290 THE SEA. 



look a hurricane in the face, they could encounter a hailstorm of bullets in the execution 

 of their duty, but they knew that, with that enemy on board, the iron beams of the Amazon 

 could only be cooled by the water which rolled at the bottom of the ocean. Those brave 

 men did all they could they gave their charge a brief space to make their peace with 

 God, if God were in their thoughts, and resigned themselves to His keeping who alone 

 could help them. Before the least terrified could gain the deck the flames were soaring 

 above the funnels. A flight of fire was sweeping the deck ; it extended from one side of 

 the vessel to the other; it separated those in the fore-part from those in the stern; it 

 shot forth from the port-holes ; it singed the hair and scorched the skin of those who were 

 furthest from its reach ; and the air of heaven was one huge blast-pipe, fanning it into fury ! 

 Are the fire-engines of no avail ? They are themselves burning. Then stop the paddle- 

 wheels, that the boats may be launched. Alas ! the engineers, half suffocated, have long 

 been driven from the engine-room, and the levers are beyond their reach. But the ship 

 yet answered her helm, and was put before the wind. And now the flames were borne in an 

 opposite direction, towards the bow, and the gale seemed to be diminished. Now the captain 

 cried, ' Lower the larboard lifeboat I' ' It is on fire ! ' ' Lower the starboard lifeboat ! ' 'It is 

 on fire ! ' Other boats yet remain, and crew and passengers crowd into them. Fatal haste ! 

 It was a work of time and difficulty to lift them from their sockets before, with this addition 

 to their weight it is next to impossible. One after another they are tumbled, rather than 

 lowered, into a sea which, from the rapid motion of the vessel, appears to be rushing from 

 them. Some hang suspended, and their cargoes are swept away by the boiling surge; one 

 is swamped, another is stove in. Still the fire is drawing nearer; it surrounds the boilers, 

 and the water contained in them is nearly exhausted. When that has happened they will 

 burst, perhaps, and then the engines will cease to work. Strange that success in effecting 

 an escape should be promoted by the bursting of a boiler an accident which, had it come 

 alone, would have occasioned terror and dismay. No one knows, amidst the overwhelming 

 din of air, fire, water, steam, human shrieks, and even the cries of dumb animals, whether 

 this event happened or not. It was not dreaded it was hoped for. It could not have 

 added to the dismay, so, if it happened ? it was unnoticed. 



" However that may be, the ship could not free herself from her destroyer, but moderated 

 her speed. A few boats were put off no living soul can say how many all, probably, that 

 were left, and then, perhaps, the officers embarked on a raft, and we dare not carry our 

 thoughts further in that direction. 



" The vessel lay a burning log on the waters for four or five hours, and then, as if an 

 evil demon had possessed her, or as if some gorgeous ftte had now reached its close, threw u 

 a discharge of brilliant fireworks and the billows of the Atlantic swept unconcernedly ov 

 her hissing embers." 



The following example the terrible loss of the London presents a striking contrast 

 that of the Amazon. She was literally swamped at sea, and there are no recorded parallels to 

 the case on such a scale. Vessels, indeed, are often lost by great leakage produced by collision, 

 but the cases are rare in modern days and in well-found ships, where ordinary leakage and 

 water " shipped " on deck makes any great difference, and in steam-ships the pumps worked 

 by the " donkey " engine, as a rule, effectually prevent any danger from these sources. 



