The tragedy of the seas; or, Sorrow on the ocean, lake, and river, from shipwreck, plague, fire and famine .. . at, as also the captainand young Master Broom, all of whom with difficultyreached the shore. The British consul, who visited the scene, says, I con-fess I am utterly unable to proceed in the painful detail, ofwhich I know of no parallel; and the only consolation —while I am writing at the beach, so near the scene, withmany of the dead bodies, as it were, before me—is, thattheir sufferings are ended ; but I must proceed. The stateof the tide, the violence of the surf and spray, the in
The tragedy of the seas; or, Sorrow on the ocean, lake, and river, from shipwreck, plague, fire and famine .. . at, as also the captainand young Master Broom, all of whom with difficultyreached the shore. The British consul, who visited the scene, says, I con-fess I am utterly unable to proceed in the painful detail, ofwhich I know of no parallel; and the only consolation —while I am writing at the beach, so near the scene, withmany of the dead bodies, as it were, before me—is, thattheir sufferings are ended ; but I must proceed. The stateof the tide, the violence of the surf and spray, the intensecold, that turned to ice every dash of the waves whichtouched the boat and oars, obliged the brave Smith and hisheroic party to abandon all hope of returning to the vessel;and, O horrible alternative I they drew the boat out of thesurf on the beach. And who saw this just as the sun wassetting on that fatal day ? One hundred and eight personsbig with hope, that they had crossed the Atlantic — somethat they were to embrace their parents, a wife herhusband. HUMANE PROCEEDINGS OF THE SPECTATORS. 239. The Wreck of the Mexico and Rescue of Captain Winslow. Gracious God ! what tongue can speak the misery, thedespair, the suffering, of one hundred and eight of ourfellow-beings, twelve hours in the suspense described ? andnow, the sun declining, the people mournfully withdrawingfrom their cries, the spray and the frost fast binding themto each other; all hope, all prospect of relief of the humane people, who lingered on the shore,say that the cries and supplications were distinctly he&rd ;but they gradually died away, and at 11, P. M., not a voicewas heard. As fast as the remorseless ocean threw up the frozencorpses on the strand, they were snatched from the surf bythe humane spectators, who, after freeing them from theice and tangled sea-weed with which they were enveloped,carried them to a place of shelter; where the British con-sul, the sheriff, and coroner of
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, bookidtra, booksubjectshipwrecks
