board is called a dog, because in his childhood
he had heard of such strange creatures from
his father and the other mutineers, grown
gray under the shade of the Bread-fruit trees,
speaking of their lost country far away.

See the Halsewell, East Indiaman outward
bound, driving madly on a January night
towards the rocks near Seacombe, on the
island of Purbeck! The captain's two dear
daughters are aboard, and five other ladies.
The ship has been driving many hours, has
seven feet of water in her hold, and her main-
mast has been cut away. The description of
her loss, familiar to me from my early boyhood,
seems to be read aloud as she rushes
to her destiny.

"About two in the morning of Friday the sixth
of January, the ship still driving, and approaching
very fast to the shore, Mr. Henry Meriton, the
second mate, went again into the cuddy, where
the captain then was. Another conversation taking
place, Captain Pierce expressed extreme anxiety
for the preservation of his beloved daughters, and
earnestly asked the officer if he could devise any
method of saving them. On his answering with
great concern, that he feared it would be impossible,
but that their only chance would be to wait
for morning, the captain lifted up his hands in
silent and distressful ejaculation.

"At this dreadful moment, the ship struck, with
such violence as to dash the heads of those standing
in the cuddy against the deck above them, and
the shock was accompanied by a shriek of horror
that burst at one instant from every quarter of the
ship.

"Many of the seamen, who had been remarkably
inattentive and remiss in their duty during
great part of the storm, now poured upon deck,
where no exertions of the officers could keep them,
while their assistance might have been useful.
They had actually skulked in their hammocks,
leaving the working of the pumps and other
necessary labours to the officers of the ship, and the
soldiers, who had made uncommon exertions.
Roused by a sense of their danger, the same
seamen, at this moment, in frantic exclamations,
demanded of heaven and their fellow-sufferers that
succour which their own efforts timely made,
might possibly have procured.

"The ship continued to beat on the rocks; and
soon bilging, fell with her broadside towards the
shore. When she struck, a number of the men
climbed up the ensign-staff, under an apprehension
of her immediately going to pieces.

"Mr. Meriton, at this crisis, offered to these
unhappy beings the best advice which could be
given; he recommended that all should come to
the side of the ship lying lowest on the rocks, and
singly to take the opportunities which might then
offer, of escaping to the shore.

"Having thus provided, to the utmost of his
power, for the safety of the desponding crew, he
returned to the round-house, where, by this time,
all the passengers, and most of the officers had
assembled. The latter were employed in offering
consolation to the unfortunate ladies; and, with
unparalleled magnanimity, suffering their compassion
for the fair and amiable companions of their
misfortunes to prevail over the sense of their own danger.

"In this charitable work of comfort, Mr. Meriton
now joined, by assurances of his opinion, that
the ship would hold together till the morning,
when all would be safe. Captain Pierce observing
one of the young gentlemen loud in his exclamations
of terror, and frequently cry that the ship
was parting, cheerfully bid him be quiet, remarking
that though the ship should go to pieces, he
would not, but would be safe enough.

"It is difficult to convey a correct idea of the
scene of this deplorable catastrophe, without
describing the place where it happened. The Halsewell
struck on the rocks at a part of the shore
where the cliff is of vast height, and rises almost
perpendicular from its base. But at this particular
spot, the foot of the cliff is excavated into a cavern
of ten or twelve yards in depth, and of breadth
equal to the length of a large ship. The sides of
the cavern are so nearly upright, as to be of
extremely difficult access; and the bottom is strewed
with sharp and uneven rocks, which seem, by some
convulsion of the earth, to have been detached
from its roof.

"The ship lay with her broadside opposite to
the mouth of this cavern, with her whole length
stretched almost from side to side of it. But when
she struck, it was too dark for the unfortunate
persons on board to discover the real magnitude
of their danger, and the extreme horror of such a
situation.

"In addition to the company already in the
round-house, they had admitted three black women
and two soldiers' wives; who, with the husband of
one of them, had been allowed to come in, though
the seamen, who had tumultuously demanded
entrance to get the lights, had been opposed and kept
out by Mr. Rogers and Mr. Brimer, the third and
fifth mates. The numbers there were, therefore,
now increased to near fifty. Captain Pierce sat on a
chair, a cot, or some other moveable, with a daughter
on each side, whom he alternately pressed to
his affectionate breast. The rest of the melancholy
assembly were seated on the deck, which was
strewed with musical instruments, and the wreck
of furniture and other articles.

"Here also Mr. Meriton, after having cut several
wax-candles in pieces, and stuck them up in
various parts of the round-house, and lighted up
all the glass lanthorns he could find, took his seat,
intending to wait the approach of dawn; and then
assist the partners of his dangers to escape. But,
observing that the poor ladies appeared parched
and exhausted, he brought a basket of oranges and
prevailed on some of them to refresh themselves
by sucking a little of the juice. At this time they
were all tolerably composed, except Miss Mansel,
who was in hysteric fits on the floor of the deck
of the round-house.

"But on Mr. Meriton's return to the company,
he perceived a considerable alteration in the
appearance of the ship; the sides were visibly giving
way; the deck seemed to be lifting, and he
discovered other strong indications that she could
not hold much longer together. On this account,
he attempted to go forward to look out, but
immediately saw that the ship had separated in the
middle, and that the forepart having changed its
position, lay rather further out towards the sea.
In such an emergency, when the next moment
might plunge him into eternity, he determined to
seize the present opportunity, and follow the
example of the crew and the soldiers, who were now
quitting the ship in numbers, and making their
way to the shore, though quite ignorant of its
nature and description.

"Among other expedients, the ensign-staff had
been unshipped, and attempted to be laid between
the ship's side and some of the rocks, but without
success, for it snapped asunder before it reached
them. However, by the light of a lanthorn which a
seaman handed through the sky-light of the round-
house to the deck, Mr. Meriton discovered a spar
which appeared to be laid from the ship's side to
the rocks, and on this spar he resolved to attempt
his escape.

"Accordingly, lying down upon it, he thrust
himself forward; however, he soon found that it
had no communication with the rock; he reached