Chapter XXII (2)

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.

“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.