Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1843-11-16
town. The supercargo of the shin. a

f'couragge, came Oft In shore boat, alons
with feet Of boats, which left the quay
about the same time. They arrived il
the. vicinity Of the burning ship at tn,
1 same m1ment that the launchers and 9th
er boats full of men, of the British sloo,
OF war Ph9ton and store-ship Adventur,
bad reached the,spot. But up to thi.
time no man bad dared to board the yes
sci, thus apparently doomed to destruc
ton, in the face of the warning of he
captain and others that there was gun
powder. On board. They would as soor
have undertaken to board fire ship, af
ter the match had been applied and sht
had been deserted by her crew.
Captain Sturt, of the English sloop o.
war was there. ). He was comparativel,
a young man, but was possessed of :
large share Of that courage, decisive en-.
ergy and promptness, which have ever
been characteristic of British officers
He had some conversation with Mr.. Hen.
ny, and enquired particularly in regard
to the quantity of gunpowder on board
the ship. The supercargo replied that
there were only three Or four kegs, which
were slowed IN the run, or in the after
part of the hold. ,r -.
is that alp exclaimed Captain Sturt
and in loud voice he gave the word to
board the Ship The men-of-war's
boats dashed alongside without further
scruple, followed by the boats from the
American merchantmen, (there were nc
American men-of-war in port,) and in a
few minutes there were hundreds of res.
! dilute seamen on her decks, some drawing
water, some cutting holes through the
! decks, and all engaged as coolly and bu.
silly In attempting to extlnguish the
flames as If there were no gunpowdel
within dozen miles. The launch oil
the sloop of war, with fire engine, took
her station directly under the stern. and
played into the cabin windows; while
several boats, after the cables had beer
cut or unshackled, took the ship in tow.
and IN fifteen or twenty minutes she was
so far removed from the anchorage thai
IT barrels OF gunpowder had exploded in
her hold, no serious injury would have
been sustained by any other vessels in
the harbor.
But it was now too late to save the
ship. She had been basely deserted
when the fire was first discovered, and
her captain had successfully attempted
Tor time to prevent any person from
Distinguishing the flames, which soon ex.
tended to the hold and were now raging
between decks. and being fed by the all
from the hole cut in the deck, soon in.
creased to such an extent, that it wa:
evident all attempts to conquer the fury
of the devastating elements would be
unsuccessful.
/ The ship was lowed ashore on thu
beach i'll the northern part of the bay, il
cloud of smoke, and her deck still
crowded with human beings. But abou
this time the flames burst out from III,
decks, and extended to the masts, yard
and rigging, and in a short time tn,
Whole OF the upper part of the hull wa
in hames.
The, sun had now descended beyont
the hills which overlooked the town O
Algeslras-and as soon as the night ha,
extended her murky dominion over tn
surrounding landscape, the scene pre-
scented by the burning ship was truly pic
turesque and beautiful. The fire n
longer pent up within narrow compass
Or deprived of half its energy by vain eff
forts to extinguish it, now burst forth il
appalling beauty, soaring above the hea
vens, and sending up Pickering columns
OF tame, as If to meet the clouds.
! The whole bay was illuminated by TIL
burning ship which soon resembled
huge mass of fire-anI the appearance,
of the town. and Notifications Of GibraI
tar, and the various vessels in port, O
every nation and every character, as the,
appeared. in the reflected light, was in
deed tnasnificent--while in the south
the straits, and the Spanish coast. which
forms the southwestern point of land tina
embraces the bay. seemed lost lin NOR,
than Egyptian darkness. The Who'll,
would have furnished noble subject fo
the intellectual artist.
: But methinks hear some ofmv road
ers enquire 'Wbat became of the onn
powder, the apprehension of which frIsht
ened away the Captain of the ship, an,
Kept Oft for time all who wished +,
; minister assstancea' The. guunpowde1
was there-safely stoned d,cav in the bot
tom q the ''u''-and the fire aoas not com
,'atn,cated to 1t until nearly name o'czocj
=" the evenang. schen feeble orDlosio,
took place, aohach could not hnae bee,
! heard hay milet Apprehensions o
danger, therefore, SO far as thew wer,
rr nj nA II
slouhuea on the blowing up ofthe ship
were either fictitious or imaginary.
/ Ihe destruction by fire, of this fin,
ship, with rich cargo, was Of cours
the general sui ject Of COMPENSATION, 70
: several days-and various facts attend
ing 1t, caused surmises. which were b
no means favorable to certain partie
connected with the yessel-although
!, may as well state here thai mt IL,