along-side the different ships, on whose decks the mariners were busily engaged in loading or unloading their cargo. An occasional pinnace with its gaudily painted gunwale, and dazzling triangular sails, was seen treading its way through the maze, bound with a party from town on some pleasure excursion. Altogether it was a scene on which a sailor loves to gaze-life, bustle and activity, on the placid surface of the element of his adoption.

Turning round from this pleasing prospect, the land-view was scarcely less interesting. In the back ground the towering mass of Table Mountain, flanked on either side by the lesser but still stupendous heights of Devil's Hill and the Lion's Rump, stretched its stately head nearly four thousand feet into the air-steep, bare, and torrentfurrowed towards the top, and covered towards the base with huge fragments of detached rock and heaps of mountain debris, among which a stunted tree or occasional patch of brushwood were here and there observable. Betwixt this and the green plain on which we stood lay the town, with its gay white-walled houses glittering in the sun-beams, or thrown into agreeable obscurity by the dark shade of overhanging trees. Extensive gardens, surrounded by luxuriant myrtle and laurel groves, with here and there clumps of lemon trees, and lofty oaks twined round by the tendrils of the "enlacing vine," adorned the environs towards the land-side, while the fort and batteries presented their sloping glaces towards the sea. Sometimes turning round to contemplate this prospect, and sometimes reverting to our own proper element, we passed on delighted with both, extending our walk nearly to the extremity of Green Point. Here, on a wooden bench erected for the use of the townspeople, we sat down to rest. The waters of the bay, unruffled and motionless, seemed literally to be sleeping in the sunshine, and reflected vividly the shadows of the ships and boats that floated on their surface.

"We must return with all speed to the ship," said Captain Morley, rising from the bench. "I know that signal of old! When the table-cloth is spread upon the mountain, we may look for heavy squalls."

We rose, accordingly, and walked rapidly in the direction of the town. The fog round the summit of the mountain increased meanwhile in density, and became more and more agitated by intermitting gusts of wind. The sea-fowl, instinctively prophetic of an approaching storm, left the water in flocks-the cape pigeon winging its way rapidly landward, and the mighty albatros towering high into the welkin to make its bed among the clouds of some more tranquil region.* The lurid clouds in the background continued to marshal ominouslyovertopped the hill, and speedily reached the zenith. Still the sun,

which they had not yet obscured, shone brilliantly, casting our shadows before us. We had not proceeded many yards, however, till these too disappeared. All was black and ominous. We increased our pace to a run, and were hurrying rapidly forward, when in an instant, and without the slightest warning, we were met by a gale so furious as completely to retard our course, and even carry us a pace or two backwards. A torrent of the heaviest rain I ever witnessed, accompanied by vivid flashes of lightning and deafening peals of thunder, succeeded. We buttoned our coats, bent our heads downwards, and contended with the tempest as we best could.

Our progress, however, was extremely slow, for the wind, if anything, continued increasing in violence. The blackness of the atmosphere, too, became more and more appalling; and we could hear by the dashing of the waves, for it was dangerous to look up, that the sea was already agitated. After a tedious and fatiguing walk we at length reached the town. Not an individual was to be seen; the wind howled desolately among the houses, and the rain-water ran in torrents through the streets. With great difficulty we rounded the corner of Somerset road, where the gale swept past with a furious eddy, and, getting into the comparatively more sheltered Waterkant street, at length reached the quay. Here, neither our own nor any other boat was to be scen; the quay was totally deserted, and the waves lashed furiously over the parapet. Elkins, who had been anxiously waiting our arrival, presently joined us.

"No craft can live in the water, at present, Sir," he said, addressing Captain Morley, "every boat in the harbour has gone somewhere for shelter, and we have taken our gig into the dock of Rogge battery."

We now looked towards the sea, and were immediately convinced that to return to the ship at that time was impossible. The waves were running mountain-high, and the seething foam lashed far up the beach and adjacent rocks.

