IVRECKS AND MINOT LIGHT. 467 



we saw a man's clothes on a rock ; further, a woman's scarf, a 

 gown, a straw bonnet, the brig's caboose, and one of her masts 

 high and dry, broken into several pieces. In another rocky cove, 

 several rods from the water, and behind rocks twenty feet high, 

 lay a part of one side of the vessel, still hanging together. It 

 was, perhaps, forty feet long, by fourteen wide. I was even more 

 surprised at the power of the waves, exhibited on this shattered 

 fragment, than I had been at the sight of the smaller fragments 

 before. The largest timbers and iron braces were broken super- 

 fluously, and I saw that no material could withstand the power of 

 the waves ; that iron must go to pieces in such a case, and an 

 iron vessel would be cracked up like an eggshell on the rocks. 

 Some of these timbers, however, were so rotten that I could 

 almost thrust my umbrella through them. They told us that 

 some were saved on this piece, and also showed where the sea 

 had heaved it into this cove, which was now dry. When I saw 

 where it had come in, and in what condition, I wondered that any 

 had been saved on it. A little further on a crowd of men was 

 collected around the mate of the St. John, who was telling his 

 story. He was a slim-looking youth, who spoke of the captain 

 as the master, and seemed a little excited. He was saying that 

 when they jumped into the boat, she filled, and, the vessel lurch- 

 ing, the weight of the water in the boat caused the painter to 

 break, and so they were separated. Whereat one man came 

 away, saying : — 



" Well, I don't see but he tells a straight story enough. You 

 see, the weight of the water in the boat broke the painter. A 

 boat full of water is very heavy," — and so on, in a loud and im- 

 pertinently earnest tone, as if he had a bet depending on it, but 

 had no humane interest in the matter. 



Another, a large man, stood near by upon a rock, gazing into 

 the sea, and chewing large quids of tobacco, as if that habit were 

 forever confirmed with him. 



" Come," says another to his companion, " let 's be off. We 've 

 seen the whole of it. It 's no use so stay to the funeral." 



Further, we saw one standing upon a rock, who, we were told, 

 was one that was saved. He was a sober-looking man, dressed 

 in a jacket and gray pantaloons, with his hands in the pockets. 

 1 asked him a few questions, which he answered ; but he seemed 



