the legs of the occupant to hang
down, and as the belt reached almost up to the neck, there was not much
chance of his being tossed out of it. It was in order to prevent this,
however, that Bax had fastened the end of the hawser high on the
mainmast, so that the travelling bag was raised sufficiently above the
water, except when it neared the shore. Then, indeed, it was frequently
immersed in the towering waves, but then, too, it was so near the land
that a few seconds sufficed to draw it beyond the reach of the sea.
[See Note 1.]

For two hours did these men of the coast toil in this arduous labour of
love. More than a hundred persons had been saved; but nearly a hundred
still remained on board the wreck.

The storm was now at its height, and the vessel rolled over on her bilge
so violently that the lifeboat was more than once on the point of being
crushed under her massive sides. On her last trip she came close up
under the quarter as on former occasions, but before any one could be
taken off a monstrous wave lifted the hull right over the rocks on which
she lay, and let her fall with fearful violence on a bed of sand in such
a position that one of her large timbers snapped across with a report
like a cannon shot.

The lifeboat got entangled in the wreck and could not get clear. To
make matters worse it grounded on a sandbank that rose close to the side
of the "Trident," and could not be hauled out of the dangerous position
in which it was thus suddenly placed. The top-gallant masts of the ship
were swaying wildly over it, the yards were swinging to and fro,
threatening each moment to strike it, and the ragged sails flapped over
it with a noise like thunder.

"Haul off! haul off!" shouted Bax, who observed the extreme danger in
which the boat was placed.

The crew attempted to do so, but for some minutes were unsuccessful. At
last they got into deep water, but just as this was accomplished the
mainyard struck it on the side and overturned it in an instant.

Not being constructed on the self-righting principle, the boat remained
keel up, but the men, buoyed up by their life-jackets, succeeded in
climbing on board the wreck.

A cry of despair arose from those still on board the ill-fated "Trident"
when this catastrophe happened. During the next half-hour the rocket
apparatus was plied with great success, but although most of the women
and children were saved by it (and by the boat before it was disabled