n some of her most tremendous
aspects, of the breakers on the Goodwins--and of the stubborn courage
of the men who man our lifeboats are far below the reality. Each
incident occurred as it is related, and is absolutely true.

The Deal boatmen are almost as mute as the fishes of the sea respecting
their own deeds of daring and of mercy on the Goodwin Sands. It is but
justice to those humble heroes of the Kentish coast that an attempt
should be made to tell some parts of their wondrous story.

T. S. T.

DEAL, 1904.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. THE GOODWIN SANDS
II. THE DEAL BOATMEN
III. THE AUGUSTE HERMANN FRANCKE
IV. THE GANGES
V. THE EDINA
VI. THE FREDRIK CARL
VII. THE GOLDEN ISLAND
VIII. THE SORRENTO, S.S.
IX. THE ROYAL ARCH
X. THE MANDALAY
XI. THE LEDA
XII. THE D'ARTAGNAN AND THE HEDVIG SOPHIA
XIII. THE RAMSGATE LIFEBOAT

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

A PERILOUS RESCUE . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_

THE LAUNCH OF THE LIFEBOAT

THE GOODWIN SANDS

A WRECK ON THE GOODWINS

THE BOOM OF A DISTANT GUN

SHOWING A FLARE

HOOKING THE STEAMER

A FORLORN HOPE

POSITION OF THE GANGES ON THE SANDS

DANGEROUS WORK

THE ANCHOR OF DEATH (_from a photograph_)

DEAL BOATMEN ON THE LOOK OUT FOR A HOTEL

THE WRECK OF THE GOLDEN ISLAND

CLOVE-HITCH KNOTS

JARVIST ARNOLD

THE KINGSDOWN LIFEBOAT

SCENE ON DEAL BEACH, FEBRUARY 13, 1870

POSITION OF THE SORRENTO

THE SORRENTO ON THE GOODWIN SANDS

ALL HANDS IN THE LIFEBOAT

THE LIFEBOAT BRADFORD AT THE WRECK OF THE INDIAN CHIEF

LEAVING RAMSGATE HARBOUR IN TOW

[Illustration: The Launch of the Lifeboat. From a photograph by W. H.
Franklin.]

CHAPTER I

THE GOODWIN SANDS

'Would'st thou,' so the helmsman answered,
'Learn the secrets of the sea?
Only those who brave its dangers
Comprehend its mystery.'

The Goodwin Sands are a great sandbank, eight miles long and about four
miles wide, rising out of deep water four miles off Deal at their
nearest point to the mainland. They run lengthwise from north to
south, and their breadth is measured from east to west. Counting from
the farthest points of shallow water around the Goodwins, their
dimensions might be reckoned a little more, but the above is
sufficiently accurate.

Between them and Deal lies thus a stretch of four miles of deep water,
in which there is a great anchorage for shipping. This anchorage, o