distress signals, to make themselves +known, but that other German steamers had done so, of which those on board +this unfortunate ship now reaped the evil consequences. + +On the morning of the 6th December, 1875, one of those sad disasters +occurred which ever and again remind us of the dangerous nature of our +shores. But a few months before the _Schiller_ had been wrecked, with the +loss of 331 lives, and now an emigrant steamship, of the same nationality, +was to share the same terrible fate off the Essex coast. Happily, the loss +was not so serious, and led to the establishment of a life-boat station +where one had not existed before. + + [Illustration: WRECK OF THE "DEUTSCHLAND."] + +Few maritime disasters of modern times have excited more general interest +than the wreck of the _Deutschland_: partly from the fact that it occurred +so near the mouth of the Thames, and partly because a part of the German +press, in a strange and reckless manner, advanced serious charges against +the town of Harwich and the boatmen of that port, accusing them of +allowing the unfortunate emigrants to perish before their eyes, and +refusing them succour. The circumstances are as follows:--In the first +place, the spot where the _Deutschland_ was wrecked--on the Kentish +Knock--is twenty-four miles from Harwich, and, therefore, at too great a +distance for the vessel herself, and far less for any signals of distress +or national flag to be seen from that place, even in clear weather. +"Accordingly, the only modes by which intelligence of the disaster could +be conveyed to Harwich would have been by the different light-vessels +repeating the signals from one to another, and finally to that town, or by +some vessel or boat proceeding there. Now it so happened that all the +hovelling smacks belonging to that and adjacent places had themselves been +driven into port by the violence of the gale and the heavy sea, and that +the only available means of communication was, therefore, by signals from +the light-ships. It appears from the evidence of the officers in charge of +those vessels at the Board of Trade inquiry, although the _Deutschland_ +had been on shore since five and six o'clock in the morning on Monday, the +6th of December, and had immediately commenced to throw up rockets, and +continued to do so until daylight, none of them were seen even from the +nearest light-ship--the Kentish Knock--no doubt, owing to the thickness of +the weather and almost continuous snow-storms, the master of that vessel +first perceiving the unfortunate steamer at 9.30 a.m. He then fired guns, +sounded the fog-horn, and continued to do so at half-hour intervals during +the day, and at 4.30 p.m. commenced to throw up rockets, which were +answered by the steamer. + +"At 5.20 the mate of the Sunk light-ship first saw two rockets, which he +supposed to be from a vessel on the Long Sand, whereupon he fired guns and +sent up rockets throughout the night, but did not see the wrecked ship +until 7.30 on the morning of Tuesday, the 7th. His first rockets had, +however, been seen by the look-out on board the Cork light-ship, from +which vessel rockets were then immediately discharged; and at 7.30 these +were replied to from Harwich, they having given the first intimation to +the good people of that town that anything was amiss at sea; and even then +not that a German emigrant steamer was ashore on the Kentish Knock, but +merely that some vessel was in danger somewhere on one of the numerous +sandbanks which lie in all directions off that port. We have thus +accounted for the circumstance of these unfortunate shipwrecked persons +being allowed to remain for fourteen hours in their perilous position +without succour from the shore, from the simple cause that no one knew of +their danger; and we have arrived at another stage of our inquiry: viz., +Were the means then adopted all that could be reasonably expected from +humane people, who would gladly afford succour, if in their power, to any +one in distress, to whatever country they might belong?" + +The writer of the critical article from which the above quotations are +taken(85) shows, firstly, that there was not at that time a life-boat +station at Harwich. It had always been considered that the sands were too +distant from that port for the successful employment of such a boat, and +that, in the event of wrecks upon them, the numerous hovelling smacks +would have anticipated its services. There was, however, a small but +serviceable steam-tug--not, be it remembered, Government or town property, +but that of a private individual. It is right that this should be fully +understood. The circumstance of this tug, the _Liverpool_, not going off +instantly on perceiving the rockets thrown up by the Cork light-ship was +much criticised by some ignorant persons at the time. "Fortunately, she +was commanded by an able and experienced seaman, Captain Carrington, who +knew what he was about; who knew the difficulties of navigating in the +intricate passages between the numerous shoals off the port on a dark +night and gale of wind, and he could only do so at great risk of losing +his owner's vessel and the lives of those intrusted to him; that he might +spend the whole night in vainly searching for the vessel in distress, and, +even if he should find her, that, with the small tug's boats, it would be +quite impossible for him to render any assistance to a vessel surrounded +by broken water, in a dark night and heavy sea; and, moreover, that if any +mishap should disable his own vessel, the only chance of saving the +wrecked persons might be destroyed." He judiciously waited till shortly +before daylight, and then proceeded, first, to the Cork light-ship, where +he ascertained that the Sunk light-ship had been firing all night. He then +steamed to the latter, and was misinformed (unintentionally) regarding the +locality of the wreck. He, after searching in vain for some little time, +steamed for the Kentish Knock, and when half-way to it saw the +_Deutschland_ on that sandbank. He then went to the Knock light-ship, and +hailed her, inquiring whether those on board knew anything about the +wreck, or whether there were any people remaining on board her, but could +get no information. He soon proceeded to the spot, and, finding there were +a large number of persons on board her, anchored his vessel under her lee, +at about sixty fathoms' distance, and sent his boats to her. After taking +off three boat-loads, he weighed his anchor, placed his vessel alongside +the ship, and took off the remainder of the survivors--173 in all. In spite +of the time which had elapsed and the great dangers to which the vessel +had been exposed, the loss of life had not been so serious as might well +have been anticipated. Fifty-seven poor men and women had, however, +perished in the raging waves. The tug(86) had done her work of saving +nobly and well, and had performed it at a time when the hovelling smacks +could have done nothing at all. On the same occasion the Broadstairs +life-boat proceeded as soon as possible to the scene of the wreck, twenty +miles distant, but too late to be of service. In these days of nearly +universal telegraphy, it would seem strange that our light-ships on +dangerous sands, and our lighthouses on dangerous rocks, are almost +entirely without the means of proper communication with the nearest +shores. From the light-ship, indeed, rockets and guns are constantly +fired, as we have seen in many preceding examples, but fogs and heavy +weather often prevent either from being of service. The expense of +connecting _all_ of them with the coasts by means of submarine cables +might be sufficient to frighten any Government; but some such +communication, however costly, should be made with many of those exposed +and dangerous spots where shipwrecks are of constant occurrence. + +Excellent authorities on maritime matters have strongly advocated the +necessity for the establishment of a sound system of day and night signals +from all outlying lighthouses, light-ships, and coastguard stations, and +the laying of submarine cables to many of the more prominent stations. A +formula of "signals of distress" was included in the new "Merchant +Shipping Act of 1873," which came into operation on the 1st of November of +that year. Prior to that time such signals were too vague and too +indiscriminately used to have much value, and sometimes were calculated to +mislead. Thus, in the case of the _Northfleet_ already cited, 400 of those +on board were drowned, "although she was surrounded by other ships, and +the rockets which she discharged as signals of distress were seen by the +coastguard and life-boat men ashore, but were unheeded, it being a common +custom for homeward-bound ships to discharge rockets for pilots, or as +_feux de joie_ on their safe return from distant lands." The following +signals of distress are now required. In _the daytime_ the following +signals, when used together or separately, shall be deemed sufficient and +proper. 1. A gun fired at intervals of about a minute. 2. The +International Code signal of distress. This is a square flag with +chess-board pattern, blue and white, having beneath it a long triangular +white pennant, with a red ball in the centre. 3. The distant signal, +consisting of a square flag, having above or below it a ball or anything +resembling a ball. _At night_ the following signals:--1. A gun fired at +intervals of about a minute. 2. Flames on the ship, as from a burning +tar-barrel or oil-barrel, &c. 3. Rockets or shells, of any colour or +description, fired, one at a time, at short intervals. And "any master of +a vessel who uses or displays, or causes or permits any person under his +authority to use or display, any of the said signals, except in the case +of a vessel being in distress, shall be liable to pay compensation for any +labour undertaken, risk incurred, or loss sustained, in consequence of +such signal having been supposed to be a signal of distress, and such +compensation may, without prejudice to any other remedy, be recovered in +the same manner in which salvage is recoverable." + +The signals for pilots are also definitely fixed as follows:--_By day_, the +"Jack" or other national colour usually worn by merchant ships, having +round it a white border, is to be displayed at the fore; _or_ the +International Code pilotage signal, this consists of two square flags, the +upper of which is a blue flag with a white square in its centre, and the +lower of which is a striped flag, red, white, and blue, similar to the +French flag. _At night_, "blue lights," or bright white lights, are to be +flashed at frequent intervals, just above the bulwarks. If these signals +are used for any purpose other than that for which they are intended, a +penalty, not exceeding twenty pounds, is incurred. Residents at, and +visitors to, seaports and sea-side resorts will, from the above +description, be able to judge whether a vessel in the offing is in dire +distress or simply requires the ordinary services of a pilot. + +In the eighteenth century, the requirements of a maritime country +constantly at war obliged the Government to establish a complete system of +signals and signal stations all round our coasts. At the conclusion of our +wars with France that system was in full force, and at that time the +movements of nearly every vessel, friend or foe, were telegraphed from +point to point with a facility which contributed in an important degree to +the security of the country. "This Government telegraph system was also +available for summoning such aids as then existed for the preservation of +life from shipwreck. Accounts of wrecks at what may be called the +life-boat era all tend to show that the system of coast telegraphy then in +existence played an important part in most notable life-boat and other +rescues from shipwreck. With the long peace the need for information on +the part of the Government as to the movements of its own or other ships +became less urgent, though the coast system of signals maintained a +precarious existence for many years, to assist the coastguard in +protecting the revenue. As smuggling decreased, the coastguard men were +reduced in number, and the chain of signallers became broken into gaps, +which widened year by year. The final blow was given by railways and +electricity to the old line of semaphores stretching between Portsmouth +and the Admiralty, and elsewhere, and from headland to headland. But while +the Government, by the help of modern invention, enormously increased its +facilities of communication with the great dockyards and arsenals, it, +conceiving itself to be in no way concerned (we suppose) with the safety +of merchant ships or saving life, failed to supply a substitute for the +old semaphore system along the coast line; and year by year the evil has +increased from the reduction of the coastguard, and the consequent +lengthening of the interval on lines of coasts in which watch has ceased +to be kept. The result is that during the last twenty-five years, and up +to the present time, there has been greater difficulty in communicating +along the coast and summoning aid to distressed vessels at all +out-of-the-way parts of the coast than existed at the end of the last +century. + +"The First Lord of the Admiralty or the President of the Board of Trade +can converse at leisure with Plymouth, Deal, Leith, or Liverpool, but the +Eddystone has no means of letting the authorities at Plymouth know that a +ship is slowly foundering before the eyes of the keepers, though the two +points are in sight of each other. The light-keepers at the Bishop have no +means of telling the people at St. Mary's that a ship full of passengers +is slowly but surely tearing to pieces on the Retarrier reef; and the +hundreds of vessels that yearly are in deadly peril on the Goodwins, the +Kentish Knock, the Norfolk Sands, and elsewhere, have no means of +summoning prompt aid from the land, though they are only a few miles +distant from it."(87) The writer notes that the number of cases of +shipwreck, where the vessels might have been saved, which reach the +National Life-boat Institution is considerable. These come largely from +obscure and detached parts of the coasts. A foreign barque was wrecked on +the Ship-wash, a sandbank eight miles from land, the nearest port being +Harwich, from which its southern end is distant ten miles. The wreck was +discovered by several smacks soon after seven o'clock on the morning of +January 7th, 1876, and the news of the disaster was in the possession of +the coastguards at Walton, Harwich, and Aldborough, before ten o'clock +that day. Yet the crew were not taken off the wreck till the following +morning, after they had been more than twenty-four hours exposed to all +the horrors of a pitiless easterly gale, and the momentary expectation of +being swept into eternity. So ill-adapted was the system of sending +information along the coast that the news did not reach Ramsgate till the +next morning, and tug-boat and life-boat then started on a gallant but +fruitless expedition, to find that they had only just been forestalled by +the Harwich steamer. The Ramsgate men were thus needlessly exposed for +fourteen hours in a storm, with the cold so intense that the salt water +froze as it fell on the boat. "It is also significant," says a writer in +_The Lifeboat_, "that the Aldborough life-boat's crew declined to launch +their boat (they being fifteen miles from the wreck), mainly because there +were no sure grounds for concluding that the crew were still on board +it--information which could certainly have been conveyed by the Ship-wash +lightship had it had an electric wire communication with the shore; or, +failing that, by properly arranged 'distant signals' visible to the eye." +The writer shows that had the information been telegraphed from the point +which it actually did reach about 10 a.m., either to the Admiralty or the +Board of Trade, or any other public department, assistance could with ease +have been sent to the wreck, by orders from London, not the day after, but +on the forenoon of the same day. And what might not have been the sad +consequences of delay, had the vessel been carrying a lot of helpless +passengers instead of nine hardy seamen? + +A case occurred shortly after the above occurrence, illustrating the +necessity for prompt and suitable communication with land. The steamer +_Vesper_, of Hartlepool, was lost on the Kish Bank, four miles south of +the Kish light-ship. The crew of this wreck, which struck the bank at 5 +a.m., though only _four_ miles from the light-ship, six of a coastguard +station on shore, and seven of another point, received no assistance, nor +did the light-ship pass the intelligence till 10 a.m., when a boatman at +Kingstown saw masts sticking out of the water on the Kish Bank, with +signals of distress flying from them. Promptly enough then the life-boat, +towed by H.M. steam-tender _Amelie_, proceeded to the wreck, only to find, +however, that on the steamer sinking the crew had taken to their own +boats, and being unburdened with passengers, had escaped to land. The +weather was moderate; had there been a gale, the story might have been far +different. What a reproach to our system! first, that the light-ship had +no means of signalling for assistance; and, second, that it had no means +afterwards of indicating that all hands were happily saved. + + + + + + CHAPTER XXI. + + + A CONTRAST--THE SHIP ON FIRE!--SWAMPED AT SEA. + + + The Loss of the _Amazon_--A Noble Vessel--Description of her + Engine-rooms--Her Boats--Heating of the Machinery--The Ship on + Fire--Communication Cut off--The Ominous Fire-bell--The Vessel put + before the Wind--A Headlong Course--Impossibility of Launching the + Boats--"Every Man for Himself!"--The Boats on Fire--Horrible Cases of + Roasting--Boats Stove in and Upset--The Remnant of + Survivors--"Passing by on the Other Side"--Loss of a distinguished + Author--A Clergyman's Experiences--A Graphic Description--Without + Food, Water, Oars, Helm, or Compass--Blowing-up of the _Amazon_--"A + Sail!"--Saved on the Dutch Galliot--Back from the Dead--Review of the + Catastrophe--A Contrast--Loss of the _London_--Anxiety to get Berths + on her--The First Disaster--Terrible Weather--Swamped by the Seas--The + Furnaces Drowned out--Efforts to Replace a Hatchway--Fourteen Feet + of Water in the Hold--"Boys, you may say your Prayers!"