The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-14 00:00:00

THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH

going at once, while now and then, as the ship
pitched up near the wind, her great sails flapped
and slatted like peals of thunder, pitching the
vessel with an uneasy vibration, as if the masts
were coming out of her. Still, among the little con-
gregation no one moved more thin was in cess. ary
to keep his seat as the ship lurched over, and the
service proceeded as little disturbed by the war of
elements outside as if all were assembled within the
walls of a cathedral. Towards the end, however,
Capt. Preedy looked up wistfully through the hatch.
way once or twice, scrutinising the masts and sails
with a keen glance, for the storm was getting worse,
and the air darker and thicker, every minute, and
the hoarse roar threugh the rigging was drowniug
every other sound. Service over, and it was
" Hands reef topsails ;" then again, after a little
lapse, the same cry ; and yet again, till at four in
the afternoon the Agamemnon was rushing through
the loam under close-reefed topsails and foresail.
At half-past four we caught the last glimpse of
the Gorgon, as, making a long stretch to wind-
ward, she was lost in the misty darkness that
marked the horizon to windward. At five the
Valorous began to drop astern, and by six she also
had disappeared, but still the Niagara and Aga-
memnon held on together, the former tinder sail
and steam; the hitter, like all the English vessels,
under sail alone. Of the two vessels specially ap-
pointed to convoy and. assist, If necessary, the
Agamemnon and Niagara., we saw no more till all
dange r was past and the squadron had reassembled
at the rendezvous some 12 days afterwards. .On
Sunday night the gale seemed at its worst. The
ocean resembled one vast snowdrift, the whitish
glare from whiCh, reflected on the dark clouds
that almost rested on the sea, had a tremendous
and.;unnatural effect, as if the ordinary laws of
nature had been reversed by the sts rm. The
Niagara, which had hitherto kept close, began to
give a very wide berth, and, as darkness in-
creased, she too went out of sight, and it was every
one for themselves. There must be many of
your readers who know what a line-of-battle-ship is
in a gale of wind, though such experience would
givetilem but a faint notion of how the Agamem-
non went at it all that eight. She strained and
'laboured under her heavy burden as if she was
breaking up; and the. massive beams under her
upper .deck coil cracked and snapped with a noise
resembling that of small artillery, almost drowning
the hideous roar of the wind as it moaned and
howled through the rigging, jerking and straining
the little storm sails as though it meant to tear
them from the yards. Those in the improvised
cabins on the main deck had little sleep that
night, for the upper deck planks above them
were working themselves free, as sailors say,
and, beyond a doubt, they were infinitely
more free than easy, for they groaned under the
pressure of the coil with a dreadful uproar, and
availed themselves of the opportunity to let in a
little light, with a good deal of water, at every roll.
The sea, too, kept striking with dull heavy violence
against the vessel's bows, forcing its way through
hawse-holese and ill-closed ports with a heavy slush,
and thence, hissing and winding aft, it roused the
occupants of the cabins aforesaid to a knowledge
that their floors were under water and that the
flotsam and jetsam noises. they heard beneath was
only their outfit for the voyage taking a cruise of
its own in some five or six.inches of dirty bilge.
Such was the Sunday night, and such was a fair
average of all the nights throughout the week,
varying only from bad to worse. Daybreak on
Monday ushered in as fierce a gale as has ever
swept over the Atlantic.
The barometer was lower, and, as a matter of
coulee the wind and sea were infinitely higher than
the day before. It was singular, but at 12 o'clock
the sun pierced through the pall of clouds and
shone brilliantly for half an hour, and during that
brief time it ble IV as it has not often blown before.
So fierce was this gust that its roar drowned every
other sound, and it was almost impossible to give
the watch the necessary orders for taking in the
close-reefed foresail, which when furled almost left
the Agamemnon under bare poles, though still
surging through the water at speed. This gust
past, and the usual gale set in—now blowing
steadily from the south-west, and taking us
more and more out of our course each minute.
Every hour the storm got worse, till towards 5 in
the afternoon, when it seemed at its height, and
raged With such violence of wind and sea that
matters really looked serious even from such a strong
and large ship as the Agamemnon. The upper deck
ceil.had strained her decksthrougLout excessively,.
and though this, mass in theory was, supposed to
prevent her rolling so quickly and heavily as she

EXPEDITION.