“I would give all I am possessed of," said Morley, "to be, at this moment, on the deck of the Hesperus !" "It is impossible, Sir," said Strang66 no boat could live for an instant way, in such a sea ;" and, as he spoke, an enormous billow, as if in confirmation of what he said, rolled far up the beach beneath us, and deposited its snowy plumage at our feet.

Meanwhile, the gale continued to blow so furiously that we were obliged to hold on by each other in order to keep our places. The rain-water streamed in torrents from our clothes, and every moment seemed to add fresh violence to the hurricane. While standing in this uncomfortable situation, uncertain what course to pursue, we were suddenly hailed by a voice from behind, and turning round observed a gentleman at an upper window

SO

of the custom-house, beckoning us to come in. We were not tardy in taking advantage of this considerate invitation, and soon found ourselves in a comfortable room, where several clerks were busily engaged with their ledgers in the midst of all the turmoil. From the window we commanded a complete view of the bay; and the prospect it presented was truly appalling. The billows were of enormous magnitude, and rolled onwards with a violence which no power seemed capable of resisting. Their wide and agitated tops were covered with fields of foam, flakes of which the drifting gale caught up as it passed, and wafted impetuously away, far over the tops of the houses. Towards the shore, the yawning gulphs between the waves were black and deep that the eye almost shrunk from contemplating them; while, farther out, where the perspective shut those fearful chasms from the view, nothing was to be seen but one immense, unbroken, sheet of foam. Beyond the bay, the waters of the ocean were black and desolate; no horizon was distinguishable. The gloomy colours of the clouds and of the distant water, were so completely assimilated, that they appeared to pass into each other; nor could the eye fix on any point where the one could be said to terminate, and the other to commence. In the lower strata of the air, detached masses of cloud, fringed with a stormy copper-coloured light, were racking furiously before the tempest; while above, all was blackness and obscurity, fixed and immoveable as the rock of ages.

What are become of all the vessels that were moored in the bay this morning?" said I, observing only the Hesperus and a single merchantman.

They all cut their cables," replied the gentleman who invited us in, and who now stood beside us at the window, "and stood out to sea as soon as the mist began to gather round the top of the mountain. This is, in general, their only chance of escape in such a squall, for, notwithstanding so many warnings, they are seldom provident enough to furnish themselves with moorings sufficiently strong to ride it out. I presume, Sir," he continued, addressing himself to Morley, you are the captain of the Hesperus?"

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"I am," replied Captain Morley, "and I shall never forgive myself for being absent from her at such a crisis." "You need not be in the least alarmed for her safety, Sir," said the gentlemau. "I have witnessed many of these squalls from the spot where we now stand, and can judge pretty accurately of the chance a ship has of weathering one of them. The Hesperus, I perceive, is moored by her two bowers, in addition to which she has since dropped a sheet anchor, and her cables are sufficiently long to allow her to humour the waves. I have watched her narrowly for some time, and I assure you she is not in the slightest danger."

Our own observations confirmed the gentleman's remark. The Hesperus was riding out the tempest in most gallant style. From time to time she appeared on the summit of a wave, by which she was borne forward to a considerable distance, till the water gradually glided out from beneath her, and, without the slightest shock, she sunk back into the abyss behind. Here her hull, and all the under part of her rigging, were hid from the view, and nothing was to be seen but her top spars, till gradually she again emerged, and stood out high upon the top of the succeeding billow. After observing her carefully for some time, the captain himself seemed satisfied of her safety, and was, at length, so much relieved as to be able to turn his attention to the merchantman.

The state of this unfortunate vessel was very differeut. She was riding at single anchor, and it was evident she was not provided with a sufficient length of cable. When she appeared on the summit of a wave, she was hurled impetuously forward, and when at the very top of her precipitate career, was checked with a sudden jerk, and fell back, amid clouds of spray, into the yawning trough of

the water.

"She can never ride it out," said Captain Morley. "Those repeated shocks must, eventually, snap her cable."

