20 LOSS OF THE KENT. 
the rope, that we had to dread, and tlfet occasioned the loss 
of some valuable lives, by deterring the men from adopting 
this mode of escape ; but as the boat, which one moment was 
probably under the boom, might be carried the next, by the 
force of the waves, fifteen or twenty yards away from it, the 
unhappy individual, whose best calculations were thus defeat- 
ed, was generally left swinging for some time in mid-air, if he 
was not repeatedly plunged sf^veral feet under Avater, or dash- 
ed with dangerous violence against the sides of the returning 
boat — or, what not unfrequently happened, was forced to let 
go his hold of the rope altogether. As there seemed, however, 
no alternative, I did not hesitate, notwithstanding my com- 
parative inexperience and awkwardness in such a situation, to 
throw my leg across the perilous stick ; and with a heart ex- 
tremely grateful that such means of deliverance were still ex- 
tended to me, and more grateful still that I had been enabled, 
in common with others, to discharge my honest duty to my 
sovereign and to my fellow-soldiers ; I proceeded, after commit- 
ting my spirit, the great object of my solicitude, into the keep- 
ing of Him who had formed and redeemed it, to creep slowly 
forward, feeling at every step the increased difficulty of my 
situation. On getting nearly to the end of the boom, the young 
officer whom I followed and myself were met with a squall of 
wind and rain, so violent as to make us fain to embrace closely 
the slippery stick, without attempting for some minutes to 
make any progress, and to excite our apprehension that we 
must relinquish all hope of reaching the rope. But our fears 
were disappointed, and after resting for a while at the boom 
end, while my companion was descending to the boat, which 
he did not find until he had been plunged once or twice over 
head in the water. I prepared to follow ; and instead of low- 
ering myself, as many had imprudently done, at the moment 
wdien the boat was inclining toward us — and consequently 
being unable to descend the whole distance before it again re- 
ceded — I calculated that while the boat was retiring I ought 
to commence my descent, which would probably be completed 
by the time the returning wave brought it underneath ; by 
which means I was, I. believe, almost the only officer or sol- 
dier who reached the boat without being either severely bruis- 
ed or immersed in the water. But my friend Colonel Fearon 
had not been so fortunate ; for after swimming for some time, 
and being repeatedly struck against the side of the boat, and 
at one time drawn completely under it, he was at last so utterly 
exhausted that he must instantly have let go his hold of the 
