Litchfield enquirer., 1838-07-05

necessary Co prevent the infant of Mrs. Night ingale, which was only seven months old, from being lost, to lash 1t to her person, which was done. JUst as the sun was setling, the bow of the boat was turned to the Sdore5 and MF. Cooper scallings and two men at the oars, she was pulled into the bFeakeEg-she rose without difficulty upon the first bFe6ker, but the seconds coming out with great vIO- lence, struck the oar from the hand of ono of the roweEs. The boat was thus thrown into the trough of fhe sea, and the succeed. ing breaker struck her broadside, and tCrn- ed her bottom upwards. Upon regainings the surface, Mir. Copper laid hold of the bOat,, and soon discovered that the rest of the par-. ty, with the exception of Mrs. Nightingale, were making for the shore ;-of her, for Q few moments, he saw nothing, but presently, feeling something like the dress of female touching his foot, he again dived down and was fortunate enough to grasp her by tho hair. The surf continued to break, over them with great violence, but after a strug- gle, in which their strength spent its last ef- forts, they reached the shore, utterly woTus out with fatigue, watching. hunger, thirst,A and the most intense and overwhelming ex-. citement. Besides this, the ladies and chil- dren were suffering severely from the cold, The party proceeded Q short distance frome the shore, where the ladies laid down upOrn the side of a sand bill, and their proteciorss covered them and their children Wish sand,. to prevent them from perishing. Meantime some of the party went in quest of aid, and& about 10 o'clock the whole of them found az kind and hospitable reception, shelter, fooas and clothing, under the roof of MT. Siglee Reed, of Onslow county.
 Mrs. Nightingale is the daughter of John A. King, Esq. of New-York, and a grand daughter of the late distinguished Rufus. King. During the whole of the perils through: which they passed, she and Mrs. Frazer dis. played the highest qualities of fortitude andi herolsm. They owe the preservation of their own and their children's lives, under Provi- dence, to the coolness, intrepidity and firm ness of MT. Couper and his assistants, and to the steadiness with which they seconded the wise and humane efforts of that gentle man in their behalf.
 On Monday they reached Wilmington, where they found deep sympathy for their misfortune pervading the whole city, and gee nerous emulation among its inhabitants 10 render them every possible assistance.
 The forward part of the boat, after her se- paration, continued to float. On it were Mai. Heath and twenty-one others: We have had long conversation with Major Heath. in which he related with great minuteness every thing attending the preservation of the. persons who were on the wreck with him. It is impossible to convey in words any thing more than faint idea of the suffering they underwent, or of the many narrowing and distressing circumstances which occurred during the four days they were on the wreck.
 But short time previous to the explosion. it was remarked by one of the passengers to Maj. Heath that the guage showed thirty in- ches of steam. On the attention of the En- gineer being called to this fact, he replied tho$s Sc boo ,xu,skh E.o%rv Ca Major Heath had just retired to the after cabin. A number of passengers were lying on the settees, and when the boiler burst, the steam rushed into the cabin, and, it is thought, instantly killed them, us they turned over. fell on the floor, and never were seen by the Major to move afterwards. He had, on heaE- ing the noise of the explosion, got out of his birth and ran to the steps, the steam meeting him iii the cabin. He got under the steps, as did also Mr. Lovejoy Gf Geo, and they were thus shielded from its effects.
 In few moments he went on deck, and found all dark. He called for the Captain, and receiving no answer, made for the mast, as he felt that the boat was sinking. Before him, and carried him away. Fortunately, however rope had caught round his leg, and with this he pulled himself back. The mast, as soon as he had been washed from 1t, fell, and crushed one of the passengers. Mir. Auze, French gentleman of Augusta. The boat now broke in two, and the deck, forward of the mast, was carried away from the rest of the vessel, seemingly very swiftly. Noth- ing more was seen after this. by Maj. Heath. of the yawl or the after part of the boat, but in about half an hour, he heard wild scream, and then all was quiet! This must have been when the promenade deck turned ovor h af 1eaSf ha,rdrpd h,lFnan hnin0Q upon it
 When daylight broke, he found that there were twenty two or the wreck with him. among them Capt. Pearson, who had been blown out into the sea, but who had caught a plank, and succeeded in reaching them during the night.
 The danger of their situation was at once fully realized :-The heavy mast lay across the deck on which they rested. and kept it blanks were evidently fast parting! Capt. Pearson, with the rest, set himself to work to lash the wreck together by the aid of the ropes on the mast-letting the ropes sink on one side of the raft, which passing under came up on the other side, and by repeating this operation they formed . kind of net work over it. They also succeeded in lash ing two large boxes to their raft, which for med seats.
 . Friday passed without any vessel coming in sight. Their thirst now became intense. The heat of the sun was very oppressive, it's rays pouring down on their bare heads and blistering their faces and back, some not ha- wing evena shirt on, and none more than shirt and pantaloons. ..s.
 On Saturday they fell in with another por- ton of the wreck, on which were Chicken and three others, whom they took on their raft. Towards the close of evening they had approached within half a mile of shore, as they thought,and many were anxious to make an effort to land. This was objected to by