LOSS OF THE PRESIDENT. 403 
dark, and the deck, rigging, spars and sails, were entirely co- 
vered with ice. At about four o'clock the water burst the 
bottom, and in the space of half an hour the cabin was filled 
to the sky-lights, and every individual on board (twenty in 
number) were driven to find safety on deck, and seek protec- 
tion from the inclemency of the weather under the roof over 
the stern part of the ship. By this time the main, mizen, and 
foremasts had been cut away ; they had fallen with a crash^ 
the effect of which, at a period so perilous and awful, cannot 
possibly be described, and at which the stoutest heart would 
have trembled. The wind continued unabated ; the deck was 
one complete sheet of ice ; the spars and rigging that remain- 
ed increased the bulk tenfold by the thick incrustation by 
w^hich the severity of the w^eather had loaded them, and near- 
ly every individual benumbed with cold, standing statue-like, 
with clothes entirely frozen, and covered with sleet and ice, 
under the roof upon the quarter-deck, anxiously gazing to- 
ward the eastern horizon, and ready to catch the first light of 
morning. The light of the rising sun w^as never more ardent- 
ly and sincerely anticipated: for it was ardently hoped that a 
discovery of the wreck early in the morning w^ould bring im- 
mediate relief. 
The only remaining hope, under Providence, during this 
period of intense anxiety, w^as the substantial character of the 
ship, and that she w^ould not part until all on board could be 
rescued. Thank heaven, the hope was realized. Although 
the wind had rather increased than diminished, and wave af- 
ter wave had tumultuously rolled over the ship for several 
hours, plunging her more and more upon the breakers, and 
with a violence that seemed to force even the timbers from 
their places, she still kept together, but her sides were break- 
ing in on her larboard and starboard quarters. The situation 
of the individuals on board at this time w'as truly awful. The 
violence of the wind ; the darkness of the night ; ihe occa- 
sional crashing of spars ; the continual sw^eeping of the sea 
over the whole length of tke ship, and that indescribable moan- 
ing sound of the wind as it swept through the ice-bound rig- 
ging, can only be appreciated by those who have experienced 
similar situations. When daylight broke, the reality was in- 
deed realized ; the danger could now be conceived ; the wreck 
was truly such an one that, with less than the miraculous in- 
terposition of a kind Providence, all must inevitably have 
perished. 
At about ten o'clock, A. M. the jolly boat was got ready, 
