156 EMOTION CAUSED BY DEATH OF A SHIPMATE. 



be drawn out; whereupon she filled, and rolled over. 

 From his frantic struggles, we then discovered hia 

 inability to support himself. The alarm was instantly 

 given ; and a boat alongside, belonging to the barque 

 Monmouth, of Cold Spring, was cast loose, and soon 

 had him aboard, totally exhausted. Now, however, 

 after these hairbreadth escapes, as if fate had such a 

 death in store for him, he met a watery grave in the 

 broad South Pacific Ocean. Well may his life be 

 said to have been one of fearful vicissitudes. But he 

 had not always been alone in his imminent perils ; 

 for in one case, whilst pursuing the hazardous duties 

 of his arduous profession, he found himself in the 

 middle of the Atlantic, aboard a ship fearfully leaking. 

 The cargo, which was salt, having got into the pump- 

 wells, prevented their being used ; and it was only 

 by the most strenuous exertions, that they were 

 enabled to retrace their course, and run their ship 

 ashore in the harbor of Cadiz. 



And now our little circle was broken into by the 

 King of Terrors ! Sailing under the same flag — 

 every day in contact with each other — depending 

 on the same planks for protection from the wind and 

 M^ave, — in the course of the two years that we had 

 been upon the ocean, warm friendships had sprung 

 up, and "shipmate" was only another name for 

 "brother." This accident — one to which we all felt 

 ourselves liable — excited expressions of feeling, that 

 one would scarcely believe could emanate from the 

 speakers : men in our line of life seldom making an 

 undue display of emotion. Every good quality and 

 trait inherent to the deceased was rehearsed ; and 

 in conclusion, all hoped that poor John was in a 



