ail the forecastle, and direct
the men to keep a vigilant look-out for the Bell Rock Light.

Ere many minutes had elapsed after the order was given, a light was
perceived before the starboard beam, which the pilot declared to be a
signal hoisted on the pier at Arbroath to show that there was water
enough for vessels to enter the harbour. The captain then went below
to consult the book of sailing directions, and when he returned upon
deck, he said to the pilot, 'If that light be on Arbroath pier, as you
suppose, we ought most certainly to be in sight of the light on the
Bell Rock.' The pilot replied, 'We shall soon see it;' and Captain
Monke repeated to the officer of the watch his order to keep a sharp
look out.

As the light on the Bell Rock did not appear, the captain became
exceedingly anxious; the more so, as he was convinced, by reckoning
the distances from the Tod Head to the Red Head, and from the Red Head
to the Bell Rock, and comparing their sum with the run from four
o'clock, that the ship had run as many miles to the southward as would
bring her up to the Bell Rock. To ascertain exactly the position of
the ship, he desired the master to work off the run by the log up to
eight o'clock, P.M., and in a short time the master reported that by
his calculation the light which they saw was no other than the
floating light of the Bell Rock, and that they had now only to bear up
and shape a course for the Isle of May.

The captain had been upon deck for more than five hours, and was so
much fatigued that he went down to the gun-room to get some
refreshment, at a little after ten o'clock, leaving positive orders
with the officer of the watch and the master to be most attentive to
the ship's course; and he was so anxious for her safety, that he had
scarcely sat down in the gun-room before he sent for the pilot-book of
sailing directions, that he might ascertain more exactly the position
of the Bell Rock, and the course and distance from thence to the Isle
of May. In a few minutes, the officer of the watch went down to report
that the May light was in sight, and Captain Monke was in the act of
going upon deck, when the vessel struck the ground. He instantly
rushed upon deck, and inquired of the master where he supposed the
ship had grounded. The reply was a startling one:--'I am afraid,' said
he, 'that we are on the Bell Rock, and not a soul will be saved,
unless we can forge her over it.' How they could possibly be up