CRUISE Of THE AGAMEMNON.
(From the limes Correspondent, 2d Edition.)
QUEENSTOWN, JULY 12.
At half-past 12 on Monday morning the Aga-
memnon anchored off Queenstown, after' having,
as our readersare now aware, failed in the attempts
to submerge the Atlantic cable. The arrival of the
Niagara must have made known the bare fact that
the cable had parted, and the tremendous gales and
unfavourable weather which all the squadron had to
contend against, more or less, though only those on
board the Agamemnon can be said to know the real
nature of the peril which was encountered, and
the long series of, difficulties, mishaps, and mis-
fortunes which marked almost the entire cruise
from first to last. Not often have so many adverse
and disheartening circumstances been crammed into
a voyage of 33 days ; and never has the enterprise,
skill, and courage of all connected with the under-
taking been more conspicuously. displayed than in
overcoming each obstacle as it arose almost with
every day. The next thing to success is to deserve
it ; and certainly if any scheme was ever entitled to
prosper from the perseverance and devotion of those
engaged in carrying it out, that success was unques-
tionably due to the efforts of all on board'the Aga-
memnon in favour of the undertaking. For once,
however, fortune did not favour the bold. The
attempt to lay the cable failed three times, and
once in the most mysterious manner; and those on
board have only the satisfaction of knowing that
everything that care and foresight could suggest
was done. Beyond this consciousness, that all has
been achieved tbat was possible with such materials,
no comfort is to be gleaned. fi oin the late attempts,
except, perhaps, in the fact., that as much or more
wire still remains than the expedition was com-
menced with last year, and that both vessels will
start again for, another and a last attempt the instant
they have filled up with coal—that is, by Saturday
next, at latest. What the result of the next attempt
will be your readers will be better able to judge
when, in the course of another day or two, they
will have laid before them the causes. which have
led to the present failures, and the means, if any,
which will be taken to guard against them for the
future. In the meantime, they can judge for them-
selves of what has been done, and the difficulties
which have been encountered on board the Agamem-
non. Our readers are already aware that both
the "wire" ships quitted England in the most
unfavourable trim possible for bad weather. Ac-
cording to appearances at starting, however, bad
weather seemed of all others the risk least likely
to be encountered, so everything had been foreseen,
prognosticated, and provided for but a gale.: that,
of course, was out of the question. That tradi-
tional veteran, Brown, of the Transatlantic Line,
who had Weathered so many storms in the Atlan-
tic, showed how, in June, one never had occurred;
While Jones proved how it wouldn't, and Robinson
made all serene by demonstrating clearly how it
couldn't happen. We might meet light winds, and
encounter some delay from calms and sultry wea-
ther, but a gale—a regular Atlantic storm—the very
idea was food for laughter. So the wire squadron
went to sea, with the two chief vessels laden
almost to the water's edge, and in ail other respects
so little fitted for rough weather that, had a little of
the tremendous weather they experienced bean
foreseen at home, not a ship would have moved
from Plymouth Sound. The Agamemnon had 2,840
tons dead weight in her, a monstrous load for any
ship of her tonnage, but made still tn9re dangerous
and overwhelming by the manner iu which it was
stowed. In her hold was the main coil, a com-
pact mass of I,lod miles in length, and there-
tore 1,100 tons in weight. On her orlop
deck, right forward, between the eyes, as sailors
say, was another coil of 100 tons, while on
her upper deck, and also right forward, was a coil

