water prevented from assuming a formidable appearance, till opposed by their rocky barrier. My thoughts naturally turned themselves upon the sea, and as I paced along the beach, which the advancing tide was now rapidly diminishing in breadth, I reflected upon the dangers and sufferings which adventurous man sustains from storms at sea, and travels on the shore,' not only in the pursuit of wealth and knowledge, but from an ardent desire to behold the most interesting portions of this little ball of earth. Indulging in these and similar reflections, I began to retrace my steps, the lateness of the evening and state of the tide warning me that it was time I should be on my way home. As the shades of night set in, the wind, which had blown all day in sharp gusts, gradually increased, and by the time I had reached the mouth of the little harbour where the village is situated, it blew a perfect hurricane, and the sea, running 'mountains high,' dashed against the rocks with a deafening noise, whilst its surface became white as milk with the foam which the boiling fury of its breakers produced from the fierce collision with their rocky foe. Perhaps the following exquisite lines will convey a better idea of the elemental strife than the most vivid description which prose can command :— The winds are up

Again, maddening the wave; and from the strand
There comes a heavier sound, a lengthened roar,
Each moment deeper, rolling on the ear

With most portentous voice. Rock howls to rock,
Headland to headland, and upon the wings

Of the wild gale of eve the feathery foam

Sails o'er the dim-seen capes; the strong-winged gull,
With scream prophetic, seeks his savage cliff;
And e'en the bird that loves to sail among
The ridges of the sea, with hurried wing

Flies from the blast's dread onset. Swift the sun
Descends beneath the wave, and, black as night,
And big with fate, the giant tempest comes,

VOL. 1. June, 1830.

Darkening the occident, as if to quench
The last faint streaks of day.'

I now approached the 'look-out house,' on the top of which I saw several seamen anxiously scanning with their glasses the face of the ocean to windward. There will be foul weather in the channel to-night, sir,' said one of the weather-beaten veterans, turning to me, as I had taken my place behind them; there is every appearance of as rough a night as I have seen these forty years, and it is not a few that I have weathered in my tight little boat, the Jane and Mary.' Nothing in the shape of a vessel was yet discernible in the farthest limits of the horizon, except a few of the pilot boats belonging to the place, the crews of which, apparently becoming weary of buffeting with the winds and waves, were wisely making for their little harbour, under all the sail they could prudently carry. There will be tough work for us ere morning, if the wind hold in this quarter, Tom, or I'm mistaken,' said another of the seamen. 'I never saw a gale from this quarter that did not bring disaster along with it.' Leaving them to indulge in their various speculations, I proceeded home, glad to shelter myself from the furious wind and heavy rain which had begun to fall in torrents.

So inaccessible and perpendicular was the whole line of coast, that a vessel driven upon it had not the least chance of escaping total wreck; and a very few hours, in general, sufficed to leave not a vestige of the original vessel, except the broken timbers and cargo which strewed the beach, the whole of the unfortunate crew falling, in most cases, a resistless prey to the fury of the devouring waves. The only shelter and refuge along this iron-bound coast was approached by a narrow entrance, two large masses of rock confining it on each side, their smooth sides and forked summits rising to the height of several hundred feet, and forming, when viewed at seà, excellent landmarks for the guidance of vessels towards the harbour. The chief, indeed almost the only, trade of the place, consisted in

the exportation of limestone, which was of excellent quality, and of which the neighbouring rocks afforded an inexhaustible supply. The depth of water on the bar at flood tide was sometimes as much as twenty feet, but being very shallow at low water, the harbour was inaccessible, even to the smallest craft, during that period. At the distance of half a mile from the mouth was a dangerous reef of rocks, visible at half ebb, called the Breakwater shoals,' which were the cause of numberless wrecks.

