The Florida agriculturist., 1889-05-08
SECTION VIII.


perceived the approach of the repeller,
he was much surprised, but he did not
hesitate for moment as to his course.
He signaled to the transport, then about
a mile to the north, to keep on the way
while he steered to meet the enemy. 1t
had been decided in British naval circles
that the proper thing to do in regard to
a repeller was to ram her as quickly as
possible. These vessels were necessarily
slow and unwieldy, and if a heavy IRON
clad could keep clear Of crabs long
enough to rush down upon one, there was
every reason to believe that the "bau
bouncer," as the repellers were called by
British sailors, could be crushed in be-
low the water line and sunk. So, full of
courage and determination, the captain
of the Craglevin bore down upon the re-
peller.
1t is not necessary to enter into details
of the ensuing action. Before the Crag-
levin was within half mile of her enc
my she was seized by two crabs, all of
which had cast loose from the repeller,
and in less than twenty minutes both of
her screws were extracted and her rud-
der shattered. In the meantime two of
the swiftest crabs had pursued the trans
port; and coming up with her, one Of
them had fastened to her rudder, with
out, however, making any attempt to in
jure it. When the captain of the steamer
saw that one of the sea devils had him.
by the stern, while another was near by
ready to attack him, he prudently
stopped his engines and lay to, the crab
keeping his ships head to the sea.
The captain of the Craglevin was a
very different man from the captain Of
the Adamant He was quite as brave,
but he was wiser and more prudent. He
saw that the transport had been cap
tured and forced to lay to; he saw that
the repeller mounted two heavy guns at
her bow, and whatever might be the
character Of those i.1tna: tlcre could be
no reasonable doubt that they were sui
ficient to sink an ordinary mail steamer.
His own vessel was entirely out of his
control, and even if he chose to try his
guns on the spring armor of the repener,
it would probably result in the repeller
turning her fire upon the transport
With a disabled ship, and the lives Of
SO many men in his charge, the captain
of the Craglevin saw that it would be
wrong for him to attempt to fight, and
he did not fire gun. With as much
calmness as the circumstances would
permit he awaited the progress of
events.
In very short time a message came
to him from Repeller No. IL, which
stated that in two hours his ship would
be destroyed by instantaneous motor
bombs. Every opportunity, however,
would be given for the transfer to the
mail steamer of all the officers and men
on board the Craglevin, together with
such of their possessions as they could
take with them in that time. When this
had been done the transport would be
allowed to proceed on her way.
To this demand nothing but acquies-
cence was possible. Whether or not
there was such thing as an instantane-
GUS motor bomb the Craglevin's officers
did not know; but they knew that if left
to herself their ship would soon attend
to her own sinking, for there was terri
BILE rent in her stern, owing to pitch Of
the vessel while one of the propeller
shafts was being extracted