1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



317 



with has been a thick fog, which has been close 

 around us most of the time since we set sail, and 

 which more than once already has led our good 

 ship to the brink of destruction. Up to this day, 

 there has not been a single opportunity to take an 

 observation at noon to ascertain our position. — 

 Dense fogs have covered us continually, so that a 

 sail could not be discovered the length of the ship 

 ahead, and the first intimation of an iceberg we 

 were likely to have would be the striking of our 

 ship upon it. There is, to make matters worse, a 

 strong, though irregular current, setting into the 

 Bay of Fundy, across the mouth of which our route 

 .lay, so uncertain as to carry a vessel often sixty or 

 seventy miles off her course. With no sun by day, 

 nor moon or stars by night, we ran on by the chart 

 and compass merely, when suddenly, on our second 

 day out, the cry of "land ahead !" was shouted from 

 ail parts of the ship ; we were running at about 

 13 miles an hour, with all sails set, and under 

 full steam, no one supposing land to be with- 

 in many miles. The engine was reversed, every 

 sail instantly furled, and we stopped just near 

 enough to distinctly see the breakers close ahead 

 through the mist. It was plain that we had been 

 drifted far inland from our course, and the ship 

 was kept under less sail for several hours, when we 

 hoped we had escaped from the land into open 

 sea. Everybody was quiet, some upon deck and 

 some in the cabin. 



It was before we reached Halifax, and I was writ- 

 ing below, when the ship received a heavy thump 

 on her bottom, which started us all from our seats. 

 Running upon deck I found considerable excite- 

 ment. The officers declared she could not have 

 struck, but it was evident something had happened 

 that was not quite agreeable. The sails were all 

 furled, the engine stopped. The order was "heave 

 the lead." The first report was 5^ fathoms, (33 

 feet) at her bows. The ship draws 19 feet and 

 would strike in 24 feet with the motion of the 

 waves. "Four and a half on the starboard," was the 

 next report. Then we knew we had struck, and as 

 no one knew whether to put the ship back or for- 

 ward, and she could not be kept still in the heaving 

 sea, our anxiety became intense. The first officer 

 was ordered to lower a boat, and pull off" to make 

 soundings. Quicker almost than thought, the offi- 

 cer and four men pulled off with their lead and 

 line. "Two and a half, (fifteen feet) at the bow," 

 came the report ; "quarter less four, (twenty-two 

 feet) at the starboard." In a moment, the ponder- 

 ous iron ship struck heavily again. She rolled on 

 her side for an instant, so that we held to the rail 

 to keep our foothold — then grated and thumped 

 again and righted. "She's fast on the rocks," 

 shouted the passengers. "All right," cried the 

 captain, "she is off again." The boat returned 7;^ 

 fathoms, the ship was kept carefully after the boat^ 



and cautiously we crept ofi" the shoals, and in an 

 hour were in deeper water. 



For two days and nights more, enveloped in fog, 

 sounding the steam whistle every five minutes and 

 heaving the lead every half hour, we slowly wended 

 our way towards Halifax. On the morning of the 

 6th, the fog lifted a little for a time, and we spoke 

 the brig Africa, from Jamaica to Halifax. The 

 captain supposed we were thirty miles from Hali- 

 fax. We went on under full steam, but with no 

 sail. The fog shut in again thick as ever. Most 

 of the passengers were on deck, when suddenly 

 at about Hi o'clock, A. M., there was a cry, 

 "Breakers ahead" — "breakers under her bow" — 

 "stop her — stop her," was shrieked from all quar- 

 ters. I stood on the stern, and glancing to the lee- 

 ward, a sight met my eyes that will remain im- 

 pressed on my mind so long as life endures. Not 

 twice the length of the ship distant, all alongside, 

 the breakers, white as wreaths of snow, were dash- 

 ing over black rocks, which stretched in a continu- 

 ous though uneven wall, clear round the bows of 

 the ship. On the noble ship was rushing into the 

 crescent of the breakers. 



"Back the engine!" shouted the captain, "she 

 will come out all right." For a moment, as the en- 

 gine turned back the wheel, the good ship trembled 

 to her centre. She seemed to hesitate whether to 

 yield to the wind which pressed her sideways on 

 to the rocks, or to the backward struggle of the 

 steam giant. Slowly she swung and drifted shore- 

 ward. I had time to say to a fellow-passenger at 

 my side, "she must go this time," and to hear his 

 reply, "No, she is moving back," when she struck 

 her bows upon the rock. One of the spars 

 came rattling down upon the smoke pipe. There 

 was hardly time for hope or fear. Whether we 

 were on shore or on a rock in the sea, of course we 

 knew not. The ship, at least, seemed doomed to 

 destruction. Glancing forward, I beheld her bow- 

 sprit fairly reaching over the visible rock. But her 

 iron bottom of plates riveted firmly together, did 

 not catch upon the stone. Almost with a bound^ 

 she recoiled from the shock, and the distance slowly 

 widened from the shore ; carefully she was backed 

 into deep water. Her wells were sounded and no 

 water found. Our signal guns were fired, and soon 

 an answering gun was heard, and a pilot came on 

 board. The sun came shining through the fog, 

 and in a few hours we were quietly sailing into the 

 harbor of Halifax, having been four full days in 

 making a passage which the same ship has usually 

 made in thirty-six hours. I close this letter on the 

 9th, in a bright clear day, with a fair wind, hoping 

 to make St. John's, Newfoundland, this evening. 

 Your friend, Henry F. French. 



Bones as Manure. — When bone-dust, such as 

 is commonly employed as manure, is left for some 