of 236 tons. The latter was of sufficient size to would have - done without it, yet still she heeled
-
interfere seriously with the proper wot-king of hhe over to such an alarming extent that fear
of the coil itself shifting again occupied every
thened with additional
vessel from the deck, and the united weightsmind,
and it was accordingly sriene
of all of course .brought the Agamemnon down- shores bolted clown to the deck.t'
by the head to
.an almost unsafe extent. The by the coil below hal deprived tThneeAspace eccupied
two small coils, it was said, counteracted the several of her coal bunkers, end, is ogiadritonnintskoef
up for this deficiency, as well as to endeavour- to
weight of the ponderous mass in the bottoin of the
ship, and, certainly, if they did not tend to check counterbalance the immense mass which weighed
the vessel's rolling, at least they made it easier and her down by the-head, a large •quatitity of coals had
been stowed on the,deek ale Oa each side of her
less dangerous to the masts. When the ship did
main deck were 35 tons secured —secured in a mass,
roll, however, there was • a constant struggle be while, on the lower deck 90 tons were stowed away
tween the weights at the bottom and the weights in the same manner.. The precautious taken to. se-
at the; top, and the ship's sides, as- the levers cure these great masses also !quires,' .7 attention as the
along which the force of both was exerted and re- great ship surged from side to side. But these coals
sisted, suffered in proportion. This, however, was seemedsecure, and were so, in fact, unless the vessel
should almost capsize—an upleasant aternative
not the evil of the upper deck coil, nor the reason which no one certainly
anticipated then.
which after the bad weather had set in made it an Everything, therefore, was made " snug,"
comforttetto.Thwehnicilgi
object of constant anxiety and almost of dread to as sailors called it, though their efforts by no
pe se Ile
tl te edd
from i n thethe
all on board. It was bad euoughto cruise with amight However,
dead weight forward of some 250 tone, a weight . , , begin n means resulted
night,
passed over without •
under which hot deck planks gaped an, inch apart, smashing
of all things '
any mischance beyond the
incautiously left loose and
and her beams threatened- daily to give way ; capable of rolling, and one or two ateempts which
but when to these evils et as added - the fear the Agameicanoa made in the middle watch apps
in bad weather that, in. some of her heavy rently to turn bottom upwards. In all other mat-
rolls the whole mass wouldslip, tern .it was the eliP, and take the • mere ditto of Sunday night, except,
vessel's side out, it will be seen that in the whole Perhaps,a little , worse, and certainly much more
wet below. Tuesday the gale continued with al-
the precious coil was justly esteemed the 'bete noire most unabated -
ated force, though the barometer had
of the entire affair—the mill-stone about the necks risen to 29.30, • and there was
suffic;ent sun to take
of all: • HOwever, 'as we have said, nobody thought ' a clear observation, which showed our distance from
.of these- things when in the mornine, of the 10th of the rendezvous to be 563 miles. Darin b.
g t is after-
June the squadron quitted Plymouth. ,It was then noon the Niagara rejoined company, and, the
..
to be a yachting cruise—a mere summer trip—and ' wind going more! ahead, the A gametnnou- took to
any talk of waterproofs and sou'-westers would not the pitching, plunging steadily into the tr..ugh
1% -
ofLsea as if she meant to break her back and 3
have been. more out of place in a draiing-room Than
the Astatine r aele ea a heap. -The change iu her
„,
on the deck of the. Ag,ametnuon. The day favoured - motion was not good, and it strained and' taxed
this illusion. The barometer stood at 30.61, the every inch of timber near the coast') the very ut-
weather was hot and sultry, and after all* sail had most. It was curious 'to see how they worked and'
beeu set and reset, and every naval at'fi
bent as the Agamemnon went at everything she
• d
r i ce a opted met head first. One time she pitched so heavily as
to catch the breeze that would not come, C • Captain to break one of the main beams of the lower deck.
Preedy reluctantly (for -we had little more than which had to be shored with screwjacks forthwith:
coals for the voyage home) 'gay e orders to get up It is dull work, however,- :writing a journal of such
steam. The Niagara. having plenty of coale, mishaps, and duller stilt to real it. *Suffice, then,
had the advantage of being always under steeps', to say that there Was the same sea and less wind on
and the Valorous and Gorgdidon mostly as gusts and ... i
sepia ls, and heavy rain on Friday. Ba-
the Agamemnon. • Friday was the ' ditto
of turday the 19th June, things looked 1
ne,a ittle better.
the previous day. The same coquettish
came fluttering through to go, down, and for the first time that morning
and it was " hands up 0 e the rigging now and then ,
p screw" and make sail, and since the gale began 'scene six days previous, the
down screw and shorten sail all day, till
y, even Cap
decks could be walked with tolerable comfort and