--Scene in + the Saloon--The Last Prayer Meeting--Worthy Draper--Incidents--Loss of + an Eminent Tragedian--His Last Efforts--The Bottle Washed + Ashore--Nineteen Saved out of Two Hundred and Sixty-three Souls on + Board--Noble Captain Martin--The _London's_ Last Plunge--The + Survivors picked up by an Italian Barque. + + +No greater horror can occur at sea than for the good ship to be on fire. +At first sight, indeed, it might appear that in the midst of an unbounded +waste of waters nothing could be easier than to extinguish a conflagration +on board a vessel, but examples already cited in this work have shown the +difficulties in the way. Steam-ships have special facilities for pumping +water into almost any part of their hulls, yet one of the saddest examples +of a ship on fire is afforded in the loss of the _Amazon_, a steam-ship of +the first-class. + +The _Amazon_ was one of a fleet of new vessels placed by the Royal Mail +Steam-ship Company on the West India service, and was stated to be, at the +time of her launching, the largest _timber-built_ steam-ship ever +constructed in England. She was of 2,256 tons burden, and fitted with +every improvement known at the time; her entire cost was stated at over +£100,000. When, on the 16th of December, 1851, she arrived at Southampton, +she was regarded as the perfect model of a passenger vessel. In due time +she was ready for sea, and having received her crew and engineers aboard, +and a little later her passengers and the Admiralty agent with mails, she +left Southampton on Friday, January 2nd, 1852. The officers were all tried +men, and her commander, Captain Symons, was one of those seamen whom large +steam-ship companies are only too glad to employ and retain. He was not +merely an officer of thoroughly competent skill, but a man of unbending +resolution, a man fitted to be a ruler among men, as should be every +commander of a great vessel. Only a few weeks before he had received the +thanks of the American Government, accompanied by a present of a silver +speaking-trumpet, for interposing, at the risk of his own life, in an +affair at Chagres between the Americans and the natives. On this occasion +he not only was the means of saving much valuable property, but by his +energetic conduct arrested a conflict, which, but for his intervention, +might probably have been attended with much bloodshed and slaughter. The +_Amazon_, a pioneer of the service she was to inaugurate, left Southampton +amidst a considerable amount of _éclat_, and commenced her voyage. + +"And so," says the work(88) from which much of the following account is +compiled, "the gallant ship sped on. The wind was right ahead, but her +engines were powerful, and she passed rapidly through the water. But it is +necessary, in order to make clear what follows, to describe the position +of her engines and boats. + +"The engine-room was about the middle of the vessel, having sixteen +boilers--eight in the forward and as many in the after part. There were, +consequently, two funnels: one about midships, the other immediately +behind the foremast. In those vessels which have but one set of boilers +and one funnel these are placed in the after part of the engine-room, +while the store-room, containing tallow, oil, and other inflammable +materials, is placed forward. But the _Amazon_ having boilers at both +ends, it happened that the floor of the store-room rested directly on the +wood casing that surrounded the upper part or steam-chest of the forward +boilers. + +"Then, with regard to the boats: most of the older vessels have life-boats +resting, bottom up, on the top of the paddle-boxes, according to a plan +much approved in the navy, and the smaller boats swing suspended over the +water, from two curved iron props, or davits, as they are technically +termed, by ropes that, running through a pulley, enable men seated in the +boats to lower themselves from the ship's side to the water, when the +hooks by which the tackle is attached to the boats may at once be cast +off. But as it would be inconvenient that the boats so hung from the +davits should be swinging backward and forward with every roll of the +ship, ropes are lashed round them and fastened to the bulwark of the +vessel, in order to keep them steady. Now, in order to get quit of this +latter somewhat clumsy contrivance, as well as to ease the strain of the +boat upon the tackling by which it swings, a different mode of fastening +was adopted in the _Amazon_. There were the davits as usual, and the +common contrivance for lowering the boats into the water; but instead of +the undergirding ropes or guys, two iron props were introduced, each of +which, branching out at the top into two prongs, received in its groove +the keel of the boat, in which she sat as in a cradle, thus taking away +all strain from the ordinary tackling. This change in the mode of securing +the boats had, however, this effect: that, whereas in the former case the +boat's crew had but to lower the boat and themselves into the water, by +the new mode it became necessary, before they could do that, to hoist the +boat up a few feet till it was got clear of the projecting points of the +crutch on which it rested. Of what fatal consequence this necessity was +will become too apparent in the course of the narrative." + +The machinery was perfectly new, and, as is frequently the case on first +trials, became much heated in the bearings: so much so, indeed, that water +had to be pumped over them. Whether or not the terrible disaster about to +be described resulted from that fact will never be known; it much more +probably occurred from some light being dropped upon the waste, &c., of +the oil-room. No neglect of duty was attributed to the engineers, who seem +to have been exceptionally careful. + +About a quarter before one o'clock, Sunday, when the ship was about +entering the Bay of Biscay, Mr. Treweeke, the second officer, a most +promising and practical sailor, being then officer of the watch, was on +the bridge. Just before, Dunsford, quartermaster, had gone the rounds to +see that the lights were all out, and had reported that all was right; Mr. +Treweeke then was on the bridge, and Mr. Dunsford was standing under him +to receive orders. Mr. Vincent, one of the midshipmen, was on the +quarter-deck; all was still as the grave, save the monotonous throbbing of +the engines. He happened to look towards Mr. Treweeke at that moment, and +saw him leaning listlessly against the railing of the bridge. Suddenly +Treweeke started up, and looked earnestly at something apparently issuing +from the engine-room. That officer had discovered flames issuing thence, +and Dunsford was detailed to call the captain: and although he should have +performed his duty noiselessly, he managed, rather boisterously, to +disturb some of the passengers. The captain immediately ran out of his +cabin, half nude, and after finding that the fire was serious, ran back +and put on some clothes, immediately returning to the scene of action. At +the same time, Mr. Stone, the fourth engineer, saw fire on the starboard +foremost boiler from the iron platform on which he was standing, and +instantly gave the alarm. He even attempted to stop the engines, but the +smoke was so dense that he was obliged to retreat. One of the men, who was +going to the engine-room to warm himself, observed a glare of light in the +fore stoke-hole, and on examination found between the starboard +fore-boiler and the bulkhead a flame issuing as far as he could see. The +firemen's backs were turned at the time, and he shouted out to them, +"Don't you see the fire? Why don't you get water?" They did not, however, +seem to notice it. He rushed aft, where the hose was kept, and tried to +drag it forward, shouting for assistance; but by the time the hose was +brought the flames of fire were rushing up through the oil, tallow, and +waste store-rooms. The flames were leaping upwards to the deck above. +Owing to the smoke, he was obliged to give up the hose, and rush on deck, +it being impossible to remain below any longer. The chief engineer, Mr. +Angus, and one of his assistants, tried to put on the hose, and kept by it +till they could not breathe. Hearing a cry for buckets on deck, Angus ran +aft as fast as he could, and the passengers were then breaking open the +saloon door to get on deck. Several attempts to get water to the flames +were unsuccessful or utterly ineffective. + +The second engineer, Mr. William Angus, stated that when he was alarmed by +the cry of "Fire!" he was in the act of "blowing off"(89) the +after-boiler, and on coming up the lower platform ladder of the +engine-room, ran to set the "donkey" engine (which pumps the ship and +keeps the boilers a-going). A blast of smoke stopped him, and when he +recovered more or less from the suffocation he attempted to work her, but +failed. All the lamps were extinguished by the smoke. Mr. Stone, the +fourth engineer, came to his assistance, but was forced to retire. The +stokers and others found it equally impossible to remain. One of the +survivors described the progress of the flames in the engine-room "as that +of a great wave of fire, before which no man could stand and live." He +stated that it rushed upon his mind that if the boilers were left in their +then state the water would soon become exhausted, and the boilers +themselves explode, so he turned on the water into them, and attempted to +remove the weights from the safety valves, so as to ease the pressure of +the steam. The glass above was cracking with the intensity of the heat. +"It was not three minutes from the time that the fire was discovered till +the ship was in flames." + +Above, on deck, all was horror, confusion, and despair, among the +passengers and crew. The flames, having broken out abaft the foremast, +rapidly extended across the whole breadth of the ship, forming a wall of +fire as high as the paddle-boxes, cutting off all communication. One or +two of the sailors, indeed, managed to get across the paddle-boxes, +cautiously creeping up one side and sliding down the other, but all other +means of access were effectually debarred. It was the sole chance of +safety, for the boats were all in the after part of the ship. "It would be +needless here to tell of the screams and shrieks of the horror-stricken +passengers, mixed with the cries of the animals aboard; of the wild +anguish with which they saw before them only the choice of death almost +equally dreadful--the raging flame or the raging sea, and of those fearful +moments when all self-control, all presence of mind, appeared to be lost, +and no authority was recognised, no command obeyed." Meanwhile the ominous +fire-bell was ringing--the knell of many a poor man and woman that night. + + [Illustration: BURNING OF THE "AMAZON."] + + [Illustration: THE "AMAZON" STEAM-SHIP.] + +When Captain Symons rushed on deck, his first order was to "put up the +helm," which was instantly obeyed. The helmsman, assisted by Mr. Treweeke, +the gallant second officer, worked at the wheel till the vessel "paid off" +and turned so as to go before the wind. The effects of the wind were, by +this device, somewhat moderated, but it had almost advanced to a gale, and +the paddles were revolving rapidly, carrying the doomed vessel through the +water with headlong speed. The flames were driven, however, forward and +away from the passengers and greater number of those on board. To this +movement, in fact, is to be attributed the preservation of the few boats +which, as we shall see, succeeded in leaving the ship. To extinguish the +fire was now out of question; while it was equally impossible to shut off +the steam and stop the vessel's way. Yet, without this being done, no boat +could be launched into the water while the vessel was driving on at the +rate of thirteen knots an hour. Buckets of water were still thrown on the +burning mass; trusses of lighted hay and loose spars thrown overboard. +"Keep fast the boats for a while, and try to save the ship!" cried the +captain. But, alas! ship and crew were alike doomed. "Don't lower the +boats!" repeated Captain Symons again and again; and the danger--at the +rate of the _Amazon's_ speed--of attempting it was too obvious. Lieut. +Grylls, R.N., a passenger on board, was attempting to lower the tackle of +one of the boats, when Symons "seized him by the arm, and besought him to +desist, as he said everybody would be drowned. Lieut. Grylls then called +out to the person by the foremast fall, imploring him not to lower, as the +ship was going so fast. The person at the foremast fall, by constant and +urgent request of the people in the boat, let the fall go, by which means +the boat turned over, and, as nearly as could be seen, every one was +washed out of her. Seeing this at the moment, Lieut. Grylls attempted to +let go the after fall so as to save them, but the fall being jammed, and +having fouled, and the boat thus not being clear, her stern hung in the +air for a moment, until cut adrift by some one, when she turned over, and, +seeing the people washed away, Lieutenant Grylls turned away from the +appalling sight in horror. He then met, face to face, Captain Symons, who +called out for some one to help him to clear away the port life-boat, +which was stowed on the sponson, abaft the port paddle-box, and at the +same moment leaped into the boat, using every endeavour to clear her away. +Lieut. Grylls followed, and also exerted himself, but the flames having +reached the boat, and Captain Symons's hair having caught in a blaze, and +one sleeve of his shirt, he was obliged to run off, and Lieut. Grylls was +compelled to follow him, both rushing through the flames and fire." + +About this time it was discovered that the ship was veering round, owing +to the helm having been lashed. A fresh order was shrieked out to keep her +before the wind, and two of the officers sprang forward to execute the +captain's bidding. The passengers were now all on deck, with what feelings +we can imagine. "At last the shout was raised, 'Every man for himself!' +but not by the captain. The captain called out, 'Lower the starboard +life-boat!' to which the answer was, 'She is on fire!' 'Lower the larboard +(port, or left-hand) life-boat!' 'She is on fire!' was still the cry. The +captain dropped the bucket which he idly held in his hand. 'It's all over +with us!'" But though he knew it so well, he did not relax an effort; nor +did Mr. Roberts, the chief officer, nor any of the officers, all of whom +went down with the ship. They were last seen collected in a group near the +helm; and to the close of that appalling scene nobly did their duty. The +last words the captain was heard to say were, "It has got too far." He +then turned aft, took the wheel, and that appears to have been the last +that was seen of Captain Symons. + +When it was discovered that the two life-boats were on fire, attention +could only be given to the other boats. All efforts must be made: better +to drown than to die in the midst of flames--suffocated, scorched. "One of +the passengers, Mr. Alleyne, of the West Indies, was observed pacing the +deck, with his hands clasped in prayer, patiently waiting that awful fate +from which he knew there was no escape. A gentleman and lady, in their +night-dresses only--both of which were on fire--came on deck, and, with +their arms round each other, walked over to one of the ship's hatches, and +fell together into the flames. They had previously been seen standing +right abaft and looking perfectly collected, the gentleman before the +lady, apparently to keep the heat from her. A female passenger rushed on +deck, having on only her night-gown, the bottom of which and her legs were +much burnt. Three times she was placed in one of the boats which was +saved, but she refused to remain. Several persons hurriedly said to her +that they would soon give her plenty of clothing when she got away from +the ship, but modesty prevailed over the love of life, and she remained +behind to perish." + +A horrible story of one standing near the helm is given: his face and side +burnt, and a huge blister formed, which burst in; the skin was falling +away in ribbons. A little boy was also burnt black, and the skin was +falling from him in a similar manner. Still the vessel was dashing forward +in headlong speed, but still efforts were made to launch the boats; but +here, in consequence of the manner in which they were stowed--resting on +iron crutches or brackets, instead of being simply suspended, as +usual--unexpected difficulties presented themselves. It was necessary first +to raise them, put them over the bulwarks, and lower them--a work of time +and labour. In the hurry two of the boats were stove in; and in the case +of others, one end would be lowered properly, the other remaining high in +the air, so that the wretched passengers and sailors who crowded into them +were plunged violently into the water, escaping the fury of one element +only to be devoured by another. In one single case fifteen were thus +drowned, while one only escaped. Not to accumulate the details of horrors, +which constantly repeated themselves, it may be here stated that the whole +number of persons on board the _Amazon_ when she left Southampton was 162; +of these 110 formed the crew; there were 50 passengers, and the mail agent +and his servant. The first boat which landed at Plymouth brought in 21; +the _Gertruida_, a Dutch galliot, picked up a boat containing 16 on Sunday +night, and another containing 8 on the following morning. Another vessel, +also a Dutch galliot, picked up 13 more. The total number lost amounted, +therefore, to 104, and 58 only were saved. + +A survivor stated that during the time they were drifting in their boat +towards the ship, which was burning broadside on to the wind, her mainmast +went first, the foremast following; it was a considerable time before the +mizen-mast fell, directly after which he noted a slight explosion of +gunpowder. Previous to this a barque hove in sight, and passed between +their boat and the burning ship. They judged her to be outward-bound from +her being under close-reefed topsails. As she passed at between three and +four hundred yards they hailed her several times with their united voices, +strengthened by all the energy of despair. She answered them, and brailed +her spanker, and they naturally thought she was preparing to bear up for +their rescue. "I shall never forget," said the narrator, "the deep sob of +hope with which I noticed these preparations, or the bitterness of feeling +with which I saw him spread his canvas to the wind, and wear round past +the stern of the burning vessel, as he left us to our fate." + +Among those who perished on that terrible night was a distinguished +author, whose writings are, or should be, familiar to all readers. +Warburton(90) perished either in the flames or, as some thought, in one of +the boats which was swamped. He had been sent out by the Atlantic and +Pacific Junction Company, specially deputed to make a friendly arrangement +with the Indians of the isthmus of Darien. As an old and practised +traveller, he had proposed to stay on the isthmus for some time, in order +to study its topography, scenery, climate, and resources. The Rev. Acton +Warburton, his brother, on receipt of the fearful news, and with the fact +before him that there were boats not yet accounted for which had been seen +to leave the ship, proceeded in a steamer from Plymouth on January 17th, +in the hope that, by cruising about in the Channel and entrance to the Bay +of Biscay, some traces might be found of his missing relative. All was in +vain; no further vestiges of the crew or passengers were found. A few days +afterwards a homeward-bound vessel picked up at sea, among other fragments +of the wreck, three settees, or backed forms, which had stood on the deck +of the _Amazon_, and which had been lashed together, doubtless for the +purpose of supporting some of the crew or passengers in the water. Other +pieces of the wreck were washed ashore on different parts of the coast, +and a piece of burnt timber was picked up near the Eddystone, having +attached to it a fragment of a lady's dress. One of the mail bags, +containing newspapers, unscorched, but very much damaged by sea-water, was +washed ashore near Bridport three weeks after the occurrence of the wreck. + + [Illustration: RESCUE OF THE SURVIVORS OF THE "AMAZON."] + +The Rev. William Blood, who was one of the survivors, was landed at +Plymouth in one of the boats late on Thursday night, and was much too ill +to commit his thoughts to paper during the Friday and Saturday following. +But on the Sunday following, in presence of 4,000 people, he, in the +course of an extempore sermon, gave his hearers a graphic description of +the catastrophe and of his escape from the wreck.(91) The first evening of +the voyage he sat up till between eleven and twelve o'clock, enjoying the +sea-breeze and the beauty of the scene. He had then retired, undressing +himself as at home, and had slept well. On the fatal night, however, he +seems to have had an indefinite presentiment that something was about to +occur. On that evening, says he, "without any cause, I was induced to +retire early (nine o'clock), and when going to bed it was deeply impressed +on my mind not to undress. I accordingly lay down upon the bed with my +clothes on, even my boots, and immediately fell into a sound sleep. At +about half-past twelve I awoke, greatly refreshed, and prepared for what +was to follow. No voice awoke me; no alarm had been given; no bell aroused +me. When I awoke, I felt surprised by a peculiar indescribable sensation +as of solitude, of vacancy; and on opening the window of my cabin, I +looked out, but saw no person; still all was silent; and with the same +feeling I arose, went out of the cabin, without even taking my watch, +which lay beneath my pillow, and, as I passed along the saloon, I +overheard the voice of the stewardess in the distance, saying, 'The ship +is on fire!' I then hastened towards the stairs at the fore part of the +ship, and saw (oh, horror!) the blaze ascending right across the vessel. I +ascended the stairs just in time to escape the flames. When on the deck, I +had merely time to walk across to the bulwarks, for on the deck the flames +were spreading with terrific rapidity. + +"When I got on deck I saw no one, and heard no noise or confusion, so that +much of the disaster must have been over by that time. I then saw some men +endeavouring to lower one of the boats near the paddle-box, and at the +same moment I became fully aware of my awful position, and that I had to +choose between death by fire or by water, unless I made some effort to +save myself. With this conviction on my mind, I laid hold of a rope, and +swung myself over the ship's side, and was just about to precipitate +myself into the boat beneath me, which was then swinging with her stern in +the water. In another moment her human freight were in the death struggle +in an element not less terrible or destructive than that from which they +had been making such frantic efforts to escape; and even at this moment +their appalling shrieks, as they struggled amidst the dark and gloomy +waves, seem to ring in my ears. Here, again, I think Divine interference +was manifested on my behalf, for an apparent accident saved me from that +boat. Almost crippled as I was, I managed, by the aid of the rope to which +I clung, to regain the now blazing deck, just as some of the crew were +endeavouring to release one of the life-boats from her very embarrassing +fastenings. They succeeded. She was turned over the ship's side. I was in +her then; and, while suspended midway between fire and water, she turned +keel up, and her oars were thrown out. She righted in a few minutes after, +and when she did so I was still in her--by what means I know not, but that +the All-seeing eye was still upon me. In a minute or two more she was +lowered into the sea with her freight of thirteen human souls, and amidst +cries of 'She is leaking!' 