Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1842-11-25

W o1''S uo"u lhtO II IOllI SuOStdUlIut Uale.-
Had The torrents of water, which first drcncl,-
ed us, continued falling, there nigh, have
been some hope Of extinguishing the flames
but the subsistence of the rain, and the unal-
tered violence of the wind, rendered the sit
uaton of the schooner helpless.
ave can do nothing more, fear" at
length said the skipper, drawing me aside,
"tlic fire Is on the increase, and even the el-
cmcnts have turned against US. We must
leave the little DART to her fate, unless you
can think of something else 10 do !" and ho
looked inqnlrlngIy at me.
"Alas ~ replied, with mournful shake
of my head, eve have done every thing that
mortal man can do (; but in vain. We must
now think of saving ourselves. Had we not
better order out the beats :"
The skippcrdd not, for moment, reply
to my question, but stood, with his arms fold
ed on his breast, and face Of the deepest
detection, gazing on the burning forecas,le.
AT length he spoke.
Many long day have we sailed togoth-
err, in many bold fray have we fought for
eacl, other, and now leave you, my gallant
craft, all little did think this would be
your doom. But Gods will be done. We
must all perish sooner or later, and better 90
down here than rot, forgotten hulk, on
some muddy shorc--better consume to ash
cs than fall prey TO some huge cornoraut
of an enemy. And yet" he continued, his
eye lighting up, 'and yet should have wish
cd to die with you under the guns of one of
those gigantic monsiers--aye die battling
for the possession OF your deck inch by
inch" At this instant ore Of the forward
guns, which had become heated almost to
redness in the con1agration, exploded. The
sound seemed to recall him to himself He
started as if reused from rcyerie, and, no.
ticing me beside him, reccllccted my ques-
ton. Immediately resuming his usual en-
| crgy, he proceeded to order ont the boats,
and provide provisions and few has,y in
srumcnts, with calmness which was in
striking Contrast TO the raging sea around,
and the lurid fire raging on our bows.
The high discipline of the men enabled
us TO complete our preparations in a space
| Of time less than one half that which would
have been consumed by an ordinary crew
under like circumstances; and, indeed, in
many cases, all subordination would have
been lost, and perhaps the ruin of the whole
been the consequence. The alacrity of the
men and the forecast Of the officers we're in
deed needed; for our preparations had
scarcely been completed when the heat on
| the deck became intolerable. The fire had
now reached the after hatch, and, notwiih-
standing the violence of the gale, was ex-
tending aft with grea. rapidly, and had al.
| ready anyalnnpI ,l,, -,
ces. For some time before we left the
schooner tho heat, even at the tal!erel, al
most scorchcd the skin from our faces nor
did we "iscend into the boats a minute too
| soon. This was feat also by no means
easily accomplished, so great was the agi,a-
ton of the sea. AS looked on the frail
boats which were TO receive us, and thought
OF The perils whihh envroned us, of our dis
tance IRON land, and The slight quantity OF
provisions we had been enabled 10 save, !
felt that, in all human probability, we should
never again set foo, on shore, even if we sur
vived until morning. To my own fate |
was comparatively indifferent, for lite had
now lost all charsis to me !; but when | re-
| Elected on tho brave men who were to be
consigned 10 tho same destiny, and of the
ties by which many Of them were bound to
| carth-0f the wives who would become Wild
ows, of aged parents who would be left child
less, Of children for whom the orphans lot
was preparing-,ho big tears gushed into
my eyes, and courscd down my cheek, though
unohscrvcd.
"Ali ready" said the skipper, who was
the last 10 leave the deck, and pausing to
cast mourniul look n, his little craft, he
sprung into the boat and we pushed off from
| the quarter. For some minutes, however, it
seemed doubtful whether our frail barges
could live in the ,umultuous sea that now
ragged. One minute we were hurried TO the
SKY on the bosom of wave, and then we
plunged headlong into the dark trough be-
low, the walls Of water on either hand mo-
mently threatening to overwhelm us. But
though small, our boats were buoyant, and
rodo CALAMITY onward. Every cxeriion was
| made, meanwhile, to increase our distance
from the schooner, for our departure had
been hurried by the fear that the fire would
soon reach the magazine, and our proximity
| to the burning ship still continued TO threat
en- us with destruction in case of an explo-
sion. The men, conscious of the peril,
strained every sinew to effect our object, and
thus battling against wind and wave, VIC
struggled on our way.
With every iathom we gained, the sight of
the burning ship increased in magnilicence.
The flames had now seized the whole after
part of the schooner as far back as the COM
pan'on way, so that hull, spars and rigging
were sheet Of fire, which, caught in the
fierce embraces Of the hurricane, now whirl-
cd around, now streaming straight out, and
now broke into thousand forked tongues,
licking up the masts and around the spars
like so many fiery serpen,s. Millions of
sparks poured down to leeward, while ever
and anon huge patches Of flame would be
torn from the main body of the connacra,ion
aud blown far away ahead. Volumes of
dark, pitchy smoke, curling up from the
decks Of the schooner, often partially con-
cealed a portion of the flames, but they
re-aPpeared moment afterwards with
even greater vivdness. In some pla-
ces so intense was the conhagration
that tho fra u,c NJ , ,,,h;,o bo,,