to no purpose. Soon, however, the boat was carried away, with the davit to which it was attached, and it immediately swamped. I now threw off more of my clothes, leaving on me only my waistcoat, shirt, stockings, and drawers; and of these latter, also, I soon afterwards divested myself. Shivering, however, with cold, I took shelter under a friend's cloak, which, wet as it was, still afforded me some warmth. My friend asked me the time. I looked at my watch, and found it within a quarter of two. It is possible,' he said, 'we may hold together till morning, and then we may be seen from the land.' We were also conjecturing how far Puffin Island,—the land lying a-head of us,—might be distant, and were calculating upon the possibility of reaching it by swimming. I expressed my surprise that the moon was not visible; but Mr. Leigh remarked that it had gone down long since. It was dark; thick black clouds were flying about the sky—and only one bright star could be seen, reflected on the troubled sea. Whilst these remarks and observations were passing, the danger was thickening around us, But the conduct of Mr. Leigh was firm and composed throughout the whole of our awful trial; so remarkably so, indeed, that the impression it has left on my mind will never be effaced. To his example do I ascribe, in no inconsiderable degree, my own presence of mind; which, through the blessing and help of my Almighty Preserver, never once failed me.”

In the preceding extract, the correct and striking comparison of the wheels of the engine to the "expiring ticking of a watch,”—the sensitive participation in the "feelings of despair" which induced the impotent attempt to supply the loss of the tongue of the bell,-the "individual engaged loudly in prayer," amidst the awful dash and howl of wave and storm, while all his fellow-sufferers "were silent,"-the strong tie" which bound, as it were, the infant to its mother's bosom, though terror and death assailed her

-

in their most ghastly forms,-the wildness of the scene, with "only one bright star reflected on the troubled sea,” together with the writer's pious dependence upon his “Almighty Preserver,” — all these are really unlaboured specimens of no common order; and I cannot forego the satisfaction of acknowledging how much I admire them. The passage, however, is not only valuable on account of the life-like picture which it affords of events that possess great and lasting interest; it also supplies the materiel, in connexion with other matter, for arriving at a tolerably certain conclusion as to the situation of the vessel at the moment of striking; and I trust I shall not prematurely incur the charge of trifling, if, in the endeavour to establish a point so importantly involved with a train of calamitous consequences, I cite facts which may probably, at the first glance, seem to bear too lightly on the case.

It would appear from Mr. Tinne's statement that, when the vessel struck, her head was "towards Puffin Island;" while Mr. Whittaker, in his account, affirms that her head was 'pointing betwixt Puffin Island and Beaumaris ;" and either of these may be correct, if the vessel were to leeward of the buoy off the north-east point of the Spit, for then, in the effort to recover her course, she would have been steered from N. N. W. to N. W., which would have brought her head either in the direction described by Mr. Tinne or that by Mr. Whittaker; and the supposition that she was thereabouts is strengthened by those of the survivors who contend that she first grounded aft—that is, that the stern, or hinder part of the vessel, first touched The reader will readily understand this by referring to the chart. It will there be found that, as the tide was running up the Strait, and the wind N. N. W., the former would carry her to the westward, while the latter would drive her southerly; and thus she would obliquely retrograde until she reached the fatal bank,

the sand.