'She is stove in!' 'She will be swamped!' but +at the same moment one of the crew in her cut the rope that bound her to +the blazing ship, and she at once dropped astern. We now made the terrible +discovery that she was really leaking, and with the apparent certainty of +having escaped one horrible death only to perish by another, we set our +wits to work to staunch the leak and bale out the water. Michael Fox, one +of the sailors--a man who merits much honour for his coolness and bravery +throughout--actually thrust his arm through the leak to arrest the ingress +of the water; while I handed him my cap, another gave his stockings; +others did likewise; and then, with such means as these, and with the aid +of our boots and two little empty casks, we managed to prevent the +life-boat from being swamped. While thus occupied, and being tossed about, +without food, water, oars, helm, or compass, totally at the mercy of the +contending elements, we had dropped about two miles astern of the doomed +ship. She was apparently motionless, while the sea continually broke over +us. A barque passed between the blazing pile and our ill-omened craft. Her +hull, sails, and rigging were reflected against that fearful blaze with a +blackness of shadow that appeared to render still deeper the depth of our +calamity, and which the morning's light helped not to lessen, for the +barque had disappeared. After the barque had departed, we fancied we saw a +boat, somewhat like our own, close to us, and we hailed her, with all the +power of our united voices, for oars; but she either heeded or heard us +not, and quickly disappeared, and the impression was that she had been +swamped. Our frail tenement was still knocked about as I have stated, +still within sight of the burning ship; and at about five o'clock on +Sunday morning, when the powder on board caught light, she blew up, +presenting to our terror-stricken gaze a most awful and sublime spectacle. +Vast beams of flaming timber were hurled about in the air, and seemed +suspended there for a moment, and then disappeared with a hissing noise in +the roaring waters. A moment after, and all that remained unconsumable by +fire of that once noble specimen of our mercantile marine vanished like a +shot beneath the waves. And then came upon us that intensity of darkness +that lent an additional horror to our truly forlorn condition. However, +the merciful Ruler of our destinies had not deserted us; for as the +Sabbath morning's light dawned the wind abated and the sea became +comparatively calm, except that there was still a heavy swell; but still, +there we were, thirteen human beings, in a frail, leaky boat, without an +atom of food of any sort, the vast ocean around us, and in a state of +perfect ignorance as to our geographical position, while our other +physical wants, such as of clothes, boots, &c., made our case truly +deplorable. By about twelve o'clock at noon, on Sunday, we had drifted, as +nearly as possible, to the spot where the Amazon had sunk; and upon the +then comparatively calm sea were strewn about but too many evidences of +the last night's fearful devastation--immense spars, charred timbers, +barrels, bales, and boxes innumerable. We drew up one of the latter, got +it on board, forced it open, and found that it contained only a quantity +of shoes. To those each helped himself to a pair, and then threw the +remainder overboard. + +"As the Sabbath morning advanced towards noon-day the glorious sun burst +forth, and appeared as a happy harbinger of the fortunate release in store +for us. The weather was fine, though there was a heavy swell in the sea, +and we were all up to our middle in water. William Angus, poor fellow, was +of no use in the boat. When leaving the ship, he had thrown himself +overboard, fell upon my back, and cut his head severely. He appeared in a +state of despondency for the loss of his brother; and another poor fellow +had part of the fingers of one of his hands chopped off. At two o'clock +the sun shone forth in all his splendour. By this time we had taken up +some of the bottom boards of the boat, and these we had converted into +paddles, rudder, and mast. Lieut. Grylls took from off his head his shirt, +which he had previously wrapped around it, and made a flag of it; and in +lieu thereof I tore off the skirts of my coat, one of which I tied around +his head, and with the other I made a cap for myself. The remainder of +that coat I still have, and will preserve as a memento; and so I ought, +for it served as a protection against the pouring rain, while our bodies +lay partially submerged in the water and the waves at times dashed over +us. This coat became most useful to me afterwards, during the eleven days +on board the galliot, for it served as a pocket-handkerchief, napkin, &c. + +"There was a peculiar death-like feeling produced by being obliged to sit +in the water all night, while at the same time the whole body was +saturated with the rain and the billows poured their waters over us. At +one time, shivering with cold and wet, I strove to keep my back pressed +against another person to preserve the vital heat. Such cold I never felt +before. The casks which we found in the boat were of essential use. How +wonderful that they should have remained in the boat when she capsized and +threw out the oars, for without them she must have swamped. + +"Dismal were the thoughts suggested on that day as to the future. Will a +storm arise? If so, our little vessel cannot live; she must be overwhelmed +by the raging billows! How long can we remain in the midst of the wide +extended ocean? Shall we starve--perish with hunger? Such were the gloomy +forebodings, when the thrilling, joyful exclamation of 'A sail!' burst +from the lips of one of the crew. Then followed the exclamation of, 'Oh, I +hope she sees us! Does she hear us? Is she coming this way?' She was then +on the very verge of the horizon, and--disappeared! Mute despair was then +plainly perceptible in every face. I had made up my mind to die of +starvation, but thought I could exist without food for a long time, for +having once been ill in Paris for three weeks without even having tasted +food of any sort during the whole of the time, I felt now prepared to go +through the same ordeal. But again the joyful sound was uttered by Lieut. +Grylls, 'I see another sail!' We then commenced tearing up the boards from +the bottom of the boat, and converting one of them into a mast, upon which +we attached a shirt as a signal of distress, and breaking the rest of them +into paddles and a helm, we determined, as our lives depended upon it, to +make a desperate effort to approach the welcome visitor. Hour after hour +was passing away--our progress through the waves was slow, and the sailors +were beginning to relax their efforts at the paddles in utter +hopelessness. The sun was fast fading away, and the horrors of another +night at sea in an open boat stared us in the face. I begged, prayed, and +entreated the men to continue their exertions, that with the light of day +we still had hope; an hour--perhaps a few minutes--may bring us near enough +to be seen. Alas! there were four out of the thirteen quite helpless--viz., +poor Angus, the man who had lost his fingers, a boy, and a Spanish +gentleman, who appeared to have become quite paralysed. The sun was just +about to shed his last ray of light upon our eyes and hope in our hearts, +when those on board the vessel saw us, heard us, bore down upon us, and +took us on board. Had not the great God sent us this timely succour, no +account of our fate could have ever been made known, for any one of the +storms which prevailed during the following eight or nine days must have +destroyed us. We were hauled on board by means of ropes, and stowed in a +little cabin, 6 feet by 4½ only; but yet, what a palace compared to the +horrors from which we had just been rescued! This vessel was a small Dutch +galliot, and had a cargo of sugar from Amsterdam, consigned to Leghorn; +and was, therefore, desirous of landing at Gibraltar, it being on her +course. However, adverse winds set in; the captain of the galliot knew not +his position; he was unable to take an observation; and was, in +consequence, knocked about for nine days with this serious addition to his +crew. I had been visiting the house of a noble friend but a few weeks +before, but what was it compared to our present little home?" They were at +length safely landed at Plymouth. + +Among so many gloomy incidents, one of another nature may well be +recorded. The name of Lieutenant Grylls has been mentioned as one of the +survivors. But the _Cornwall Gazette_ of January 8th had the following +announcement:--"Lost, on board the _Amazon_, mail steam-packet, on Sunday, +the 4th inst., in which vessel he had taken his passage to join H.M.S. +_Devastation_, to which ship he had been appointed as first lieutenant, +Lieutenant Charles Gerveys Grylls, R.N., aged twenty-five, eldest +surviving son of the Rev. Henry Grylls, vicar of St. Neots." But early in +the morning of Friday a special messenger arrived at St. Neots, bearing a +letter to the good vicar from his son, stating that he was alive and safe, +and that he hoped to be with him in the evening. The news soon spread; all +the neighbouring hamlets turned out their inhabitants, the village bells +were rung, and a party of about 150 persons set off on the road to +Plymouth to draw him home by hand. This the gallant lieutenant would not +allow, being too anxious to return to his friends. A triumphal procession +was, however, formed, escorted by which this witness from the dead was +restored to his bereaved father. One can imagine the joy in the household, +and the strong revulsion of feeling there! + +"On taking a review of this overwhelming catastrophe," says the Rev. C. A. +Johns, "the reader will rise from a perusal of the narrative having his +mind painfully impressed with the fearful loss of human life; and as he +endeavours to picture to himself the incidents as they severally occurred, +he will be more inclined to doubt that any one was possessed of nerve +sufficiently strong to stand the first half-hour's ordeal rather than to +wonder that so few escaped. A vessel, constructed of the best material +employed in ship-building--oak, teak, and Dantzic pine--but, nevertheless, a +structure of wood, bearing, in addition to cargo, crew, and passengers, +1,000 tons of inflammable coal, and a framework of massive iron, +unceasingly grinding with the force of 800 horses--sixteen furnaces and as +many huge boilers, all employed in generating the most powerful instrument +of usefulness or destruction (as the case may be) which man has reduced to +his will--a store-room in the vicinity of the boilers, plentifully stocked +with oil and tallow--well might the lip quiver and the cheek blanch at the +bare idea of FIRE being allowed to creep with but a flickering light +beyond its prescribed limits. But, besides all this, he will remember that +to this concatenation of perils--themselves too terrible to dwell on--must +be added contingencies which aggravated the danger in a tenfold degree. +The ship was new, her timbers were dry and resinous--not, as is the case +with sea-worn vessels, saturated with salt, and therefore less +inflammable, but converted into rapid fuel by the unusual heat, which from +some cause, explained or unexplained, was perceptible at a great distance +from her boilers; the crew, though young and efficient, and more than +one-half of them practised servants of the Company, were yet strange to +the ship, not even having had their various duties assigned to them, nor +familiar with the persons of their officers, as became evident afterwards +from the discrepancies in their statements of names; the wind was blowing +a gale in the direction which would most readily extend a conflagration +from the probable source of fire to the stern, where the majority of +passengers were congregated; the time was midnight; many of the officers, +weary with their previous exertions, were recruiting their strength by a +brief repose; most of the seamen and all the passengers were buried in +sleep; the sea was in a state of commotion; the place was the Bay of +Biscay, the dread of outward-bound mariners; the boats, though +unexceptionable as to number, capacity, and quality, were not stowed in +the usual simple way, but rested on brackets, from which it was necessary +for them to be lifted before they could be lowered even into that foaming +ocean. Suddenly the cry of Fire! is shrieked out; the bell is set +a-ringing--the death-knell--the knell of sudden, inevitable, agonising death +to many a stout heart on board that proud but perishing ship. He must +sleep soundly who failed to hear that piercing cry and the heartrending +shrieks which took it up. Some thought it of no consequence: 'We will +dress, and hasten on deck, that we may help to extinguish it.' But there +were some who knew better; they could look a hurricane in the face, they +could encounter a hailstorm of bullets in the execution of their duty, but +they knew that, with that enemy on board, the iron beams of the _Amazon_ +could only be cooled by the water which rolled at the bottom of the ocean. +Those brave men did all they could--they gave their charge a brief space to +make their peace with God, if God were in their thoughts, and resigned +themselves to His keeping who alone could help them. Before the least +terrified could gain the deck the flames were soaring above the funnels. A +flight of fire was sweeping the deck; it extended from one side of the +vessel to the other; it separated those in the fore-part from those in the +stern; it shot forth from the port-holes; it singed the hair and scorched +the skin of those who were furthest from its reach; and the air of heaven +was one huge blast-pipe, fanning it into fury! Are the fire-engines of no +avail? They are themselves burning. Then stop the paddle-wheels, that the +boats may be launched. Alas! the engineers, half suffocated, have long +been driven from the engine-room, and the levers are beyond their reach. +But the ship yet answered her helm, and was put before the wind. And now +the flames were borne in an opposite direction, towards the bow, and the +gale seemed to be diminished. Now the captain cried, 'Lower the larboard +lifeboat!' 'It is on fire!' 'Lower the starboard lifeboat!' 'It is on +fire!' Other boats yet remain, and crew and passengers crowd into them. +Fatal haste! It was a work of time and difficulty to lift them from their +sockets before, with this addition to their weight it is next to +impossible. One after another they are tumbled, rather than lowered, into +a sea which, from the rapid motion of the vessel, appears to be rushing +from them. Some hang suspended, and their cargoes are swept away by the +boiling surge; one is swamped, another is stove in. Still the fire is +drawing nearer; it surrounds the boilers, and the water contained in them +is nearly exhausted. When that has happened they will burst, perhaps, and +then the engines will cease to work. Strange that success in effecting an +escape should be promoted by the bursting of a boiler--an accident which, +had it come alone, would have occasioned terror and dismay. No one knows, +amidst the overwhelming din of air, fire, water, steam, human shrieks, and +even the cries of dumb animals, whether this event happened or not. It was +not dreaded--it was hoped for. It could not have added to the dismay, so, +if it happened? it was unnoticed. + +"However that may be, the ship could not free herself from her destroyer, +but moderated her speed. A few boats were put off--no living soul can say +how many--all, probably, that were left, and then, perhaps, the officers +embarked on a raft, and--we dare not carry our thoughts further in that +direction. + +"The vessel lay a burning log on the waters for four or five hours, and +then, as if an evil demon had possessed her, or as if some gorgeous _fête_ +had now reached its close, threw up a discharge of brilliant fireworks--and +the billows of the Atlantic swept unconcernedly over her hissing embers." + +The following example--the terrible loss of the _London_--presents a +striking contrast to that of the _Amazon_. She was literally _swamped_ at +sea, and there are no recorded parallels to the case on such a scale. +Vessels, indeed, are often lost by great leakage produced by collision, +but the cases are rare in modern days and in well-found ships, where +ordinary leakage and water "shipped" on deck makes any great difference, +and in steam-ships the pumps worked by the "donkey" engine, as a rule, +effectually prevent any danger from these sources. + + [Illustration: THE "LONDON."] + +The _London_ was a first-class passenger steamship of her day. She was +nearly new, of 1,700 tons, and valued at £80,000. She belonged to a +distinguished firm, and had been constructed on the most approved +principles. Her commander, Captain Martin, was an officer of ripe +experience, and this was her third voyage. She had acquired a first-class +reputation; and for months before the time(92) of sailing, berths were so +eagerly engaged that it would have been difficult to accommodate, in the +roughest manner, many more, while in the saloon there were no vacancies. +One lady who was desirous of proceeding with her family from Plymouth to +Melbourne had made repeated applications to the owners' agents, and the +captain had been consulted, but, fortunately for the applicant, had +declared that the cabins were so full that he could not possibly +accommodate her--a result that, at the time, caused her much +disappointment; afterwards she had reason to thank her good fortune. A +second-class male passenger was so alarmed at the rough weather which the +_London_ encountered on her way from the Thames to Plymouth, that on +arrival at the latter he went ashore, resigned his passage, and returned +to his home, thus unwittingly saving his life. A young man, as the result +of some family quarrel, had left his home, and taken a passage by the +_London_. He was advertised for in the _Times_, and importuned to return, +his friends being at first unaware of his whereabouts. Messengers were +sent down to Plymouth, his friends having later acquired some clue to his +movements, and an influential ship-broker in the town was employed to +intercept his flight should he attempt to sail thence. Fortunately, he was +detected among the passengers of the _London_, and the fact communicated +to his family by the broker, the result of which was that a brother of the +young man went down to Plymouth, and persuaded the would-be emigrant to +forego his voyage. + +The _London_ left the East India Docks on December 29th, and on account of +the severity of the weather remained at anchor at the Nore during part of +the 30th and the whole of the 31st. This fact alone would indicate that +Captain John Martin, her commander, was a careful seaman. The weather +remained boisterous, and after getting out into the Channel the pilot +decided to take the vessel for shelter to Spithead. When the weather had +abated she proceeded to Plymouth, arriving there on the 5th of January. +Here an incident occurred, ominous in its nature, and particularly +distressing at the commencement of a voyage, more especially as many +passengers at such a time are nervous and fearful. The small boat from a +Plymouth pilot cutter, which had on board the pilot and his assistant, was +swamped. The latter was rescued by a boat from the _London_, but the pilot +was drowned. The remainder of the day was occupied in shipping an +additional number of passengers and filling up with coal. She sailed the +same evening. The weather is described as having been then moderate. + +On the 6th and 7th of January the wind rose, accompanied by strong squalls +and a high sea, which caused the ship to roll considerably. Still the +weather was not so boisterous but that Divine service was held on the 7th, +it being the Sabbath. On Monday, the 8th, the wind freshened to a gale +from the south-west, and at 9 a.m. the captain ordered the engines to be +stopped, and to make sail. At 5 p.m. the weather improved, and all sails +were taken in, and steaming resumed. Early on Tuesday the wind increased +to a hard gale, with a very heavy sea, the ship going under steam only, +and at the reduced rate of two knots an hour. At this time she pitched +with terrible violence, taking whole seas over her bows. At 7 a.m. an +unusually heavy sea broke into the life-boat stowed on the port-quarter, +filled her completely, and carried her overboard with all her gear. At 9 +a.m. the ship gave a tremendous pitch, so as to bury herself forward, when +the sea carried away the jib and flying jibbooms, and they took with them +the fore-top mast and fore-top gallant, the fore-royal and main-royal +masts, with all their spars, sails, and rigging. The masts fell in-board, +and hung suspended by the rigging, but the jibbooms remained under the +bows, fastened to the ship by their stays, which were of wire. Every +effort to get them clear failed till next morning, it having blown a +furious gale all night from the south-west, with a sea that kept +constantly washing all forward. On the morning of Wednesday, the 10th, the +gale continued without the least abatement, and at 3 a.m. the captain gave +orders to Mr. Greenhill, the engineer in charge, to get up full steam, as +he intended to put back to Plymouth, in order to refit. The ship's course +was accordingly shaped for home, the fore and mizen stay-sails were set, +and she steamed along moderately at the rate of five or six knots. In the +course of the morning, the masts, which up to that time had been swinging +about aloft, were secured, and the wreck of the jibboom cleared away. +Observations taken that day indicated that she was about 200 miles from +the Land's End. At 6 p.m. both the fore and mizen stay-sails were carried +away in a furious squall; another life-boat and the cutter were washed +clean overboard and lost. At 9 p.m. the wind increased to a perfect +hurricane from the north-west, the squalls blowing with a degree of fury +seldom paralleled. The engines were stopped, and the ship put under the +main top-sail only, which was soon blown away in shreds. The captain once +more ordered the engines to be set in motion. Up to this time, +notwithstanding the heavy seas she encountered, it does not appear that +the vessel had shipped much water. + + [Illustration: THE "LONDON" GOING DOWN.] + +At half-past 10 p.m. a terrific sea broke upon the ship over the weather +or port gangway, and an immense mass of water, the crest of a mighty wave, +descended almost perpendicularly over the hatch of the engine-room, +smashing it right in, admitting tons upon tons of water, washing from the +deck into the engine-room two men, a seaman and a passenger. There being +nothing to obstruct the influx of sea, the engine-room began to fill with +water. The fires were extinguished at once, and in about eight minutes the +engines ceased to work. The engineers remained below till the water was +above their waists, and they could work no more. The large bilge-pumps +also proved useless, and the condition of the ship became utterly +helpless, often rolling into the trough of the sea, rolling gunwale under, +and labouring heavily. The captain called on those who were baling, "Men, +put down your buckets, and come and try to secure the engine-room hatch, +for that's our only chance of saving the ship! Secure that, and we may +keep her afloat yet." Every endeavour, however, to replace the hatch +proved unavailing. Efforts were made to stop the opening with sails, +mattrasses, and spars, but without success; and although the donkey-engine +and pumps were kept at work, yet the water quickly gained upon them, and +all their efforts were fruitless. It was then that the captain uttered +words of which he knew the full meaning, and which must have thrilled +through many of the passengers' bosoms who had hitherto been hoping +against hope--"Boys, you may say your prayers!" All was over with them. + +At 4 a.m of the 11th a tremendous sea struck the ship abaft, which stove +in four windows, or stern-ports, of the upper or poop cabin. Through the +breaches thus made the sea rushed into the ship in such quantities that +the 'tween decks were soon half full of water. The ship at this time was +settling fast; the captain went into the engine-room, and, with the +engineer, took soundings, when it was found that there was fourteen feet +of water in her. The captain then told Greenhill that he had abandoned all +hope of saving her, and shortly afterwards made a similar communication to +the passengers. At about 10 a.m. the captain ordered the boats to be got +ready, which was done, and the starboard pinnace, which was of iron, was +lowered into the water, but was almost immediately upset by the sea, and +lost. Shortly after this the captain entered the saloon, and said, +"Ladies, there is no hope for us, I'm afraid. Nothing short of a miracle +can save us!" + +During the hours of agony and horror which had preceded this announcement +the Rev. Mr. Draper,(93) a Wesleyan minister on board, was incessant in +administering religious comfort to his fellow-sufferers; and we are told +by the survivors that the women (all of whom perished in the sequel) sat +about him reading their Bibles, with their children grouped around; "and +occasionally some man or woman would step up to him and say, 'Pray with +me, Mr. Draper'--a request that was always complied with." What a scene +must have been presented at that last prayer-meeting in the cabin, the +ship labouring and tossing the while; the waves, with their ominous roar, +breaking over her and dashing against her; while by half-extinguished +lights little groups of earnest, pale-faced people huddled together, +shivering and trembling, before the doomed _London_ took her last leap +into the dark waters! + +After the announcement by the captain that they must prepare for the +worst, Mr. Draper is stated to have stood erect, and with a clear, firm +voice, the tears streaming from his eyes, said, "The captain tells us +there is no hope--that we must all perish; but I tell you there is hope for +_all_!" The reader will know what the good old man meant. Mrs. Draper is +said at the last moment to have handed her rug to one of the seamen who +was attempting to get off in a boat, and when asked what she would do +without it, she replied, "It will only be for a few moments longer." + +As there were so few survivors to tell the tale, the incidents which must +have occurred during this terrible time are necessarily somewhat meagre. +One passenger rushed on deck labouring with a heavy carpet-bag, which he +expected to save with his life. The captain could hardly forbear, even at +that terrible time, a melancholy smile at the absurdity of a man at such a +moment taking any thought about his property. When the only boat which got +off safely was about to leave the fated ship, a lady entreated to be taken +on board, offering a thousand guineas as a reward. But it was +impossible--millions could not have saved her. A passenger who was saved, +just before leaving in the boat, went into the cabin to persuade a friend +to join him. "No," said the other; "I promised my wife and children to +stay by them, and I will!" His friend helped him to remove the children to +a drier part of the cabin, and then, with a sad good-bye, ran up to the +deck. When last seen, the man was still standing with his wife and little +ones. Another passenger said to a friend, also one of the few saved, +"Jack, I think we are going to go." "I think we are," was the answer. "We +can't help it," rejoined the first; "but there's one thing I regret:" and +he went on to explain how some £500 of his money was in the Bank of +Victoria, and he evidently feared some hitch in its recovery. "I should +have liked my poor father to have it." He was a true son to the last. + +As at the wreck of the _Amazon_ a distinguished author lost his life, so +on the _London_ a great actor, the celebrated G. V. Brooke, perished, but +perished nobly. The _Times_ (quoting the _Western Morning News_ of the +date) says:-- + +"Down into the waves, with 269(94) others, has sunk Gustavus V. Brooke, +the famed tragedian, who was bound for the country which had been the +scene of a reverse of fortune for him, but previously of many successes. +He was a tall man, of powerful build, and he is stated by the rescued +passengers to have exerted himself to the utmost in trying to keep the +ship afloat. The Dutch portion of the crew, twenty-one in number, refused +to work, and, according to the English sailors who were saved, these men +went to their berths and remained there, so that the passengers had to +work at the pumps for many hours with the English seamen. Mr. G. V. Brooke +exerted himself incessantly; attired only in a red Crimean shirt and +trousers, with no hat on, and barefooted, he went backwards and forwards +to the pumps, until working at them was found to be useless, and when last +seen, about four hours before the steamer went down, he was leaning with +grave composure upon one of the half-doors of the companion; his chin was +resting upon both hands, and his hands were on the top of the door, which +he gently swayed to and fro, while he calmly watched the scene. One of the +passengers who saw him said, 'he had worked wonderfully--in fact, more than +any man on board the ship.' To the steward, to whom Mr. Brooke made +himself known, he said, 'If you succeed in saving yourself, give my +farewell to the people of Melbourne.'" + + + +The last trace of the gifted tragedian is found in the following episode. +In the _Times_ of March 20, 1866, appeared the following letter from Mrs. +Brooke (Avonia):-- + + + + + + + "To the Editor of the _Times_. + +"Sir,--On Friday night I received the last written words of my dear +husband. They were found in a bottle on the Brighton beach, and forwarded +to me by Mr. C. A. Elliott, of Trinity College, Cambridge. They are +written in pencil on a torn envelope, and read as follows:--'11th January, +on board the _London_. We are just going down. No chance of safety. Please +give this to Avonia Jones, Surrey Theatre.--Gustavus Vaughan Brooke.' + +"Will you be kind enough to insert this fact in your valuable journal, +for, sad as the message is, he has many friends who will be glad once more +to hear from him, even though his words have come from his very grave. + + "With respect, &c., + "AVONIA BROOKE." +"36, Albemarle Street, Piccadilly." + + + + + + +At 2 p.m. there could not be a doubt--the vessel was sinking rapidly. The +captain then directed Greenhill that, as the port cutter was ready for +lowering, he had some chance of saving himself, and that he had better get +into her. The captain shook hands with him, and said, "There's not much +chance for the boat; there's none for the ship. Your duty is done, mine is +to remain here." The boat was lowered, and four men, followed by others of +the crew, got into her. When asked to come into the boat, the captain +answered in the true spirit of a sailor-hero, "No, I will go down with the +passengers, but I wish you God speed, and safe to land!" Noble John Bohun +Martin!(95) But not, thank God! the only one on record; he was but one of +the noble army of sailor martyrs of whom Mrs. Hemans sung so touchingly:-- + + "Yet more! the billows and the depth have more! + High hearts and brave are gathered to thy breast! + They hear not now the booming waters roar; + The battle thunders will not break their rest. + Keep thy red gold and gems, thou stormy grave! + Give back the true and brave! + + "Give back the lost and lovely! those for whom + The place was kept at board and hearth so long, + The prayer went up through midnight's breathless gloom, + And the vain yearning woke 'midst festive song! + Hold fast thy buried isles, thy towers or throne-- + But all is not thine own. + + "To thee the love of woman hath gone down; + Dark flow the tides o'er manhood's noble head, + Or youth's bright locks, and beauty's flowery crown: + Yet must thou hear a voice--Restore the dead! + Earth shall reclaim her precious things from thee! + Restore the dead, thou sea!" + + [Illustration: GETTING OUT THE "LONDON'S" BOATS.] + +The boat, into which the captain had thrown a compass, and to the +occupants of which he had shouted their course, "NNE. to Brest!" left the +sinking _London_ none too soon. The number in the boat consisted of +nineteen souls, all that were saved by any means, and comprised the first, +second, and third engineers, one midshipman, twelve of the crew, and +_three_ passengers (all second class; no first class or steerage +passengers whatever were saved). Shortly afterwards those who went in the +boat pushed off from the ship, seeing that she must immediately sink, and +apprehending that the boat might be sucked in as she went down. They had +hardly got eighty yards off, when the stern of the _London_ plunged +beneath the waves, with crew and passengers and all. Her bows stood +upright for a moment or two preceding the fatal plunge, exposing the keel +as far as the foremast. The wind was howling so fiercely that not a sound +could be heard of the shrieks and groans of over two hundred persons who +were going, in sight of the pitiful remnant in the boat, to their last +doom. They saw a whole group of passengers suddenly swept off the deck, +and they saw that the remaining boat, full of people, was drawn down into +the vortex made by the sinking ship. The third officer, Mr. Arthur Angel, +aged 20, with noble devotion to his duty, was observed still at his post +by the pumps as she went down. The next minute there was but a watery +waste over the grave of that devoted band, so full of hope and life but a +day before. + +With but a few biscuits on board, and drenched to the skin by every wave, +the nineteen survivors in their open boat drifted about for twenty hours. +They fancied that they saw a ship through the gloom, and raised their +voices in one united shout. They were heard, and their hail returned; but +they were not seen, and had no light to show. The ship tacked again and +again in the hopes of finding them, and when their suspense was at its +highest, sailed away, and they saw her dim form disappearing in the +darkness. When day dawned another ship was sighted far in the distance. A +shirt was hoisted for a signal, and the oars were zealously plied. After +five hours they were rescued by this vessel, the Italian barque +_Marianople_, on board which they received a hearty welcome from the +captain and his men. They were eventually landed safely at Falmouth. + + + + + + CHAPTER XXII. + + + EARLY STEAMSHIP WRECKS AND THEIR LESSONS. + + + The _Rothsay Castle_--An Old Vessel, unfit for Sea Service--A Gay + Starting--Drifting to the Fatal Sands--The Steamer Strikes--A Scene + of Panic--Lost Within easy reach of Assistance--An Imprudent + Pilot--Statements of Survivors--A Father and Son parted and + re-united--Heartrending Episodes--The Other Side: Saved by an + Umbrella--Loss of the _Killarney_--Severe Weather--The Engine-fires + Swamped--At the Mercy of the Waves--On the Rocks--The Crisis--Half the + Passengers and Crew on an Isolated Rock--Spolasco and his + Child--Holding on for Dear Life--Hundreds Ashore "Wrecking"--No + Attempts to Save the Survivors--Several Washed Off--Deaths from + Exhaustion--"To the Rescue!"--Noble Efforts--Failure of Several + Plans--A Novel Expedient adopted--Its Perils--Another Dreary + Night--Good Samaritans--A Noble Lady--Saved at Last--The Inventor's + Description of the Rope Bridge--The Wreck Register for One + Year--Grand Work of the Lifeboat Institution. + + +The _Rothsay Castle_ was a steamship built in 1812, and was little enough +adapted for marine navigation. She was one of the first vessels of the +kind on the Clyde, and was perhaps constructed for the ordinary wear and +tear to which a river vessel is exposed, but certainly, at her age, should +never have been allowed to leave Liverpool for Beaumaris in weather so bad +that an American vessel which had been towed out that day had been +compelled to return to port. She had been, it was said, at one time, +condemned to be broken up, but other counsels had prevailed, and she had +been patched up and repaired for continued service. + +At ten o'clock on Wednesday morning, the 17th August, 1831, the vessel was +appointed to sail from the usual place, George's Pier-head, Liverpool; but +there was a casual delay at starting, and she did not leave till an hour +later. She was freighted heavily, and it was computed that hardly less +than 150 persons (if the children carried free were counted) were on +board. A majority were holiday seekers; the vessel was tricked out with +colours, and as the vessel left a band struck up its gayest music. Among +the pleasure parties on board was one from Bury, in Lancashire, consisting +of twenty-six persons. They set out in the morning, joyous with health and +pleasant anticipations, and before the next sun arose all of them, except +two, had been swallowed up in the remorseless deep!(96) + +The vessel proceeded very slowly on its course, making so little way that +at three o'clock in the afternoon she had not reached a floating light +stationed about fifteen miles from Liverpool. Arrived off the light, the +sea was so rough that many of the passengers were greatly alarmed, and +one, who had his wife, five children, and servant on board, went down to +the captain and begged him to put back. The captain answered, with an +oath, that he thought there was "a deal of fear on board, and very little +danger." The whole family was among the lost. The vessel drifted out of +her course, and proceeded so slowly that the alarm on board became +general. + + [Illustration: WRECK OF THE "ROTHSAY CASTLE."] + +One of the survivors stated that the leakage was so great that the fireman +found it impossible to keep the fires up, two being actually extinguished, +while the coals were so wet that it was with difficulty the others were +kept in. Yet there were no attempts made to sound the well or ascertain +what water was in the vessel. It was near twelve o'clock when they arrived +at the mouth of the Menai Strait, about five miles from Beaumaris, and +here her steam suddenly got so low that she drifted with the tide and wind +towards the Dutchman's Bank, on the spit of which she struck. Now came a +time of awe and consternation. The crowded boat rolled in a frightful +manner, and the worst fears of the passengers seemed to be on the point of +realisation. The seas broke over her on either side. The engine had +previously stopped for about ten minutes, the coals being covered in +water, and the pumps were choked. On her striking, the captain said, "It +is only sand, and she will soon float." Only sand! More vessels have been +lost on sands than ever were on rocks. In the meantime he and some of the +passengers got the jib up. No doubt he did this intending to wear her +round, and bring her head to the southward, but it did not, it proved, +make the least difference which way her head was turned, as she was on a +lee shore, and there was no steam to work her off. The captain also +ordered the passengers first to run aft, in the hope, by removing the +pressure from the vessel's bow, to make her float.(97) This failing to +produce the desired effect, he then ordered them to run forward. But all +these exertions were unavailing; the ill-fated vessel stuck still faster +in the sands, and all gave themselves up for lost. The terror of the +passengers became excessive. Several of them urged the captain to make +some signal of distress, which he is said to have refused to do, telling +the passengers that there was no danger, and that the packet was afloat, +and _on her way_, knowing well that she was irretrievably stuck in the +treacherous sands, and that she was rapidly filling from her leaks. The +unfortunate man was fully aware of the imminent danger they were in, and +we may charitably suppose that he made such statements to prevent a panic. +The great bell was now rung, with so much violence that the tongue broke, +and some of the passengers continued to strike it for some time with a +stone. The bell was heard at Beaumaris, for the night was clear, with +strong wind; but it was not known from whence the sound came, and no +trouble appears to have been taken. The tide began to set in with great +strength, and a heavy sea beat over the bank on which the steam-packet was +firmly and immovably fixed. It was the duty of the captain now to make +every possible exertion, by signals, to procure assistance from shore. It +is said that if a light had been shown on board the unlucky steamer, the +boats from upwards of twenty vessels lying at Bangor would undoubtedly +have saved the larger part of the unfortunate passengers. The masts should +have been cut away, not merely to ease the vessel, but to afford some +chance to the poor people. At Penmaen Point an establishment of pilots had +been fixed by Lord Bulkeley, for the express purpose of rendering +assistance in such cases. "The world," says Lieut. Morrison, "will hardly +credit the astonishing fact that their establishment is within little more +than a mile and a half from the scene of wretchedness, and that, the wind +being fair, the boats from thence could have reached the spot in about ten +minutes. A single blue light burned, a single rocket fired, or even a +solitary musket discharged, would have ensured this happy result." The +evidence showed that there was nothing of the kind. Probably no sea-going +steamer, carrying 150 passengers, was ever left so utterly unprovided with +proper appliances. + +The scene that now presented itself baffles description. A horrible death +seemed to be the doom of all on board, and the females in particular +uttered the most piercing shrieks. Some locked themselves in each other's +arms, while others, losing all self-command, tore off their bonnets, caps, +and other portions of clothing, in wild despair. The women and children +gathered in a knot together, and kept embracing each other, uttering all +the while the most dismal lamentations. "When tired with crying," says +Morrison, "they lay against each other, with their heads reclined, like +inanimate bodies. It was a few minutes before that a Liverpool Branch +pilot on board, William Jones, became aware in all its extent of their +dreadful situation. He is reported to have exclaimed, 'We are all lost!' +which threw down whatever hopes any on board had till now entertained, and +induced them to give themselves up to bitter despair. This was sadly +imprudent, and little like the conduct I should have expected from such a +man. He ought to have set an example of preparing something in the nature +of a raft, to save what lives could be saved; and as he must have known +that it was low water, and the whole of the Dutchman's Bank was dry within +a few yards of them, and the tide just setting on to it, there can be no +reason to doubt that he might have been by this means instrumental in +saving many of the unhappy victims as well as himself." + + [Illustration: THE MENAI STRAITS.] + +One of the survivors stated that after the vessel had struck several times +his wife and some friends came to him, and asked if he thought they must +be lost. "I thought," said he, "we should, and they proposed going to +prayer for the short time we had to live. We all went to prayer, myself +and wife in particular, and when we got from our knees I saw four men +getting upon the mast, and beginning to fasten themselves to it. I told my +wife I would look out for a better situation for us. I took her towards +the windlass, and began to fasten a rope to the frame where the bell hung; +and when I had got the rope made fast, and looked back for my wife, she +had again joined our friends near to the place at which we kneeled down. A +great wave almost took me overboard, but I held by the rope; then came a +second and a third wave before I could see my wife again; and when I +looked--they were all gone.