Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1852-02-19

the last boat left the Inflated Nepluae.i
\, Never shall | forget the frghtful sub
Iitni,y of the spectacle presented by that
flaming ship. the sole object, save our
selves. idiscernible amidst the vast and
heaving darkness, if may use the term.
of the nigh, and ocean, coupled as il was
with the dreadful thought that the heroic
man 10 whose firmness and presence OF
mind we all owed our safety was newt
ably doomed to perish. We had not
srowed more than a couple Of hundred
yards when The flames, leaping up every
where through the, decks, reached the
rigging and The few sails set, presenting
.ascomplete ou,line ot the bark and her
ltracery of masts and yards drawn in lines
of fire! Capt. Starkey, not TO throw a.
way the chance he spoke of, had egone
out 10 the end OF The bowsprll, having
first let the jib and fofesail go By the rin
and was for brief space safe from the
flames; bul what was this but prolong-
alton OF the bitterness of dea h! &c.,
! he boats continued to increase the
distance between them aud the blazing
ship, amidst a dead silence, broken only
by the measured dip Of the oars; aud
many an eye, was turned with intense
anxiety .shoreward with the hope of des
crying the expected pilot. AT length a
distinct hail-ahd fett my heart stop
beating gatthe sound--was heard ahead,
Justify responded to by the seamen's
threats, and shortly afterwards a swiftly
propelled pilot boat sho, out of the thick
darkness ahead, almost Immediately fol-
lowed by another. e9A$ ts,af n.7a'f
~ "Wha, ship is ttat!' cried a man
standing in the bow of the first boat. m Is
., "The Neptune. and that is Captain
Starkey on The bowsprii!"
lsprang eagerly 10 my feet, and with
all ttie force could exert, shouted: "A
hundred pounds TO the first boat that
reaches the ship ali Ilia Rsaiaa =. 8lls
That's young Mr.. Mainwaring's face
and voice., exclaimed The foremost pilot.
."Hurra, then, for the prize!" and away
both sped with eager yigor, bu, unaware,
certainly. of the peril of the task. In a
minute or SO ano.hershore-bo boa; came up,
butal,er asking few questions, and see.
ing how matters stood, remained, and
lightened us Of a portion of our living
-1argoes. We were all three too deep in
the water. the small boat particularly SO.
Great God! the. terrible suspense we
all felt whilst this was going forward
can scarcely bear, even now, TO think
about'i,. | shut my eyes, and listened
with GREATNESS, palpiiating excitement
for the explosion tha, should END all. Ii,
camc, a, least thought it did, and
sprang convulsively to nv feet. So SEN
silive was my brain, partly. no doubt,
from reeentisickness as well as fright,
ihatsl had smistak en- The sudden shout of
the boats crew, for the dreadful catas-
trophe. The bowspri,. from the end of
which a rope was dangling, was empty!
and both pilots, made aware doubtless of
;ne danger, were pulling with the eager
nessof fear from the ship. The cheer
ing among us was renewed again and a.
gain, during which continued to, gaze
with arrested breath and fascinated stare
at Tie flaming vessel and fleeing pilot
boats. Suddenly a pyramid of flame
shot up from the hold of the ship, follow.
ed by deafening rear. fell, or was
knocked down, know not which; the.
boat rocked as if caught in fierce eddy;
next came the hiss and splash Of numer-
Gus heavy bodies falling from a great
height into the water; and then the blind
ing glare and stunning uproar were sue
ceeded by soubdless silence and thick
darkness, in which no man could discern
his neighbor. The stiffness was broken
by loud, cheerful hail from one of the
pilot boats; we recognized the voice, and
the Simultaneous and ringing shout
which burst from us assured the gallan,
seamen of our own safety, and how ex-
ultingly we all rejo,ced in his. Half an
hour afterwards we were safely landed;
and as the ship and cargo had been es-1
pecially insured, the only ultimate evil
result OF this fearful passage in the lives
Of the passengers and crew Of the Nep-
tune was aheavy loss TO The underwriters.
A Apiece of plate, at tile suggestion Of
Mr.. Desmond and his friends, was sub,
scribed for and presented to Capt. Star
key alta public Dime. given at Kingston
In his honor--a circumstance that many
there will remember. In his speech, on
returning thanks for the compliment paid
him, he explained his motive for reso-l
lutely declining 10 fight duel with NJ.
Dupont, half dozen versions of which
hac got into the newspapers. 81 was
very early left an orphan, "he said, sand
was very tenderly reared by maternal
aunt, Mrs. ----. Her husband, as ma
ny here may be aware, fell in duel in
the second month of wedlock. My
aunt con,inuedto live dejectedly on till l
had passed my nineteenth year, and so
vivid an impression lid the patien. sor-
row of her life make on me, SO thorough
ly did learn TO loalhe and detestthe bar
barous practice that consigned her to a
premature grave. that il scarcely requi-
redthe solemn promise she obtained from
lne, as The last sigh trembled on her lips,
to make me resolve never, under any cir
cumstances, to tight duel As 10 nv
behavior during The unfortunate conila-
grafton Of the Neptune, which my Mr..