f a rope, between the wreck and the land; and
this difficulty is, of course, much increased when the wreck occurs off
a coast lined with rocks or steep cliffs. To swim off from the shore to
the wreck, or _vice versa_, is, in most cases, an absolute
impossibility. The rocket apparatus has been devised for the purpose of
overcoming this difficulty. By means of it a light "line" as it is
called, or rope, the thickness of the point of one's little finger, can
be thrown over a wreck lying at a distance of several hundred yards from
the beach. This line, when caught, is the means by which many a life
has been saved from the devouring sea. The _modus operandi_ will be
seen in the sequel.

The apparatus consists of five parts; the rocket, the stand, the line,
the whip, and the hawser. The rocket is a strong metal cylinder, of
about eighteen inches in length, and more than two in diameter. When
about to be used a long stick is attached to it, and the principle on
which it acts is precisely similar to that of the small rockets used in
our pyrotechnic displays. The stand is a tripod supporting a rest for
the rocket. The line, which is made of the best material, is coiled in
a large box in a zig-zag manner on a number of pegs; these pegs, when
withdrawn in a mass by removing the bottom of the box to which they are
attached, leave the line loose and free to fly out with the utmost
rapidity. The end of the line is fastened to the head of the rocket.

Any one who has stood near an ordinary rocket when it was being fired,
can form some conception of the force and furor with which this iron
monster springs into the air and dashes out to sea in the teeth of the
wildest storm. So tremendous is the gush of fire and smoke, that it has
to be let off by means of a lock, the trigger of which is pulled by a
man standing some yards distant with a cord attached to it in his hand.

Before the rocket was quite ready for action, the lifeboat had
approached the wreck, a hundred yards or so to windward of her. Here
they cast anchor in such a position that by paying out cable they could
veer down towards her slowly and endeavour to range up under her lee.
Every different operation the lifeboat had to perform was fraught with
extreme danger. The mere being overwhelmed by the furious sea and
filled was comparatively a trifling risk. This it had been twice
already, and, but for the time lost in bailing out, it would have been
much earlier