354 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. 



evil moment, the hands in the long-boat and pinnace 

 cast off from the ship; and in less ,timo than it takes 

 to record it, six out of the eight men were drowned, 

 and the boats made into kindling. The two who were 

 saved may thank the presence of mind of Watson 

 Burgess and Capt. Matthew Crosby for their rescue. 

 Surveying the surroundings, and notwithstanding the 

 host of people anxious to give us assistance, it occurred 

 to the master to swim ashore with a lead line, and 

 thus establish communication between the ship and 

 the shore, and for this purpose he got into the chains; 

 but the deprecatory gestures of the assembled crowd 

 deterred him. Meanwhile some inventive genius wrote 

 on a board, so that we could see it, " Bend a line to an 

 oar " ; which we did, and threw it into the water, 

 when it was dexterously hooked with a blueiish drail, 

 hauled ashore and bent on to a stout rope, which we 

 immediately hauled on board, finding instructions 

 wrapped up in rope yarns for us to " make fast a 

 hawser to the mast and lash it to the rope!" which 

 was done as hastily as the overwhelming rollers would 

 permit us. Very speedily they had the hawser tight- 

 ened to a post on shore, and improvising a pair of 

 hames on a bowline, a good substitute for a sling was 

 made, and by it the supercargo and crew were safely 

 landed. In the interim the boat keepers, contrary to 

 orders, cast off their painters, and very quickly their 

 boats were engulfed in the rollers, and but for the 

 superhuman efforts of two noble gentlemen all would 

 have perished; but two of them were rescued, and I 

 believe one of the rescuers was severly hurt by the 



