A Boat Was At Length Lowered, But The Rudder Was
Unfortunately Not At Hand, And Only Two Oars Could Be Procured,
With Which The Men Could Make But Little Progress In So Rough A
Sea.
They did their best, however, and had arrived within ten
yards of the man, who still struggled for his
Life, when I lost
sight of him, and the men on their return said that they saw him
below the water, at glimpses, sinking deeper and deeper, his arms
stretched out and his body apparently stiff, but that they found it
impossible to save him; presently after, the sea, as if satisfied
with the prey which it had acquired, became comparatively calm.
The poor fellow who perished in this singular manner was a fine
young man of twenty-seven, the only son of a widowed mother; he was
the best sailor on board, and was beloved by all who were
acquainted with him. This event occurred on the eleventh of
November, 1835; the vessel was the London Merchant steamship.
Truly wonderful are the ways of Providence!
That same night we entered the Tagus, and dropped anchor before the
old tower of Belem; early the next morning we weighed, and,
proceeding onward about a league, we again anchored at a short
distance from the Caesodre, or principal quay of Lisbon. Here we
lay for some hours beside the enormous black hulk of the Rainha
Nao, a man-of-war, which in old times so captivated the eye of
Nelson, that he would fain have procured it for his native country.
She was, long subsequently, the admiral's ship of the Miguelite
squadron, and had been captured by the gallant Napier about three
years previous to the time of which I am speaking.
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