s
and moral courage, to whom his officers and crew had been accustomed to
look up, much of the disorder would have been prevented, and perhaps the
lives of all might have been saved; but they knew him to be a bully and
a coward, and the first impulse of each was to think of his own
individual safety, as they knew he would do of his. Thus not one
quarter of the necessary exertions were made to save the ship; indeed
Mr Bell and his watch were the only part of the crew who really did any
good.

Most of the cabin passengers, and some of the second and steerage
passengers of the English, at once came forward and offered their
services to work the pumps and to hand down the water-buckets. The
poorer Irish, on the other hand, would do nothing to help themselves,
but sat shrieking and bewailing their cruel fate till they could shriek
and cry no longer.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

It is my belief that, if proper measures had been taken the moment the
fire was discovered, it might have been extinguished, and if not, its
progress might have been retarded. The ship had a large quantity of
coals among her cargo, and there is no doubt it originated in it by
spontaneous combustion. Some said it had been smouldering away ever
since we left Liverpool. What would have been our sensations had we
known that we had a volcano on board? When some of the passengers saw
that the object of our exertions was to fill the hold with water, they
began to cry out that the quickest way would be to start the water-tanks
on deck. The captain, on hearing this, immediately exclaimed that if
they did so they would repent it, for without water they could not live,
and that this was the only fresh water at which they would shortly be
able to get. On learning their mad design, he should instantly have
placed some of the crew on whom he could depend, with arms in their
hands, to guard the tanks, and with orders to cut down any one who
should attempt to touch the bungs. Instead, he contented himself with
pointing out the folly of the proceeding.

His words were not heeded; and without any attempt to prevent them,
several of the madmen started the water from the tanks. "Hurrah!" they
shouted as they performed this feat. "The fire will now be put out, and
we shall be saved." The hidden fire laughed at their puny efforts, and
the wreaths of smoke came forth as dense as ever.

A consultation among the officers was now held; and it was their opinion
that