sea, _some_, and only some, of the
people that they knew the boat contained. Mr. C----, fortified with this
terrible illustration of the peril that awaited them, again besought them
to row yet for a little while further along the coast, in search of some
possible place to take the boat safely to the beach, promising at sunset
to give up the search; and again the poor men resumed their toil, but the
line of leaping breakers stretched along the coast as far as eye could
see, and at length the men declared they could labour no longer, and
insisted that Mr. C---- should steer them to shore. He then said that he
would do so, but they must take some rest before encountering the peril
which awaited them, and for which they might require whatever remaining
strength they could command. He made the men leave the oars and lie down
to sleep for a short time, and then, giving the helm to one of them, did
the same himself. When they were thus a little refreshed with this short
rest, he prepared to take the boat into the breakers.

He laid Mrs. N----'s baby on her breast, and wrapped a shawl round and
round her body so as to secure the child to it, and said, in the event of
the boat capsizing, he would endeavour to save her and her child. Mrs.
F---- and her boy he gave in charge to one of the sailors, and the
coloured woman who was with her to the other; and they promised solemnly,
in case of misadventure to the boat, to do their best to save these
helpless creatures; and so they turned, as the sun was going down, the
bows of the boat to the terrible shore. They rose two of the breakers
safely, but then the oar of one of the men was struck from his hand, and
in an instant the boat whirled round and turned over. Mr. C---- instantly
struck out to seize Mrs. N----, but she had sunk, and though he dived
twice he could not see her; at last, he felt her hair floating loose with
his foot, and seizing hold of it, grasped her securely and swam with her
to shore. While in the act of doing so, he saw the man who had promised to
save the coloured woman making alone for the beach; and even then, in that
extremity, he had power of command enough left to drive the fellow back to
seek her, which he did, and brought her safe to land. The other man kept
his word of taking care of Mrs. F----, and the latter never released her
grasp of her child's wrist, which bore the mark of her agony for weeks
after their escape. They reached the sands, and Mrs. N----'