burned
away. The engine was standing, but the hull was a mass of dull, red
flames. The passengers and crew were floating around, screaming in their
agony, and shrieking for help. The boats of the Clinton were instantly
lowered and manned, and every person that could be seen or heard was
picked up, and every possible relief afforded. The Lady, a little
steamboat lying at Dunkirk, went out of that harbor as soon as possible,
after the discovery of the fire, and arrived soon after the Clinton. By
one o'clock in the morning, all was still except the melancholy
crackling of the flames. Not a solitary individual could be seen or
heard on the wild waste of waters. A line was then made fast to the
remains of the Erie's rudder, and an effort made to tow the hapless hulk
ashore. About this time the Chautauque came up and lent her assistance.

The hull of the Erie was towed within about four miles of shore, when it
sank in eleven fathoms of water. By this time it was daylight. The lines
were cast oft. The Clinton headed her course toward Buffalo, which place
she reached about six o'clock.

Upon inquiry it was found that there had been between thirty and forty
cabin passengers, of whom ten or twelve were ladies. In the steerage
there were about one hundred and forty passengers, nearly all of whom
were Swiss and German emigrants. The whole number of persons on board,
who were saved, did not exceed twenty-seven.

All that imagination can conceive of the terrible and heart-rending was
realized in the awful destruction of this boat. Scores sank despairingly
under the wild waters; but there is reason to fear that many, very many,
strong men, helpless women, and tender children perished in the flames.

Among the passengers were a young gentleman and lady, who first became
acquainted with each other on board. The lady was accompanied by her
father. Upon an intimacy of a few hours an attachment seems to have been
formed between this couple. When the passengers rushed to the deck,
after the bursting forth of the flames, the lady discovered her new
acquaintance on a distant part of the deck, forced her way to him, and
implored him to save her. The only alternative left them was to jump
overboard, or to submit to a more horrible fate. They immediately
jumped, the gentleman making the first plunge, with a view of securing
for the young and fair being, who had measurably committed to his hands
her safety, a plank floating a short distance f