Nor was it long till the captain's prediction was verified. An enormous billow caught her up, raised her on its heaving side, and hurled her forward with irresistible violence. For an in

stant her strained cable seemed to check her in her course, but it was only for an instant. Again she was precipitated forward-her prow took a downward direction-bowsprit and bows were immersed in the waterthe billow passed onwards and hid her from our view. It was evident her cable had snapped, and we considered her destiny as sealed. Again, however, she appeared on the top of the succeeding wave, and we could see, with the assistance of a glass, that she had ported her helm, and succeeded in turning her head from the wind. The manoeuvre was dexterously managed. She glided down the farther side of the wave and surmounted the next. Some hope seemed still to be left, as she was certainly making, though slowly, from the shore. We watched her with intense anxiety. The gale drifted furiously against her, and her spars were snapping, like reeds, before it, but still she bore gallantly on, till an enormous sea caught her on the weather beam, and threw her obliquely into the trough of the water. When she next appeared, her rudder was gone. No power on earth could now save her. She was dashed, unresistingly, forward, and precipitated, with a furious shock, upon the beach, where the sea broke over her, mountains high.

6.

"For God's sake," cried Captain Morley, let us descend, and render what assistance we can to the unfortunate crew!"

Any assistance of ours, Sir," said the stranger gentleman, "will, I fear, be unavailing. The government guard will be already on the beach, to protect the property that may be washed ashore, and we would only be exposing ourselves to the gale for no purpose."

"Dn the gale !" cried Morley, impatiently; and he rushed out of the room, followed by Strangway and myself.

When we reached the street we found that the wind and rain had somewhat moderated, and that the clouds were beginning to rack away, though the sea still raged with all its former violence. We hastened forward to the spot where we had observed the ship to strike, and soon arrived at the scene of devastation. Here we found a large concourse of people

already assembled, among whom were a non-commissioned military officer and a few soldiers. The vessel was lying within half a cable's length of the beach, and evidently in very shoal water; for the waves that washed furiously over her in their advance left her in their reflux so bare that we could sometimes even see her keel. The crew and passengers, among whom were several females, (we learned from the bystanders that she was an English merchantman homeward bound, with goods and passengers,) stood on the deck holding on by the remainder of the spars and rigging, for the bulwarks were almost entirely washed away. It was evident she could not resist the fury of the tempest for many minutes. Her timbers creaked and crashed with a fearful sound as she was struck by each successive wave; and, at length, a huge sea struck her on the quarter, broke her back, and hove the sternpart round alongside the prow. The cries of the unfortunate passengers for help were at this moment truly appalling. But what assistance could we give? We had no boat, and, though we had, it could have been of little service in such a sea; as for swimming, there was not among us a heart stout enough to attempt it. The crew themselves seemed incapable of any exertion; they stood paralized and motionless on the deck looking eagerly towards the land. At length one of the men appeared with a rope in his hand, the end of which he fastened round the root of the foremast. He then stripped to the shirt, and taking a lead-line to which he had attached the other end of the rope, between his teeth, threw himself into the water. For some time he was totally lost to our view, and we supposed he had fallen a sacrifice to his daring attempt. Presently, however, he appeared on the top of a wave by which he was borne rapidly forward and thrown with awful violence on the beach. The spectators made a simultaneous rush to his assistance, but before they could reach him the receding water caught him up, and washed him out a considerable distance from the shore. We now gave him up for lost; but before many minutes had elapsed he again appeared, swimming strongly, and struggling manfully with

