1835. 



POSITION — 



PKEPAIIATIONS. 



453 



a moment''s hesitation. They were, however, quickly recalled 

 — a few moments sufficing to show that saving lives was all 

 that could be attempted. Each succeeding sea drove the ship's 

 stern higher than the bow* upon the shore, and along shore 

 withal, inside some rocks, which partly deadened the fury of 

 the great south-west swell, that rolls in directly against this 

 part of the coast. That the sea did not break at first upon 

 the hull of the vessel, and drive every thing before it, is 

 accounted for by her position — with the bow to seaward — and 

 by the defence afforded by a large rock near her bow which 

 received the first shock of each wave. 



Heavily the ship continued to beat upon the shore, reeling from 

 side to side as seas struck her, yet her masts, though tottering 

 at every shock, did not fall; nor did her strong hull yield to the 

 continual striking, until hours had passed. Then, indeed, the 

 rising of the tanks and contents of the hold showed that her 

 frame had given way, and that the well-built Challenger would 

 never float again. There was scarcely any wind ; but the roar 

 of the breakers and the clouds of spray would have almost stu- 

 pified the crew, had not life been at stake. No land could be 

 discerned till after the moon had risen — no one could even 

 conjecture where the ship had struck, excepting only the master, 

 who thought they must be on the Dormido shoal, off the 

 island of Santa Maria. The purser collected the ship's papers, 

 and saw them headed up in a water-tight cask : each person 

 endeavoured to secure some valuable : — till daylight came fur- 

 ther preparation would have availed nothing. 



The captain was asked to cut away the masts; but he 

 refused to let more than the mizen-mast be touched, because 

 their weight, after the first few seas, steadied the ship, as she 

 lay over, and prevented her rolling to seaward with the recoil- 

 ing waves. When she first struck, he was asked to let go 

 the anchors ; another request which he wisely refused, rightly 

 judging that having struck, anchoring could not improve their 



* The peculiarity of her form — drawing as much water forward as she 

 did abaft — may have been partly the cause of her bow remaining to sea- 

 ward, which contributed so much to the preservation of lives. 



