454 
eral race to the ladies' cabin, which lay more toward the stern 
of the boat. All regard to order or deference to sex seemed 
to be lost in the struggle for which should be first and furthest 
removed from the dreaded boilers. The danger had already- 
passed away ! I remained standing by the chair on which I 
had been previously sitting. Only one person or two staid in 
the cabin with me. As yet not more than half a minute had 
elapsed since the explosion; but in that brief space how had 
the scene changed! In that "drop of time" what confusion, 
distress, and dismay ! An instant before, and all were in the 
quiet repose of security — another, and they were overwhelmed 
with alarm and consternation. It is but justice to say that in 
this scene of terror the ladies exhibited a degree of firmness 
worthy of all praise. No screaming, no fainting ; their fears, 
when uttered, were for their husbands and children, not for 
themselves. 
I advanced from my position to one of the cabin doors for 
the purpose of inquiring who were injured, when, just as I 
reached it, a man entered at the opposite one, both his hands 
covering his face, and exclaiming, " O God, O God ! I am 
lost ! I am ruined !" He immediately began to tear off his 
clothes. When stripped, he presented a most shocking and 
afflicting spectacle: his face was entirely black; his body 
without a particle of skin. He had been flayed alive. He 
gave me his name and place of abode — then sunk in a state 
of exhaustion and agony on the floor. I assisted in placing 
him on a mattress taken from one of the berths, and covered 
him with blankets. He complained of heat and cold as at 
once oppressing him. He bore his torments with a manly 
fortitude, yet a convulsive shriek would occasionally burst 
from him. His wife, his children, were his constant theme: 
it was hard to die without seeing them : " it was hard to go 
without bidding them one farewell !" Oil and cotton were ap- 
plied to his wounds : but he soon became insensible to earthly 
misery. Before I had done attending to him, the whole floor 
of the cabin was covered with unfortunate sufierers. Some 
bore up under the horrors of their situation with a degree ot 
resolution amounting to heroism. Others were wholly over- 
come by the sense of pain, the suddenness of the fatal disas- 
ter, and the near approach of death, which even to them was 
evident — whose pangs they already felt. Some implored us, 
as an act of humanity, to complete the work of destruction, 
and free them from present sufl^ering. One entreated the 
presence of a clergyman to pray for him, declaring he was 
