116 



THE SEA. 



hailed the police, and begged to be taken by them. The police said, 'they could not 

 interfere/ and the ship sailed. My friend was in great anxiety, and told me that if the 

 wind came on to blow, the ship could not live. 



" It did blow a good half-gale all the day after Sunday the ship sailed on Friday. 



I was looking seaward from the promontory on which the ruins of T Castle stand, 



with a heavy heart ; the wind was not above force 7 nothing to hurt a well-found 



. 



MR. PLIMSOLL SPEAKING IX THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. 



and properly-loaded vessel : I had often been out in much worse weather ; but then this 

 vessel was not properly loaded (and her owner stood to gain over 2,000 clear if she 

 went down, by over insurance), and I knew that there were many others almost as unfit 

 as she was to encounter rough weather ships so rotten that if they struck they would 

 go to pieces at once; ships so overloaded that every sea would make a clean sweep over 

 her, sending tons and tons of water into her hold every time, until the end came. 



"On Monday we heard of a ship in distress having been seen, rockets had been 

 sent up by her; it was feared she was lost. On Tuesday the nameboard of a boat was 

 picked up, and this was all that ever we heard of her." 



Some cases seemed to be looked on as matters of course, and a gentleman as he saw 

 his wife reading the newspaper, said to her, " Look out, for the in a day or two ; 