security. But, ala., appearances are as deceitful
twin Preedy wearied in his efforts
in the Atlsntie as elsewhere, and, during a comps-
so we steamed again. This was dull work. Every native calm that afternoon the glass fell tower,while
one wished for a breeze, and
there were some who, a thin line of black haze to windward seemed to
never having been at Bea before, mustered rash grow up into the sky, until it covered the heavens
hopes that they might rattier meet an Atlantic gale' . a
with a somlekesclarknese, .gaff warned us thud-
, after
and their wishes were gratified
all, the wor ss was to come. There was much heavy
as it turned out •
; rain that evening, and then the wind began—not
far meta, than the
people
who expressed them. violently, nor in gusts, but with a steadily increas-
Saturday the weather was cold. wed dull, but the ing force, as if the gale was determined to do its
breeze was so fresh that. the screw ' was finally work slowly, but to do it well. The sere was ready-
boated
and fires raked out, while the Agamernnon, built to handeee sailors say, so that at first the
storm did little mgr© than urge on the ponderous
under royals and studding • Iwentthrough
sai ft,
gher
water at a rare pace,' sendin the foam from air . witho the loam and spray it tore from their rue-
bows, and leasing a broad trail of still gel crests. By and bye, however, it grew more
water upon the angry: sea behind. What dangerous, and Capt. Preedy himself remained on
d
could be better ? But it became less enjoyable deck throughout the middle watch, for the wind
towards noon, when the wind
.and sea got up as was hourly getting worse, and the Agamemnon,
the glass went down, and the water grew darker, rolling 30 deg. each way, was labouring heavily,
and the clouds in the 'horizon wore merged into a and straining
,to aedangerous extent.
dirty haze-thickening towards, the sea,- and boding At 4a. m. sail was shortened to close-n-efed fore
very ill, indeed, to a summer 'cruise. Before even-
and main topsails and reefed foresail--a long and
ing came the sail on the ship was reduced to half,
tedious job, for the wind so roared and howled, and.
for the wind Was` up, with squally gusts of heavy the hiss of the boiling sea was so deafening, that
words of command were useless, and the men aloft,
.rain, and the barometer had gone below 29, and
was still falling rapidly. Such was the night, but holding on with all their might to the yards as the
ship tolled. over and over almost to the water, were
Sunday told its- own tale, for' even 'those least
quite incapable of struggling with the masses of
versed in the boisterous premonitory symptoms c f I
era-net, canvass that flapped and plunged as if men
an atlantic gale could see at a glance that we wero
yars, and everything were going away togs-,
in for it. * The sky seemed-a wretched mist—half a
rain, half vapour—through which the other vessels thor._ The. ship was almost as wer, inside as out—
and so things wore on till S or 9 o'clock, et the squadron loomed faintly like their shadows,
than; getting adrift and being mashed, and every
every-
watery and Unsubstantial as the Flying Dutchman.
The seahad Changed its brighi crisp blue for a turgid onholding'
board jamming themselves up in corners or
foamy .aspeete a:d the great waves of the Atlantic on to beams to prevent their going adrift
likewise. At 10 o'clock the Agamemnon was toff-
water rolling in its tremendoessuccessien like hills of
water with their tops all jagged and broken by
mg and labouring fearfully, with the sky getting.
fierce
wind, and thoir_white crests otfoain blown out into darker, and boils wind and sea increasing every
aStream of feathery spray that almost,laid the huge minute. At about half-past 10 o'clock 'three or
dark gulls betwaen them. The: Agamemnon, how- four gigantic waves were seen approachhaa the
ever, et-ll kept on. hei wary, rolling and' straining ship, coming heavily and slowly on threug% the
heavily, anchgiv:ng all a' lair foretaste 'of what they mist nearer and nearer, rolling on like hills of
might expect whf.n the gale set in worse, for the green water, with a crown of foam that seemed to
wind was fast going round to the south-west, and double their height. The Agamemnon roes heavily
it was evident we were only at the beginning. to the firs', and then went down quickly into the
There was Divine service that day on the main deep trough of the sea, falling over as she did so,
deck, and, as officers and men sat in respectful BO as almost to earsizi completely on the port side.
silence, every change in the fast-increasing violc nc 1 t There was a fearful crashing as she lay over this
of the gale could be distinctly noted through the way, for everything broke adrift, whether secured
open hatchways.. Heavy rain was falling, and a or not, and the uproar and contus'on were terrific
grayish looking scud was flying across the sky wins for a minute; then back she came again on the
inconceivable rapidity—every rope 'and shroud, starboard beam in the same manner, only quick r,
tautened to the utmost, was hunamieg with a loud and still deeper than before. Again. theds was the
clear noise, as if ten thousand accordions were same noise and crashing, and the cd.c.exo in the

