wards carefully enclosed in a bottle, in the hope that it might eventually reach its destination; with the view, as he stated, of relieving him from the long years of fruitless anxiety and suspense, which our melancholy fate would awaken, and of bearing his humble testimony, at a moment when his sincerity could scarcely be questioned, to the faithfulness of that God, in whose mercy he trusted, and whose peace he largely enjoyed in the tremendous prospect of immediate dissolution. Narrative of a Passenger.

LOSS OF THE KENT (CONTINUED).

It was at this appalling instant, when "all hope, that we should be saved, was now taken away;" and when the letter referred to was about being committed to the waves, that it occurred to Mr Thomson, the fourth mate, to send a man to the fore-top, rather with the ardent wish, than the expectation, that some friendly sail might be discovered, on the face of the waters. The sailor, on mounting, threw his eyes round the horizon for a moment,- -a moment of unutterable suspense, and, waving his hat, exclaimed, "A sail on the lee bow." The joyful announcement was received with deep-felt thanksgivings, and with three cheers upon deck. Our flags of distress were instantly hoisted, and our minute-guns fired; and we endeavoured to bear down upon the stranger, which afterwards proved to be the Cambria, a small brig, of 200 tons burden,Cook,-bound to Vera Cruz, having on board twenty or thirty Cornish miners, and other agents of the AngloMexican Company.-For ten or fifteen minutes, we were left in doubt, whether the brig perceived our signals, or, perceiving them, was either disposed, or able to lend us any assistance. From the violence of the gale, it seems that the report of our guns was not heard; but the ascending volumes of smoke, from the ship, sufficiently announced the dreadful nature of our distress; and we had the satisfaction, after a short period of dark suspense, to see the brig hoist British colours, and crowd all sail to hasten to our relief. Although it was im

possible, and would have been improper, to repress the rising hopes that were pretty generally diffused amongst us, by the unexpected sight of the Cambria, yet I confess, that, when I reflected on the length of period our ship had been already burning,-on the tremendous sea that was running, -on the extreme smallness of the brig, and the immense number of human beings to be saved, I could only venture to hope that a few might be spared; but I durst not for a moment contemplate the possibility of my own preservation. While Captain Cobb, Colonel Fearon, and Major Macgregor, of the 31st regiment, were consulting together, as the brig was approaching us, on the necessary preparations for getting out the boats, &c. one of the officers asked Major M. in what order it was intended the officers should move off; to which the other replied, "Of course, in funeral order;" which injunction was instantly confirmed by Colonel Fearon, who said, "Most undoubtedly, the juniors first,—but see that any man is cut down who presumes to enter the boats, before the means of escape are presented to the women and children."-To prevent the rush to the boats, as they were being lowered,-which, from certain symptoms of impatience, manifested both by soldiers and sailors, there was reason to fear,-some of the military officers were stationed over them with drawn swords. But, from the firm determination which these exhibited, and the great subordination observed, with few exceptions, by the troops, this proper precaution was afterwards rendered unnecessary.-Arrangements having been considerately made by Captain Cobb, for placing in the first boat, previous to letting it down, all the ladies, and as many of the soldiers' wives, as it could safely contain, they hurriedly wrapped themselves up in whatever articles of clothing could be most conveniently found; and I think, about two or half-past two o'clock, a most mournful procession advanced from the after-cabins to the starboard cuddy-port, outside of which the cutter was suspended. Scarcely a word was uttered,—not a scream was heard, even the infants ceased to cry, as if conscious of the unspoken and unspeakable anguish, that was, at that instant, rending the hearts of their parting

