The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1852-02-25

der shipped, threw our masts ovcrbu ard, (for we
had no sails got the oars out into Their cru'ch-
es, which we had not been able to fad till then,
and pulled away tor the burning ship, to try To
save some more lives. The fire gave us plenty
of light, tn ,ugh the moon was obscured by
clouds. The wind, however, had now incrras-
ed to a severe gale and before we had proceed
ed far on our mission, heavy sea struck the
dinuv aud capsized her and drove her on our
stern broke away our ruddcr, and nearly halt hl- |
ed us with wafer. /
| was in the bow, and sang out to cut away |
the dingy, and get her head 10 wind, which MIR
Vincent, who was in the stern, had already
commenced doing, aad scarcely was this accom-
plished ere the approach of a tremendous sea
through the surf, and over the top of which
our boat CALAMITY rode, gave US ground for hope
that we still might live through that light. 1t
was however, vain to attempt the rescue OF
those who drowning around us. The
slightest deviation from the winds eye, in such
a sea, would have swamped our boat Behind
us the burning ship shed a light, which illumin-
ed the sky and for miles around Before
us the sky and sea seemed to meet in dark
undistingulshable mass, the i9,mrdjate approach
of the waves being indicated by rushing
sound as their crests broke far above our heads
IN long white line of foam, glaringly reflect
ing the light of the burning ship behind us. In
this position, without food or water, for we
staved our only small water cask to bail the
boat when nearly swamped without compass or
rudder, and several only half clothed, Vincent
| in the stern and | IN the bow, watching the APP
proach Of the waves and giving the orders to
the men to pull starboard or pull port, so as 10
keep her head dead to windward.
| During this time drifting towards
the ship, which was burning broadsde on to the
wind Her manmast went first, and then the
| torcmast, and a considerable time elapsed before
her miZenmast went; directly after which /
noticed slight explosion of glnpowdcr. Pc
vious to this the barque hove in sght, and passed
between the stern of our boat and the burning
ship. We judged her to be Onward bound, from
her beng under close-repfed topsails As she
passed, between $50 and 400 yards distant, we
several times hailed her with hnr III. "'"d Wi
tes, strengthened By all the energy Of despair
She answe cred us aud bralled her spanker, anc
we thought was preparing TO bear up to our res
cue.
| shall never forget the deep sob ofh"pe witt
which noticed these preparations, or the bitter
ness eff feeling with which saw him spread
his canvass to the wind and wear round pas
the burning vessel and he left us to our fate.
For some short time past had noticed boa
short distance from our starboard beam, whc
| believe was the gig, with apparently abou
: half dozen hands in her. She now began I
! call for assis stance, which also we could nc
? attempt to offer, the running so high.
Remembering Capt. Symond's observation:
| was enabled to form some conception OF tn
coast Of France and the British Channel, an
d we pulled away in that direction during the re
u mainder of the night
: The morning broke bright and clear, an
never was rising hailed by an easter
$ devotee with more gratitude than that. w
g blessed Almighty God Tor having preserve
g US from the complicated dangers Of such
o NIGHT
Joined Vince mt in the stern, and we proceedc
To con over our probable distance from land, al
y as we know that unless picked up we could n
d make it fer five or six days we arranged for
y division Of the men into watches, taking Oh
c each.
n The wind considerably abated, and we pull
10 s.eadily on for about three hours longer, VIII
le the man On the lookout cried that ne saw
sail She was outward bound, and We pull
m hard to intercept her, which we maniged to u
OF comp,h, and hailed her before she was ava
* # our approach We had been specializing
IN the chances Of gettinr on board # her, and
d. The wind had completely luled, l shouted
ID the men to give way, and we would board Il
IN by force.
This was unnecessary, for the captain, who
~ the nale had kept deck. all the previous me-
"a and had been asleep in his berth when we II
hailed, nowcame On deck, backed his main $
tx and mainto, sail, and, calling US to come
lis alongside, cast a rope to make fast our boat
IN I hougll the wind was down, there was so mu
IN sea on as to render it difficult matter TO boa
the brig. Several ropes were thrown over, 0
IS of which ! seized, but it only being partia
h secured, | fell overheard, but was immediate
H. picked up, not bit the worse, and we ali ST
ar ceeded in getting on board the brig Marsd
be from London, bound to Carolina. Moth
IN could exceed the kindness with which Ca
ht Evans treated US all, giving US beds and prov
inp the best resources his vessel could afford
u He first tried to land us on the coast of Fran
10 but the wind shifting, he was Obliged to Std
al out to sea in the hope OF falling in with an
On ward bound ship. This not occurring, he Diet
mined to land US on the coast of England a
" tried for Falmouth. rhe weather became ha
ne The wind began to blow, and as he had not be
I'M able to get a light of the sun at noon on tn
J, day and the weather thlckened in the direct
Of the Eng ish coast, toward evening he ST.
ate ND the Channel, made the Eddystone Llg
ed house about l. and an" hored in Plymouth II
hd Dor between IL and o'clock.