ward-room, who knew the danger of the ship,
struggled to their feet and opened the door leading
to the main deck. Here, for an instant, the scene "
almost defies description. Amid loud shouts and,
efforts to save themselves, a confused mass of •
sailors, boys, and marines, with deck-hatchets,
ropes, ladders, and everything that could get loose, ',l-
and which had fellers back again to the port side, :;
Were • being hurled again in a mass across the
ship to starboar.l. Dimly,'and only for an instant,
could this be seen, with groups of men clinging t .
to the beams with all their might, with a mass
of water which had forced its way in through
ports and decks, surging about ; and then, with
a tremendous crash, as the ship fell still deeper
over, the coal stowed on the main deck broke loose, :
and, smashing everything before them, went over
among the rest to leeward. The coaldust hid every-
thing on the main deck in an instant, but the
crashing could still be heard going on in all direc-
tious, as the lumps and sacks of coal, with stun-
()biome ladders, and mess tins went leaping about !
the decks, pouring down the hatchways, and crash-
ing
through the glass skylights into the engine
room below.• Still it was not done, and, surging
again over another tremendous wave, the Agamem- •
non dropped down still more to port, and the coals
on the starboard side of the lower deck gave way
ale,, and carried everything before them.. Maters
now became most serious, for it was evident that ;
two or three more such lurches and the masts would.
go like reeds, while half the crew might be maimed
or killed below. Captain Preedy was already on ~,.
the poop, with Lieut. Gibson, and it was "Hands,
weac ship," at once, while Mr. Brown, the
,inde-
fatigable chief engineer, was ordered to get up steam
immediately. The crew gained the deck with diffi-
culty, and not till after a lapse of some minutes,
for all the ladders had been broken away and the
men were grimed . ivith coaldust, and many bore •
still more serious marks upon their • face of how
they had been knocked about below. There was
some confusion at first, for the storm was fearful ; •
the officers were quite inaudible, and a wild dan- •
gerous sea, running mountains high, heeled the
great ship backwards and forwards, so that the
crew were unable to keep their feet for an instant,
and in some cases were thrown across the decks in
a dreadful manner ; two marines went with a rush
head-foremost into the paying-out machine, as if
they meant to butt it over the side ; yet, strange
to say, neither the men nor the machine suffered.
What made matters worse, the ship's barge, though
lashed down to the deck, had partly broken loose,
and, dropping from side to tide as the vessel lurched,
it threatened to crush any who ventured to pass it. e
The regular discipline of the ship, however, soon pre-
vsiled, and the crew set to work to wear the ship
on the starboard tack, while Lieuts. Robinson and
Murray went below to see after those who had been sf
hurt, and about the number of whom eitravagant
rumours prevailed among the men. One of the
assistant engineers (Mr. Harvey) was also buried
,r
among the coals on the lower deck, and sustained ),
some severe internal injuries. The lurch of the
ship was calculated at 45 degrees each way for five
times in rapid succession. The galley coppers were
only half . filled with soup, yet, nevertheless, it
nearly all poured out, and scalded some of the
poor fellows who were.extended on the decks hold-
ing on to alything in reach. One fellow: went head-
first from the main deck into the hold without being
hurt, and one in the orlop deck was " chevied,"
about for some 10 minutes by the large casks of ,
oil which had got adrift, and ono of which would:•
have flatteue4 him like a pancake had they over-