parents; nor was the silence of voices in any way broken except in one or two cases, where the ladies plaintively entreated permission to be left behind with their husbands. But, on being assured that every moment's delay might occasion the sacrifice of a human life, they successively suffered themselves to be torn from the tender embrace; and, with the fortitude which never fails to characterize and adorn their sex, on occasions of overwhelming trial, were placed without a murmur in the boat, which was immediately lowered into a sea so tempestuous, as to leave us only "to hope against hope," that it should live in it for a single moment. [The interesting narrative proceeds to recount the difficulty and danger with which the boat was lowered into the sea, and the other perils which it, and its precious cargo, had to encounter, ere the latter was safely deposited in the "ark of refuge."] I have reason to know, that the feelings of oppressive delight, gratitude, and praise, experienced by the married officers and soldiers on being assured of the comparative safety of their wives and children, so entirely abstracted their minds from their own situation, as to render them, for a little while afterwards, totally insensible either to the storm that beat upon them, or to the active and gathering volcano that threatened every instant to explode under their feet.Amid the conflicting feelings and dispositions manifested by the numerous actors in this melancholy drama, many affecting proofs were elicited of parental and filial affection, or of disinterested friendship, that seemed to shed a momentary halo around the gloomy scene. Two or three soldiers, to relieve their wives of a part of their families, sprang into the water with their children, and perished in their endeavours to save them. One young lady, who had resolutely refused to quit her father, whose sense of duty kept him at his post, was near falling a sacrifice to her filial devotion, not having been picked up by those in the boats, until she had sunk five or six times. Another individual, who was reduced to the frightful alternative of losing his wife or his children, hastily decided in favour of his duty to the former. His wife was accordingly saved, but his four children, alas! were left to perish. A fine fellow, a

soldier, who had neither wife nor child of his own, but who evinced the greatest solicitude for the safety of those of others, insisted on having three children lashed to him, with whom he plunged into the water; not being able to reach the boat, he was again drawn into the ship with his charge, but not before two of the children had expired. Several of the soldiers flung themselves overboard, and sunk in their ill-judged and premature efforts for deliverance. One poor fellow of this number, a very respectable man, had actually reached the boat, and was raising his hand to lay hold on the gunnel, when the bow of the boat, by a sudden pitch, struck him on the head, and he instantly went down. There was a peculiarity attending this man's case, that deserves notice. His wife, to whom he was warmly attached, not having been of the allotted number of women to accompany the regiment abroad, resolved, in her anxiety to follow her husband, to defeat this arrangement, and accordingly repaired with the detachment to Gravesend; where she ingeniously managed, by eluding the vigilance of the sentries, to get on board, and conceal herself for several days: and, although she was discovered and sent ashore at Deal, she contrived, a second time, with true feminine perseverance, to get between decks, where she continued to secrete herself until the morning of the fatal disaster. While the men were thus bent, in various ways, on self-preservation, one of the sailors, who had taken his post, with many others, over the magazine, awaiting, with great patience, the dreaded explosion, at last cried out, as if in ill humour that his expectation was likely to be disappointed, "Well! if she won't blow up, I'll see if I can get away from her" and instantly jumping up, he made the best of his way to one of the boats, which, I understand, he reached in safety. Directions were, at one period, given, that every man should tie a rope round his waist, by which he might afterwards attach himself to the rafts, should he be suddenly forced to take to the water. While the people were busily occupied in adopting this recommendation, I was surprised, I had almost said amused, by the singular delicacy of one of the Irish recruits, who, in searching for

a rope in one of the cabins, called out to me, that he could find none, except the cordage belonging to an officer's cot, and wished to know whether there would be any harm in his appropriating it to his own use. The gradual removal of the officers was marked by a discipline the most rigid, and an intrepidity the most exemplary; none appearing to be influenced by a vain and ostentatious bravery, which, in cases of extreme peril, affords rather a presumptive proof of secret timidity than of fortitude; nor any betraying an unmanly or unsoldier-like impatience to quit the ship; but, with the becoming deportment of men, neither paralysed by, nor profanely insensible to, the accumulating dangers, that encompassed them, they progressively departed in the different boats with their soldiers;-they who happened to proceed first, leaving behind them an example of coolness that could not be unprofitable to those who followed. But the finest illustration of their conduct was displayed in that of their chief, whose ability and invincible presence of mind, under the complicated responsibility and anxiety of a commander, husband, and father, were eminently calculated, throughout this dismal day, to inspire all others with composure and fortitude. Never for a moment did Colonel Fearon seem to forget the authority, with which his sovereign had invested him: nor did any of his officers, as far as my observation went, cease to remember the relative situations, in which they were severally placed. I should, however, be guilty of injustice and unkindness, if I here omitted to bear my humble testimony to the manly behaviour of the East India Company's cadets, and other private passengers on board, who emulated the best conduct of the officers of the ship, and of the troops, and equally participated with them in all the hardships and exertions of the day. As an agreeable proof, too, of the subordination and good feeling, that governed the poor soldiers in the midst of their sufferings, I ought to state, that towards evening, when the melancholy groups, who were passively seated on the poop, exhausted by previous fatigue, anxiety, and fasting, were beginning to experience the pain of intolerable thirst, a box of oranges was accidentally discovered