became quite unmanageable, and drifted with
the direction of the tide, no one knew whither. Soon the terrible cry
arose, "Breakers to leeward," and immediately after the Farne lights
became visible. A despairing attempt was now made by the captain to run
the ship between the islands and the mainland; but in this he failed,
and about three o'clock she struck heavily on a rock bow foremost.

The scene of consternation that followed is indescribable. Immediately
one of the boats was lowered, and with a freight of terror-stricken
people pushed off, but not before one or two persons had fallen into the
sea and perished in their vain attempts to get into it. This party in
the boat, nine in number, survived the storm of that awful night, and
were picked up the following morning by a Montrose sloop. Of those left
in the ill-fated ship some remained in the after-part; a few stationed
themselves near the bow, thinking it the safest spot. The captain stood
helpless, his wife clinging to him, while several other females gave
vent to their agony of despair in fearful cries.

Meanwhile the waves dashed the vessel again and again on the rock, and
at last a larger billow than the rest lifted her up and let her fall
down upon its sharp edge. The effect was tremendous and instantaneous;
the vessel was literally broken in two pieces, and the after-part, with
the greater number of the passengers in the cabin, was swept away
through the Fifa Gut, a tremendous current which is considered dangerous
even in good weather. Among those who thus perished were the captain
and his wife. The forepart of the steamer, with the few who had happily
taken refuge upon it, remained fast on the rock. Here eight or nine of
the passengers and crew clung to the windlass, and a woman named Sarah
Dawson, with her two little children, lay huddled together in a corner
of the fore-cabin, exposed to the fury of winds and waves all the
remainder of that dreadful night. For hours each returning wave carried
a thrill of terror to their hearts; for the shattered wreck reeled
before every shock, and it seemed as if it would certainly be swept away
into the churning foam before daybreak.

But daylight came at last, and the survivors on the wreck began to sweep
the dim horizon with straining eyeballs as a faint hope at last began to
arise in their bosoms. Nor were these trembling hopes doomed to
disappointment. At the eleventh hour God in his mercy sent
deli