he gaunt walls, cracked and riven out
of shape, stood up, glowing with intense white heat in the midst of a
sea of fire from which red flames and dark clouds of smoke were vomited,
as from the crater of some mighty volcano, with a roar that mingled with
the shouts of excited thousands, and drowned even the dull incessant
thumpings of the engines that worked in all directions.

Moored alongside of Chamberlain's Wharf was a small sloop. Little blue
blisters of light broke out on her rigging; soon these increased in
size, and in a few minutes she was on fire from stem to stern.
Immediately after, there came a barge with flowing sails, borne on the
rising tide. She passed too near to the conflagration. Her crew of
three men became panic-stricken and lost control of her. At sight of
this a great shout was raised, and a boat put off and rescued the crew;
but almost before they were landed their barge was alight from stem to
stern. The tremendous cheer that burst from the excited multitude at
sight of this rescue rose for a moment above the roaring of the
conflagration. Then another barge was set on fire by the blazing tallow
which floated out to her, but she was saved by being scuttled.

In the midst of such a scene it was to be expected that there would be
damage to life and limb. The firemen, besides being exposed to intense
heat for hours, were almost blinded and choked by the smoke emitted from
the burning pepper--more especially the cayenne--of which there was a
large quantity in the warehouses. Some of the men who were working the
engines fell into the river and were drowned. A gentleman who was
assisting the firemen had his hand impaled on an iron spike. A poor
Irishman had his neck broken by the chain of the floating-engine, and
several of the police force and others were carried to hospital badly
burned and otherwise injured.

Some of the casualties occurred in places where only a few persons were
there to witness them, but others were enacted on the river, and on
spots which were in full view of the vast multitudes on London Bridge.
A boat containing five men put off to collect the tallow which floated
on the water, but it got surrounded by tallow which had caught fire, and
the whole of its occupants were either burned to death or drowned.
Later in the night a small skiff rowed by a single man was drawn by the
tide into the vortex of the fire. Another boat ran out and saved the
man, but a second boat wh