e covered the vessel. We
feared that all on board would be swept from the decks; but when again
the surge receded, the people were seen clinging fast as before. A boat
from one of the men-of-war now approached the wreck, but the officer in
command soon saw that he should only throw away his own life and the
lives of those with him if he should attempt to go near enough to
receive any one on board. The foremast now fell, and still the stout
ship hung together. Other boats came up and got as near as it was
possible to go. That those on board thought she would not hold together
much longer was evident by the efforts they began to make to escape.

First we observed a man descend the foremast as if with the intention of
swimming ashore. His courage, however, forsook him; he paused and
returned. Again he climbed along the mast, but hesitated--it was indeed
a desperate undertaking. At length he cast himself into the water:
immediately he was overwhelmed. Would he ever again reach the surface?
"Yes! yes! there he is," cried out several. For a moment he was seen
struggling bravely. A groan escaped from the spectators: "He's gone!
he's gone!" "No, no, he is still floating," many shouted out. So he
was; but whirled here and there, blinded and confused, he was unable to
guide himself. He was seen, happily, from one of the boats: she dashed
forward, and he was hauled on board without apparently having struck a
rock. All this time the people on the wreck had been watching him with
intense anxiety, especially the poor lady: "If a strong and bold swimmer
could scarcely be saved, what chance had she?" Hassall made the remark.
"Not one would have a prospect of being saved if trusting only to his
own strength; but there is a Ruler above," said Captain Mason, who had
hitherto been watching the wreck without speaking; "He may save that
poor woman on the wreck as easily as the strongest seaman." I have
often since thought of my friend's remark. It is not our own right arm,
but God in heaven, without whose knowledge not a sparrow falls to the
ground, who preserves us in many dangers. Captain Mason begged for the
use of Hassall's glass, and looked steadfastly through it at the wreck.
"It is impossible, yet the figure is like--I cannot make it out," I
heard him say. The success of the first man induced another to attempt
reaching the shore. He hurried along to the end of the mast and threw
himself into the water. The boilin