i9] THE ENGINE-ROOM FLOODED 9 



laden ; it did not need the addition of much water to get her water- 

 logged, in which condition anything might have happened.' The 

 hand pump produced only a dribble, and its suction could not be 

 got at; as the water crept higher it got in contact with the boiler 

 and grew warmer so hot at last that no one could work at the 

 suctions. Williams had to confess he was beaten and must draw 

 fires. What was to be done? Things for the moment appeared 

 very black. The sea seemed higher than ever; it came over lee 

 rail and poop, a rush of green water; the ship wallowed in it; 

 a great piece of the bulwark carried clean away. The bilge pump 

 is dependent on the main engine. To use the pump it was neces- 

 sary to go ahead. It was at such times that the heaviest seas 

 swept in over the lee rail; over and over [again] the rail, from 

 the forerigging to the main, was covered by a solid sheet of curl- 

 ing water which swept aft and high on the poop. On one occa- 

 sion I was waist deep when standing on the rail of the poop. 



The scene on deck was devastating, and in the engine-room 

 the water, though really not great in quantity, rushed over 

 the floor plates and frames in a fashioa that gave it a fearful 

 significance. 



The afterguard were organised in two parties by Evans to 

 work buckets; the men were kept steadily going on the choked 

 hand pumps this seemed all that could be done for the moment, 

 and what a measure to count as the sole safeguard of the ship 

 from sinking, practically an attempt to bale her out ! Yet strange 

 as it may seem the effort has not been wholly fruitless the string 

 of buckets which has now been kept going for four hours,* to- 

 gether with the dribble from the pump, has kept the water under 

 if anything there is a small decrease. 



Meanwhile we have been thinking of a way to get at the suc- 

 tion of the pump : a hole is being made in the engine-room bulk- 

 head, the coal between this and the pump shaft will be removed, 

 and a hole made in the shaft. With so much water coming on 

 board, it is impossible to open the hatch over the shaft. We are 

 not out of the wood, but hope dawns, as indeed it should for me, 

 when I find myself so wonderfully served. Officers and men are 

 singing chanties over their arduous work. Williams is working 

 in sweltering heat behind the boiler to get the door made in the 

 bulkhead. Not a single one has lost his good spirits. A dog was 



* It was continued a night and a day. 



