84 THE OCEAN 



least he has a strong, fairly-comfortable house 

 in which to live. The men on the light- 

 ships are not only isolated and far from their 

 friends and surrounded by stormy winds and 

 waves, but are robbed of the secure and com- 

 fortable quarters of the lighthouse as well. 

 The lightships are staunch and seaworthy, yet 

 in the relentless storms of their exposed an- 

 chorages they bob and toss like corks and not 

 infrequently their cables part or their anchors 

 drag and the ships go drifting out to sea. 

 When the lightships are not equipped with 

 power, — which was often the case a few years 

 ago, — the vessels may drift for many miles out 

 to sea and, if not sighted or picked up by pass- 

 ing vessels, the keepers may find themselves on 

 the coast of another far-distant land before 

 they are rescued. They have one great con- 

 solation, however, and that is that their ships 

 are built so strongly and are so well adapted 

 to riding out the heaviest seas and fiercest 

 gales that, barring collision with another ship 

 or a derelict, or unless they strike a rock or 

 reef, they have little to fear, for seldom indeed 

 does a lightship founder through stress of 



