foundered, iron bulkheads, running up to the bridge-deck, have come into general use, and, consequently, one great element of danger removed. This at any rate prevents their filling the engine space from above, an event which was quite probable a few years since.

Theory is, after all that may be said, only the short-hand of practice; and it may not seem irrelevant to narrate the particulars of a passage from New York in a steamer of this class. Circumstances compelled the writer to embark in one some sixteen years back, at a period when the maritime part of the city was practically in the hands of crimps, roughs, and river-thieves. It would be difficult to decide which particular branch of the fraternity carried out their profession with the greatest audacity. A ship on hauling into dock was systematically boarded by the crimp, who ordered the men to "knock off work" and come on shore. Her Majesty's consul, owing to there being no consular treaty, was powerless to help the shipmaster in apprehending deserters, and thus, when his vessel was laden, he had to bargain with the crimp for runners. When about to haul into the stream, the latter were marched down in charge of the crimp's private police; and with the letting go of the last hawser, his responsibility ceased. If from unexpected circumstances the anchor was let go, it was not uncommon to lose half the number by desertion-regular commissioned boats being on the look-out to drop under the bows after dark. In this particular instance a vigilant look-out prevented the manœuvre, and the crew, such as they were, made the passage to England.

The steamer herself was about 1,300 tons gross register, and fitted with a poop, forecastle and open bridge amidships. In the sides the cabins of the officers were built, leaving a broad gangway between their doors and the engine-room skylight. The bulwarks were of iron, about five feet in height, with two ports of a side on the quarter-deck, and an equal number forward; but, owing to the sheer strake being carried up a foot or more above the upper deck, the clearance was very deficient. There were about as many scuppers as ports, and freights ruling high, the vessel had been brought down until the wash caused by the paddles of the river

steamers ran gurgling through them to the upper deck. Loadlines and disks were not then in vogue to prevent overloading, and seamen, so long as they had a good forecastle, seldom troubled themselves about the depth of the clear side. However, she had two important points in her favour: the masts, sails, and rigging were new, and the officers splendid seamen. The boatswain was an old man-of-war's man; one of that type which made England famous; and one of those who, alas, too often deserted in early manhood, to repent in old age of the folly. By reason of some little hitch on a wages question, the ship had been seized, sheriff's officers put on board, and a notice put on the mainmast. By some arrangement with the lawyer the bailiffs were, however, induced to go on shore; but had not a ruse enabled the master to slip by the guard-ship, trouble would have ensued for lack of a clearance from the Customs.

On reaching the Bar light-ship the pilot was discharged, with a small bundle of letters for the mail, it being evident that the steaming qualities of the were of a very indifferent character; still, every one felt confident, on looking up at the symmetrical brig-rigged masts, that, come what would, they might be depended on. An inspection of the motley crew somewhat damped the opinion formed, for it was doubtful if, with the exception of a seaman from a Cunard West Indian steamer, such a set were ever met with in an English ship. The war of secession was at its height, Washington had been threatened, Semmes had almost swept American commerce from the ocean, and the large bounty or the conscription had drawn all who were worth having into the ranks of the American Navy and Army. On choosing for watches it was found that only three could steer, the remaining portion being principally made up of deserters, or discharged soldiers, from Mead's army. One of these had lost three fingers of his right hand by the cut of a cavalry sabre, and was turned on the world to beg or starve, as chance should will it. Another was by profession a practitioner of homoeopathy, a tall, gaunt creature who might have lived on his drugs for all the flesh that was on his angular bones.

Fortunately, the first six days of the passage were unusually

fine for the end of November; and on passing Cape Race the chief officer remarked, "If I were to tell some of my old shipmates that, when rounding Cape Race, I was painting ship at this time of the year, they would think I was romancing." However, on emerging from under the shelter of the land, it became evident that a change in the weather was at hand, and precautions were at once taken to make all snug before the gale came on. This took several hours, owing to the helplessness of the crew, some of whom had already gone on the sick list. By daylight on the following morning it was blowing hard; but the expenditure of nearly a week's fuel had made the steamer somewhat buoyant, enabling her, under close-reefed topsails and foresail, to keep fairly before the sea, so that no great quantities of water rolled inboard. Later on the wind drew to the northward, and with infinite trouble the foresail, after being hauled up by the aid of a steam winch, was secured, every one, captain included, going aloft. It was an anxious night for all on board, and towards morning the order was given to run dead before the sea. This course was adopted in preference to rounding to, it being the general impression that, if the vessel fell off, the sea would break on the bulwarks and swamp her. As night came on the scene was grand beyond description. The huge Atlantic waves, some 200 feet apart, came up a-stern, with their huge breaking crests glistening in the moonlight, and as they rolled along on either hand, it appeared that one could easily touch their green sides. The second officer said, "This reminds me of the time when I was a boy, looking from the cliffs on the Cornish coast at the gulls as they swam between the waves during a gale." Verily, the remark was not misplaced, the ship, with the full moon shining on the tiny sails, bore out the simile so aptly and poetically made.

