give his consent. It
was necessary that the ship should be put before the wind, and the helm
had no power over her. In a short time the lanyards of the mizen rigging
were severed, and the mizen mast went over the side, almost unperceived
by the crew on the other parts of the deck, or even those near, had it
not been from blows received by those who were too close to it, from the
falling of the topsail sheets and the rigging about the mast.

Oswald, with his companions, regained the binnacle, and for a little
while watched the compass. The ship did not pay off, and appeared to
settle down more into the water. Again Oswald made his signs, and again
the captain gave his assent. Forward sprang the undaunted mate, clinging
to the bulwark and belaying-pins, and followed by his hardy companions,
until they had all three gained the main channels. Here, their exposure
to the force of the breaking waves, and the stoutness of the ropes
yielding but slowly to the blows of the axes, which were used almost
under water, rendered the service one of extreme difficulty and danger.
The boatswain was washed over the bulwark and dashed to leeward, where
the lee-rigging only saved him from a watery grave. Unsubdued, he again
climbed up to windward, rejoined and assisted his companions. The last
blow was given by Oswald--the lanyards flew through the dead-eyes--and
the tall mast disappeared in the foaming seas. Oswald and his companions
hastened from their dangerous position, and rejoined the captain, who,
with many of the crew, still remained near the wheel. The ship now
slowly paid off and righted. In a few minutes she was flying before the
gale, rolling heavily, and occasionally striking upon the wrecks of the
masts, which she towed with her by the lee-rigging.

Although the wind blew with as much violence as before, still it was not
with the same noise, now that the ship was before the wind with her
after-masts gone. The next service was to clear the ship of the wrecks
of the masts; but, although all now assisted, but little could be
effected until the day had dawned, and even then it was a service of
danger, as the ship rolled gunwale under. Those who performed the duty
were slung in ropes, that they might not be washed away; and hardly was
it completed, when a heavy roll, assisted by a jerking heave from a sea
which struck her on the chesstree, sent the foremast over the starboard
cathead. Thus was the _Circassian_ dismasted in the gale