of the sheet-lightning among the clouds
afforded, of itself, a superbly magnificent spectacle, but the beauty of
the display was soon still further increased by a wonderfully rapid
coruscating discharge of fork-lightning between cloud and cloud, as
though the fleecy giants were warring with each other and exchanging
broadsides of jagged, white-hot steel; the thunder that accompanied the
discharge giving forth a fierce crackling sound far more closely
resembling that of an irregular volley of musketry than it did the deep,
hollow, booming crash that followed the spark-like stream of fire that
lanced downward from cloud to ocean.

A few minutes more and the storm was right overhead, with the lightning
hissing and flashing all about us, and the thunder crackling and
crashing and booming aloft with a vehement intensity of sound that came
near to being terrifying. The whole atmosphere seemed to be aflame, and
the noise was that of a universe in process of disruption.

Suddenly the schooner seemed to be enveloped in a vast sheet of flame,
at the same instant that an ear-splitting crash of thunder resounded
about us; there was a violent concussion; and when, a few seconds later,
I recovered from the stunning and stupefying effect of that terrific
thunderclap, it was to become aware that the foremast was over the side,
and the stump of it fiercely ablaze. There was no necessity to pipe all
hands, for the watch below now came tumbling up on deck, alarmed at the
shock; and in a few minutes we had the buckets passing along.
Fortunately we were able to effectively attack the fire before it had
taken any very firm hold, and a quarter of an hour of hard work saw the
flames extinguished; but it was a narrow escape for the schooner and all
hands of us. The most serious part of it was the loss of our foremast,
which completely disabled us for the moment. We went to work, however,
to save the sails, yards, rigging, and so on, attached to the shivered
mast; and before morning we had got a jury-lower-mast on end and
secured, by which time the storm had cleared away, the wind had sprung
up again, and the _Dolores_ had borne down and taken us in tow.
Fortunately the wind was fair for us, and it held; and, still more
fortunately, no enemy hove in sight to take advantage of our crippled
condition. We consequently arrived safely in Fort Royal harbour, in due
course, on the eighth day after the occurrence of the accident, and
forthwith re