200 Biographical Sketch of the late 



her way, and amazed that some effort was not making to bring at 

 least the boat, and attempt our relief. The workmen looked sted- 

 fastly upon the writer, and turned occasionally towards the vessel, 

 still far to leeward. All this passed in the most perfect silence, and 

 the melancholy solemnity of the group made an impression never to 

 be effaced from his mind. 



" The writer had all along been considering various schemes, pro- 

 viding the men could be kept under command, which might be put 

 in practice for the general safety, in hopes that the Smeaton might 

 be able to pick up the boats to leeward, when they were obliged to 

 leave the rock. He was, accordingly, about to address the artificers 

 on the perilous nature of their circumstances, and to propose 

 that all hands should unstrip their upper clothing, when the higher 

 parts of the rock were laid under water ; that the seamen should 

 remove every unnecessary weight and incumbrance from the boats ; 

 that a specified number of men should go into each boat, and that 

 the remainder should hang by the< gunwales, while the boats were 

 to be rowed gently towards the Smeaton, as the course to the Pharos 

 or Floating Light lay rather to windward of the rock. But when he 

 attempted to speak, his mouth was so parched, that his tongue re- 

 fused utterance, and he now learned by experience that the saliva 

 is as necessary as the tongue itself for speech. He then turned to 

 one of the pools on the rock and lapped a little water, which pro- 

 duced an immediate relief. But what was his happiness, when, on 

 rising from this unpleasant beverage, some one called out ' a boat ! 

 a boat I' and on looking around at no great distance, a large boat 

 was seen through the haze making towards the rock. This at once 

 enlivened and rejoiced every heart. The timeous visitor proved to 

 be James Spink the Bell Rock pilot, who had come express from 

 Arbroath with letters. Every one felt the most perfect happiness 

 at leaving the Bell Rock this morning, though a very hard and even 

 dangerous passage to the floating light still awaited us, as the wind 

 by this time had increased to a pretty hard gale, accompanied with 

 a considerable swell of sea. The boats left the rock about nine, but 

 did not reach the vessel till twelve o'clock noon, after a most disagree- 

 able and fatiguing passage of three hours. Every one w.as as completely 

 drenched in water as if he had been dragged astern of the boats." 



The state of suffering and discomfort as well as danger on 

 board the floating light, which lay moored off the rock during 

 the two first seasons of the work, before the timber barrack 

 was used as a habitation, is described in the following passage, 

 which presents a striking idea of the continual anxiety that 

 must have existed in the minds of those engaged in the work, 

 and of the frequent calls for energetic and courageous 

 exertion. 



