tect also of the
_Monarch_.

On her first sea-voyage the _Captain_ showed, apparently, such excellent
sea-going qualities that her architect and the contractors, the Messrs.
Laird, were quite satisfied as to her safety in mid-ocean. In the
autumn of 1870 she accompanied the fleet on a cruise; and on the 6th of
September, shortly after midnight, foundered off Cape Finisterre. The
whole crew were lost, with the exception of nineteen men, and among
those who perished was Captain Coles himself, Captain Burgoyne, the
commander of the ship, and a son of the then First Lord of the
Admiralty--Mr Childers. It is unnecessary to recall to the memory of
the adult among my readers the deep feeling of pity and gloom spread by
this awful disaster throughout Great Britain.

The night on which the _Captain_ foundered was no doubt a somewhat rough
one, with squalls and a heavy sea on; but it was not merely the force of
the storm which overwhelmed the vessel.

Mr James May, a surviving gunner of the ill-fated ship, gave a
sufficiently clear account of the foundering of the vessel. Soon after
midnight he was awakened from sleep by a noise and a feeling that the
ship was uneasy. Rising, and taking with him a lamp, he proceeded to
the after-turret to see if the guns were all right. Everything was
secure enough there; but he had hardly finished his examination when he
felt the vessel heel steadily over, a heavy sea struck her on the
weather-port, the water rushed into the turret, and May presently found
himself in the water.

He swam to the pinnace, which he perceived floating bottom upwards, and
there he was presently joined by Captain Burgoyne and several others of
the crew. Then he beheld the vessel turn over and go down, stern first;
the whole catastrophe being over in a few minutes. The launch was
drifting a few yards off, and May called out to his comrades, "Jump,
men! it is our last chance." May with three others succeeded in
reaching the boat, in which fifteen of the remainder of the crew also
found a refuge. It is uncertain whether poor Captain Burgoyne remained
in the pinnace or failed to reach the launch.

The nineteen survivors, after a hard row of twelve hours, without food
or drink, landed at Cape Finisterre, where they were hospitably received
and cared for by the people. A court-martial was held in due course to
investigate the cause of the disaster. Into the details of the evidence
it is impossible here to e