e was near them. For some time they saw the
heartrending spectacle of the sinking vessel, and the sea strewn with
mattresses, seats, planks, &c, to which people were clinging, floating,
and shrieking for succour, in the dark water all round them. But they
gradually pulled further and further out of the horrible chaos of despair,
and, with the other boat still consorting with them, rowed on. They
watched from a distance the piteous sight of the ill-fated steamer
settling down, the gay girdle of light that marked the line of her
beautiful saloons and cabins gradually sinking nearer and nearer to the
blackness, in which they were presently extinguished; and the ship, with
all its precious human freight engulfed--all but the handful left in those
two open boats, to brave the dangers of that terrible coast!

They were somewhere off the North Carolina shore, which, when the daylight
dawned, they could distinctly see, with its ominous line of breakers and
inhospitable perilous coast. The men had continued rowing all night, and
as the summer sun rose flaming over their heads, the task of pulling the
boat became dreadfully severe; still they followed the coast, Mr. C----
looking out for any opening, creek, or small inlet, that might give them a
chance of landing in safety. The other boat rowed on at some little
distance from them.

All the morning, and through the tremendous heat of the middle day, they
toiled on without a mouthful of food--without a drop of water. At length,
towards the afternoon, the men at the oars said they were utterly
exhausted and could row no longer, and that Mr. C---- must steer the boat
ashore. With wonderful power of command, he prevailed on them to continue
their afflicting labour. The terrible blazing sun pouring on all their
unsheltered heads had almost annihilated them; but still there lay
between them and the land those fearful foaming ridges, and the women and
children, if not the men themselves, seemed doomed to inevitable death in
the attempt to surmount them. Suddenly they perceived that the boat that
had kept them company was about to adventure itself in the perilous
experiment of landing. Mr. C---- kept his boat's head steady, the men
rested on their oars, and watched the result of the fearful risk they were
themselves about to run. They saw the boat enter the breakers--they saw
her whirled round and capsized, and then they watched, slowly emerging and
dragging themselves out of the foaming