THE SAILOR IN HOSPITAL. 287 



Americans, Chinamen, are here side by side with the hardy sons of our own isles. In one 

 corridor there is even a Fantee, with the mark of his tribe upon his ebon-hued forehead, 

 but minus feet, having lost them through their being frost-bitten in the Black Sea. Another 

 and more painful case is that of a poor fellow wrecked off Cape Horn, who, drifting for 

 fourteen days in an open boat, reached shore only to find that he must purchase life at 

 the cost of both nether limbs. The surgical operator was an unskilled sailor, the instrument 

 a rough ship's knife, with which he succeeded in performing successfully the dangerous 

 operation, but with what torture to the sufferer can too vividly be imagined. He is cheerful 

 enough now as he potters about on his stumps, full of dry humour and as cheerful as any 

 able-bodied man could be. The light occupations of these disabled sons of the sea are varied and 

 congenial to their different tastes, and their labour is chiefly confined to decorating the wards of 

 the hospital. Amongst the many inscriptions are a beautiful white wreath with "Albert the Good " 

 on it, and Nelson's famous last signal. One German sailor lad has entirely decorated one ward 

 with a taste and elegance simply surprising. This boy is an original, seeing that he went all 

 the way to Jerusalem to learn English ! " In Hamburg, his native place, he heard other boys, 

 and occasionally travellers, say that there was a good school there where English was taught. 

 Thereupon, seizing his opportunity, he worked his passage from Hamburg to Alexandria, took 

 ship to Jaffa, and induced the German Consul to forward him to the Holy City." Evidently he 

 did not think there was anything remarkable in this singular method of acquiring our language!* 



The Thames Church Mission is a society established to minister to the spiritual 

 necessities of the vast fluctuating population of the Thames, consisting of seamen, bargemen, 

 steamboat-men, fishermen, &c. Services are held on board troop, emigrant, and passenger 

 ships, screw colliers, and every description of vessels; also in the mission and reading- 

 room which has been opened for seamen, &c., by the bank of the river at Bugsby, near 

 East Greenwich. Bibles, Testaments, and Prayer-books are sold at reduced prices, and 

 tracts distributed. A chaplain (licensed by the Bishop of London to visit ministerially and 

 officiate on board all ships and vessels on the Thames), four missionaries, and five seamen 

 colporteurs, constitute the missionary staff. The Mission undertakes the sale of Scriptures 

 to English and foreign seamen, and gives Testaments to emigrants on behalf of the British 

 and Foreign Bible Society ; it places on board emigrant ships packets of tracts, and 

 distributes the cards and circulars of the Sailor's Home among seamen arriving in the 

 Thames. The field of operation extends from London Bridge to the anchorages below 

 Gravesend. The chaplain also holds Sabbath services on board the training ships 

 Aretkusa, Chickenter, and Cornwall, and has weekly classes with the boys ; and the 

 missionaries act as honorary agents for enrolling members of the Shipwrecked Mariners* 

 Society. There are many other excellent institutions for the seamen's benefit, from London 

 city to Gravesend town, but which cannot be described with the space at our command. 



Every reader knows the Trinity House, but he may not be aware of its value to the 

 seaman, the voyager, and the interests of commerce. The Trinity House, as it stands on 

 Tower Hill, was built towards the end of the last century by Samuel Wyatt. It is of the Ionic 

 order, and has some busts of naval heroes, whose deeds, like themselves, are of the past. 



* Condensed from an article by W. Senior in the Shipwrecked Mariner. 



