Chapter I: Preface

In sending forth this little work to the public, I desire to acknowledge my obligations to the following:--The Royal National Lifeboat Institution for the valuable matter placed at my disposal, also for the use of the illustrations on pages 20 and 21; to Mr. Clement Scott and the proprietors of _Punch_ for permission to use the poem, "The Warriors of the Sea"; to the proprietors of _The Star_ for the poem, "The Stranding of the _Eider_"; and to the proprietors of the _Kent Argus_ for so freely granting access to the files of their journal. Lastly, my thanks are due to the publishers--at whose suggestion the work was undertaken--for the generous manner in which they have illustrated the book.

F. M. LONDON, _September_, 1894.

CONTENTS

CHAP.

I. MAN THE LIFEBOAT
II. LIFEBOAT DISASTERS
III. THE WARRIORS OF THE SEA
IV. THE GOODWIN SANDS
V. THE BOATMEN OF THE DOWNS
VI. A GOOD NIGHT'S WORK
VII. THE "BRADFORD" TO THE RESCUE
VIII. THE LAST CHANCE
IX. HARDLY SAVED
X. A WRESTLE WITH DEATH
XI. A DOUBLE RESCUE
XII. DEAL MEN TO THE RESCUE
XIII. THE WRECK OF THE "BENVENUE"
XIV. THE STRANDING OF THE "EIDER"
XV. THE WRECK OF THE "NORTHERN BELLE"
XVI. A GALLANT RESCUE
XVII. A BUSY DAY
XVIII. A RESCUE IN MID-OCEAN
XIX. THE "THREE BELLS"
XX. ON THE CORNISH COAST
XXI. A PLUCKY CAPTAIN
XXII. BY SHEER STRENGTH
XXIII. WRECKED IN PORT

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

THE LIFEBOAT IN THE STORM . . . . . . Frontispiece

LAUNCHING THE LIFEBOAT

THE LIFEBOAT HOUSE

MEDAL OF THE ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION

NEWS OF A WRECK ON THE COAST

A RAMSGATE BOATMAN

AN OLD WRECK

SURVIVORS OF THE "INDIAN CHIEF"

A LIFEBOAT GOING OUT

SAVING THE CAPTAIN

A PERILOUS REFUGE

THEY BENT THEIR BACKS TO THE OARS

SIGHTING THE WRECK

LIVES IN PERIL

COMING ASHORE--"ALL SAVED"

The Lifeboat! oh, the Lifeboat!
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 Lifeboat
Uniting seem to plead.

STORIES
of
THE LIFEBOAT