Q36 QVV T»fi CAPS. 



And then the well-appointed vessel in the centre of the picture, the 

 sole thing hearing the stamp of humanity, upon a waste, in the contem- 

 plation of the dimensions of which, computation is wearied. The hermit 

 of the ocean : — companionless — shut out from voice, or signal of its 

 kind. The exile of the deep, fraught with remembrances of home ; but 

 gone forth, perhaps, upon its never-returning journey. Separated from 

 country, friends, kindred, love, all — save hope ; — a branch, lopped from 

 its parent stem, and submitted to the mercy of the howUng winds ; — 

 a leaf loosed from its fellow, and sent helpless down the stream of des- 

 tiny. Chartered, however, with human affections, how many souls 

 are knit in that vessel's safety ! how many hearts have gone forth 

 with it, and its anticipated perils. " JVline aches to think on't." 



Under close-reefed topsails and extended jib, she is gradually scud- 

 ding. Deepened by the shadows of the ocean- valley, down which she 

 surges, her stern-windows and taffrail are raised aloft, while rudder, 

 stern-frame, and down-gliding broadside, are clearly visible. Her 

 fairy-like tracery, and tapering spars, climb symmetrically above, and 

 thicken, as they descend, into a web of jetty cordage. Her dotted line 

 of closely-closed ports, studs her graceful run ; and, bounded by a width 

 of chains, bolts, and bulwarks, imparts an air of warlike dignity to her 

 noble and interesting outline. 



But the rolling waters reveal a still greater demanding object of 

 interest. His form, scarcely distinguishable in the gloom, mounts at 

 intervals into the fast-fading light. A man overboard — ahoij — a ! A 

 perilous situation ; one sufficient to quail the stoutest heart ! AVho can 

 guess at the conflicting and fearful thoughts which whirl through his 

 brain .■' The danger is too great to be at once comprehended. Death — 

 the prospect of so near and horrible a death, floats in dilated and mys- 

 terious majesty before his bewildered eyes ! Safety so near, and out of 

 reach! His sympathising and horror-struck companions crowd the 

 taffrail. Left behind, a prey to the howling surges, while the majestic 

 vessel bounds onward on her course. Fearfully grand is the scene. 

 Darkness falls over the expanse — the last lights of evening plunge into 

 vapour — all becomes dim, shadowy, and awful ! But salvation, when 

 least expected, drives down with the fast-sweeping pile of sea. A hen- 

 coop, in the expectation of creating a temporary escape, floats fast 

 towards him. He sees it ; and taxes his endeavours to the utmost. 

 Still welters the remorseless ocean. The thing to be saved, what a 

 speck upon the expanse ! The means of safety, how mean and insigni- 

 ficant, compared with the godlike panorama above, beneath, and around 

 it ! But the end is accomplished. The saving of a single life is 

 effected ; and the being rescued from an immediate death mounts 

 above his enemy. Ihe haze rises, in the mean time, thicker and 

 thicker around ; the distance is shut in from view ; and cloud and 

 billow, vapour and wave, is — is all that now can be distinguished. A 

 boat, like an ocean-spirit, is seen to slowly advance through the smoky 

 medium which envelopes it. A pause ensues, broken only by the washing 

 of the waters. A faint " huzza !" breaks involuntarily upon the un- 

 substantial solitude. The mists deepen with rapidity ; and the curtain 

 gradually falls, upon a stern, melancholy, and all-pervading gloom ! 



Bill Rogers, 

 Late H. M. S. " Firefly." 



