THE FLOATING LIGHT ON THE GOODWINS 245 



of the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society have their hands full in winter, and generally at 

 other seasons in stormy weather. 



Who that has visited Ramsgate or Margate, has not, some time or other in his or her 

 life, nourished an all-absorbing curiosity to peep into the interior and solve the mysteries of 

 those distant beacons, the " Floating Light Ships." Those who have seen them either lying 

 peacefully on the tranquil bosom of the sunlit ocean, or trembling and shaken in Neptune's 

 angry moods, still valiant and isolated, nobly doing their duty, must often have wished to get a 

 closer view. That natural curiosity can be gratified at last; the curtain has been raised, 

 so that we may peep into the mysteries of the flame-coloured sphinxes, by a writer* who 

 went into voluntary imprisonment for one week on the Gulf Stream Light Vessel, one of three 

 floating lights which mark the Goodwin Sands. 



" That curious, almost ridiculous-looking craft/' writes Mr. Ballantyne, " was among the 

 aristocracy of shipping. Its important office stamped it with nobility. It lay there, con- 

 spicuous in its royal colour, from day to day and year to year, to mark the fair-way between 

 Old England and the outlying shoals, distinguished in daylight by a huge ball at its mast-head, 

 .and at night by a magnificent lantern, with argand lamps and concave reflectors, which shot 

 rays like lightning far and wide over the watery waste, while in thick weather, when neither 

 ball nor light could be discerned, a sonorous gong gave its deep-toned warning to the approach- 

 ing mariner, and let him know his position amidst the surrounding dangers." 



Here the writer bestows well-deserved praise upon the services, "disinterested and 

 universal," of this lonely craft, and afterwards tells you what would meet the eye, if, leaning 

 against the stern, you gazed along the deck forward. 



" It was an interesting kingdom in detail. Leaving out of view all that which was behind 

 him, and which, of course, he could not see, we may remark that just before him stood the 

 binnacle and compass, and the cabin skylight. On his right and left the territory of the quarter 

 deck was seriously circumscribed and the promenade much interfered with by the ship's boats, 

 which, like their parent, were painted red, and which did not hang at the davits, but, like young 

 lobsters of the kangaroo type, found shelter within their mother when not at sea on their own 

 account. Near to them were two signal carronades. Beyond the skylight rose the bright 

 forass funnel of the cabin chimney, and the winch by means of which the lantern was hoisted. 

 Then came another skylight and the companion hatch about the centre of the deck. Just 

 beyond this stood the most important part of the vessel the lantern-house. This was a 

 circular wooden structure about six feet in diameter, with a door and small windows. 



" Inside was the lantern the beautiful piece of mechanism for which the light-ship, its 

 crew and appurtenances, were maintained. Right through the centre of this house rose the 

 thick, unyielding mast of the vessel. The lantern, which was just a little less than its house, 

 surrounded the mast and travelled upon it." Immediately at sundown the order ' Up lights ' 

 was given, regular as the sun itself. The lantern was connected with the rod and pinion, by 

 means of which with the clock-work beneath, the light was made to revolve and ' flash ' once 

 every third of a minute. The glass of the lantern is frequently broken, not by wind and 

 wave, but by the sea-birds, which dash violently against it. In a single night, nine panes of 



* R. M. Ballantyne; "The Floating Light on the Goodwin Sands." 



