THE PITILESS GOODWINS 297 



policeman gets the luck. Steamboats are not as 

 profitable as the old wind-jammers, because the steam- 

 boats can keep clear of the Sands, as a rule ; but the 

 wind-jammer hasn't much chance when the Goodwins 

 once grip her, though at times we manage to pull 

 her off." 



A sailing vessel, even a small one, is still worth a 

 good deal of money to the salvors. Take the case of 

 the Italian barque Pinin. She stranded on the South 

 Goodwins on Christmas night, 1904, in foggy weather 

 while on a voyage from Buenos Ayres to Dunkirk. She 

 struck the Sands at half-past ten, but her signals of 

 distress were not seen for twelve hours. Then, on Box- 

 ing morning, the tug Hibernia discovered her, and tried 

 to tow her off, joyfully anticipating a handsome Christmas- 

 box. The men of the East Goodwin lightship also saw 

 the wreck, and fired guns. The signals were repeated 

 by the Gull and North Sand lightships, and with eager 

 anticipation for other men were desirous of sharing in 

 the unexpected Christmas-box men of Deal manned 

 three luggers, and a lifeboat was launched. The little 

 Hibernia had tried gallantly to tow the barque off the 

 Sands, but the tide had failed, and she did not succeed. 



The Pinin was the property of any craft that could 

 get her, and accordingly, when at one o'clock the luggers 

 and the lifeboat got alongside, their crews were engaged 

 to jettison the cargo, which consisted of heavy logs of 

 hardwood, weighing up to three tons each. It was bad 

 weather, and the barque rolled so dangerously that her 

 crew refused to go aloft, and the boatmen had to do their 

 work and loose the sails. The ship's hatches had to be 

 battened down to prevent her from filling, and one of the 



