ed to a shot, which is fired over the former. The same end is now
more easily attained by a rocket with a light rope, or line, attached to
it.

Now the rocket apparatus is a little complicated, and ignorance in
regard to the manner of using it has been the cause of some loss of
life. Many people think that if a rope can only be conveyed from a
stranded ship to the shore, the saving of the crew is comparatively a
sure and easy matter. This is a mistake. If a rope--a stout cable--
were fixed between a wreck and the shore, say at a distance of three or
four hundred yards, it is obvious that only a few of the strongest men
could clamber along it. Even these, if benumbed and exhausted--as is
frequently the case in shipwreck--could not accomplish the feat. But
let us suppose, still further, that the vessel rolls from side to side,
dipping the rope in the sea and jerking it out again at each roll, what
man could make the attempt with much hope of success, and what, in such
circumstances, would become of women and children?

More than one rope must be fixed between ship and shore, if the work of
saving life is to be done efficiently. Accordingly, in the rocket
apparatus there are four distinct portions of tackle. First the
_rocket-line_; second, the _whip_; third, the _hawser_; and, fourth, the
_lifebuoy_--sometimes called the sling-lifebuoy, and sometimes the
breeches-buoy.

The rocket-line is that which is first thrown over the wreck by the
rocket. It is small and light, and of considerable length--the extreme
distance to which a rocket may carry it in the teeth of a gale being
between three and four hundred yards.

The whip is a thicker line, rove through a block or pulley, and having
its two ends spliced together without a knot, in such a manner that the
join does not check the running of the rope through the pulley. Thus
the whip becomes a double line--a sort of continuous rope, or, as it is
called, an "endless fall," by means of which the lifebuoy is passed to
and fro between the wreck and shore.

The hawser is a thick rope, or cable, to which the lifebuoy is suspended
when in action.

The lifebuoy is one of those circular lifebuoys--with which most of us
are familiar--which hang at the sides of steamers and other vessels, to
be ready in case of any one falling overboard. It has, however, the
addition of a pair of huge canvas breeches attached to it, to prevent
those who are being rescued from slipping t