

WAITING BY THE SHIP. 225 



faint hope of saving- her eventually. Both put back to the second wreck, the hull of 

 which was almost torn to pieces, the timbers started, rent, and twisted a mere skeleton 

 of a ship. To the foremast hardly held in position by a remnant of shattered deck- 

 el ung- sixteen of an exhausted crew, including- a pilot and a boy of eleven. But a 

 rope was successfully thrown round the fore-rigging, and slowly, one by one, the poor 

 fellows dropped from the mast to the boat. Then " oars out/' lest a hole should be 

 knocked throug-h the boat's bottom by some part of the wreckage, and every rower 

 strained his utmost to get clear of her. This done, and the sail hoisted, the steamer 

 was soon reached, and a grand night's work consummated. One can imagine the keen 

 interest of the emigrants watching from the steamer the rescue of men from dangers 

 similar to, but even greater than, those through which they had themselves just 

 passed, and the enthusiasm ashore, at an almost unparalleled example of successful life- 

 boat work. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

 "MAN THE LIFE-BOAT!" (continued]. 



A Portuguese Brig on the Sands Futile Attempts to get her off Sudden Break-up Great Danger to the Life-boat 

 Great Probability of being Crushed An Old Boatman's Feelings The Life-boat herself on the Goodwin- 

 Safe at Last Gratitude of the Portuguese Crew A Blaze of Light seen from Deal Fatal Delay Twenty-eight Lives 

 Lost A Dark December Night The almost-deserted Wreck of the ProvidentiaA. Plucky Captain An Awful 

 Episode The Mate beaten to Death Hardly saved The poor little Cabin-boy's Rescue Another Wreck on the 

 Sands Many Attempts to rescue the Crew Determination of the Boatmen Victory or Death ! The Aid Steamer 

 nearly wrecked A novel and successful Experiment Anchoring on Board The Crew Saved. 



THE emigrant ship mentioned in the preceding chapter was eventually got off the Sands ; 

 but although similar efforts are often made, they are by no means usually attended by 

 similar results. The danger of waiting by the ship is very considerable. Gilmore gives 

 us a good example of this in his account of a Portuguese brig on the Sands, of which 

 there were, at first, strong hopes of saving. Her masts and rigging, as at first seen by 

 the Ramsgate men, were all right, and her clean new copper was intact. " A grand 

 thing for all hands for owners, underwriters, crew, and boatmen the men think, if they 

 can only get her safely off when the tide rises, and bring her into harbour; a fine 

 vessel and perhaps valuable cargo saved, and a pretty piece of salvage, which will be well 

 earned, and nobody should grudge, for the boatmen have to live, as well as to save 

 life/' The captain had at first refused to employ the services offered by the crews of 

 two Broadstairs luggers, but at last was glad to avail himself of their assistance, coupled 

 with that of the life-boat men and the steam-tug Aid. The boatmen got an anchor 

 out astern as quickly as possible, the vessel being head on to the Sands, and used otber 

 means to assist the steamer's work. They hoped that the Aid would be able to back 

 close enough to them, to get a rope on board fastened to the flukes of the brig's 

 anchor, and to drag the anchor out, and drop it about one hundred fathoms astern of 

 the vessel. All hands would then have gone to the windlass, keeping a strain upon 

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