Year: 1871

Z
e and we were in utter darkness, excep
,fffor the glimmer of an oil lamp in tht
. passage. Most of the passengers lef
2 their cabins and preferred to lie on mat
{ tresses in this sort of long corridor,


suppose for the sake of company, buf
: they looked very wHetched; some were
s groaning, some were crying, some were
+ praying, all were frightened, as well
! they might be The heat and close
! smell of the crowded saloon and pas
: sage were quite overpowering, and l
+ preferred remaining IN my own cabin
on the floor crawling out on my hands


and knees once or twice day to get a
little biscuit and claret there was moth
, ing else to be had.


Upon one of these excursions, l dis
covered that the mosteonstant and pier
cling of all the shrieks came from fat old


French lady who yelled at the pitch of
her voice every time the ship lurched
more heavily than usual, but the instant
she righted again, before giving another


roll, madame regained her composure,
elegant manners, and turning with a


smile to her fellow sufferers, observed in
excellent French, Excuse me, but such


moments as these are SO very embar-
RAISING p Scarcely had she finished


her little apology than the ship lurched


and she set up a still louder scream


than before.


AT last Christmas dawned upon US,


but what a contrast to our previous hap
py ones, for which we all felt we had
not been half thankful enough! I


thought if my own dear little boys could
have seen their mothers, how shocked


they would have been. pictured them


to myself in their lovely English coun-
try home, thinking and talking of me


on that day, and saying, Mamma IS


safe on shore now. And there was I,


and some three hundred souls besides,


tossing about in a water-logged vessel,


without masts, without a rudder, steer


ing by some sort of rude contrivance.


with broken engines and with the pumps


going day and night to keep US ahoat-
! The sky had not cleared for one brief
instant during all these weary days to
allow us to take an observation and find


out where we were, and we could not


see a yard before US. The gale showed
| signs of abating, or we were blunder-
| ing out ofits circle but the sea was run


ming mountains high All through the
| day and night we could hear the hoarse


cry of Breakers ahead = or else


Breakers on the port bow !" or else


Breakers on the starboard bow - ac-
cording to the way we helplessly tuFned,


hoping to find way out of our difficult


culhes. We could now hear the loud


shouts of the sailors, for the wind was


moderating a good deal, though the


weather was just as thick. Our provis- |
ions were running short; for many days
the supply of biscuit had been exhausted, !
and we were thankful for whatever odds |


and ends the purseT and his assistants |
could fish up out of the store-room, but |
as that was half full of water almost ev-
erything in it was spoiled.


Christmas day was sad enough and /
dismal enough, but Christmas night was |
worse. Ever since the beginning of the |
storm no one has been able to sleep on |
account of the incessant uproar of the


winds and waves, to which was added
an equally terrible creaking and strain
ing of the vessels timbers. Mingled I
with these sounds were shouts, screams,
and at first constant crashing of glass
and china but very soon that came to
an end,-fo -the-las of our plates and /
dishes were reduced4o fragments, only
fit to be thrown overheard And here |
must tell you that in the worst part of
the cyclone some of the passengers ac-
tually held a meeting, all the members
squatting on the floor, and passed with
great formality and gravity, many votes
of condemnation among others, one
upon the unhappy carpenter for not
making a box big enough to hold all
the glass and china in the ship, so as to
prevent its being broken! Poor man
he had quite enough to do to timber up
the ship, without looking after the glass
or china; he was in constant requisition,
and the last saw of him he was lying
huddled up in a sort of recess under the
companion ladder, having had his foot
frightfully crushed when he was down
in the hold, trying to keep the cargo
within bounds. However, to return to
that Christmas night. Everything was
IN the same state as usual-that IS, we
were in hourly expectation of the ship
either foundering or going to pieces on
a rock; and yet many of us were doing,
quite worn out, with nearly a fort-n night
of sleeplessness, excitement, hunger.
and misery.


| was lying on a mattress on my cabin
floor, and in that next to mine were
lady and her two grown up daughters.
They had been very quiet and compos-
ed all through these trying days, and
I often congratulated myselfon having
such good neignbors. 1t was there
fore, the more alarming to hear on
Christmas night the most piercing
shrirks from their cabins preceded
however, by crashing sound. I felt
sure there was something really the
matter, and sprang up 10 try to get to
their assistance. Before I could make
my way from my cabin to theirs, the
had been supplemented by
wild yells from the rest of the pas
sengers. who shouted out every CON
Qpi Y q N1a OF 0f had T1n n g i'm
possible, news, We've struck on a
rock, - ''There's hole in Mrs. c.. IS cab
in, and all the water is coming in"
1.-THE ship is breaking up" &c. [ saw
the most excited gentlemen climbing
up on the cuddy table, and trying to
pry open the skylight, so as to escape
to the deck; fortunately they did not
succeed in their absurd attempts, or
we should have had the next sea down
upon us, to add to our misery. Others
were struggling and fighting towards
the companion ladder, to get up that
way.


Amid all this din I reached poor
Mrs. C.'s cabin, where the doctor had
already arrived. The truth was bad
enough without false reports of evil. !
Mrs. Q. managed to wedge herself into
her berth by pillows, preferring that
to a mattress on the floor; above her
place was a heavy sort of
locker, about the size and shape of half ,
4
by large iron clamps to the side of the
ship, but the incessant rolling and
straining had so loosened its fasten-
ings that one lurch heavier than the ]
others opened the planks wide enough
to allow the great screws and nails to
give way, and the heavy mass fell
down, but the ship was keeling over
so much that, instead of falling on
Mrs. c., who was just beneath it, the
locker only struck her one blow as it (
rolled over on the floor. The blow, {:
shattered her arm, besides
breaking her eollar-bohe in two places.
1t was her daughters shrieks that we
had heard, for the poor lady herself
was quite insensible. The doctor was
nearly in despair; here was critical
and delicate surgical operation to be
performed in almost total darkness, '
and with no possibility of keeping {
steady for two minutes He was a !
skillf full little man, however, and up to
any emergency, so he issued his orders
in q vary n 1aoiSiva manner First ba