.
taken him.
As soon as the Agamemnon had gone round on ,f'
the other tack the Niagara wore also, and bore e
down as if to render assistance. She had witnessed
our danger, and, as we afterwards learnt, imagined
that the upper deck coil had broken loose and that,.
we were almost in a sinking condition. Things,
however, were not so bad as toa,t, though they were
bad enough; Heaven knows, for everything seemed
to go wrong that day. The upper deck coil- had
strained the ship to the very utmost, but still held,
on fa)t ; but not so the coil in the main hold,. which'
had begun to get adrift, and the top kept working
and shirting over from side to side as the ship
lurched, till some '4O or 50 miles were in a hopeless
state of tangle, resembling . nothing so much as a
cargo of live eels and there was every prospect of
the tangle spreading deeper and deeper as the bad ),
weather continued.
Going round upon the starboard tack had eased
the ship to,. a certain 'extent, but with such
a wind and- :ALI. a .sea, :both of which were
rather getting worse than better, it was im-
possible to effect much for the Agamemnon's re- ,
lief, and so by 12 o'clock she was rolling almost as
bad as ever. The crew, who had been at work.;
since nearly 4 in the morning, were set to clear up
the decks from the masses of coal that covered
them, and while this was going forward a heaver~
,sea , struck the stern, and smashed the large iron
guatd frame, which had been fixed' there to pre- • 5'
vent the cable fouling the screw in paying out.
This guard, which, from its peculiar hooped shape
suspended round the stern by chains, the sailors
had nicknamed " the crinoline," was about the •
most cumbersome and ill-contrived piece of me- a
•chanisua which could possibly hive been adopted.
From the first hohr every one hid known that.,
it was perfectly useless for the purpose it was(
intended to' effect, and, 'Whet was worse than use-.
1. ss, that it was a source of positive clang&
also. Now that one side had broken, it wage
expected every moment that other parts would
go, and the pieces hanging -down either smash
the screw or foul the rudder post. It is not over-
estimating the danger to say that had the latter
accident_ occurred in such a sea, and with a
vessel so over-laden, the chances would have been
sadly against the Agamemnon eeer appearing at the
rendezvous. Fortunately it was found possible to
s,:eure the broken fratne temporarily with hawsers,
so as to prevent its dropping further, though no-
tiling could hinder the fractuted end from striking
agai est the vessel's side with such force as to lead
to sei jells apprehensions, that it would establish
dangerous leak under water. It was near three in
the afternoon ere this was quite secure 1, the gale
still continuing, and the sea running even worse.
The condition of the masts too at this time was a
course of mach anxieiy, both to Capt. Preedy and
Mr. Moriarty, the master. The heavy rolling had
strained and slackened the wire shrouds to such an
eat-nt, that they had become perfectly useless ae
supports. The' ower masts bent visibly at every
roll, and once or twice it seemed as if they must go
by the board. Unfortunately nothitig whatever
c )uld he done to relieve this strain by sending down
any of the upper spars, since it was only her mash
which prevented her rolling still more and mash
quicker,
and so every one knew that if mace the were oar;
ried away it might soon' be all over with the ship,
as then tekedeek coil could not help going after
their. So there was not ing for it but to watch 10 .
aaxious sicence the way they went and strained,
and trust in Providence for the result. About si%
in the evening it was 'thought better to wear ship
again and stand for the rendezvOtls under easy
steam, and her bead accordingly was put about,