the raging surge, which he endeavoured to oppose by striking out in an opposite direction to that in which it was running. He at length neared the shore, and, giving himself up to an advancing wave, was again borne rapidly forward, till suddenly diving beneath the water, he disappeared, and the billow rolled on without him, dashing its foaming crest high up upon the shore. Back again it rushed, hurling along with it immense masses of stone which it tore up from the beach; and, when it had receded a considerable way, we again descried the sailor struggling against it and swimming shorewards. By dint of sheer strength he so far overcame the force of its suction as to attain the beach before it again advanced, when, starting nimbly to his feet, he ran hastily up to the spot where the spectators were collected. I shall never forget his appearance when he first presented himself before us. On leaving the ship, he had taken off all his clothes save his shirt, and this was slipped down from his shoulders, and fastened round his waist by the sleeves, which were firmly knotted in front. In his countenance, which was handcome, though dark and weather-beaten, there was a strange peculiarity of expression which seemed to indicate a singular mixture of courage and pride, generosity and sullenness. His long black hair hung, in dripping ringlets down his temples, and intermixed, in clotted tangles with his huge, bushy, whiskers. His figure was thin but extremely athletic; and the elegant moulding of his limbs, elastic with the vigorous energy of youth, seemed to indicate an origin superior to his present humble station. Round his neck he wore a black ribbon, to which was attached a large metal locket. His chest and shoulders were streaming with blood; and in his hand he bore the lead-line from which he had never parted in all his danger. He gave no salutation as he approached us, and waited for none, but commenced hastily to haul the rope to which the line was attached, ashore, When he had secured this he instantly thrust it into the hands of the nearest bystanders.

Hold tight on there, messmates,"

he cried, in a hoarse voice, and without waiting for a reply, he rushed down to the beach and again plunged into the water.

With the assistance of the rope, which now extended from the ship to the shore, it was not long till he stood once more on deck, where he was received with a loud cheer by his messmates. Encouraged by his example, and by the prospect of safety which the rope afforded, the rest of the crew now began to bestir themselves. Quantities of luggage and stores of different kinds were tossed overboard, and, being gathered up by the bystanders as soon as they had drifted ashore, were placed together in a heap, round which the soldiers formed a ring. The sea, however, still continued to rage as furiously as ever, and the eventual rescue of the passengers and crew seemed matter of great uncertainty. At length, we observed the same intrepid seaman advance towards the side of the vessel, and, grasping a female in one arm, while with the other he held on by the rope, he plunged overboard. For a short space they both disappeared, but when the water receded it left them on the firm land, the sailor still holding fast by the rope. By an almost superhuman exertion of strength and agility, he succeeded in bearing his charge to the beach, safe though exhausted, before the wave again advanced. As formerly he did not exchange a word with the bystanders, but, laying his burden gently on the grass, returned again to the ship. The rest of the crew now emulated his example, and the female part of the passengers were all rescued, with the exception of two, who were washed out to sea and drowned. The crew and male passengers succeeded in saving themselves with the loss of only one life.

The sailor who first brought the rope ashore, had made no fewer than seven different trips to the vessel, and the excitement seemed each time to inspire him with fresh strength and courage. But now, when the work was done, he stood before us shivering with cold, exhausted, bruised, and bleeding. Still he exchanged words with no one, nor joined in the congratulations which the rest were giving

and receiving among each other and from the bystanders. Without taking notice of any one, he passed on to the place where the boxes that had been saved from the wreck were heaped.

"You can't come in here, my lad,” said the officer, who was guarding them, observing that the man wished to pass, "no one can be allowed to touch these till the magistrate has examined them."

"I see my own chest there," growled the sailor, "I want a coat!"

"Well, I can't allow you to touch anything here," said the officer, "so you had better take yourself off."

"I'm wet."

"I can't help it; my orders are peremptory."

"I'm shivering with cold."

"There's no use speaking to me; I tell you, once for all, you shan't touch one of these packages, at present.”

The sailor made no reply, but a dark scowl passed over his face, and he turned away. Captain Morley interceded with the officer, but in vain; he was quite inexorable. I turned away in disgust from the unfeeling monster, whose conduct no observance of duty, however strict, could palliate, and the first object that met my sight was Strangway, busily engaged in stripping to the buff. I was well aware of the temperament of the worthy lieutenant, whose choler nothing so easily roused as cruelty or oppression, and I never doubted that he was preparing to beat humanity into the unfeeling officer, in the genuine old English fashion. In this, however, I was mistaken.

"Here, my good fellow," said he, addressing the sailor, "here are a coat and waistcoat for you; you will find money enough in the pocket to procure a proper rig-out when you reach the town."