THE CAPTAIN-'S STORY. 353 



easionally favored us witli his presence, and we succeeded in ob- 

 taining from him some interesting stories of the sea, founded upon 

 his personal experience. He is a medium sized, strongly built, 

 calm, cool-headed, self-possessed man, on whose judgment and 

 discretion we think one may safely rely in time of danger. His 

 hair is perfectly white, but not with age, as he is only some forty- 

 two or forty-three years okl. Having spent most of his life 

 upon the water, and been a number of times shipwrecked, the 

 hardships he has endured have left their record upon his hair. 



One evening while the captain was making a tour of inspection 

 of the ship, he stopped for awhile and occupied a seat on deck 

 beside us. We were between Capes Lookout and Hatteras, and 

 sailing over what the sailors call, on account of the foul weather 

 often experienced there, ''the ragged edge of the ocean." The 

 perils incident to and inseijarable from the navigation of the 

 ocean by steam having been referred to, Captain Stevens, in 

 illustration of the subject, said: " Disasters occur upon the water 

 sometimes from unexpected and inexplicable causes. A few 

 years ago I commanded a steamer which foundered and went 

 to the bottom when the weather was fair and the sea smooth. 

 It occurred at a place very near where we are now. She had 

 not been, so far as I knew or was informed, weakened by 

 storms, or damaged by any of those accidents to which steamers 

 and other vessels are sometimes exposed. In the night, some 

 two hours or more before daybreak, the engineer sent me word 

 that the ship was leaking, and the water steadily gaining upon 

 the pumps. I found that the entire loss of the ship was only a 

 matter of a few hours time. I gave directions to have a report 

 sent to me every fifteen minutes of the progress of the water, 

 and commenced at once making arrangements for abandoning 

 the vessel. The second officer asked if he should not awaken the 

 passengers. I replied, no; let them sleep on — and they did. 