All who follow the sea have noticed that some peculiar accidents on shipboard appear to be communicated to the crew in an unaccountable manner. A man falls from aloft, and the dull heavy thud is heard and recognised in the most remote places below, while the falling of a spar would not, under similar conditions, attract attention. The words of command, in shortening sail, pass unheeded, except to those concerned; but the cry of a man

varicari penetrates everywhere, and were the ship about to Lamier. De hands would not be quicker on deck.

In this night the man at the wheel suddenly called out: "The mulder is broke.” The cry, notwithstanding the roar of the gale mi sen, reached the engineers in the engine-room, the solitary Tassenger in de saloon, and the seamen in their berths. In an nelly short space of time, the whole were on the poop, and a busty examination having proved that the rudder was still intact, me maleving tackles were manned by willing hands, and the ship he in her ecarse. By great good fortune she had, without Laman hep kept fairly before the sea. Had it been otherwise, Irwing an such a gale with sail set, would have brought ne sea iceam and settled the question. Another ship would have tead posted missing at Lloyd's, and conjecture busy with her fate. The maef engineer was a splendid specimen of his profession— 2.1. determined, sad, above all, possessed that invaluable faculty da nang pickly in times of danger. His practised eye immeLavey say by the strong moonlight that the single key of the Gerzy sparas had worked loose on the stem of the rudder, ad anvi de worn out of gear. "Carpenter," he called out, • muck the deasem out of that fire bucket," pointing to one lating to the poop ra, "saw the staves into six-inch lengths, $26 1025 18 2 or three capstan bars." The orders were carried and by the aid of strong arms of willing men who were viðung ir jas ie, the heavy casting was raised and secured in At dagligènia was discovered that the key, in lieu ♪^ aserved from below, had, to save trouble, been driven '

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Concussion had loosened the rust which kept it in and the mode dropped. Strange to relate, the spare tille tani a de zary broken through by

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The sea and wind had both risen during the night, the former hissing by in showers of spoondrift. Men held their breath as wave after wave came rolling up, and felt a relief as they surged beyond the forecastle. It was impossible that this could go on without mischief, and at last the crisis came-one heavier than usual broke over the poop, and for some seconds no one knew what had happened. The Cunard man was at the helm, and those who were forward alleged that the crest rose above the truck of the ensign-staff, forming a green back-ground to a picture that imagination fails to realize. When the water had cleared away he was still at his post, coolly moving the spokes, although no one ever expected to see wheel or steersman again emerge from that hill of water. Every boat was smashed, the skylight levelled with the deck, the waist full, and the hull fairly reeled under the additional weight. Another wave came on; the captain looked aft and said, audibly, "foundered at sea!" However, it broke short, and before the next came up the decks were clear. As a last resource the foresail was ordered to be loosed to increase the speed by sailpower. At this critical moment the chief engineer came aft, and with his accustomed coolness said, "The stoke-hole plates are washed up; the only two wooden washplates are gone; the pumps will not catch from incessant rolling, and if you cannot steady the ship she must founder. The firemen are scared, and were it not for my mates would long since have cleared out." This officer, at a time when hope was almost gone, and with not even the feeling that the world would know how manfully he had remained at his station under such trying circumstances, never blenched or ceased encouraging his scared crew to fulfil their duty. To run the ship in such a storm, with a quarterly sea and wind, was indeed a last and desperate resource; but the writer had, on a former occasion, seen it successfully carried out, under similar circumstances, off the Isle of France, in a sailing ship. The yards were therefore braced forward by the officers and a moiety of the crew-more than half had retreated to their berths and now all that could be done was to watch the sea, keep off when an unusual heavy roller was advancing, and trust to Providence for the result. We knew that our lives hung on a