oposition was immediately rejected by the captain, who
assembled the principal officers on the forecastle and declared to
them his determination not to suffer a single boat to be lowered
during the night--but that they should all stick to the ship until
daylight, as the only chance of preserving their lives.

Happily the captain's orders were obeyed, though doubtless many would
feel tempted to risk a landing. The Pallas became more and more
uneasy--her rudder was carried away, and the sea broke completely over
her. The men were each served with a dram, and were still kept at the
pumps until three o'clock A.M., when the main beam broke and the
others began to give way in succession. In order to lighten the
vessel, the mainmast was cut away. At first, this did not appear to
have the desired effect--but in all probability it would have fallen
of itself and have done injury to the people; it now hung over the
side, and promised to serve as a raft in case of necessity. The
foremast was then cut away, and the mizenmast was doomed to
follow--but the axe and tomahawk, which had been carried forward, were
lost, or washed away. The ship by this time had fallen upon her beam
ends, and the sea was making breaches over her, so that every
individual had enough to do to keep himself from being washed
overboard.

About four o'clock in the morning, the spirits of the crew were
revived by seeing a boat appear between the wreck and a large fire
that had been kept burning immediately opposite. This was a welcome
sight, and it was hailed by three loud and hearty cheers from the
Pallas.

Many of the men by this time were suffering much from cold, hunger,
and fatigue, and those who were able, got into the weather chains for
safety and shelter. Daylight discovered to them the real position of
the ship; the light which had been supposed to be on the Isle of May
was that of a lime-kiln on the main land, and as the Bass and North
Berwick Law were plainly visible, it was evident from their bearings
that the frigate was on shore near to Dunbar. She was now a total
wreck--the bottom had separated to some extent amidships from her
upper works; a considerable portion of her floor timber was lying
about ten yards to windward of the rest of the hull, and the iron
ballast within this frame of timber was thus open to view. It was now
time for every man to provide as far as possible for his own safety. A
Portuguese sailor, an excellent swimmer, was the