In the course of the night I fancied that I heard, in the pauses of the tempest, a noise resembling the report of guns, and the cries of men in distress, but they might have been mere efforts of the imagination, aided by the train of ideas which such a night could scarcely fail of calling forth. As soon as it was light I went down to the harbour, and soon discovered a large vessel in the offing, showing French colours, and having a signal of distress flying at the peak. She appeared to have struck on those dangerous shoals before mentioned, but which were not visible, as the advancing tide had covered them. The shore was strewed with the wreck and cargo of an English brig, belonging to Workington, which, I learnt, had been dashed to pieces against these fatal rocks early in the night, the crew, with one solitary exception, being all lost; and I was now informed that the French ship hove in sight about an hour previous, and struck before any assistance could be rendered her, and that if the wind and sea did not abate, would, most probably, share the same fate as the Workington vessel. I could now account for the shrieks of the perishing men, as well as the report of the guns I had heard in the night, Every assistance, I was told, had been given her, but the vessel was so heavy-laden, and had struck with such force, as to part in two very soon afterwards; and before the boat which had gone out could near her, the whole of the crew had been washed overboard, with one exception, and he was with difficulty rescued. The ship in the offing appeared, as the tide advanced,

to be fast settling in the waters, and there was such a heavy sea now running that no boat dare put off to rescue the sufferers from their approaching dreadful fate. The moment was big with interest, and I watched the unfortunate vessel with a degree of anxiety such as I had never felt before. The sea, aided by both wind and tide, broke over her quarters with such overwhelming violence, as to threaten her with speedy destruction, and it was now evident that unless she held together till the tide ebbed, (an event very problematical,) the whole of her crew would find a watery grave. I could see them in the shrouds stretching forth their arms, and waving their hats for help to the spectators on shore, which it was out of their power, apparently, to render, and the despairing cries of the poor wretches were borne along the wings of the tempest with most appalling effect. At length I could perceive the mainmast tottering to its base, and the next moment it went by the board, carrying along in its fall numbers who had clung to it for protection; and as the other masts seemed in all likelihood destined to share the same fate, I could hold no longer, and, turning to a group of seamen, said, 'In a few moments more every living soul in that vessel will perish: will no one put forth a hand in the praiseworthy attempt of saving at least a few of her people? there is no time to be lost: I even fear it is now too late.'

One of the men who had addressed me the preceding evening at length volunteered, and several others seconding him, they put off one of their boats in the face of a most tremendous surf, and though their lives were in the most imminent peril, I could not help admiring the fearless intrepidity and presence of mind which these men showed in their efforts to reach the wreck. But the heavy ground sea in the offing baffled, for some time, all their endeavours. The face of the sea was awful to behold; often was the boat lost to the view of the anxious gazers who now crowded the shore, overwhelmed, apparently, in the black abyss of the rolling waters, yet still she triumphantly careered on

her course, bounding over the foaming ridges, when once fairly under weigh, and out of the influence of the tide, with the swiftness of a race-horse. I could now see them near the ship, and presently a rope was thrown from the perishing crew which those in the boat fortunately succeeded in catching. At length they are under her lee-quarters, see how they crowd into her; now they put off, and are running rapidly over the face of the waters; they are in the harbour: thanks be to God, they are saved! In these and such like expressions I openly gave vent to the intensity of my feelings, and it relieved my mind from a weight of uneasiness which had oppressed me, from the moment the hardy navigators had put off in their frail bark to brave the fury of the raging sea, as it was almost entirely owing to my instigation and efforts that they made the attempt; and though, through the mercy of Providence, crowned with success, if these poor men had lost their lives in the attempt, I should never have forgiven myself for encouraging them to undertake an act, however praiseworthy, certainly fraught with the utmost peril, and which, if fatal, would have thrown several families into the utmost misery and want. On entering the harbour, I perceived that they had brought about fourteen men, who appeared quite exhausted with fatigue and the effects of cold, and I soon learnt that ten more remained on board, and twelve, including the captain, had perished by the fall of the mast. Nothing could induce the men to venture again, and as the tide was beginning to recede, and, consequently, the efforts of the sea were less violent against the hull of the ship, I was induced to hope that she might hold together till the tide had sufficiently ebbed to enable assistance to those on board to be safely rendered. The vessel proved to be the Commerce de Bourdeaux,' of that port, a barque of five hundred tons burthen, and bound to Havre de Grace, with a cargo of West India produce from St. Lucie. The weather had been so thick for upwards of a fortnight that the captain, not being able to take an observation, had lost