to the task
of navigating the schooner; "thank God the breeze is freshening, and we
may now hope to be soon out of this and clear of it all. Phew! what
terrific lightning, and what an infernal combination of deafening
sounds!"

Fortunate was it for the schooner and her crew that the wind was from
the southward, or blowing directly down into the bay; otherwise they
would speedily have been lost in the thick clouds of steam which rose
from the water, or set on fire by the dense shower of red-hot ashes
which now began to fall thickly about them. As it was, though the wind
was against them, and they were compelled to beat up the bay, the wind
kept back the steam, and also to a great extent the falling ashes. But,
notwithstanding these favourable circumstances, the crew were obliged to
keep the decks deluged with water to prevent their being ignited.

Gradually, however, the _Petrel_ drew further and further beyond the
influence of this danger; and soon the rock at the harbour's mouth was
sighted. Captain Staunton was at first somewhat anxious about risking
the passage out to sea, being doubtful whether the explosion of the
magazine had yet taken place; but a little reflection satisfied him that
it _must_ have occurred, as they had been drifting about the bay for
nearly an hour, and he determined to push on.

Suddenly there was a shout from the look-out forward: "Boat ahead!"
immediately followed by the information, "It's the launch, sir, bottom-
up!"

Such indeed it proved to be when the schooner a minute later glided past
it. But where were her crew? They had disappeared, leaving no sign
behind them.

The hoarse angry roar of the breakers outside was now distinctly
audible; and in another five minutes' time the _Petrel's_ helm was eased
up, she was kept away a couple of points, and, shooting through the
short narrow passage on the eastern side of the rock, began to plunge
with a gentle swinging motion over the endless procession of long
slowly-moving swell outside.

The crew of the schooner had time to note, as they swept past the rock
and through the passage, that the battery no longer frowned down upon
the bay. In its place there appeared a yawning fire-blackened chasm;
and the shipyard was thickly strewed with masses and fragments of rock
of all sizes; both whale-boats were swamped; and a solitary gun, with a
fragment of its carriage still attached, lay half in and half out of the
water. The timbers of