(98) + +"I then prepared to die myself in the place I was at, and remained in that +situation till daylight, at which time about fifty people remained on +board. As the waves came the people kept decreasing, until all were gone +except myself. I remained on the wreck until I saw a boat coming, which +took me on board, and also rescued those on the mast, and afterwards +others. We were then taken to Beaumaris, and treated with the greatest +hospitality and kindness." + +Another survivor, after detailing the facts preliminary to the disaster, +said: "The waves broke heavily on the vessel; the chimney became loose, +and first reeled to leeward, then to windward, and tumbled over with a +great crash. The mainmast then went overboard, and remained hanging to the +vessel by the rigging. The captain still assured us we should be saved, +and that assistance would shortly arrive. I requested him to fire a gun; +he said he had none on board. A small bell was then rung, but its noise +would probably be lost in the roar of the wind and waves. Some of the +passengers asked the captain to hoist a light; he said he had none; but we +knew he had a lantern, for one of the crew took it round when he collected +the checks, about half an hour before the vessel struck. The confusion +occasioned by the falling of the chimney and the mast, together with the +cries and shrieks of the women and children, defies description. Men were +seen taking leave of their wives; wives were clinging to their husbands; +and persons were running about in all directions, uttering the most +piteous and heartrending cries. From the weight of the chimney, the vessel +continued lying to windward, and very soon after the mast went the weather +boards gave way; and as the waves then swept the deck the passengers +stationed themselves on those parts of the vessel which lay highest. +Several climbed up the mast which was left standing; others got on the +poop. The weather boards on the leeward side were then washed away, taking +with them more than thirty people, who were clinging to them. The cries +were now more dreadful than before, every succeeding wave sweeping numbers +from the wreck. I took a situation beside one of the paddle-boxes, and +whilst there a young man came to me with a large drum, and said it would +save both of us, if I held on one side and he on the other. Some females +came and clung round us, but the young man stuck to the drum, and told +them to get hold of the first piece of timber they could.... Of what +further happened I have but a confused recollection, and it appears to me +like the traces of a horrible dream. It seemed as if I had been in the +water many days, when I heard the welcome sound of a human voice shout +'Holloa!' to which I also shouted 'Holloa!' Soon after I was lifted out of +the water, and placed in a boat belonging to R. Williamson, Esq., who, +when he was informed of the calamity which had befallen us, manned two +boats, and came out to pick up the sufferers. On being taken up I asked my +deliverers when it would be daylight, and they told me it was broad day--it +was about ten o'clock in the forenoon. I was stone blind. Mr. Williamson +and the boat's crew were most kind to me. I was kept on board until I was +sufficiently restored to meet my sister and the other survivors at +Beaumaris. I cannot omit to express my most grateful thanks to my +deliverers and benefactors. Their noble humanity has left an impression on +my heart which will never be effaced but with my existence." + +"Amidst these almost overwhelming distresses," says the Rev. Mr. Stewart, +in one of his letters to a friend, "involving in one general calamity men, +women, children, and even tender infants, it is a rest to the heart to +turn for a moment to some special marks of divine mercy. I am sure, my +very dear friend, the following incident, related to me by the father of +the boy, will deeply affect you. He was near the helm with his child, +grasping his hand, till the waves, rolling over the quarter-deck, and +taking with them several persons who were standing near them, it was no +longer safe to remain there. The father took his child in his hands and +ran towards the shrouds, but the boy could not mount with him. He cried +out, therefore, 'Father! father! do not leave me!' But finding that his +son could not climb with him, and that his own life was in danger, he +withdrew his hand. When the morning came, the father was conveyed on shore +with some other passengers who were preserved, and as he was landing he +said within himself, 'How can I see my wife without having our boy with +me?' When, however, the child's earthly parent let go his hand his +Heavenly Father did not leave him. He was washed off the deck, but happily +clung to a part of the wreck on which some others of the passengers were +floating. With them he was almost miraculously preserved. When he was +landing, not knowing of his father's safety, he said, 'It is of no use to +take me on shore now I have lost my father.' He was, however, carried, +much exhausted, to the same house where his father had been sent, and +actually placed in the same bed, unknown to either, till they were clasped +in each other's arms." + +Among the victims was that of a lady entirely _unknown_. The body of this +poor creature had been picked up near Conway, and it was evident that she +had been one of fortune's favourites, though destined to a death so cruel. +She was elegantly and fashionably attired, wearing rich earrings, gold +chain and locket, three valuable rings in addition to her wedding-ring, +and so forth. In a day or two she was buried in a common deal shell, and +followed to a nameless grave by strangers. + +It appears, by the pilot's statement, that early in the afternoon he had +been invited by the steward to take some refreshment with him, and in the +course of conversation a very strong opinion was given by the steward that +Captain Atkinson never _intended_ to reach Beaumaris, and that the voyage +he was now making would be his last. By the expression "intended" he +explained was meant _expected_, and the result proved the opinion to be +too fatally correct. Tired by what he had gone through before entering the +packet, the pilot lay down in the forecastle to sleep. He was aroused by a +sensation beyond all others most dreadful--he felt the vessel strike, and +his experience told him all was over. Hastily rushing upon deck, his +courage and coolness were for a moment quite overcome. "I saw," said he, +"the quality huddled together in the waist of the vessel; and the praying +and crying was the most dreadful sight to witness. The waves broke over on +both sides, and took away numbers at once. They went like flights, +sometimes many, sometimes few; at last the bulwark went, and none were +left." + +The vessel had scarcely struck when the two stays of the chimney broke. +These, after many ineffectual efforts, were again made fast; but they soon +gave way a second time, and the chimney fell across the deck, bringing the +mainmast with it. The mast, it is stated, fell aft along the lee or +larboard side of the quarter deck, and struck overboard some of the +unfortunate creatures who had there collected. The steward of the vessel +and his wife lashed themselves to the mast, determined to spend their last +moments in each other's arms. Several husbands and wives seem to have met +their fate together, whilst parents clung to their little ones. Several +mothers, it is said, perished with their little ones clasped in their +arms. The carpenter and his wife were seen embracing each other and their +child in the extreme of agony. The poor woman asked a young man, Henry +Hammond, to pull her cloak over her shoulders, when a tremendous wave came +and washed off, in a moment, twelve persons, and her among them. + +Soon after the crash the captain's voice was heard for the last time. He +and the mate appear to have been the very first that perished, and the +conclusion is that they must have been dragged overboard by the wreck of +the mainmast. It is true that an absurd report was spread in Beaumaris +that both captain and mate reached land safely in the boat, part of which +was found on shore early in the morning. This is unlikely; but it is quite +possible many lives might have been saved in the boat, _if she had been +provided with oars_. The absence of these, however, shows in a glaring +manner the utter recklessness of human life which marked the whole affair. +It was stated by Mr. Henry Hammond, ship-carver, of Liverpool, one of the +persons saved, that it was not true that a party of the passengers got +into the boat soon after the vessel struck, and were immediately swamped. +The statement he gave was that the boat was hanging by the davits over the +stern, nearly filled with water in consequence of the spray; when the +vessel struck, he and the wife and child of the carpenter got into the +boat, but left it again, being ordered out by the mate, who told them it +was of no use, as no boat could live in such a sea. The boat soon after +broke adrift and was lost, but there was no person in her. + +"For above a mile and a half to the spit-buoy in the Friar's Road," says +Morrison, "the sand is dry at half ebb, and as the Dutchman's Bank is dry +at low water, I have no hesitation in affirming that there was dry land +within half a mile of the wreck when she struck; and that if they had +_been informed_ of the fact, many of them on board might have swam or been +drifted over the Swash, and within two hundred yards of the vessel would +have found themselves in not more than three or four feet of water." + +The Swash is very few feet wide, and was easily passed by one individual, +who, being a resident in Bangor, knew the locality, and escaped, according +to Mr. Whittaker's narrative, who states as follows:--"At this time a +gentleman from Bangor left the vessel, with a small barrel tied beneath +his chin, and an umbrella in his hand, which he unfurled when he got into +the water, in the hope of being drifted ashore in time to send some aid to +his fellow-sufferers." This was Mr. Jones of Bangor. Now, if Mr. Jones, +the pilot, or the captain or mate, or any other person on board, who knew +of the vicinity of the dry sand, on which people walk at low water, had +explained to the persons who could swim the state of the case, many others +might have been saved as well as Mr. Jones. + +A Mr. Tarry, who was exceedingly apprehensive during the passage, kept his +wife and children in the cabin; on the vessel striking he made immediate +inquiries respecting their probable fate; and Jones, the pilot, having +indiscreetly said that there was no hope of safety, he became at once +calm, and said in a tone of resignation, "I brought out my family, and to +return without them would be worse than death; I'll, therefore, die with +them." He then went down into the cabin and embraced his wife and +children. It would appear that they afterwards, impelled by a sense of +self-preservation, came on deck; one at least of his little girls was seen +afterwards in a state of pitiable helplessness. Mr. Duckworth, of Bury, +who survived the catastrophe, says that while sustaining his wife he saw +her on the quarter-deck. She was about ten years old. Each wave that broke +down on one side of the vessel hurled her along with impetuous force, and +dashed her against the gunwale on the other side; and then it would +recede, and draw her back again, a ready victim for another similar shock. +The poor innocent, bruised and half choked with the waves, sent forth the +most piteous cries for her father and mother between each rush of the +waters. Her shrieks were piercing beyond description, and she screamed +"Oh! won't you come to me, father? Oh, mamma!" &c., till the narrator says +his heart yearned to save her; and though he dared not quit his wife, he +called to a fellow-passenger to make the effort; but he believes she was +washed away soon afterwards. + + [Illustration: SAVED AT LAST.] + +"A schooner, belonging to a nephew of Alderman Wright, was lying off +Beaumaris Green; the persons on board heard the bell ring in the _Rothsay +Castle_, but in consequence of no light being displayed, which the captain +refused to allow, they could not tell in what direction to go to render +assistance. They eventually saved several persons who had been seven hours +in the water. Such was the state of anxiety of the poor creatures, who had +been so long hanging to the wreck, that they imagined, when taken up at +seven o'clock in the morning, that it was noon." + + [Illustration: BEAUMARIS.] + +Lieutenant Morrison speaks highly of the humanity and honesty of the +Welshmen of the coast on which the unfortunate vessel was wrecked, and +contrasts their conduct with that of the people of certain other places. +He remembered, in the year 1816, witnessing the wreck of a vessel near +Appledore, in the Bay of Barnstaple, when the country people came down in +crowds to plunder the wreck, and they drove the poor seamen back into the +surf when they attempted to rescue a part of their property. In the winter +of 1827 he recalled the case of a crowd surrounding the mate of a Welsh +sloop wrecked on the coast of Waterford, whom they knocked down and robbed +of a small bundle of clothes, all that he had saved from the wreck. + +The wreck about to be described occurred in January, 1838, and has been +recorded in a graphic though somewhat verbose pamphlet,(99) which it is +very unlikely has reached the eyes of many of our readers. It has often +struck the writer that the most fascinating and interesting descriptions +of wrecks have not been written by sailors, and there is a sufficient +reason for this. Many of the episodes which strike a landsman forcibly, +and add greatly to the picturesque _ensemble_ of his narration, are taken +by the seaman as mere matters of course. Several of the more detailed and +interesting narratives already given have been taken from accounts +recorded by the members of other professions, clergymen and military men +more particularly. The present account is compiled from the narrative +furnished by a medical man. + +The _Killarney_ sailed from Cork on the 19th January of the above year, +with about fifty on board, passengers and crew. The weather was very +severe, the wind blowing hard from the east, accompanied by snow and hail +squalls; and the captain, after vainly endeavouring to make headway, +turned the vessel round and returned to Cove Harbour. The weather +moderating, the _Killarney_ again got under weigh for her port of +destination, Bristol. Again a storm rose, and the mist became so dense +that they could scarcely see the vessel's length ahead of them. During the +night 150 pigs--about a fourth of the number on the vessel--were washed +overboard; the cabin was a wreck of furniture and crockery; and Dr. +Spolasco's gig had been forced from its lashings, broken up, and partly +washed away. The engine stopped for some time, and the vessel lay to, the +captain not knowing his position. A suspicious circumstance, showing that +the men were disheartened and greatly fatigued, was that they came down to +the cabin and asked for bottles of porter, &c.--a most unusual request, of +course. Lieut. Nicolay, a military passenger, remarked, "I don't like to +see these men getting porter in this way; I was once at sea in great +danger, and the sailors through desperation commenced to drink." If the +sailors were doubtful of the vessel's safety, there can be little wonder +that the passengers generally were in a state of grave alarm. Baron +Spolasco had his boy, a helpless child of nine years of age, on board, and +between his care, giving advice to passengers, and setting the leg of the +under-steward, who had broken it in a violent fall caused by the lurching +of the ship, he had enough to do. At noon of Saturday it was whispered +that the captain intended to try for land, but no one on board appeared to +know whether they were twenty or fifty miles from it. The weather +increased in severity. + +In these trying moments, the captain, mate, and crew, endeavoured to +perform their duties, and used every exertion in their power to weather +the dreadful storm; but the water gained incessantly on the pumps, and the +vessel continued to fill, and, being almost on her broadside, the deck was +nearly perpendicular. The sea broke over her continually, and the +passengers crawled about on hands and knees. Spolasco inquired of +M'Arthur, the chief engineer, entreating him to let him know how the water +stood in the engine-room. He seemed much exhausted, and said, "We're +getting the water down to the plates of the engines; the fires are +re-kindled, and we'll soon have steam on." For a time this was +successfully done. + +Lieut. Nicolay was the first to announce "Land at last!" to the +passengers, and all hearts beat with joy at the welcome news. But they +were greatly puzzled, and indeed mortified, that they were unable to +ascertain what land it was. Some said that it was Poor Head, others that +it was Kinsale, and others that it was Youghal, and others again that it +was Cork Harbour. But the vessel was now utterly unmanageable. + + [Illustration: ENTRANCE TO CORK HARBOUR.] + +The captain again did his best to re-make Cork Harbour, but it was out of +his power, the sails having been blown to ribbons, and the fires put out +owing to the repeated shipping of the seas. The engines went on pretty +well when they commenced working a second time, but they shortly became +less and less powerful from the cause just assigned. About three o'clock +in the afternoon she had drifted near some rocks, the vessel being then +nearly on her beam ends. It was all that the passengers or crew could do +to hold on the bulwarks or ropes, and from the terror depicted on every +countenance it was evident that the crisis was at hand. The vessel struck, +and a simultaneous thrill of horror passed through every breast. Two +gentlemen were, it was believed, washed overboard at this time. + +A heavy sea then struck abaft the paddle-box, carrying off all before it. +The doctor descried poor Nicolay on the top of a wave, like a mountain +over them, as it were riding on, and buffeting in vain with his gigantic +enemy. An awful and terrific scene was witnessed while grasping his child +and the companion. "I believe," says he, "it was the same sea, or one +instantaneously succeeding it, that struck the companion, and carried me +and my dear little charge across the deck. Had it not been for the remnant +of the bulwarks, viz., two uprights, across which a deck-form was forced, +which proved the simple means of saving our lives at that period--were it +not for this circumstance, my child