Shipwrecks and disasters at sea : or, Historical narratives of the most noted calamities: and providential deliverances from fire and famine, on the ocean ... with a sketch of the various expedients for preserving the lives of mariners by the aid of life-boats, life-preservers, &c.

Front matter

'jettifrhZ* ^

IdfeKV ap*.

r oK

Preface

A natural desire to know the fate of their fellow crea tures seems implanted in the breast of mankind, ar d the most powerful sympathies are excited by listening ;o the misfortunes of the innocent. To record some impressive examples of calamity or unlooked-for deliverance at sea, is the object of these pages ; which consist of authentic and true narratives of the most affecting and thrilling description, thrown together without reference to chron¬ ological order. We leave it optional with the reader in selecting those which his inclination may first induce him to peruse. Shipwrecks and disasters of that stamp are not only read with avidity, but in our opinion, with advantage. To rouse the dormant powers of sympathy, — to display human nature struggling with adverse fortune, serves at once to mend the heart, and to exercise one of its most amiable propensities. We participate in the distress which wc cannot alleviate, till we feel an inclination to lessen the mass of ills within our reach. From what admits of no cure, we turn our eyes to scenes of calamity now passing or to misfortunes that press with afflictive force on indi¬ viduals, or bodies of men ; and callous must that heart be, which under such' impressions would not stretch forth a hand to assist or relieve. Let the following pages then, as

PREFACE.

'V

far as they detail misery, be read with a view of alleviating its weight, whenever an opportunity presents itself, and we shall not only be entertained, but bettered by their perusal. Those by whom danger is held in the greatest dread are most apt to magnify its approach, while those familiarized with it, undervalue its presence. Thus the narratives oi seamen are commonly entitled to a greater degree of con fidence than those of others.

A few brief and interesting notices of countries, or incidents connected with the narratives are given. Ship¬ wreck has, of itself, opened a wide field of geographical knowledge, and there is little doubt, from the difficulty oi release, many unfortunate persons who sailed in quest oi their own country, have been incorporated with the savage tribes of other shores, and even now may languish in cap¬ tivity. But it must always be a consolation to reflect, that there is scarcely any condition, however deplorable, to which mankind, by time and circumstances, may not be reconci¬ led. The human mind has been so moulded by nature, that former impressions die away, others usurp their place, and, in the anxiety of providing for immediate wants, the recollection of enjoyments are obliterated.

It is deeply interesting to the cause of humanity, that every one exposed to hazard sha’l be aware how far he is from being destitute. Instances frequently occur, and some of them are related here, where a vessel has continued sinking down to the decks, menacing the miserable crew with instant death, and has then gained her equilibrium in the water. Boats of inconsiderable size are capable from the same cause of performing voyages infinitely more arduous than what is usually credited, of which wonderful

PREfc &CK.

V.

examples will appear in the subsequent narratives. It is neither a tempestuous sea, scanty subsistence, nor remote¬ ness from a haven of safety, that will always prove destruc¬ tive to the mariner; but encouraging himself with hope, adopting prudential measures, and promising relief to those around him, will essentially contribute towards their preser¬ vation and his own.

THE POR JISE.

♦* Now to the north, from Afric’s burning shore,

A troop of Porpoises + heir course explore ;

In curling wreaths they gambol on the tide,

Now bound aloft, now down the billow glide;

Their tracks awhile the hoary waves retain,

That burn in sparkling trails along the main.

These fleetest coursers of the finny race,

When threatening clouds the ethereal vault deface Their route to leeward still sagacious form,

To shun the fury of the approaching storm.”

Falconer

Introduction

“To those who gaze upon its surface, the ocean is a sublime sight, whether viewed from the lofty cliff, beet- .ing rock, or sandy beach. The first property of the ocean that strikes our sight is its vast extent, and the first that addresses our understanding is the vast extent of its use¬ fulness. “ The waste of waters,” as we are in the habit of calling it, though it be any thing but a waste, girdles the globe from pole to pole, and occupies nearly three-fourths of its surface. It is the nursery where growing warriors are inured to enterprise, and taught to guard the soil of their nativity ; it proves a barrier to the most inveterate foe; and it bears the produce of distant climes to enhance our national wealth and prosperity. When on some calm and pleasant day there is not a cloud to dapple the sky, or a breath to ruffle the waters, we look out upon the soft green face of ocean, as it reposes in the very lap of peace,

“ Then thou art lovely, when the golden smiles Of the warm sunbeams on thy surface rest,

Giving to life and light a thousand isles Which gem thy breast,

And send delicious odours in the breeze,

From groves of spicy trees.

