en the dying frigate
lurched wildly and parted the hawser.

It was discovered that she now rested on the bottom. Part of the port
bulwark, the hammock-nettings, the taffrail, and the stumps of the
masts remained above water, and to these the crew clung while the surf
roared over their heads and threatened to tear them away. The
situation was now hopeless, indeed, but all left alive on board were
saved by the daring and strength of one man, Boatswain Geach. He
fought his way through the breakers to the stump of the bowsprit,
lashed himself there, and succeeded in passing a line to his comrades
on shore. A strong rope was then hauled up and one by one the men on
board were slung to safety upon the cliffs. Almost all the survivors
were dreadfully bruised and lacerated.

When the news reached Rio Janeiro, the British sloop-of-war _Lightning_
was in that port, and her commander, Captain Thomas Dickinson, was the
sort of man who likes nothing better than to lead a forlorn hope and
grapple with difficulties. Said he:

"The consternation occasioned by the dreadful catastrophe was not
confined to naval persons, but was universally felt at Rio,
particularly among mercantile people, since from the tenor of the
letter, and the description given by the officer who brought it, the
ship and everything she contained were considered as totally lost. The
event became a matter of general conversation; but while everyone
deplored it, I did not hear of any who seemed disposed to venture on an
attempt to recover the property, all appearing to consider the case as
perfectly hopeless.... Here was an undertaking which, if successful,
would assuredly lead to professional reputation and fortune, but which
everyone whom I addressed on the subject thought must fail. Still, the
scarcity of the opportunities of obtaining distinction and credit, by
an extraordinary act of duty, which present themselves to officers in
these piping times of peace, offered a consideration which prevailed,
and I determined on making the attempt, if I could get orders from the
Commander-in-Chief to that effect."

The admiral of the station proceeded to Cape Frio with a squadron of
five vessels, and after a careful study of the situation of the wreck
concluded that it would be futile to try to recover any of the sunken
treasure. In the face of this verdict, Captain Dickinson felt
reluctant to press his own views, but the bee in his bonnet would not
be denied.