-He wakes at the vessel's sudden roll,
And the rush of waters is in his soul.
Astounded the reeling deck he paces,
Mid hurrying forms and ghastly faces;→→
The whole ship's crew are there.
Wailings around and overhead,

Brave spirits stupified or dead,

And madness and despair.

Leave not the wreck, thou cruel boat,

While yet 'tis thine to save,

And angel hands will bid thee float

Uninjured o'er the wave,

Though whirlpools yawn across thy way,

And storms, impatient for their prey,

Around thee fiercely rave!

Vain all the prayers of pleading eyes,
Of outcry loud, and humble sighs,
Hands clasp'd, or wildly toss'd on high-
To bless or curse in agony!

Despair and resignation vain!

Away like a strong-wing'd bird she flies,
That heeds not human miseries,
And far off in the sunshine dies

Like a wave of the restless main.
Hush! hush! ye wretches left behind!
Silence becomes the brave, resign'd

To unexpected doom.

In March 1810 the king of Naples by a sweeping decree confiscated thirty-five sail of American vessels, some of which had come as friends to trade and others had been brought in by the Neapolitan privateers. As a natural result of this measure a number of Americans who had been thus deprived of their property, waited with anxiety an opportunity of returning to their families and friends.

The ship Margaret, William Fairfield master, belonging to Salem, about this period had been recovered from her captors, by compromise, giving up half her cargo; and was preparing to return to the port where she belonged; of course there were many applications for passages: thirty-one being all that could be accommodated were immediately engaged.

On the 10th of April, the Margaret sailed from Naples with a valuable cargo of brandy, silks, &c. estimated value in America one hundred thousand dollars. Her officers and crew were fifteen in number; her passengers, as before stated, thirty-one In twelve days they had passed the Streights and were in the Atlantic. The 13th of May the ship lay too off Flores, whilst some of the passengers and crew went on shore at this beautiful island to obtain an addition to their live stock and fresh water.

Thus far the passage had been delightful; the ship sailed like the wind; the weather had been moderate, and the company were happy in the idea of soon being at their own fire sides. The weather generally is found boisterous in the neighbourhood of the Western Islands: it was so with the Margaret. For several days she experienced a succession of gales: on the 20th of May, however, in lat. N. 39° 40′. long, W. 40°. the wind appeared settled and steady from the E. S. E.; all hearts were cheered with the prospect; every rag of sail that could draw was set; top gallant studden sails and royals were spread aloft; but in a moment how changed the scene!-About noon the wind freshened considerably, the passengers, who were below, talking of their homes and their expectation of soon being there, were called up to help take in sail. The wind, accompanied by hail and rain, in a few seconds increased to a perfect hurricane, and shifted fast, first to the S. and then S. W. The helm was hard up to keep the ship before the wind, it changed however too quick for her; and gradually, though in an instant, lay her proud masts in the sea! -she was hardly on her beam-ends before all hands were on her bottom, most of them clinging to the chains. Cut away the masts, was now the general cry: an axe was obtained from the carpenter's chest, which had been lashed to the now upper part of the deck: at intervals, as the swell would recede the deck was. cleared; the weather shrouds and stays being cut, a man made fast with a rope soon hacked away the masts; the guns, camboose, anchors and boats were also cut away. The ship now righted, but under water! The crew crowded to the bowsprit and taffel rail, which was all that the sea did not cover with every roll. What a moment for reflection: forty-six souls on a wreck with barely a space above water sufficient for them to stand on:-at

least eight degrees from the nearest land, and half passage across the Atlantic!-One or two of the boys were affected to tears, and expressed aloud their lamentations; the men generally displayed a fortitude that did them honour.

The boats were the next subject of consideration. The pinnace was in pieces; the yawl full of water, her stern nearly out: the long boat lay bottom up among the masts and spars: after much difficulty however she was brought along side the wreck. The first attempt to clear her proved ineffectual from the holes stove in her bottom, several of her plank ends being started, and the gunwales torn off: she was therefore again turned bottom up; some lead nailed on her principal leaks, old canvass and pieces of spars forced into the others. After five hours labour she was in a situation to float, though a third full of water, and leaking so as to require two men constantly bailing. Fourteen persons immediately jumped into her and pushed off, promising to return for the rest when the boat would admit of it.

