ST. THOMAS. 
23 
CLUB-HOUSE AT CHARLOTTE AMALTA. 
and the comforts of a club had been placed at our disposal with that frank cordiality which 
here and elsewhere added much to the attractions of a temporary sojourn on terra firnia. 
The verandah of the Club-house commanded 
a magnificent view of the town, the harbour, 
crowded with shipping, and the islands, look¬ 
ing fresh and green after recent rains. 
In the course of March the 22nd we 
shifted our anchorage to St. Thomas 
Harbour, in preparation for our departure 
next day. At the moment of leaving, news 
was brought in by a coasting schooner that 
an English merchant-vessel was lying dis¬ 
masted off the eastern end of the island. 
Accordingly we started in that direction, and, 
after a run of about fifteen miles, fell in 
with the ship near St. James Island. She turned out to be the “ Varuna ” of Liverpool, 
carrying a mixed cargo of cotton, rosin, staves, &c. Having left New York, she encountered 
heavy weather, was abandoned by her captain, and taken in charge by a prize-crew, who 
succeeded in navigating her down to where she was found, although her main and mizen masts 
and fore-top mast were gone. Taking the derelict in tow, we returned to St. Thomas Harbour. 
We were now free to depart, and before dawn of the 25th we had re-entered the 
Atlantic by the Culebra Passage, which divides Porto Rico from the Virgin Islands. On this 
day occurred the first serious accident in connection with our dredging operations. The 
dredge, lowered to 625 fathoms, had become 
entangled probably among the rocks at the 
bottom, and the consequent strain upon the 
rope was so great as to cause the iron hook 
of a block to give way, and the latter, rebound¬ 
ing, struck the head of a sailor lad who was passing at the moment. The violent blow 
rendered him unconscious, and he died a few hours afterwards. The day following this sad 
event, which cast a gloom over our small community, we sounded in 3875 fathoms, the 
greatest depth ever yet ascertained in the Atlantic. It was into this deep grave that we 
lowered the remains of the young sailor. 
Laying our track close to the meridian of long. 65° W., we gradually reduced the 
distance of 800 miles which separated us from Bermudas. In the afternoon of the 3rd April 
the light-house on Gibb’s Hill came in sight. Though only about 360 feet above the level 
of the sea, it occupies the highest point in these islands. Next day we steamed along the 
dark wooded hills of Hamilton Island, past St. David Head and the white-roofed houses of 
St. George’s, and, cautiously threading our way between the coral reefs off the northern shore, 
anchored in the afternoon of the 4th outside the docks of Ireland Island. 
D 
THE “ VARUNA” OFF ST. JAMES ISLAND. 
