298 NORTH SEA FISHERS AND FIGHTERS 



luggers was taken on board to save her from swamping. 

 It was a difficult and dangerous time, but the boatmen 

 worked like giants, and threw eighty tons of the logs 

 overboard. 



Then the barque was pulled off by the Hibernia, and 

 towed to the safety of the Downs. Two other tugs, the 

 Warrior and the Conqueror, promising names, bore 

 down to give help and get salvage, but fortune was 

 against them. In making fast, the Warrior had her 

 propeller fouled by a hawser, and the Conqueror had to 

 tow her out of action and into shelter. The Hibernia, 

 the luggers, and the lifeboatmen therefore had it all their 

 own way, and got their reward in a court of law. 



The barque was worth altogether ^7384, the 

 Hibernia was worth ^8500 ; one lugger was valued at 

 ^200, and the other two at ^150 each. The total crews 

 of the tug, lifeboat, and luggers numbered fifty-eight ; 

 thirty-seven went on board the barque. Judgment was 

 given for ^700 to the Hibernia and 400 to the life- 

 boatmen and luggers, so that the stranding of the ship 

 cost ;noo in salvage, to say nothing of other losses. 



Salvage, however, is not always so profitable, nor is 

 it invariably given with justice. In 1881 the barque 

 Chaudiere, from New Zealand to London, went ashore 

 on the Goodwins. Two luggers and a tug got her off. 

 Altogether she was worth nearly ,50,000 ; yet it was 

 thought that 200 was enough to pay the men who had 

 salved her ! They refused to take that sum, and eventu- 

 ally the Admiralty Court awarded them ^"400. 



Tragedy has swiftly followed tragedy on the Good- 

 wins. Most of the disasters have been inevitable, but 

 some could have been easily avoided. Amongst these 