Daylight now was disappearing: the wind had lulled, but the sea was still high: a young man however dropped from the taffel rail and was taken into the boat. She lay to leeward of the wreck, to which she was fastened by a hawser. The crashes on the wreck, occasioned by the friction of the masts and spars against the sides, and the spouting of water from the hatches and skylights, caused by the motion of the sea, was great and intimidating, from the idea of the deck's being forced up, or the wreck torn in pieces: it was kept afloat thus far by the brandy, which. however, from time to time drifted away: the sea was also covered with mettrasses, chests, trunks, drowned goats, sheep, and hogs. When any thing passed near the long boat that could be of use it was secured: by this means sewing silk to caulk the leaks, a barrel of oil, a drowned hog, and some sea soaked bread were obtained. Next morning, with the assistance of the yawl, which with difficulty was kept afloat, a keg of brandy, a spar to make a nast, and part of a royal for a sail, were taken from the wreck. The people on the ship, tired with their anxious night began to be impatient at not being taken off, which, in fact, was impossible, from the situation of the boat, which could not hold more than she had on board: they had obtained wine, water, bread and

pork, which they refused to share unless the others would come along side: they had compasses and quadrants which they would not part with. About 10 o'clock, some men who had swam from the wreck were driven back; others showed an inclination to make a like attempt: those on board the long boat wished to remain by their shipmates, but informed them it would be impossible if they made another attempt to sink her, which would be the inevitable result of their crowding on board; and declared that any one leaving the wreck would be a signal for the hawser being cut, and leaving them to their fate.

Five days

Those on board the boat already suffered excessively from want of food and water, notwithstanding which, about midday they were forced, from the determination generally evinced by those on the wreck to swim to them, and several having jumped into the sea (who however regained the wreck in the yawl) to hoist their sail and commit their lives and wretched bark to the mercy of Providence. The cries and groans of their compa nions, thus left behind, long sounded in their ears. they scudded before the wind with the heavens as their compass; and after suffering every thing that human nature could bear from hunger, thirst and fatigue, they were taken up by the brig Poacher, captain Dunn, from Alicant bound to Boston, on a short allowance of provisions and water. Thus the sufferings of those exhausted beings did not end here. The Poacher cruised several days in search of the wreck, but without success.

On the departure of the long boat (Monday May 21st) they hoisted a signal on the wreck, by lashing a royal mast to the stump of the main mast, and making fast a cabin quilt, about thirty feet above the deck: they then erected a stage, laying spars across the quarter rails, and a sail on the spars, which made them tolerably comfortable. Two days after, a large ship passed so near; that they saw the hull; and the yawl, shattered as she was, was despatched to board her, but being small and a heavy sea running it was impossible to make much progress: they however, got near enough to see the people on deck; but they were passed unheeded.

On the 24th they caught a turtle, and having found in a chest. a tinder box which was dried in the sun, they made a fire in the

ship's bell and with a baking pan cooked a mess of soup for all hands; they could never strike fire afterwards.

In the course of six days they had secured three casks water, one barrel wine, salt pork and beef, hams, corn, potatoes, bread, &c. sufficient to have lasted two or three months; but unfortunately there came on a gale the 28th, and during the night, the spars which lay along side, a heavy sea running at the same time, beat away all the upper works, with them the staging went, and they lost all their provisions except a little salt meat, and about three gallons of wine. In the fore part of the night there were four men in the yawl, which had been previously mended, but it blowing so fresh and the boat making so much water, two of them were obliged to get out on the wreck, leaving the others to steer and bale. Next morning, it being more moderate, three more got into the yawl, and were employed taking the people from abaft to the bowsprit: shortly after the quarter deck floated off, carrying with it the stump of the mizzen mast

On the 30th they succeeded in making a stage on the forecastle, which kept the company dry: after this nothing material happened until the 3d June, when a sailor died, overcome with fatigue and reduced by famine. The wine was now gone, and the men were on an allowance of a wine glass of vinegar every twenty-four hours, not having had any water since the 28th ult. The 4th they went to work to get a pipe of brandy out, which they affected by noon, when many of the people, having drank a quantity of salt water, which had increased their sufferings to a great degree, inadvertently took brandy to quench their raging thirst: fourteen persons died the next day, and in twenty-four hours one more experienced the same fate. By the 6th the whole of the upper deck had gone, and every thing that was between decks had floated away, leaving nothing to subsist on but salt beef and pork, which could not be eat without water.

On the 7th, finding the ship had drifted too far S. to be in the track of our vessels, being in lat. 39° 12'. the yawl left the ship with five persons in her; they having previously heard prayers, which had been regularly said since the wreck: they took with them about two and half gallons brandy, some pork, and a small quantity of vinegar; they endeavoured to stretch to the north