1846.] EFFECTS OF THE ROLLERS. 213 



occurred, within my knowledge, at four different places : 

 Tristan d'Acunha, St. Helena, Ascension, and Mazatlan 

 in the Gulf of California. At Tristan d'Acunha H. M. 

 Brig ' Julia ' foundered with all on board ; the Captain 

 and his boat's crew, which were on shore at the moment, 

 being the only persons saved. At St. Helena, the in- 

 shore slave prizes were the principal sufferers, but the 

 garrison walls were undermined and thrown down, and 

 the sea broke furiously over the ramparts into Govern- 

 ment House. I am not aware of the damage done at 



o 



Ascension.* At Mazatlan, situated on the Mexican side 

 of the Gulf of California, this is of frequent occurrence, 

 expected annually, and much dreaded by us in the 

 ' Blossom ' in 1827, and ' Sulphur ' in 1839. One fine 

 vessel, commanded by a friend of mine, with himself and 



* "St. Helena has ever boasted of the safety of its roadstead, and 

 that most justly, as no individual upon the island can remember a 

 solitary instance of a vessel having been wrecked upon its shores. 

 Those who witnessed the scene presented on Tuesday, the 17th instant, 

 alas ! will have a different tale to tell. The roadstead, which only 

 the day previous was like a mill pond, was a sea of troubled waters. 



" During Monday night, the rollers for which St. Helena has ever 

 been celebrated, the cause of which is altogether unaccounted for, 

 began gradually to rise, and on Tuesday had increased to an awful 

 height, like so many rolling mountains, one after another, driving 

 every thing before them. The English schooner Cornelia, condemned 

 at this port a short time since, and purchased by Mr. Cole, was the 

 h'rst vessel driven on shore. If the person in charge of this vessel 

 had been left five minutes longer than he was on board, it would have 

 been out of the power of human aid to have saved his life, as the 

 vessel, some distance from the shore, was buried in the tremendous 

 seas, and ultimately came in upon the beach : in a few minutes she 

 was a mass of splinters." St. Helena Gazette. 



For full particulars of this disaster, in which thirteen vessels, and 

 three men were lost, vide 'Nautical Magazine ' for June, 1846. 



