442 THE TERROR RUN ON SHORE. [CHAP.VI. 



variety of hill and dale. It was an enjoyment 

 to be felt but once in a life, and how much was 

 that enjoyment enhanced when the wind sud- 

 denly changed and blew a gale off shore, which 

 but a few hours earlier must have driven us back 

 to sea, and, in all probability, terminated our 

 labours in a different wav. 



Harassed and worn out by extreme toil, the 

 crew were no longer able to work as formerly, 

 and though ably assisted by the officers and 

 men of Her Majesty's service stationed along 

 the coast, and especially by Lieutenant Murray, 

 and the officers and crew of the Wickham, 

 yet the Terror was gradually sinking by the 

 head, when finding that their united efforts 

 were unequal to keep her afloat, it was deter- 

 mined as the last resource to run her ashore on 

 a small sandy beach selected for the purpose. 

 It was found at low water that upwards of 

 twenty feet of the keel, together with ten feet 

 of the stern-post, were driven over more than 

 three feet and a half on one side, leaving a 

 frightful opening astern for the free ingress of 

 the water. The forefoot too was entirely gone, 

 besides numerousbolts either loosened or broken ; 

 and when, besides this, the strained and twisted 

 state of the ship's frame was considered, there was 

 not one on board who did not express astonish- 

 ment that we had ever floated across the Atlantic. 