E

nearly stern foremost. The evidence of Evans, the sailor, at the coroner's inquest, tends to establish this view of the case. He says that the vessel first struck on the "weather edge of the bank”. about the N. N.W. point of the Spit; and I have no doubt such was the fact, though I do not think it possible that she could ever have been to windward of the buoy, as Hughes, another of the crew, has asserted; he must have been mistaken; if she had been so situated, her head could not have been "towards Puffin Island;" and she would, besides, have been in so advantageous a position, that even such a commander as Lieutenant Atkinson could not have failed to profit by it. But it is the opinion of some nautical men that she was much farther to leeward than I have alleged, and that she subsequently dragged along the eastern edge of the Dutchman's Bank, in the endeavour to recover her course, until the flood tide (which sets strongly there in three several directions in consequence of the powerful diversions by which it is influenced) forced her on the Spit. The conclusion I have come to, however, seems most worthy of reception; namely, that the vessel was some distance to leeward of the Spit buoy, when the fires became so low, in consequence of the increased leakage, that the engine performed its office too languidly to have any effect, and she was accordingly driven by the N. N.W. wind to the northward of the Spit: she was there exposed to the full action of the currents I have described; and a combination of those hostile agents, wind and tide, eventually cast her upon the fatal bank. Mr. Broadhurst says, in alluding to this awful period, "The helmsman touched me on the shoulder, and pointed out the breakers on our larboard, to all appearance not more than about one hundred yards from us. I do not suppose more than five or ten minutes elapsed before she grounded astern." This seems at first to imply that the vessel was

* * * *

not in the situation I have described; but larboard is a very indefinite term, and embraces a wide range, the various points of which can only be accurately marked by a seaman. The vessel, however, might have struck on the larboard quarter, which would justify Mr. Broadhurst's remark, as he might no doubt then see breakers on the "larboard." It will presently be seen that the singular conduct of the captain, under these circumstances, was in perfect keeping with what has already been related of him; and in order to show the apparent influence of that conduct upon the fate of the vessel, as a cautionary lesson to future voyagers and others whom it may concern, I have been compelled to be more circumstantial at the outset than would otherwise be necessary.

It was a little past midnight when the vessel first struck, and but few of the passengers were on deck at the time. The shock was not violent, but quite sufficient to excite painful apprehension. The faultering question as to "what could be the matter," and the evasion of that which all knew, but dared not acknowledge, filled up the dreadful period of suspense, which, though comprised but of a few minutes, seemed lengthened misery. She struck a second time, and the force of the concussion was accompanied by a heavy crash, which threatened to break up the vessel, and make at once

"A fearful gap

Into the wasteful deep."

The effect was terrible; so much so, indeed, that language fails in the endeavour to describe it. A shriek from the women,—a long and piercing shriek,—a simultaneous rush to the door, and a struggle, as for life, to reach the deck, were the first indications of frightful extremity. Indeed, Mr. Wilson, the gentleman to whom I have before referred, informs me that at this dreadful moment he observed the

nails with which the vessel was held together, instead of the bolts and pins usually employed for such purpose, were partially drawn from the timbers by the shock; and he concluded accordingly that she must shortly either go to pieces or founder. Doubtless many, who did not survive to tell the melancholy story, saw also the imminence of the danger, for the utmost degree of excitement generally prevailed; but in this respect Mr. Tarrey was again an object of particular notice. The stake he had on board, as I before remarked, was great indeed, and his solicitude was thereby heightened to almost delirious intensity. He sprang from amidst his family and pressed wildly forward, entirely regardless of who it might be that impeded his progress, until he got upon deck, where he distractedly inquired as to the state and situation of the vessel; but little could be gathered, from the confusion that reigned, until Jones, the Liverpool Branch pilot before alluded to, who had been asleep in some hole forward, came amongst them, exclaiming, "We are all lost."* This declaration,

* I have before expressed an opinion as to the singular apathy of this man during the voyage; but he had been taking some refreshment" with the steward early in the afternoon, which probably had the effect of producing drowsy indifference or temporary insensibility. In a "Narrative of the Wreck," by the Rev. J. H. Bransby, of Carnarvon, we are informed, on the authority of the pilot himself, that "in the course of conversation, a very strong opinion was given by the steward that Lieutenant Atkinson never intended to reach Beaumaris, and that the voyage he was then making would be his last. By intended' was meant, according to the steward's interpretation, expected ;' and the result proved his opinion to be too fatally correct. Fatigued by the labour he had undergone before entering the packet, the pilot had lain down in the forecastle to sleep. He was roused by a sensation beyond all others dreadful to marinershe felt the vessel strike, and his experience told him that all was