and myself must have perished with +Nicolay and others. Several fragments of deck-rigging fell upon us--such as +ropes, spars, splinters, &c.; and it was with the utmost difficulty that I +was enabled to extricate myself and child from them, in doing which I lost +a shoe. It is worthy of remark that I had not worn shoes for more than six +months before, having put them on that morning, considering that they +would contribute to my ease while on board. My little boy also lost a shoe +and cap owing to this circumstance. I now ought to remark, before I +proceed further with this painful narrative, that immediately, or rather +before, the engines stopped the second time from the vessel filling with +water, the engineers and firemen came upon deck, from the impossibility of +their remaining any longer below, the steam gradually going down, and the +engines consequently decreasing in power till they came to a stand. All +further efforts on their part being unavailing, and destruction being +inevitable, all rushed upon deck, leaving the engines in order to save +their lives." + +Matters for some time continuing thus, the sailors and some of the deck +passengers exerted themselves, and were engaged in endeavouring with +buckets to lighten the vessel of some of the water in the hold; and, after +several hours' hard work, they so far succeeded (the pumps all the while +kept going) as to be able early on Saturday afternoon to get up steam +again. + +A passenger pointed out a bay, which he said was Roberts' Cove, and +recommended the captain to run the vessel in there, as there was a boat +harbour in it, and beach her. The captain said that he did not think there +was a harbour there--that, at all events, it would be impossible to make +it. The vessel was all this time drifting nearer the rock on which she +ultimately struck; and in about an hour after the passenger had given the +recommendation alluded to, the captain got the vessel round, and +endeavoured to make Roberts' Cove. Just as he had got her before the wind, +however, she was pooped by a tremendous sea, which carried away the +taffrail, staunchions, the wheel (and two men who worked it), the +companion, the binnacle, and the breakwater. The two steersmen fortunately +caught part of the rigging, and were saved; but the sea which did the +damage carried away the bulwarks, with some of the steerage passengers, +who were standing near the funnel, and cleared the deck of all the pigs +that were on it. + +In consequence of all the hands having endeavoured to save themselves, the +vessel was left to herself, and continued to strike piecemeal on several +minor rocks, as she was driven before the fury of the waves over them with +a clap--a crash resembling thunder--carrying off at each stroke one or more +human beings, together with some portion of deck, deck furniture, deck +trimmings, rigging, &c. To hear the wrenching of the vessel, now between +the roaring billows and the rock, together with the cries of the +sufferers, was soul-piercing in the extreme. + +It was absurd to think, even for a moment, of lowering the quarter-boats, +the tempest raged so furiously. Previously to the vessel striking on the +rock which rent her asunder, and upon which she went to pieces, passengers +and seamen all ran up for self-preservation on the quarter-deck. A +terrible rush was then made for this, their last resource; and catching +his child, Doctor Spolasco held him in his arms, and he clung close round +his neck with all the strength of his little embrace, looking imploringly +in his face for protection, and, as if foreseeing his fate, said, "Papa, +kiss me! Papa, kiss me! We are all lost!" + +The last moment approached. The crisis was at hand. Struggling on with his +beloved charge, the doctor sprang forward with him, clasping him closely +to his breast, and, creeping on his hand and knees, dragged his child +along under one arm, while he held by the fragments of the bulwarks, +shifting his hand from splinter to splinter, until he slowly and gradually +reached the stern, the heavens lowering, the tempest raging, and the +billows washing over them, drenched to the skin, and every instant gasping +for breath, the waves suffocating them, the billows every instant beating +against them. + +Some time previously to this both passengers and crew knew not how to act +or what to attempt to secure their safety, such was the distraction of +their minds. The direction of the vessel was no longer thought of or +attended to; each individual holding on by anything that he could possibly +grasp for temporary safety with one hand, while he was seen pulling off +his clothes with the other, in readiness to be freed from the encumbrance +of them, that he might be enabled to make a last, a desperate effort to +swim ashore. + +This was indeed a struggle for life and death, but bordering so nearly on +the latter; some dressing again, and again undressing; again hesitating, +frantic and desperate, till not another moment was left for deliberation. +Crash! crash! crash! came in awful quick succession, mingled with the +piteous, the soul-harrowing cries, "For pity's sake, help! help! help!" + +More than half an hour previously to the vessel's striking on that +Saturday, between three and four in the afternoon, although instantly +expecting to go down, ten or twelve persons were seen on the neighbouring +mountainous promontory, and it afforded them some glimmering of +satisfaction--some faint ray of hope that they would not perish in sight of +land. They were observed as early as three o'clock on Saturday, but no +efforts were made to rescue them till long after. A part of them gained +the rock on which the vessel struck previously to the night's setting in, +where they remained all Sunday and part of Monday, wet, cold, and nearly +starved. + +"I desired my child," says Spolasco, "as he loved me, to cling close, +while I went to render assistance to others, who were loudly imploring for +aid. The darling child, who was evidently sick and exhausted, obeyed; and +I, alas! trusted to his puny strength to hold on. + +"I sat for a moment on the rock, kissing him, till I looked round and +reflected on the awful scene before me, and beheld (with what emotion I +leave you to guess) the dreadful destruction which was going on. + +"Previously to my jumping on the rock I observed Mrs. Lawe on the +quarter-deck on her knees, frantic, without her cap, her hair dishevelled +all around her shoulders, in dreadful anguish, striking the deck with one +hand, while she held on with the other. Mr. Lawe, her husband, was at this +time drowned. + +"About this period the midships of the vessel were thrown by the terrific +sea and raging storm into a position favourable for those yet on board to +make their escape upon the rock; thus it was with comparative ease the +surviving remnant on board now forsook the vessel. + +"In short, if the sufferers could have anticipated and waited for this +opportunity, the lives of many who were lost might have been saved. They +would, at least, have been fortunate enough to have reached the rock, and +would have had the same chance of existence as others, provided their +constitution were sufficiently strong to bear the dreadful privations that +there awaited them. + +"I stretched forth my hand and assisted several as they approached, taking +hold of the first that presented, making, of course, no distinction of +persons, and continued to act thus till I saw a female in the last gasp, +still holding by the rock after the receding of a wave--it was Mrs. Lawe. +Then, with all the force I could command, I dragged her forwards one or +two paces. She was, indeed, poor good lady! in the last stage of +exhaustion, and fell on my arm, and her weight caused me to slip, by which +we were both precipitated towards a frightful chasm; but luckily I again +seized the rock ere the wave retired, or we might both have been swept +away, and I held fast by one hand, while with the other I supported the +lady, during which two or three waves washed over us. Neither she nor I +could breathe. + +"I collected all my remaining strength for this the last effort I was +equal to in order to save her, and folding her in my arms, I crept up the +rock quite above the surge, where the spray only could reach us. + +"She was speechless, but sufficiently sensible to acknowledge my attention +with looks of fervent gratitude. I then left her, anxious to return to my +child. But judge of my sensations--I found him not! He, alas! was gone! I +could not tell where, or what had become of him." The poor boy had been +drowned, and no traces of him were ever discovered. + +Their sufferings on the rock are well described:--"To such dreadful shifts +were we driven that during the night I was obliged to hold on with one +hand, while with the other I grasped the hand of a fellow-sufferer, in +order that each might receive some portion of vital heat; this we did +alternately with right and left hand. But we were all so depressed in +spirits and suffering so grievously from the cold and the rain as the +night advanced, that we did little else than turn our thoughts to the Most +High, and calmly await the approach of day, and with it some hope of +relief. My face, nose, and particularly the inside of my mouth, were +dreadfully mangled, and my teeth loosened, being so repeatedly forced by +the billows against the rock to which I was clinging. In short, I think no +human endurance equalled ours; for towards morning, when my fingers became +so benumbed from wet and cold that I lost the use of them, and I found +that it was impossible to hold on longer, I twice felt resigned to commit +myself to the deep, and was on the point of doing so, invoking Heaven to +receive my spirit. + +"The very lacerated state of my nose, mouth, and feet," says the doctor, +"when I was borne from the rock, were indicative of the sufferings I had +endured. Poor M'Arthur seemed either quite regardless of, or insensible +to, my repeated warnings of his danger. He at last put his hands into the +pockets of his trousers, in spite of my remonstrances to the contrary. The +point of the rock on which he stood affording him a better foothold, or +standing, than mine, and that portion of the rock immediately before him +not being so perpendicular as that before me, allowed him to bend forward. +This last advantage, coupled with that of his better footing and his being +overpowered with sleep, induced him to be so careless of his safety. But +almost instantly a fearful and tremendous sea struck the rock just below +the slight shelves or openings which supported our toes, and immediately +rebounded over us many feet in height; then breaking and falling with +great force on our heads, it had the effect of hurling off on the instant +poor M'Arthur. O gracious God, I never can be sufficiently grateful for +Thy bountiful goodness and singular preservation in protecting me through +so many imminent perils, so many hair-breadth escapes! For of all the +passengers with whom I dined on Friday in the steamer _Killarney_ I am the +only survivor! The cook who prepared the dinner, and the steward, +steward's brother, and the stewardess that served it, are all in +eternity!" + +It was not till about ten o'clock on the morning of Sunday that the poor +sufferers on the rock endeavoured to change their positions, which was a +matter of some difficulty. One of the passengers, during the early part of +the night, having been unable to attain a position as comfortable as that +of some of the rest, had hung on to Dr. Spolasco's legs, in order to save +himself from dropping into the sea. Later a heavy wave struck him; he +relinquished his hold, and was swept into the sea never to rise again. "On +gaining the summit," says the doctor, "I perceived with horror that many +had disappeared during the night, and among them the lady whom I had +rescued at the loss, I may indeed fairly say, of my dear boy." There was a +general hope among the survivors that they would be rescued early that +morning (Sunday), and their disappointment that no effort was made to save +them was great indeed. They saw at an early hour hundreds of peasants on +the beach and cliff, some of them busily engaged at the wreckage or in +bearing away parts of the pigs which had formed part of the cargo, but all +intent upon gain. Not the slightest effort was made for the poor wretches +on the rock, although Spolasco at intervals waved his purse in one hand +and his cap in another in order to induce the peasantry to afford +assistance. + +The doctor endeavoured by signs to indicate that a raft could be easily +constructed from the wreckage, and that the drift of the current would +bring it to the rock, but he was not understood. Again their hopes fell to +zero. Poor M'Arthur, the engineer, who had been nearly drowned before, had +managed to struggle to a higher position on the rock, but he died from +exhaustion early on Monday morning. Some time after, two men, and a little +later two boys, fell headlong into the sea, being nearly dead from +starvation and exposure. Of twenty-five who got safely on the rock, +thirteen died before they could be rescued; and yet it was so near the +coast that those mounting the nearest cliff had to bend over its edge to +see it. Meantime the storm beat on violently, and no boat could have +approached the rock. Sea-weed and salt water was all the food (!) they +could get from dinner hour on board the steamer on Friday, about five +o'clock, till Monday afternoon. All this within almost a stone's throw of +land! + +"To return," says the narrator, "to Sunday. I have in a previous page +stated that during the whole of the morning of that day, indeed up to the +afternoon, all we saw was a crowd of peasants on the beach, each carrying +his or her burden from the spoils of the wreck of the steamer _Killarney_; +and on the cliff above us, numbers--altogether amounting to some hundreds. +It was in vain we looked for some respectable person among them who would +be likely to tender us the desired assistance, till ... we hailed the +presence of a respectable gentleman, by whose kind gestures we could +understand (for it was impossible to hear his voice) that we yet should be +saved. After waving his hat, and doing all in his power to cheer us, he +retired, and ascended the lofty cliff, and in a reasonable time afterwards +again returned, with several other gentlemen. + +"Several descended with him to the edge of the precipice--a dangerous +declivity--bringing with them ropes, slings, &c., and indeed every other +requisite that the short period of their absence allowed them to procure, +or whatever appeared to them necessary for the object they had in view. +Having arrived at the brink of the precipice, somewhat in a direct line +(though still above us) with the rock upon which we were--the distance I +would compute to be from a hundred and fifty to two hundred feet--they +commenced throwing stones to which were attached small lines, several in +their turn; one having failed, another tried, and so on, till they were +sufficiently convinced that all such efforts were altogether fruitless--the +strongest of them not being able to pitch such stone more than half way +towards us. + +"Some one then suggested the propriety of trying slings, which they +immediately prepared--in turn taking off their cloaks, coats, &c., having +first tied round their waist a strong rope as a prudent precaution of +security for their safety in making the bold attempt, viz., of slinging a +stone, having attached to it a line, to us unfortunate expectants upon the +rock. These efforts, too, like the former, were attended with want of +success. + +"Mr. John Galwey, with whom was Mr. Edward Hull and other gentlemen, +apparently in a most perilous position confronting us, formed a footing +with crowbars, &c. Mr. Galwey was then observed several times to try to +pass a duck with a small line fastened to its leg, but without effect. We +also discerned him coiling a wire or line into the barrel of a musquet, +with the view of firing off the ball to which it was connected, hoping +that when the ball should have passed the rock the line might fall upon +it. This expedient too was ingenious, but unsuccessful. + +"The next attempt for our rescue was thought of and entered upon by a +brave young gentleman, Richard Knolles, Esq.--son of the worthy Captain +Knolles of that neighbourhood--by which he nearly lost his life. He had +with him a favourite dog, well trained to the water, and apparently to his +command, with which fine animal he descended as nearly to the edge of the +beach as the billows, breakers, and foaming spray would allow him, and +rather farther, for, being young, brave, and anxious to be the means of +saving us, he ventured somewhat too far for his safety, being met by a +tremendous surf, which struck him, and dashed him above some twenty feet +or more with such violence, that he was not only wetted to the skin, but +had the narrowest escape that man could well have of being lashed into the +furious sea and yawning gulf below him." + +The news of their cruel sufferings having ere this spread around the +country--this being Sunday, and rather more favourable than the previous +days--thousands of both sexes assembled from miles around to witness the +awful scene. They could clearly distinguish among the vast assemblage upon +the cliffs a great number of ladies by their veils, drapery, &c., who +doubtless had been attracted to the fatal spot through sympathy for their +peculiar hardships. The shore appeared so near, and the day was so fine, +that through the greater part of it they did not think, nor could bring +themselves to believe it possible, that they were cruelly doomed to suffer +another night upon the desolate rock; and it was thought by some (seeing +that the distance to the cliff on the mainland was not very great) that a +brave plunge into the waves would bear them on shore. + + [Illustration: THE SURVIVORS ON THE ROCK.] + +Hunger was keen indeed; it was piercing; and perceiving the people upon +the cliff apparently unable to give them relief, one resolute but +unfortunate man volunteered, and attempted to swim to shore, and, creeping +down the rock, bade them farewell. They wished him, with all their hearts, +success, each meaning to follow his example, if successful, rather than +remain to perish on the rock. He rushed boldly into the surf; they all +awaited his re-appearance with breathless anxiety, but he was rapidly +hurried into the deep below, and they could discern him no more. All such +attempts, or hope of such, to gain the shore by these means were then +abandoned. + +The second night was now closing fast upon them, and having observed that +some preparations were being made on shore to extend ropes from promontory +to promontory--a distance of from half a mile to a mile--they were all +hovering between hope and fear. A deathless silence reigned among them. +Their gallant captain at length exclaimed, "I have it! They are carrying +one end of the line to yon jutting promontory (east), and are running with +the other end to the other promontory (west); the two ends of the line +being drawn tight in opposite directions, the centre will overhang the +rock, and be within our reach." As the sequel proved, his judgment was +well founded. + +"We now," says the narrator, "placed our whole reliance on the success of +the efforts of those on shore with the ropes; but the apparatus employed +was imperfect--time passing rapidly, and the night quickly approaching. +Just at the commencement of dusk the rope reached us, which we were +enabled to seize by a small tripping line that hung pendent from it when +it was stretched over our heads, being drawn tight at each promontory by +the many assembled." The captain, or some one of the men, caught the line +and drew it downwards, when all seized it, and there was a wild huzza! The +captain had been right in his conjecture. The line was extended from +headland to headland. + +"When the rope was conveyed to us," writes the doctor, "we all cheered, as +if re-animated by a new existence; and although it reached us too late to +be of any service on that night, such was our eagerness to be delivered +from the rock, that one man volunteered, and immediately descended to the +base of it, and by a triangular knot made himself fast to the hawser, +which had been conveyed to us by means of the small lines already alluded +to. The rope, or hawser, although not a new one, I think was sufficiently +strong to bear one at a time to shore, and, indeed, up the lofty cliff, in +safety; but a boy who had been in care of the pigs, unfortunately, through +over-anxiety to escape from the rock, descended, and most imprudently +attached himself also at the same time to it, notwithstanding our earnest +remonstrances to the contrary; and when they said 'all was ready'--meaning +that they were secured to the rope--at the same time directing us to shout +to those on the mainland 'to pull them ashore,' we did so, and they +immediately drew them towards the cliff, upon which