The Life of a Ship from the Launch to the Wreck | Page 8

towards the land, hoping to see people there

who might help them when the ship struck on the rocks; but they saw
no one. In about an hour afterwards the ship struck, and the shock was
so great that Davy's heart seemed to leap into his throat. The shore was
lined with great dark cliffs and precipices, at the foot of which the
waves roared furiously. While the men stood looking helplessly at the
land another wave lifted the ship, carried her forward a long way, and
dashed her down on the rocks, where she stuck fast, with a sharp rock
quite through her hull, and the water foaming round her. What made
their situation more dreadful was, that a great deal of snow had fallen
during the night. It covered the decks of the ship, and made the land
look cold and dreary.
"We must swim for it now," said the captain, as he looked sorrowfully
at the boiling surf and immense waves which swept over the rocks, and
bursting like thunder on the cliffs, were flung back upon the ship in
spray.
"No one can swim in such a surf as that," said one of the sailors
gloomily.
"Surf" is the name given to the white foam which is formed by the
waves when they dash upon the shore. It is very difficult, sometimes
quite impossible, to swim in the surf of the sea, and many poor sailors
have been hurled on the rocks by it and dashed in pieces while
attempting to swim from their wrecked vessels to the land.
Every time a wave came it lifted the Fair Nancy, and, as it passed, let
her fall heavily on the sharp rocks, so that she began to break up. Still
the men were afraid to venture into the sea, and they clung to the
bulwarks, quite uncertain what to do. At last Ben Block turned to the
captain and said--
"I'm a good swimmer, captain, and I think I could swim to the shore
well enough perhaps; but there are some o' the men who can't swim,
and poor Davy, there, could never do it; so I'll just throw a rope round
my shoulders and make for the shore. If I land I'll fix the rope to the
cliffs, and you'll all be able to get ashore easy enough. If I should be
drowned,--it'll only be a little sooner, that's all, and it's well worth

risking my life to save my shipmates."
"You're a brave fellow, Ben," said the captain. "Go and do it if you
can."
Ben Block went down below and soon returned with a stout rope. On
the end of this he made a loop, which he passed round his shoulders,
and then, raising his eyes to heaven with an imploring look, he leapt
into the sea. At first he swam vigorously, and the sailors looked on in
anxious hope. But a large wave came. It fell,--and Ben Block
disappeared, while a cry of fear rose from the deck of the ship. In a few
seconds, however, they saw him rise again and struggle manfully with
the raging billows. The next wave that came lifted Ben up and threw
him on the beach, to which he clung with all his power; but as the wave
retired it swept him back into the sea, for he could not hold on to the
loose sand. He now rolled over and over quite exhausted, and the
sailors thought he was dead. But a man's life is dear to him, and he does
not soon cease to struggle. Another wave approached. It lifted Ben up
and threw him again on the beach. This time he made a desperate effort
to hold on, and, fortunately, he observed a large rock close to where he
lay. With a sudden spring he caught hold of it and held on till the wave
went back; then he ran forward a few steps and caught hold of another
rock a little higher up, so that when the next wave broke over him it
had not power to draw him back. Another run--and he was safe!
The men gave a loud cheer when they saw him land. After he had
rested a little, Ben fastened the end of the rope to a mass of rock. The
sailors hauled it tight and fixed the other end in the ship; and then, one
by one, they slowly crept along the rope and reached the shore in safety.
Here they all fell on their knees and thanked God for their deliverance.
But now they found that the land was not inhabited, and they walked
along that dreary coast for several days, almost starved to death with
hunger and cold, for they had only a few biscuits among them, and