despatched a messenger to Yarmouth, with
the sad tidings of the fate of the yawl and the rest of her crew.
Being safely housed under the roof of a relative, with good nursing
and medical assistance, in five days from the time of the accident,
with a firm step he walked back to Yarmouth, to confirm the
wonderful rumors circulated respecting him, and to receive the
congratulations of his friends. The knife, which he considers as the
great means of his being saved, is preserved with great care, and in
all probability will be shown a century hence by the descendants of
this man. It is a common horn-handle knife, having one blade about
five inches long. A piece of silver is now riveted on, and covers
one side, on which is the following inscription:--

"' BROWN, EMERSON, SMITH, BRAY, BUDDS, FENN, RUSHMERE,
BOULT:--BROCK, aided by this knife, was saved after being 7-1/2
hours in the sea. _October_ 6. 1835.'

"'It was a curious thing,' observed Brock when relating his story,
'that I had been without a knife for some time, and only purchased
this two days before it became so useful to me; and having had to
make some boat's tholes, it was as sharp as a razor. I ought to be a
good-living chap,' continued he, 'for three times I have been saved
by swimming. What I did on this night, I know I could not have done
of myself, but God strengthened me. I never asked for anything but
it was given me.'

"This man had great faith, and he had also other good traits in his
character. A large subscription was made for the widows and children
of Brock's unfortunate companions; and a fund being established for
their relief, the surplus was offered to him. This was his answer:
'I am much obliged to you, gentlemen, but, thank God! I can still
get my own living as well as ever, and I could not spend the money
that was given to the fatherless and widow.' In contemplating the
feat of this extraordinary man, it must appear to every one, that
his bodily prowess, gigantic as it is, appears as dust in the
balance compared with the powers of his mind. To think and to judge
rightly under some of the most appalling circumstances that ever
surrounded mortal man, to reject the delusive for the arduous, to
resolve and to execute, form such a combination of the best and
rarest attributes of our nature, that where are we to look for them
in the same man? Brock at the time of this disastrous affair was
thirty-one years of age, a fine, stout, athletic