THE GREAT MARCH GALE 229 



" In many cases the huge quantities of water which 

 had tumbled on board burst the companions and got 

 below, filling the smacks and sinking them. That 

 happened mostly when the companions were right away 

 aft, just by the tiller-head, and I think it would have 

 been the fate of the Uncle Tom if it had not been that 

 the companion was built more for'ard. 



" Most of the smacks which were lost were knocked 

 down on the edge of the Dogger, where they were 

 caught in the broken water and had no chance of escape. 

 In some cases they were smashed to pieces, and the 

 crews were either killed or drowned. 



" I remember seeing a smack which had had one side 

 of the bulwarks carried away by a heavy sea, and yet 

 the other side was undamaged. The most extraordinary 

 mischief was done, and although I'd spent all my life at 

 sea I could hardly believe some of the sights I saw. 

 The seas came from everywhere at once. 



"I'll tell you of a thing I saw not long before this 

 famous breeze, and what happened then happened time 

 after time in that deadly March. There was a fine 

 smack sailing out of Grimsby, which was built as strong 

 as good wood and honest labour could make her. She 

 had a flagged floor, which served as good ballast and 

 also as a nice cool place for the trunks of fish. The 

 smack had been out on the Dogger and had got a good 

 catch, and was running home to market when a heavy 

 gale knocked her down. She must have been turned 

 almost completely over by one sea and then turned back 

 by another, enough, at any rate, for her to keep afloat 

 till she could stagger into harbour. When I saw the 

 smack her ballast had burst up and all the flags and the 