we heard a splash, but +could see nothing, it being at this time dark. + +"During the night, when we occasionally conversed--for we had but little to +say, each being wrapped up in his own gloomy meditations--we felt a glow of +satisfaction that at last a contrivance had been resorted to by which two +of us at least were rescued from spending another night upon the rock, we +not at this time at all considering that both had met a watery grave, for +we could see nothing--it was dark--neither could we hear anything, from the +howling of the storm and roaring of the tempest. + +"In the morning, however, in consequence of the rope having broken, we +entertained a melancholy surmise of their unhappy fate; but upon landing, +in the afternoon of Monday, we ascertained the piteous fact. It was +rumoured, but it proved to be untrue, that the peasants, during the second +night (Sunday) of our dreadful suspense upon the rock, had cut the rope. +This arose in consequence of its having been found divided early on Monday +morning." + +Next morning the good Samaritans ashore repaired to the scene, and eagerly +scanned the rock, to see whether any still survived. Among them was Lady +Roberts, who came with thirty of her men, with a car laden with ropes and +other materials necessary for their deliverance. The first plan attempted +early on Monday morning was with Manby's apparatus--_i.e._, firing a +two-pound shot with a line attached from a howitzer. After many fruitless +attempts this plan was relinquished. Slings, &c., were then tried, but +with the same result. + +Dr. Spolasco took off his cap, and repeatedly waved it, in order to +attract the observation of those on shore. Having succeeded, he raised his +voice and extended his arms, pointing to either promontory, and indicating +that unless they had recourse to Mr. Hull's plan, as it was subsequently +ascertained to be, their fate would be decided. Fortunately he was +understood, and the plan was prosecuted to its completion, all working +with a will. They again extended the lines from headland to headland, with +this variation only, that they now attached two tripping-lines instead of +one, hanging about a yard apart, and a weight to the end of each, which +had the desired effect of causing them to fall immediately over the rock. +They were immediately grasped; their hope of safety was fully revived, and +they again cheered with hopeful exultation. They retained a secure hold of +the centre of the line, while those upon the two cliffs proceeded to a +centre point on the mainland immediately opposite to them, and instantly +attached the hawser to one end of the line in question. Having +accomplished this, they made signs to those on the rock to draw towards +them the hawser, to which they had fastened a small basket containing a +bottle of wine, a bottle of whisky, and some bread, the thoughtful gift of +Lady Roberts. The liquids proved invaluable, but as for the bread, +excepting a few crumbs, they could not swallow it. They had, from cold, +exposure, and exhaustion, almost lost the power of mastication and +deglutition. + +The basket also contained a written paper, instructing those on the rock +that, as the hawser was sufficiently long, to make it fast round the rock, +that it might be the more secure, and that they would pass a cot along it +with iron grummets. Having so fixed the cot, the signals were made to draw +it towards the rock by means of the small line. The awful example afforded +on Monday morning, when it was perceived that the rope was broken, +naturally made several of them nervous now, and there was some hesitation +as to who should enter it first to be drawn on shore, seeing that it had +to be hauled a distance of sixty to a hundred feet above the level of the +sea in order to land upon the lowest accessible part of the cliff, where +Mr. Hull, the inventor of the plan, was stationed to receive them. On +landing, they had to be carried to the summit of the nearly perpendicular +cliff, about 300 feet, upon men's backs, supported on either side by +others of their deliverers, for the least false step would have hurried +them headlong to the depths below. + +After some deliberation, the first to be placed in the cot was a woman +named Mary Leary, who was assisted into it, and drawn through the air to +what seemed a frightful height, amid the cheers of all. On her being +landed, the cot was again lowered to the rock, and the narrator of our +story entered it, lying upon his back. Giving the signal that he was +ready, those on the mainland pulled, and in a few minutes he was safe on +the cliff, where he received the warm congratulations of the gentlemen +there assembled. The ship's carpenter, who was evidently very ill, was +next placed in the cot, but the poor fellow breathed his last almost +immediately after landing. The others soon followed, the captain, as +should be, being the last. Once ashore, they were treated with +warm-hearted hospitality, and a liberal subscription was raised for the +sufferers of the crew and passengers, and the widows and orphans of those +who were lost. Of fifty persons who left Cork on the ill-fated +_Killarney_, about twenty-five landed on the rock, and of these only +fourteen reached land, one of them, as we have seen, to expire +immediately. + +The mode by which the few survivors were rescued was so novel that it +deserves particular notice, and the following, quoted from a letter +written by Mr. E. W. Hull to Baron Spolasco, will be found interesting. + +"The first intelligence my brother and myself received of the wreck was +from Mr. John Galwey, at about nine or ten o'clock on Sunday morning. We +immediately proceeded towards the scene of the dreadful catastrophe, which +is about five miles from Roberts' Cove, and arrived there at eleven +o'clock. My brother's men, of course, accompanied us. On our reaching the +place, I descended the frightful precipice, at the foot of which I +discovered Mr. Galwey letting ducks fly with lines attached to them. I +joined him in the experiment, though indeed I entertained not the least +hope of its proving effective. We abandoned this plan, and having taken +off my coat and hat, and placed a rope round my waist, to prevent my +falling over the lower cliff upon which we stood, I commenced using all +the means I could devise to convey a stone with a line attached to it to +the rock. I first made an effort to throw a stone from my hand; next, I, +with others, had recourse to slings; but all our experiments, as the +sequel proved, were useless. I may here, without the least exaggeration, +assert that the danger to which Mr. John Galwey, young Mr. Knolles, and +myself, were exposed was beyond the power of conception. Below us appeared +a hideous gulf, almost yawning to receive us from the cliff upon which we +stood, while from above we saw large stones rolling down from a height of +two hundred feet. To avoid being struck by these we had not the power of +moving an inch from the place in which we respectively stood; so that in +this, as in all other circumstances connected with our dangerous +undertakings on the occasion, we were protected in our frightful situation +by the peculiar interposition of Providence. We next had recourse to the +plan of a person named Mills, of the Coastguard at Roberts' Cove. It was +that of attaching wire to bullets, and firing them from guns. This plan +likewise proved unsuccessful. + +"At this time, when all our plans had become unavailing, those who had +been acting with me below went to the top of the cliff. Being exceedingly +exhausted I was unable to follow. I lay down on the brink of the +precipice, nearly on a line with the top of the rock upon which the +sufferers were, and feeling as a human being should at so heartrending a +spectacle, when all hope of saving a single individual was almost extinct. +I exclaimed, 'Good God! are there no means left to save them?' At this +moment I took a view of the east promontory and the west. The thought--the +happy thought--flashed across my mind. I immediately perceived that +Providence favoured us with a tolerable certainty of success. I ascended +the precipice, and made my brother acquainted with my plan. We both +suggested it to others, but it was disregarded, owing to the great +distance between the promontories and the immense height of the cliffs. +However, I saw a glorious prospect before me of rescuing my +fellow-creatures from an awful death. Heaven inspired me with confidence, +and, in conjunction with my brother, I could not be diverted from making a +trial. My brother and the neighbouring gentlemen sent in all directions +for lines and ropes. On getting them, we commenced putting my plan into +execution. The first attempt failed through want of sufficiency of rope +and the setting in of night. When the rope was carried to the rock and +there secured, I perceived that one man got upon it. Had he alone +ventured, all would be right; but the eagerness of another poor fellow was +so great that he attached himself to it, and the weight of the two was +overmuch for the rope to bear, and it consequently broke. How we felt at +this dreadful occurrence your readers may imagine; I cannot describe the +fearful thrill of horror which pervaded every breast. It was now dark +night; we had therefore to discontinue our efforts until the next morning. +We left the lines during the intervening night as we had adjusted them the +evening before. My brother left two of his men, with one of Lieutenant +Charlesson's, to preserve the rope and property during the night. + + [Illustration: RESCUE OF THE SURVIVORS OF THE "KILLARNEY."] + +"To return to the subject of my communication, I should state that, on +ascending the cliff I met Lady Roberts and Captain Knolles. I told them of +the loss of one man, not knowing at the time that a second had also +suffered--this information, indeed, I afterwards received from yourself. I, +notwithstanding this sad disaster, felt persuaded that if I had a +sufficient quantity of rope all would be saved. I mentioned this to Lady +Roberts, upon which her ladyship assured me that I should be plentifully +supplied with this article. Though painful to our feelings to be obliged +to leave you to spend another night of gloom and horror, we were under the +necessity of doing so for want of a sufficient quantity of rope. On the +following morning (Monday) I arrived at the cliff, accompanied by my +brother and his men, an hour before daylight. The weather was dreadful +beyond conception, rain and snow falling incessantly. We immediately +proceeded to bring into operation the plan of the former day. We were at +this time much better enabled to do so, having obtained a sufficiency of +rope by the directions of Lady Roberts, who, to the honour of her sex, was +present at that early hour, exposed to the inclemency of the weather. +Lieutenant Irwin, Inspector of the Coastguard at Kinsale, arrived about +this time with Captain Manby's apparatus. This gentleman, having, I +presume, had some previous experience of the capability of similar +machines, commenced discharging balls from it. This suspended the +operation of my plan for some time, but it was found altogether +ineffective; but I consider it right to state that no man could have +manifested a greater anxiety than Mr. Irwin to do good. The lines and +ropes which he brought us were essentially necessary in putting the +successful plan into execution; he also brought the cot.... + +"In about two hours I had the satisfaction of seeing fourteen persons +safely landed from the rock, but one of them, I regret to say, died of +exhaustion a short time after having been brought on shore. + +"The hawser, as you perceived, had to be taken down a precipice of nearly +three hundred feet. To the end of it was joined the line which you had +primarily received upon the rock, also a basket of refreshments. I myself +took it all down to the lower cliff, where I received each person on being +drawn from the rock. The dangers to which myself and three of the +coastguard were exposed on that occasion were not, I assure you, +trifling." + +About a fortnight after the wreck of the _Killarney_, a large portion of +the rock upon which the remnant of the crew and passengers had suffered so +much was carried away in a storm. It is worthy of remark that during the +American War a vessel conveying a company and band of the 32nd Regiment of +Foot was lost on the same rock, when all perished. + +There can be no doubt that a life-boat, had there been one, would have +rescued many more of the poor unfortunates, left on the rock from Friday +afternoon to Monday afternoon, with considerable ease. During the year +1876-77, not very far from _five thousand_ lives were saved by the fleet +of 269 boats of the National Life-boat Institution. Let us examine the +wreck record of that period.(100) + +We find that the number of British vessels which entered and cleared from +ports of the United Kingdom during the year in question was 581,099, +representing the enormous tonnage of 101,799,050. Of these ships, 224,669 +were steamers, having a tonnage of about two-thirds of the above amount. +During the same period 60,000 foreign vessels entered inwards and cleared +outwards from British ports, representing a tonnage of nearly 20,000,000. +These 641,099 ships, British and foreign, had probably on board, _apart +from passengers_, 4,000,000 men and boys. + +In 1876-77 the number of wrecks, casualties, and collisions, from all +causes, on and near the coasts of the United Kingdom, was 4,164, which +number exceeds that of the previous year by 407. 511 cases out of this +large number involved total loss, 502 and 472 representing the same class +of calamities for the two preceding years. + +During the past twenty years-from 1857 to 1876-77--the number of shipwrecks +on our coasts alone has averaged 1,948 a year, representing in money value +millions upon millions sterling in the aggregate. + +"In making this statement," says _The Life-boat_, "we lay aside entirely +the thousands of precious lives, on which no money value could be placed, +which were sacrificed on such disastrous occasions, and which would have +been enormously increased in the absence of the determined and gallant +services of the life-boats of the National Life-boat Institution. + +"In the Abstract of the Wreck Register it is stated that, between 1861 and +1876-77, the number of ships, both British and foreign, wrecked on our +coasts which were attended with loss of life was 2,784, causing the loss +of 13,098 persons. In 1876-77, loss of life took place in one out of every +twenty-two shipwrecks on our coasts. + +"It is hardly necessary to say that gales of wind are the prime causes of +most shipwrecks, and that those of 1876-77 will long be remembered for +their violence and destructive character. Of the 4,164 wrecks, casualties, +and collisions, reported as having occurred on and near the coasts of the +United Kingdom during the year 1876-77, we find that the total comprised +5,017 vessels. Thus, the number of ships in 1876-77 is more than the total +in 1875-76 by 463. The number of ships reported is in excess of the +casualties reported, because in cases of collision two or more ships are +involved in one casualty. Thus, 847 were collisions, and 3,317 were wrecks +and casualties other than collisions. Of these latter casualties, 446 were +wrecks, &c., resulting in total loss, 902 were casualties resulting in +serious damage, and 1,969 were minor accidents. The whole number of wrecks +and casualties other than collisions on and near our coasts reported +during the year 1875-76 was 2,982, or 335 less than the number reported +during the twelve months under discussion. + +"The localities of the wrecks, still excluding collisions, are thus +given:--East coasts of England and Scotland, 1,140; south coast, 630; west +coast of England and Scotland, and coast of Ireland, 1,259; north coast of +Scotland, 129; and other parts, 159. Total, 3,317." "It is recorded that +the greatest destruction of human life happened on the north and east +coasts of England and Scotland." + +It is interesting to observe the ages of the vessels which were wrecked +during the period under consideration. Excluding foreign ships and +collision cases, 221 wrecks and casualties happened to nearly new ships, +and 396 to ships from 3 to 7 years of age. Then there are wrecks and +casualties to 631 ships from 7 to 14 years old, and to 907 from 15 to 30 +years old. Then follow 459 old ships from 30 to 50 years old. Having +passed the service of half a century, we come to the very old ships, viz., +71 between 50 and 60 years old, 33 from 60 to 70, 24 from 70 to 80, 9 from +80 to 90, and 5 from 90 to 100, while the ages of 68 of the wrecks are +unknown. + +On distinguishing these last named casualties near the coasts of the +United Kingdom, according to the force of the wind at the time at which +they happened, we find that 739 happened with the wind at forces 7 and 8, +or a moderate to fresh gale, when a ship, if properly found, manned, and +navigated, can keep the sea with safety; and that 1,046 happened with the +wind at force 9 and upwards, that is to say, from a strong gale to a +hurricane. + +"We must say one word on the subject of casualties to our ships in our +rivers and harbours, as the fearful calamity to the steamer _Princess +Alice_ last September in the Thames has directed afresh intense attention +to them throughout the civilised world. We find from the Wreck Register +Abstract that the total number during the year 1876-77 was 984, of which +17 were total losses, 245 were serious casualties, and 722 minor +casualties. + +"Of these casualties, collisions numbered 658, founderings 13, strandings +184, and miscellaneous 129. + +"These 984 casualties caused the loss of or damage to 1,725 vessels, of +which 1,020 were British sailing-vessels, 560 British steam-vessels, 118 +foreign sailing-vessels, and 27 foreign steam-vessels. The lives lost in +these casualties were 15. + +"With reference to the collisions on and near our coasts during the year +1876-77, 48 of the 847 collisions were between two steamships both under +way, irrespective of numerous other such cases in our harbours and rivers, +the particulars of which are not given in the Abstract. No disaster at sea +or in a river is often more awful in its consequences than a collision, as +was too strikingly illustrated last year in the cases of the German +ironclad _Grosser Kurfürst_, and the Thames steamer _Princess Alice_. + +"As regards the loss of life, the Wreck Abstract shows that the number was +776, and of these 92 were lost in vessels that foundered, 57 through +vessels in collision, 470 in vessels stranded or cast ashore, and 93 in +missing vessels. The remaining number of lives lost (64) were lost from +various causes, such as through being washed overboard in heavy seas, +explosions, missing vessels, &c. + +"This number (776) may appear to the casual observer a comparatively small +one by the side of the thousands who escaped disaster from the numerous +shipwrecks before mentioned. We are, however, of opinion that it is a very +large number; and when we bear in mind the inestimable value of human +life, we are convinced that no effort should be left untried which can in +any way lessen the annual loss of life from shipwreck on our coasts. + +"On the other hand, great and noble work was accomplished during the same +period, 4,795 lives having been saved from the various shipwrecks. In +bringing about that most important service, it is hardly necessary to say +that the craft of the National Life-boat Institution played a most +important part, in conjunction with the Board of Trade's rocket apparatus, +which is so efficiently worked by the Coastguard and our Volunteer +Brigades. + +"Nevertheless, the aggregate loss of life is very large, and so is the +aggregate destruction of property. The former is a species of woe +inflicted on humanity; the latter is practically a tax upon commerce. +While the art of saving life on the coasts is understood (thanks to the +progress of science--the earnestness of men--and the stout hearts of our +coast population), the art of preserving property is as yet but +imperfectly known amongst us, and still more imperfectly practised. + +"On reviewing the Wreck Register Abstract of the past year, we are bound +to take courage from the many gratifying facts it reveals in regard to +saving life, which, after all, is our principal object in commenting upon +it. Noble work has been done, and is doing, for that purpose; and is it +not something, amidst all this havoc of the sea, to help to save even one +life, with all its hopes, and to keep the otherwise desolate home +unclouded?" + +Among the useful works undertaken by the National Life-boat Institution is +the discussion in its journal of all matters connected with the art of +swimming, and swimming and floating apparatus. The Society also issues a +valuable circular on the "Treatment of the apparently Drowned," to which +further allusion will be hereafter made. The writer