bviously his thoughts were
revisiting the scene of a fierce conflict for life. The
sight was sublime, and when I saw the moisture come into his
eyes and his breast heave with emotion, it made me wish that
I had not reminded him of it. At length he began to unfold
the awful story. He was master of a brig called the _Ocean
Queen_. I think he said it was in the month of December,
1874. They sailed from a Gulf of Finland port laden with
deals. After many days they reached the longitude of
Gotland; they were then overtaken by a hurricane from the
west which battered the vessel until she became water-logged
and dismasted. The crew lashed themselves where they could,
and huddled together for warmth to minimise the effects of
the biting frost and the mad turmoil of boiling foam which
continuously swept over the doomed vessel, and caked itself
into granite-like lumps of ice. At intervals they would try
to keep their blood from freezing by watching a "slant" when
there was a comparative smooth, and run along the deckload a
few times, keeping hold of the life-line that was stretched
fore and aft for this purpose. After twelve hours the force
of the tempest was broken, and they were able to take more
exercise, but they were without food and water, and no
succour came near them. They held stoutly out against the
privations for two days, then one after another began to
succumb to the combined ravages of cold, thirst, and
hunger. Some of them died insane, and others fought on until
Nature became exhausted, and they also passed into the
Valley of Death. There were now only the captain and a
coloured seaman left. The wind and sea were drifting the
vessel towards the Prussian coast, and on the fifth morning
after she became water-logged the wreck stranded on a sandy
beach two hours before daylight. The captain and his
coloured companion attached themselves to a plank, and by
superhuman effort reached the shore. They buried their
bodies up to the waist in sand under the shelter of a hill,
believing it would generate some warmth into their
impoverished systems. Their extremities were badly
frostbitten, and when they were discovered at daylight by a
man on horseback who had been attracted to the scene of the
wreck, they were both in a condition of semi-consciousness.
He galloped off for assistance, and speedily had them placed
under medical treatment, and under the roof of hospitable
people. A few days' rest and proper attention made t