I904] SHIP DRIVEN ON SHORE 267 



everywhere except under the stern, where the hne showed 

 18 feet ; I sent for the carpenter to know our draught of water 

 and he reported 12 J feet at the bows and 14^ feet aft. This 

 signified that the midship section must be very hard aground, 

 and that the only chance of release was by the stern, a direction 

 in which we could not hope to move under present circum- 

 stances. 



' So things stood before the men's dinner, but by the time 

 it was finished we seemed to have worked another fathom 

 ahead and then the soundings all around were 12 feet except 

 at the extreme bowsprit end, where 15 feet was obtained. I 

 knew the bank must be very small in extent, and asked myself, 

 would it be possible to force her clean over it ? I determined 

 to tiy, and ordered sail to be made. The wind had steadily 

 increased in force, and it was now blowing a howling gale ; 

 the temperature was low enough to make the water slushy as it 

 fell on board. In spite of this we got the foresail and foretop- 

 sail spread, and at the same time rang the telegraph to full 

 speed ahead. The ship began to move, but it was only to 

 swing round till her bowsprit almost touched the rocks of the 

 Point ; the seas came tumbling over her starboard quarter and 

 she herself listed heavily to port. 



' In two minutes I saw that we were only making matters 

 worse, and shouted for the sails to be clewed up ; and at the 

 same moment Skelton appeared on the bridge and reported 

 that the inlets were choked and the engines useless. Once 

 more we sounded around the ship, to find that there was not 

 more than 9 to 10 feet from the bows to the mainmast or from 

 10 to 12 feet beyond: she seemed to be hopelessly and 

 irretrievably ashore. After this, for a very short time, we 

 hoped that her high position on the bank would bring less strain 

 from the seas, but soon she had formed a new bed for herself, 

 and within an hour she was bumping more heavily than ever. 



' It was now about three o'clock. We had come to the 

 end of our resources ; nothing more could be done till the 

 gale abated. We could only consider the situation and wait 

 for the hours to go by. 