is so satisfied that +no humane or charitable institution in the wide world is better or more +economically managed than that under notice, that he would urge all +readers of THE SEA to contribute to its funds. And although every reader +may not be able to afford his guinea or guineas, he can contribute his +shillings or half-crowns, and his influence in aiding one of the local +branches, or in forming new ones. A number of life-boats stationed on +various parts of the coasts were the gifts of other associations and +bodies. The Civil Service, Corn Exchange, Coal Exchange, Freemasons, Odd +Fellows, Foresters, Good Templars, and other orders, have contributed +nobly. Several boats and stations, generally named after the particular +fund, were contributed by London and other Sunday-schools, Jewish +scholars, commercial travellers, workmen, yacht, boat, and other clubs; +while three were the result of an appeal to the readers of the Quiver, two +are credited to the _Dundee People's Journal_, and one each to the +_British Workman_ and _English Mechanic_. And in concluding the second +volume of THE SEA, the writer considers that he has a special right to +urge the claims of the Society on his readers, the subject-matter of its +pages being taken into account. + + + + END OF VOLUME II. + + + + CASSELL PETTER & GALPIN, BELLE SAUVAGE WORKS, LONDON, E.C. + + + + + + + FOOTNOTES + + + 1 "Select observations of the incomparable Sir Walter Raleigh relating + to trade," as presented to King James. + + 2 "History of Merchant Shipping and Ancient Commerce." + + 3 Monson's "Naval Tracts" in Churchill's "Collection." Most of the + narrative to follow is taken from the same source. + + 4 Charnock, "History of Naval Architecture." + + 5 This contemptuous allusion refers of course to the tobacco brought + from the newly-formed plantations in Virginia. + + 6 Macaulay: "History of England." + + 7 The term "America" often included the West Indies, &c., at that + period. + + 8 The principal authorities are--"The History of Peter the Great, &c.," + by Alexander Gordon, who was several years a major-general in the + Russian service, and was son-in-law of the General Patrick Gordon + who may be said to have once saved Russia to the Czar; "Histoire de + Pierre le Grand," by Voltaire; and the "Life of Peter the Great," by + John Barrow, F.R.S., &c. A modern French writer has given a + catalogue of ninety-five authors of some little note who have + treated of Peter's life. + + 9 This name is spelled by the various authorities in many ways; + sometimes it is Zaardam. + + 10 One account says, indeed, that he worked with his own hands as hard + as any man in the yard. "If so," says Barrow, "it could only have + been for a very short time, and probably for no other purpose than + to show the builders that he knew how to handle the adze as well as + themselves." + + 11 The site of Evelyn's mansion was long covered with a workhouse; the + shady walks and splendidly kept hedges are now replaced by a + victualling yard, where oxen and hogs are slaughtered for the use of + the navy, and the transformation of all his haunts in the + neighbourhood has been unpleasantly complete. + + 12 Scheltema, a Dutch authority cited by Barrow. + + 13 One of the very best accounts of the South Sea Bubble is to be found + in Charles Mackay's "Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions," + frequently quoted above. + + 14 The Rev. Richard Walter, M.A., Chaplain of the _Centurion_, who + compiled the work so well known under the title of Anson's "Voyage + Round the World," from the papers and material of the latter. + + 15 "The Narrative of the Honourable John Byron, containing an Account + of the Great Distresses suffered by himself and his Companions on + the Coast of Patagonia, from the year 1740 till their Arrival in + England, 1746," &c. + + 16 "Two or three days after our arrival" (at Santiago), says Byron, + "the President sent Mr. Campbell and me an invitation to dine with + him, where we were to meet Admiral Pizarro and all his officers. + This was a cruel stroke upon us, as we had not any cloaths to appear + in, and dared not refuse the invitation. The next day, a Spanish + officer belonging to Admiral Pizarro's squadron, whose name was Don + Manuel de Guiror, came and made us an offer of two thousand dollars. + This generous Spaniard made this offer without any view of ever + being repaid, but purely out of a compassionate motive of relieving + us in our present distress." A part of the money was thankfully + accepted, and they got themselves decently clothed. + + 17 James Grahame, "The History of the United States of North America." + + 18 George Bancroft, "History of the United States." + + 19 The above account is principally derived from Bancroft. + + 20 Robert Stuart, "Historical and Descriptive Anecdotes of + Steam-Engines." + + 21 John MacGregor, in a paper read before the Society of Arts, 14th of + April, 1858. + + 22 William Bourne, "Inventions or Devises" (1578). + + 23 "A Sketch of the Origin and Progress of Steam Navigation," by Bennet + Woodcroft. + + 24 This brochure is extremely scarce. The curious in such matters will + find it reprinted in full in Woodcroft's "Sketch of the Origin and + Progress of Steam Navigation." + + 25 "History of Merchant Shipping," &c. + +_ 26 Philadelphia Dispatch._ February 9th, 1873. + +_ 27 Vide_ "Bowie on Steam Navigation;" and the works of Lindsay and + Woodcroft, already quoted. + + 28 "The Life of R. Fulton" is an American work, and so little known in + England, that the present writer has intentionally made the above + copious extracts from it. + + 29 The engine of this vessel is to be seen in the Patent Office Museum. + + 30 Smiles' "Lives of the Engineers." + + 31 In an able pamphlet, "The Fleet of the Future," by Mr. Scott + Russell, published by Longmans & Co. in 1861, the author remarks (p. + 20):--"A good many years ago, I happened to converse with the chief + naval architect of one of our dockyards on the subject of building + ships of iron. The answer was characteristic, and the feeling it + expressed so strong and natural that I have never forgotten it. + 'Don't talk to me about iron ships, _it's contrary to nature_.' + There was at one time almost as great a prejudice against Indian + teak as a material for shipbuilding, as this wood is heavier than + water, and, in the form of a log, will not float." + + 32 The above account is derived from Lindsay. + + 33 See _Annual Register_, 1854, p. 162. + + 34 The _Times_, November 17th, 1875. + + 35 "Our Seamen: an Appeal." + + 36 An excess of that very aliment, the absence of which produces + scurvy, will also induce disease. Thus, the negroes of the West + Indies live too exclusively on vegetables, and disease follows, the + remedy for which is usually _red herrings_--herrings salted and + smoked till they are as red as copper. + + 37 The _Times_, January 14th, 1867. + + 38 "English Seamen and Divers." + + 39 Frederick Martin: "The History of Lloyd's and of Marine Insurance in + Great Britain." + + 40 The term is applied exclusively to maritime insurers, although, + strictly speaking, anyone signing a bond is an underwriter. + + 41 See Lindsay's "History of Merchant Shipping," Timbs' "Year Book of + Facts in Science and Art," and Irving's "Annals of Our Times." She + is still nearly _five_ times the size of any merchant vessel afloat; + as we have seen, the Inman steamer, _City of Berlin_ (5,500 tons), + comes next to her. There are ironclads nearly half her tonnage. + + 42 One account says a "ferry-boat," meaning probably one of the large + steam ferry-boats common in America. + + 43 "Sunning" means, in some parts of Canada, the act of promenading. + + 44 The larger part of the above information is derived from "Our + Ironclad Ships," by E. J. Reed, late Chief Constructor of the Navy. + + 45 The _Times_, April 26th, 1876. + +_ 46 Vide_ "Our Ironclad Ships." + + 47 C. D. Colden: "Life of Robert Fulton." + + 48 "Torpedo War, and Submarine Explosions" (New York, 1810). A scarce + and valuable _brochure_. + + 49 Such a vessel as the _Albemarle_ would be scorned in England and + America now-a-days, if regarded as an ironclad. But she was, of + course, infinitely stronger than the wooden ships with which she had + to fight. + + 50 The explosive power of dynamite, or "giant powder," as it is known + in America, is something wonderful. The writer while in California + witnessed some experiments with it, which are indelibly written on + his brain. A mortar was set upright in the field appropriated for + the exhibition, and several pounds of ordinary powder having been + rammed down, a large cannon-ball was put in and the charge fired. + The ball was raised a foot or so, and then tumbled to the ground. A + few _ounces_ of dynamite and the same ball were placed in the + mortar, and the charge exploded by concussion. The cannon-ball was + projected upwards in the air several hundred feet. It will be + imagined that the writer and his friends scattered in all + directions, and watched very carefully the downward flight of the + ball. + + 51 "The Gun, Ram, and Torpedo." (Prize Essay written for the Junior + Naval Professional Association, 1874.) By Commander Gerard H. U. + Noel, R.N. + + 52 "The Life of Smeaton," as incorporated in his "Lives of the + Engineers." + + 53 It appears that a post-mortem examination of one of the + light-keepers who died from injuries received during the fire took + place some thirteen days after its occurrence, and a flat oval piece + of lead some seven ounces in weight was taken out of his stomach, + having proved the cause of his death. + + 54 "Essays on Engineering." + + 55 The Hoe is an elevated promenade, forming the sea-front of Plymouth, + and overlooking the Sound. + + 56 The following is the tradition from an ancient source:--"By the east + of the Isle of May, twelve miles from all land in the German Sea, + lyes a great hidden rock, called Inchcape, very dangerous to the + navigators, because it is overflowed every tide. It is reported + that, in old times, there was upon the said rock a bell, fixed upon + a tree or timber, which rang continually, being moved by the sea, + giving notice to the saylors of the danger. This bell or clocke was + put there by the Abbot of Arberbrothok, and being taken down by a + sea-pirate, a year thereafter he perished upon the same rock, with + ship and goodes, by the righteous judgment of God." (Stoddart's + "Remarks on Scotland.") + + 57 "Account of the Skerryvore Lighthouse, with Notes on the + Illumination of Lighthouses," by Alan Stevenson. + + 58 "A Rudimentary Treatise on the History, Construction, and + Illumination of Lighthouses." (Weale's Series.) + +_ 59 Vide_ "The Rambles of a Naturalist on the Coasts of France, Spain, + and Sicily." + + 60 M. Quatrefages de Bréau, the distinguished French naturalist and + philosopher, says that the revolving apparatus was partially due to + M. Lemoine, a citizen, and at one time Mayor, of Calais. + + 61 It was exposed twice to terrific storms during its construction. In + 1808 the battery was submerged, the parapet upset, and the barracks + and garrison, with sixty men, swept away. But the large blocks of + stone were afterwards found to be more securely stowed than they had + been before. + + 62 "An amount of material," says a well-known authority, "at least + equal to that contained in the Great Pyramid." + + 63 "Lives of the Engineers." + + 64 The _Times_, September 14th, 1861. + + 65 Horace Moule in Weldon's "Register of Facts and Occurrences relating + to Literature, the Sciences, and the Arts," December, 1862. + + 66 As described in the latter chapter on the lighthouse. + + 67 This was the same gale which destroyed Winstanley's Eddystone + Lighthouse, the first erected on the rock, as already described. It + is to be noted that Winstanley's house, at Littlebury, in Essex, 200 + miles from the lighthouse, fell down and was utterly destroyed in + the same storm. + + 68 This narrative differs from the more circumstantial account given by + Defoe, doubtless from official authorities. The vessel had seventy + guns, and 349 men; the latter, likely enough, may not have been her + full complement. + + 69 A large part of the information incorporated above is derived from + one of the least known of Defoe's works, entitled, "The Storm: or, a + Collection of the most Remarkable Casualities and Disasters which + happened in the Late Dreadful Tempest, both by Sea and Land." + + 70 Although so severe in England and a large part of the Continent, + Scotland scarce felt the fury of the gale. Defoe, in his poem on the + subject, says:-- + + "They tell us Scotland 'scaped the blast; + No nation else have been without a taste: + All Europe sure have felt the mighty shock, + 'T has been a universal stroke. + But heaven has other ways to plague the Scots, + As poverty and plots." + + 71 "History of the Life-boat and its Work," by Richard Lewis, of the + Inner Temple, Esq., Secretary of the National Life-boat Institution. + + 72 Including the grand name of William Wilberforce. + + 73 Its revenue is now approximately ten times the above amount. + + 74 For the perilous nature of the employment, the pay is ridiculously + small. It must be, however, in fairness to the Institution, + remembered that it is a society depending on the benevolent public + for its support, and is not a Government concern. Each boat has its + appointed coxswain at a salary of £8 per annum, and assistants at £2 + per annum. On every occasion of going afloat to save life, the + coxswain and his men receive alike, 10s. if by day, and £1 if by + night. + + 75 "Storm Warriors; or, Life-boat Work on the Goodwin Sands," by the + Rev. John Gilmore, M.A. + +_ 76 The Times_, November 5th, 1866. + +_ 77 The Times_, January 6th, 1876. + +_ 78 The Shipwrecked Mariner._ A Quarterly Maritime Journal. Vol. XXII. + 1875. (Organ of the "Shipwrecked Mariner's Society.") The article is + from the pen of Lindon Saunders, Esq. + +_ 79 The Life-boat: a Journal of the Life-boat Institution._ November + 2nd, 1874. + + 80 The following account is based mainly on the reports published in + the _Times_. + + 81 A part of the crew behaved in a most cowardly manner, and thought + only of saving themselves, although Captain Knowles and Mr. Brand, + the chief officer, who stood nobly by their posts, did all in their + power to shame these recreants, and themselves went down with the + ship. The lines quoted above were written by a graduate of Pembroke + College, Cambridge, whose promising career was cut short by death at + an early age. The poem, described as "A Fragment," is given in full + in _The Lifeboat_ for February 1st, 1878. + + 82 Vide _The Life-boat; or, Journal of the National Life-boat + Institution_. August 2, 1875. + + 83 The Scilly Islands, thirty miles from the Land's End, are 140 in + number, and range in extent from one to 1,600 acres, several of the + larger being fully inhabited. They are flanked by the grandest rock + scenery, and surrounded by reefs and rocks innumerable. + + 84 Captain Thomas had, we were told on other authority, navigated the + _Schiller_ across the Atlantic and past the treacherous Scillies + eight times. He imagined himself to be far from a point of danger; + and old sea-captains assert that it is not uncommon for a vessel to + be in advance of her commander's calculations--in other words, she + may plough through the water faster than he is aware. In this case + the sun had been absent for three days, and the course had been kept + by dead reckoning. + +_ 85 The Lifeboat_, &c., February 1st, 1876. + + 86 Shortly after the wreck of the _Deutschland_, the same tug-boat, the + _Liverpool_, rescued from certain death the crew of another foreign + ship, this time a Norwegian vessel, wrecked on the Ship-wash + sandbank; and the Ramsgate life-boat, summoned by telegram from + Harwich, was towed by the steam-tug _Aid_ no less than forty-five + miles to the scene of the disaster--only to find on arrival there + that the shipwrecked crew had already been saved by the Harwich + tug--and then another forty-five miles on her return. The fifteen + poor fellows on board had then been fourteen hours sitting in their + boat, with the seas and spray breaking over them through the whole + of this terrible voyage in a freezing atmosphere. They landed in a + benumbed and half-frozen state, from the effects of which some of + them were sure to suffer severely afterwards. + +_ 87 The Lifeboat_, &c., Feb. 1st, 1876. + + 88 "The Loss of the _Amazon_." By the Rev. C. A. Johns, B.A., F.L.S., + &c. + + 89 In sea-going steam-vessels the salt water employed in the boilers + incrusts the sides with a deposit of salt, and it is necessary to + "blow off" every now and again, and discharge the water from them. + + 90 Eliot Warburton, the author of "The Crescent and the Cross," &c., + &c. + + 91 "The _Amazon_:" A sermon preached at St. Andrew's Church, Plymouth, + January 18th, 1852, by the Rev. William Blood (one of the + survivors). + + 92 This is common enough in all the great steamship lines, where + certain vessels acquire a name for speed and accommodation, and + where the captain is known as a first-class commander. Passengers + who can afford to wait often delay their trips for weeks for the + opportunity of sailing on a favourite ship. + + 93 The Rev. D. J. Draper, a man of fifty-six years of age, was + returning to Australia, where for thirty years he had laboured as a + missionary, and where he was very generally and deservedly + respected. Part of the information respecting the wreck is taken + from "The Storm and the Haven," a tribute to his memory, published + in Melbourne the year of the terrible occurrence. + + 94 The official inquiry of the Board of Trade elicited the fact that + the number was somewhat smaller. The total number of souls on board + was 263, and of these 19 were saved, leaving the number who perished + at 244. + + 95 It is a fact that Captain Martin had an interest in the _London_ to + the extent of £5,000. Hard to lose life and property so valuable--may + be, so important to others at home--at one and the same time! + + 96 The above account is principally derived from a "Narrative of the + Loss of the _Rothsay Castle_," by Lieut. R. J. Morrison, R.N., and + other sources. + + 97 The writer has seen nearly the same thing practised on the + flat-bottomed stern-wheel steamers common in some parts of America, + where, in shallow water, the passengers have been required to walk + to the other side of the vessel, and literally "tip" her on that + side. On one occasion in a "slough," or shallow passage, he saw a + number of the passengers and crew literally step out into the water + and push the boat along, till, with their exertions and the + steam-power, she was got off the bank. + +_ 98 Vide_ "Letters, &c., on the Loss of the _Rothsay Castle_." By the + Rev. J. H. Stewart. + + 99 "Narrative of the Wreck of the Steamer _Killarney_," &c. By Baron + Spolasco, M.D., &c., &c. + + 100 Our information is derived from an article on the subject in _The + Life-boat_ for November 1st, 1878. + + + + + + TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE + + +The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up paragraphs +and are near the text they illustrate. + +Several illustrations which were missing from the List of Illustrations +have been added to it. They can be identified by the missing page numbers +in the list. + +The following changes have been made to the text: + + page vii, "Parayaguan" changed to "Paraguayan" + page 2, "succesfully" changed to "successfully" + page 10, "Trindad" changed to "Trinidad" + page 14, period added after "cwt" + page 15, quote mark removed before "Monson's" + page 34, quote mark added before "unparalleled" + page 59, quote mark added after "them." + page 82, quote mark added after "it." + page 83, quote mark added before "we" + page 86, quote mark added after "crazy!" + page 107, colon changed to period after "dews" + page 113, "is" changed to "it" + page 120, quote mark added after "matter...." + page 126, quote mark added after "Lloyd's" + page 129, "o f" changed to "off" + page 146, quote mark added after "ALEXANDRA." + page 173, single quote mark added after "Arberbrothok." + page 177, quote mark added after "cry." + page 182, "occuping" changed to "occupying" + page 183, "Frith" changed to "Firth" + page 207, quote mark added after "increased." + page 210, "make" changed to "made", quote mark added after "skeel" + page 217, quote mark added after "rescue!" + page 222, "seaman" changed to "seamen" + page 268, "mother" changed to "mothers" + page 283, quote mark added after "perish." + page 298, "pasengers" changed to "passengers" + page 319, quote mark added after "3,317." + +Differences between the table of contents and the chapter summaries have +not been corrected. Neither have variations in hyphenation been +normalized. + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEA: ITS STIRRING STORY OF ADVENTURE, PERIL, & HEROISM. 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