348 THE OCEAN. 



manoeuvre which they construed into abandonment, 

 and the air rang with the most agonizing shrieks 

 of misery : hope appeared to have been rekindled 

 at the eleventh hour, but to render despair more 

 desperate, and death more frightful. 



" The excitement on board was intense. A boat 

 was immediately lowered, in which the hawser was 

 placed, with a small line attached to it, as a mes- 

 senger, and was thrown to the wreck for the pur- 

 pose of towing her to the ship ; but this intention 

 was frustrated by the breaking of the windlass to 

 which it was fastened. The anxiety of these un- 

 fortunate people to quit their perilous position was 

 so great, that it became dangerous to approach 

 them : one man, in a paroxysm of despair, jumped 

 overboard after the hawser, as the windlass broke, in 

 the vain hope of reaching the boat; he was an 

 expert swimmer, but no human power could prevail 

 against that sea; the furious Ocean mocked his 

 efforts ; he rose and sunk upon the swelling billows 

 until nature was exhausted : he was lost in sight 

 of his companions in misfortune and of the persons 

 sent to their aid, without any being able to afford 

 him relief. 



"Fears were entertained for the boat and her 

 crew, as seen from the ship contending with the 

 violence of the element in which she floated, and 

 a moment of doubt passed the mind as to the ex- 

 pediency of permitting another attempt. It was 

 onlv for a moment: the piercing cries borne upon 

 the hollow blast, fell upon the sense with such ter- 

 rific horror, that indecision seemed a crime; direc- 



