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Article A NARRATIVE ← Page 3 of 10 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Narrative
kopes of being able to get her off with the next hig h tide . After breakfast I was ordered " on the gun-deck , to get the guns overboard , which were taken one at a time by the long-boat , and drept at some distance from the ship , that she mig ht not strike on them , when she should again be elevated by the tide ; at the same time a party was loyed deckin heaving the rudder and securing it along
emp upon , up side . ' I had got about the half of the guns away , when the sea breeze , setting in fresh , occasioned such a surf that the boats could not continue along side : we , however , kept lig htening the ship , by heaving overboard such heavy articles as would float ; and at three o ' clock in the afternoon , when it was hi g h water , made every endeavour to heave the shioffbut they were fruitless ; and probably it was fortunate
p , for us that our attempts were frustrated , as by this time the leak had gained so much on the pumps that , had we succeeded , we should have found it impossible to keep the ship afloat , and consequently she must have foundered in deep water .
Finding the ship irrecoverably lost , the next object , of most interesting attention , became the safety of the lives of the crew and passengers ; and that an end so important mig ht be as well accomplished as surrounding difficulties would , permit , every nerve was strained to keep the -ship together as long as possible ; the masts were cut away , by which the ship was much eased ; what spars remained from the
effects of a heavy surf were inboard , for the purpose of ' constructing rafts ; a quantity of beef , bread , liquors , with other articles of a similar nature , some barrels of gunpowder , and muskets ; in fine , whatever was judged most necessary was put into the long-boat ; and that no lives mig ht be lost through the unhappy infatuation of intoxication , To which sailors are prone in such awful scenes as were now before us
, every cask of spirits that could be got at was stove . At sun-set the vawl , with the second mate and purser , was sent on shore to seek a convenient place for us to land at ; and the other boats , with people to watch them , were moored astern of the ship , at such a distance as
was judged sufficiently clear of the surf for the night . Captain Dundas observed the latitude at noon , and found the place where the shi p was to be about 6 3 miles north of St , Augustin ' s Bay . In the course of the evening he assembled the people together , and addressed them in ; i short speech , . acquainting them of the situation of the ship , the route they were to take after getting on shore , the great probability of meeting a ship at St . Augustin ' s Baybut , above all , insisting on the
, absolute necessity of paying the strictest attention and obedience to the commands of their officers ; at the same time assuring them of his assistance and advice ; and intimating to them , that it was not less his duty than his determination to abide by the ship , until he was convinced that a possibility existed of every one getting on shore : this manland exhilarating address failed not in producing an adequate
y effect in the minds of those to whom it was directed ; it was returned with three cheers , and their united affirmations of their desire to acquiesce at all times with his and his oflicers' commands . About midjjiirlit ? . general s darm was excited by the cries of people in distress ; 9 M in z
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Narrative
kopes of being able to get her off with the next hig h tide . After breakfast I was ordered " on the gun-deck , to get the guns overboard , which were taken one at a time by the long-boat , and drept at some distance from the ship , that she mig ht not strike on them , when she should again be elevated by the tide ; at the same time a party was loyed deckin heaving the rudder and securing it along
emp upon , up side . ' I had got about the half of the guns away , when the sea breeze , setting in fresh , occasioned such a surf that the boats could not continue along side : we , however , kept lig htening the ship , by heaving overboard such heavy articles as would float ; and at three o ' clock in the afternoon , when it was hi g h water , made every endeavour to heave the shioffbut they were fruitless ; and probably it was fortunate
p , for us that our attempts were frustrated , as by this time the leak had gained so much on the pumps that , had we succeeded , we should have found it impossible to keep the ship afloat , and consequently she must have foundered in deep water .
Finding the ship irrecoverably lost , the next object , of most interesting attention , became the safety of the lives of the crew and passengers ; and that an end so important mig ht be as well accomplished as surrounding difficulties would , permit , every nerve was strained to keep the -ship together as long as possible ; the masts were cut away , by which the ship was much eased ; what spars remained from the
effects of a heavy surf were inboard , for the purpose of ' constructing rafts ; a quantity of beef , bread , liquors , with other articles of a similar nature , some barrels of gunpowder , and muskets ; in fine , whatever was judged most necessary was put into the long-boat ; and that no lives mig ht be lost through the unhappy infatuation of intoxication , To which sailors are prone in such awful scenes as were now before us
, every cask of spirits that could be got at was stove . At sun-set the vawl , with the second mate and purser , was sent on shore to seek a convenient place for us to land at ; and the other boats , with people to watch them , were moored astern of the ship , at such a distance as
was judged sufficiently clear of the surf for the night . Captain Dundas observed the latitude at noon , and found the place where the shi p was to be about 6 3 miles north of St , Augustin ' s Bay . In the course of the evening he assembled the people together , and addressed them in ; i short speech , . acquainting them of the situation of the ship , the route they were to take after getting on shore , the great probability of meeting a ship at St . Augustin ' s Baybut , above all , insisting on the
, absolute necessity of paying the strictest attention and obedience to the commands of their officers ; at the same time assuring them of his assistance and advice ; and intimating to them , that it was not less his duty than his determination to abide by the ship , until he was convinced that a possibility existed of every one getting on shore : this manland exhilarating address failed not in producing an adequate
y effect in the minds of those to whom it was directed ; it was returned with three cheers , and their united affirmations of their desire to acquiesce at all times with his and his oflicers' commands . About midjjiirlit ? . general s darm was excited by the cries of people in distress ; 9 M in z