and once more faced the storm. As she went
round she of course fell into the trough of the sea
again, and rolled so awfully as to break her waste
steam pipe, filling her engine room with Weals
and depriving her of the services of one, boiler
whoa it was sarely needed. The sun set npOnles
wild and wicked a night as ever taxed the courage
and coolness of a sailor. There were, of course,
nun on board who were familiar with gales and
storms in all parts of the World; and there were
some who, with the writer of this article,
had witnes ed the tremendous hurricane whiCh
swept the Black Sea on the memorable 14th of
November, when scores of vessels were lost and
seamy n pet ished by thousands. But of all on board
none had ever seen a fiercer or more dangerous sea
than raged throughout that night and the followit)g'
morning, tossing the Agamemnon from side to side
like a mere plaything among the waters.
Morning brought no change,. save-that the-storm
was still as fierce as ever, and though the sea could
not be higher or. wilder, yet the additional amount
of broken water made it still more dahgerous to the
ship. Very dimly, and only now and thewthrough
the thick scud, the Niagara could be seen—one
moment on a monstrous hill of water and the next
quite lost to view, as the Agamemnon went down
between the waves. But now these glitnpes showed
us that ourtransatlau tic consortwasplunging heavily
shipping seas, and evidently having a bad time of it,
though she got through it better than the Agametre.
non, as, of course she could, having only the same
load though 2,000 tons larger. Suddenly it came
on darker and thicker, and we lost sight of her iti
the thick spray, and had only ourselves to look
after, which was quite enough, Heaven knows,. 'for
every minute made matters worse, and the aspect
of of lire began to excite most serious misgivings
in the minds of those in charge. The Agatnerateee
is one of the finest line-of-battle ships in the whole
navy, but in such a storm, and so heavily over-
eteee, what could she do but make bad weather
worse, and strain and labour and fall iu the trough '1
of the sea, as if she was g Aug down head foremost.
Three or lour hours more and the vessel had borne
all which she could bear with safety ; the masts
were rapidly getting worse, the deck coil worked-
more and more with each tremendous plunge, and,
even if both these held, it was evident that the
ship itself would soon strain to pieces if the weather
continued so., The sea, forcing its way through
ports and bawse-holes, had accumulated on' the
lower deck to such an extent •that it flooded the
stoke-hole, so that the men could scarcely remain
at their posts. Everything went smashing en',
rolling about. One plunge put all the electrieet
instruments ieete do combqt at a blow, and staves
some barrels of strong sclutioa of sulphate of cop

PET,
touche
gan to
tors ne
a tree
those
In wat4
that th
change
dition

mishaps
is the we
it proTes
cau &fee
been acc
cies to al
. can nevi
of the p(
known a
terecl.
• No ti

making
over jai
• chip's ti]
c:
notbii2;
ca-1 tha
at.r.s.

the e.A1,1
the htrri
the vert
Peed w
five, at
to 15.
tious:
neither
rd ev
Toward
the ebip
the cat
hour, w
1.3001 b.
on the
to a eon
act pa,

the ship,
oor leading
;, the scene
shouts and
;d mass of
k-hatchets,
I get loose,

e round on
), and bore
d witnessed
t, imagined

se and- that
Things,
h they were
iing seemed
;k coil had
ut still held
hold, which
pt working
%s the ship
la hopeless
Much as a
prospect of
as the bad

k had eased
with such
vhich were
t was itn:
tmnon's re-
g almost as
n at work ,
to clear up
iat covered
7d a heavy
large iron
sere to pre
taying out.
loped shape
the sailors '
about the •
ece of me-)
In adopted.
mown that_
lose it was,
'e than uge-
ive danger
n, it was;
arts would
bor smash
s not over-