We see it extending on and on in one glassy level, tni it blend its farthest blue so softly with that of the air, that we know not which is sea and which sky. The distant sail is an unmoving point in the horizon, a beacon, as it were, rising from the sea, and fixed forever to the spot. That bark has measured, perhaps, the circumference of the globe, has often glided on the summer sea with a favoiing breeze, and often labored in the storm, amid the raging vili.

INTRODUCTION.

*

elements, when the ocean and the air were one wide scene of uproar, sublimity, and danger. Now it lies on the flood, impatient of the delay, not a ripple chafing its side, and not a breath moving the canvass that hangs from the extended yards. But this will not continue long ; before tomorrow’s sun it may again feel the conflict of the waves, and again bound before the fury of the blast. And why is there this constant uncertainty of the winds and waves. The ocean is scarcely ever, even for an hour the same ; the morning breeze may sink into a mid-day calm, and that again, may, before another day, be exchanged for the careering blast.

If the ocean in many of its respects be beautiful, it is in others awful and terrific. When the storm is brewing in the distant sky, and cloud upon cloud rolling in masses and roaring in thunder, has thrown its shadow upon the

sea.

“ Then thou art glorious when the tempest howls,

Like a roused tigress springing to the light;

And the black sky grows blacker as it scowls Upon the night,

When thunder roars, and the red lightning leaps Over the foaming deeps.”

So as to change the soft green to a dark and dismal raven blue, which gives all the effect of contrast to ihe spray that dances on the crests of the waves as they are dashing high over the da?k ledges. The blast howls among the grim and desolate rocks as the surf chafes around the reef, or dashes with angry foam against the cliffs, or ever and anon as the fitful blast puts on all its fury, covers the whole with reeking confusion. Meantime far as the eye can reach, the ocean boils and heaves, pre¬ senting one wide extended field of foam. No sign of life is seen, save when the sea-fowl laboring hard to bear itself up against the blast, hovers over head or shoots athwart the gloom like a meteor.

And amidst this wild commotion of the elements, need we therefore wonder that the masts and cordage that man constructs, should be rent as if they were gossamer, and his navies scattered like chaff. Thus amid the fury of the elements, vessels are shipwrecked on the shore, or foun¬ dered in mid-ocean, which events may be ranked among the

INTJtODrC I ION.

IX greatest calamities which man experiences. Shipwreck is never void of danger, frequently of fatal issue, and invari¬ ably productive of regret. It is one against which there is least resource ; where patience, fortitude and ingenuity are unavailing, except to protract a struggle with destiny, which, at length, proves irresistible. But amidst the myr¬ iads unceasingly swallowed up by the deep, it is not by the numbers that we are to judge of the miseries endured. Hundreds may at once meet an instantaneous fate, hardly conscious of its approach, while a few individuals may linger out existence, daily in hope of succor, and at length be compelled to the horrible alternative of preying on each other for the support of life. Neither is it by the narra¬ tives about to be given, that we are to calculate on the frequency of shipwreck. Let us reflect how many vessels, belonging to our own country, disappear, with whose place of destination we are fully acquainted, and how numerous the lives that certainty discloses are lost, the details of whose sufferings are never known but by Him “who rideth on the whirlwind and directeth the storm.” To whom the unsophisticated hopes of the sailor cling as he feels the link that binds him to nature and the earth, about to be separated by the stroke of dissolution. And he de¬ scends into a “ watery grave” there to remain,

“ Iin tne last trump calls up all hands again,

When he will be given up by its depths, and be borne unre¬ sistingly on its bosom to the still distant shores of eternity.

Th® Hell ef La Perouse’s Ship, found on the reef at t*® Island of Mannicola by Captain Dillon.