The supercargo, in the confusion which took
place, could not get into the long boat in time, and remained with the
rest of the crew on board; several of the seamen were washed off the decks
and dashed against the rocks, and my narrator and three others were all
that survived "to tell the tale."
The ship's hull lay jammed between two small rocks near the foot of the
cliffs; she was still almost outwardly entire, as the tide receded just
after she came ashore in the night; but there was a hole knocked in her
side from whence a portion of the cargo had been washed out. The two
principal masts had gone by the board, but a part of the mizen-mast was
still standing; and the rocks were covered, far and near, with tattered
portions of her sails and cordage pasted against their sides, disposed by
the sea, in a grotesque manner.
As the principal station of the preventive corps was at a considerable
distance, some time would elapse before they could lend their aid in the
protection of the property; and the mob from the neighbouring country,
disappointed at finding little else but broken crockery at the other wreck,
seemed disposed to make the most of their time, and were proceeding with
all the violence and rapacity of professed wreckers.
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