The tragedy of the seas; or, Sorrow on the ocean, lake, and river, from shipwreck, plague, fire and famine .. . part of thevessel, who were uninjured by the explosion, jumped over*board. An eye-witness says that he saw sixty or seventy inthe water at one time, of whom not a dozen reached theshore. The news of this awful catastrophe spread rapidlythrough the city ; thousands rushed to the spot, and themost benevolent aid was promptly extended to the suffer-ers — to such, we should rather say, as were within the reachof human assistance — for the majority had perished. The writer was among those
The tragedy of the seas; or, Sorrow on the ocean, lake, and river, from shipwreck, plague, fire and famine .. . part of thevessel, who were uninjured by the explosion, jumped over*board. An eye-witness says that he saw sixty or seventy inthe water at one time, of whom not a dozen reached theshore. The news of this awful catastrophe spread rapidlythrough the city ; thousands rushed to the spot, and themost benevolent aid was promptly extended to the suffer-ers — to such, we should rather say, as were within the reachof human assistance — for the majority had perished. The writer was among those who hastened to theneighborhood of the wreck, and witnessed a scene so sadthat no language can depict it with fidelity. On the shorelay twenty or thirty mangled and still bleeding corpses, whileothers were in the act of being dragged from the wreck orthe water. There were men carrying away the wounded,and others gathering the trunks, and articles of wearing ap-parel, that strewed the beach. ; The survivors of this awful tragedy presented the mosttouching objects of distress. Death had torn asunder the. THE PAINFUL SITUATION OF RELATIVES. 385 most tender ties; but the rupture had been so sudden andviolent, that as yet none knew certainly who had been takennor who had been spared. Fathers were inquiring for chil-dren, children for parents, husbands and wives for eachother. One man had saved a son, but lost a wife and fivechildren. A father, partially deranged, lay with a woundedchild on one side, a dead daughter on the other, and hiswife, wounded, at his feet. One gentleman sought his wifeand children, who were as eagerly seeking him in the samecrowd — they met, and were reunited. A female deck passenger, that had been saved, seemedinconsolable for the loss of her relations. To every ques-tion put to her, she would exclaim, O my father! mymother ! my sisters ! A little boy, about four or five yearsof age, whose head was much bruised, appeared to be re-gardless of his wound
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, bookidtra, booksubjectshipwrecks
