32 EEV. GEORGE PATTERSON 



weather, she may be got off without material damage, with the assistance of the men con- 

 nected with the establishment, or even without. Thus, he writes under date 23rd May, 

 1855 : 



" At 7 a. m. a gentleman came, with four seamen, to headquarters, and reported himself 

 to be the surgeon of the steamship ' Union,' of and for New York from Havre, via Cowes, 

 with seventy-iive passengers, which vessel had run ashore on the north side of the island last 

 night at midnight. Got out the lifeboat as soon as possible, and pulling westward found 

 the ship lying within one hundred yards of the beach, head off shore, about one mile to the 

 westward of the principal station, with a kedge and warp ahead. The ship's company, witli 

 their own boats, carried out a bower anchor, and having the ship considerably lightened Ijy 

 throwing over coal last night, we made preparations for heaving her off" at high tide. Our 

 boat landed about forty of the passengers, who went to headquarters and got some refresh- 

 ments. At noon set all sail, and having two anchors ahead with warps to the windlass and 

 capstan, and a full head of steam on the engine, and having thrown a chain cable overboard 

 to lighten the ship, we made an effort to move her, and at 1 p. m. got her afloat. We then 

 cut and shipped the warps, sent two of the ship's boats and an island boat to fetch off the 

 passengers, and at 2 p. m. the ship steamed away for New York. The outpost men all came 

 to render assistance." 



But if she has struck during a storm, or when the sea is heavj-, or if she has struck on 

 either bar, this is not possible. The first care then is the saving of the lives of those on 

 board. This is often accomplished in the boats of the vessel before the arrival of the men 

 from the relief establishment. In that case the latter have only to see to their being brought 

 to the main station and their wants attended to there. If they have not been landed, this, 

 of course, must be the first care. Now there is a mortar from which a line can be thrown 

 over the missing vessel, and a life-car and bretches buoy for the landing of crews. But at 

 that time they relied mainly on their boats for the purpose, though sometimes, when the 

 vessel was near the shore, the men waded out into the surf and drew them ashore with ropes. 



"When the shipwrecked have been housed and their wants attended to, as soon as the 

 weather is fit, the men, under the direction of the superintendent, are set to work to strip 

 the vessel of her sails, rigging, etc., which are conveyed to the warehouse. The next 

 object is the saving of as much of the cargo as possible. Sometimes the vessel will go to 

 pieces in less than forty-eight hours, in which case some wreckage strewed along the beach 

 will be all that will remain. But generally when she has struck on the island itself she 

 does not break up for some time, and then for weeks, all the time that the weather and sea 

 are such that they can work at her, all the men of the establishment will l)e employed in 

 saving material and cargo and hauling it to the warehouse at the main station. Finally, as 

 the ship breaks up, their time may be employed in saving the iron and copper that entered 

 into her construction. 



The shipwrecked crews and passengers were comfortably housed and well fed till either 

 the government vessel arrived or some other vessel touched at the island b}' which they 

 could obtain a passage. This might be weeks or months. As many as two hundred such 

 have been accommodated, and, except in some of the early days of the establishment, there 

 has never been a deficiency in the supply of provisions. 



Such an institution, one would think, could not possibly awaken anything but gratitude 

 in those that had experienced its benefits. But, strange to say, the superintendent had 



