ILLUSIONS DESTROYED. 237 



under Captain Pierre Everdert, with a cargo of oil and 

 canvass, sailing from Dunkirk for Marseilles, was forced 

 to heave to in a gale about ten leagues south-west of 

 the Scilly Islands. The crew consisted of seven, in- 

 cluding the captain and his nephew, a boy of fourteen. 

 At seven in the evening a heavy sea struck the vessel, 

 and completely capsized her — turning the keel upwards. 

 The only man on deck at the time was drowned. In 

 the forecastle were three men, Vincent, Yantaure, and 

 Jean-Marie : the two former, by seizing hold of the 

 windlass-bits, succeeded in getting up close to the keel- 

 son, and so kept their heads above water. The unfor- 

 tunate Jean-Marie probably got his feet entangled — at 

 any rate, after convulsively grasping the heel of Van- 

 taure for a few seconds, he let go his hold, and was 

 drowned. " The other two, finding that the shock of 

 the upset had started the bulkhead between the fore- 

 castle and the hold, and that the cargo itself had fallen 

 down on the deck, contrived to draw themselves on their 

 faces close alongside the keelson towards the stern of 

 the ship, from whence they thought they heard some 

 voices. At the time of the accident, the captain, the mate 

 Gallo, and the boy Nicholas, were in the cabin. The 

 captain caught the boy in his arms, under the full im- 

 pression that their last moment had arrived. The mate 

 succeeded in wrenching open the trap-hatch in the cabin 

 deck, and in clearing out some casks which were 

 jammed in the lazarette (a sort of small triangular 

 space between the cabin floor and the keelson, where 

 stores are generally stowed away) : having effected this, 



