THE SEA. 



of the wreck, when the anchor is thrown out and the cable paid out swiftly. The men 

 shout out, to encourage the poor trembling wretches on board, and, just as they expect 

 to make a first successful rescue of a part of them, are nearly swamped by a fearful wave, 

 which carries them a hundred yards away. They prepare for another attempt, hoist 

 the sail, and try to sheer her to the vessel, but all their efforts are in vain. Wave 

 after wave breaks over them, and the boat is tossed in all directions by the broken 

 seas. Sometimes the coxswain feels as if he would be thrown bodily forward on the men, 

 as the waves almost lift the boat end on end. They must give it up for this time ; the 

 very oars are blown from the row-locks and out of the men's hands. Again and again 

 they are baulked in their efforts to reach the ill-starred vessel. Yet again and again they 

 cheer, to keep up the spirits of its half-drowned and frozen crew. 



The ship's hull has now been under water for some time, and is breaking up fast. On 

 board the Aid the mortar apparatus is got ready, in the hope of getting near enough to 

 the vessel to fire a line into her rigging. " Cautiously the steamer approaches ; the 

 tide has been for some time rising fast ; the steamer does not draw much water; they 

 are almost within firing distance; the waves come rushing along and nearly overrun the 

 steamer; at last a breaker, larger than the rest, catches her, lifts her high upon its crest, 

 and letting her fall down into its trough as down the side of a well, she strikes the 

 sands heavily ; the engines are instantly reversed ; she lifts with the next wave, and being 

 a very quick and handy boat, at once moves astern before she can thump again, and 

 they are saved from shipwreck; and thus the fifth effort to save the shipwrecked crew 

 fails." No time is lost; at once the steamer heads for the life-boat, and makes ready to 

 again tow her into position for a fresh attempt. The masts of the wreck are quivering, 

 and it is evident that she is breaking up fast. 



The life-boat men consult together as to the plan of their next effort. At last 

 one of the men proposes a mode, most assuredly novel, and which must, indeed, either 

 prove rescue to the shipwrecked or death to all. " I'll tell you what, my men, if we are 

 going to save those poor fellows, there is only one way of doing it : it must be a case of 

 save all or lose all, that is just it ! We must go in upon the vessel straight, hit her 

 between the masts, and throw our anchor over right upon her decks." This is, almost 

 naturally, derided by some as a hair-brained trick. Let us see the result. 



"Once more the boat heads for the wreck this time to do or to die; each man 

 knows it, each man feels it. They are crossing the stern of the vessel. 'Look at that 

 breaker! Look at that breaker! Hold on! hold on! It will be all over with us if it catches 

 us ; we shall be thrown high into the masts of the vessel, and shaken out into the sea in 

 a moment ! Hold on all, hold on ! Now it comes ! No, thank God ! it breaks ahead of 

 us, and we have escaped. Now, men, be ready, be ready!' Thus shouts the coxswain. 

 Every man is at his station ; some with the ropes in hand ready to lower the sails, others 

 by the anchor, prepared to throw it overboard at the right moment ; round, past the 

 stern of the vessel, the boat flies, round in the blast of the gale and the swell of the 

 sea ; down helm ; round she comes ; down foresail ; the ship's lee gunwale is under water ; 

 the boat shoots forward straight for the wreck, and hits the lee rail with a shock that 

 almost throws all the men from their posts, and then, still forward, she literally leaps on 



